CHAPTER I.—­PARTS OF SPEECH.

The Parts of Speech, or sorts of words, in English, are ten; namely, the Article, the Noun, the Adjective, the Pronoun, the Verb, the Participle, the Adverb, the Conjunction, the Preposition, and the Interjection.

1.  THE ARTICLE.

An Article is the word the, an, or a, which we put before nouns to limit their signification:  as, The air, the stars; an island, a ship.

2.  THE NOUN.

A Noun is the name of any person, place, or thing, that can be known or mentioned:  as, George, York, man, apple, truth.

3.  THE ADJECTIVE.

An Adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality:  as, A wise man; a new book.  You two are diligent.

4.  THE PRONOUN.

A Pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun:  as, The boy loves his book; he has long lessons, and he learns them well.

5.  THE VERB.

A Verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted upon:  as,
I am, I rule, I am ruled; I love, thou lovest, he loves.

6.  THE PARTICIPLE.

A Participle is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding ing, d, