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by putting who or what before the verb. Thus in the preceding sentences: "Who build houses? Ans. Men." "Who was struck? Ans. The boy.” * The possessive case is that form in which a noun (or pronoun) is used in order to show that something belongs to the person or thing for which it stands. Thus, in the sentence, "I saw John's book," the noun John's is in the possessive case, to denote that John possesses something (namely, a book). John's, then, is the possessive case of the noun John.

The noun in the possessive case is in the attributive relation to the noun which stands for that which is possessed. As what is possessed must be a person or a thing of some kind, a noun in the possessive case can only be in the attributive relation to a noun.†

The possessive case in the singular number, and in those plurals which end in any other letter than s, is formed by adding the letter s with an apostrophe before it (thus, 's) to the nominative case; as, John's, men's, geese's. In those plurals which end in s the possessive case is indicated in writing by placing the apostrophe after the s, as, "the birds' feathers."

Sometimes the possessive case in the singular number of nouns that end in s or ce is merely marked by placing an apostrophe after the word; as, Eneas' son. But this practice is now nearly obsolete, except in a few common instances; as, "for conscience' sake," "for goodness' sake.”

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In the case of a complex name, the termination of the possessive case is only affixed to the last of the names; as, Julius Cæsar's death;" "John Thomas Smith's father." It is even usual to carry out the same principle when one thing is possessed by several persons; as, "John, William, and Mary's uncle;" that is, the uncle of John, William, and Mary. This practice, however, cannot be defended on grammatical principles. In compound nouns like father-in-law the mark of the possessive case is attached to the last word of the compound: father-inlaw's. The plural is formed on a different principle (see § 61).

* Such expressions as, "The noun boy is the nominative case to the verb," are incorrect. Case is equivalent to form. Now a noun is not a form, nor would there be any sense in talking of the nominative form to a verb. The case of a noun is not its relation to a verb, but the form which indicates that relation. Of course this fundamental distinction between a noun and the form of a noun is not affected by the accident that in English the nominative and accusative cases of nouns are alike. The incorrectness of the mode of speaking »bove referred to is rendered evident in an amusing manner by the mistake which beginners in Latin frequently make. of explaining the accusative case which precedes an infinitive mood by saying that the noun in the accusative is the nominative to the verb.

"

This noun is sometimes omitted. Thus we say, "He went to the baker's," ie., to the baker's shop. "A picture of my father's' means "a picture of my father's pictures," or "one of my father's pictures." "A picture of my father," on the other hand, means "a painted representation of my father." See, however, § 168, note.

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The apostrophe in the possessive case singular marks that a vowel has been lost. The termination was anciently (in Anglo-Saxon) es + (as in Wednesday, i.e. Wodenesday), afterwards is. It is therefore an unmeaning process to put the apostrophe after the plurals (as birds'), because no vowel has been dropped there. In such possessives as Thomas's the vowel is sounded in speaking, but emitted in writing. This genitive or possessive termination, es ors, was not affixed to feminine nouns in Anglo-Saxon or old English. We still say Lady-day and not Lady's-day. (See Morris, Spec., p. xix.)

The meaning of the possessive case is sometimes expressed by means of the preposition of, with the objective case after it. Thus, for "My father's ouse," we may say, "The house of my father." But the possessive case must not be substituted for the preposition of, unless possession is implied by it. This use of of is not found in Anglo-Saxon.

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There are some expressions in which the force of the of almost disappears, as when we say "the city of Paris," a brute of a fellow." But in these instances the of seems rather to have a partitive sense.

Paris

is of wider signification than city, the term city being applied to Paris in one of its aspects; man, or a man, is a wider term than brute, as applied to a man,

In old English there is a use of the possessive case which has now disappeared, and which corresponds to what is called the objective genitive in Latin (as amor pecuniæ, "the love of money"). Thus in the English version of the Bible, Thy fear is used for the fear of Thee. In Shakspeare his taking off means the taking off of him.

The possessive inflection 's may be used for nouns that denote persons, animals, or things that are personified, as "John's book;" "the cat's tail;" reason's voice." Also when the noun is commonly preceded by the definite article, as " the sun's light;""the earth's surface;' ""the lightning's glare." Also in some idiomatical phrases, as with the word sake, "For his oath's sake;""For thy name's sake;" "A day's journey." Poetry admits this possessive much more frequently than prose.

The objective case is that form in which a noun or pronoun is used when it stands for the object of the action spoken of in some verb, or when it comes after a preposition. In the sentence, "The stone struck the boy," the act of striking is spoken of as being directed to a certain object, namely, boy. The word boy, which stands for the object of the action, is called the object of the verb, and is in

* The plural books has just as good a right to an apostrophe as the possessive singar, a vowel having been omitted The Anglo-Saxon termination was -08.

It is almost incredible how many persons have been induced to adopt the silly notion that the 's of the possessive case is an abbreviation for his, so that the king's crown is the king his crown. The word his is itself the possessive case of he; so that, on this principle, his be+his=he+be+hishe+he+he + his, and so on ad infinitum. Moreover, Mary's bonnet must be explained to mean, Mary his bonnet. The mistake is so stupid, and shows such blank ignorance of the principles of grammatical forms, that one wonders how the notion could ever have originated. Some (as Ben Jonson) suppose that the alteration of the possessive termination int is, and its pronunciation as a distinct syllable, led to the mistake.

the objective case. In the sentence, "John was riding in a
coach," the noun coach, which comes after the preposition
in, is in the objective case.

The objective case is often used, like the Latin dative, to
denote the indirect object of a verb, that is to say, it stands
for some person or thing indirectly affected by the action,
but not the direct object of it; as, "Tell me a tale;
"Rob

me the exchequer.”

When a noun in the objective case is the object of a verb, the noun in the objective case answers to the question formed by putting whom or what before the verb and its subject. As in the example given above, "Whom or what did the stone strike ?" Ans. "The boy."

In nouns the objective case is the same in form as the nominative. The noun which is the subject of the verb, and therefore in the nomina. tive case, is generally put before the verb (in assertions, not in ques tions): the noun which is the object of the verb is generally put after the verb. These rules, however, are by no means invariable. The former is frequently disregarded in poetry, or when an adverb or adverbial phrase is used before the verb and its subject; as, rushed the foe;" By the wayside sat an old man." The second rule is also sometimes neglected for the sake of emphasis: as in such a sentence as "The two brothers, were equally guilty; John he punished, but William he forgave."

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"On

Strictly speaking, it ought to be said that nouns in English have only two cases or forms; one (such as man, dog) for which a new name would have to be invented, used indifferently for the subject and for the object of verbs; the other, the possessive case. But, as pronouns have three cases, and in other languages it is very common for the nominative and accusative cases to be alike, it does not seem worth while to alter the commonly received arrangement. In Anglo-Saxon there were five cases, answering to the Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative of Latin. In nouns the dative and ablative were the same in form, in adjectives they had different terminations.

The following are examples of the declension of nouns in
English:-

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ADJECTIVE.

When we think or speak of anything, we frequently have in mind not only the thing itself, but some quality or attribute that it possesses, or some fact or circumstance respecting it. We may think of a rose, and at the same time have in our minds the idea that it is red, and so speak of it as a red rose. We may be speaking about a child, and at the same time connect with it the idea that it is a child just spoken of or pointed to, and so speak of it as this child. We may speak of some birds, and at the same time indicate that there are three of them, and so speak of them as three birds. The words that are used in this way with nouns are called Adjectives.*

Definition. An adjective is a word used with a noun to denote some quality, attribute, or fact, which we connect in thought with that for which the noun stands, so that the adjective and noun together form a compound description of that which we have in our thoughts.†

In the phrase a white horse, the word white is an adjective. It denotes a certain quality of the horse.

In the sentence, I saw two men, the word two is an adjective. It points out a fact respecting the men, that they were two in number.

In the sentence, I love this child, the word this is an adjective. It points out, with regard to the child spoken of, the fact that it answers to a certain designation made either by words or by pointing.

When placed beside the noun to which it refers, an adjective is said to be used attributively; as "a red ball;" "a bird flying through the air." When an adjective is placed after some part of the verb be (or some other verb of incomplete predication, such as become), without having the substantive to which it relates expressed with it, it is said to be used predicatively; as, "the ball is red," "the bird was flying."

* Latin adjectivus, "capable of being annexed or attached to something." from adjectus, "annexed or added to something."

It is a mistake to call an adjective the name of a quality or attribute. Before we can name anything, it must be made a separate object of thought, and the name of anything that we can think or speak about is a noun. Whiteness is the name of a certain quality, and is a noun. White denotes the quality, but does not

name it.

Beware of the absurdity of saying that "an adjective denotes the quality of a noun." A noun is a name. When we speak of a red rose, the adjective red does not denote a quality of the name rose, but of the thing for which the name stands. The blunder is very obvious, but is nevertheless committed in most English Grammars.

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As an adjective is not the name of any thing, nor a word used as the substitute for a name, an adjective can never be used as the subject of a sentence, as the object of a verb, or governed by a preposition. Adjectives may be distributed into the following classes: -Qualitative Adjectives, Quantitative Adjectives, Demonstrative or Determinative Adjectives.

and

1. Qualitative Adjectives, i.e. adjectives which denote some quality or attribute (from the Latin qualis, of which sort'), as virtuous, high, white, beautiful, such, same, only.† The verbal adjectives called Participles belong to this class. 2. Quantitative Adjectives, i.e., adjectives which denote how much or how many of that for which the noun stands we have in our thoughts (from the Latin quantus, how great'). This class includes

a. The Cardinal Numeral Adjectives, one, two, three, &c. (The words hundred, thousand, million, like pair and dozen, are nouns. They may be used with the indefinite article before them.)

b. The Indefinite Article an or a.

c. The words all,‡ any, some, half, many, few, little, less, least, enough, much, more, most, both, several, whole, no (= not any), none.

Examples. All men are mortal.' 'He rode all day long.' 'He sleeps all night.' 'He travelled all the next day.' 'Some men prefer this,' 'Give me some wine 'We had a half holiday.' 'Wait half an hour.' 'Few persons will believe that.' 'He has but little wealth, and less wisdom.' 'He has not given me the least trouble.' 'I have had enough wine.' 'Give him money enough.' 'I have much pleasure in doing this.' 'He has more sense than his neighbour.' 'Most persons admire valour.' 'He had both eyes put out.' They are both in fault. 'He has eaten a whole apple.' Make no noise.' 'They have no more hope,' i.e., not any more hope. Give none offence.' 'Give none occasion to the adversary.'

* Some Grammars contain a very silly rule (invented by L. Murray), that such cannot be used when there is another adjective joined attributively with the noun. Such phrases as such wretched prejudices, such despicable characters, are perfectly legitimate.

When such is used with a noun which is preceded by the indefinite article, the article comes between the adjective and the noun; as, such an event, such a sad story.

+ Only is always either an adjective used attributively, or an adverb. In "There are only four persons present;" "He is only pretending," only is an adverb. In "He only was saved;""My only son," only is an attributive adjective. Only is never by any chance used instead of a noun. It is therefore absurd to call it a

pronoun.

The words all, half, little, less, least, much, more, most, enough, are also used as adverbs; as "all round the world;" "half afraid;" "I am but little encouraged by that;" "he is less careful than his brother;" "he is the least ambitious man that I know;" he is much more studious than he used to be;" "he is most anxious to succeed;" "he is tall enough."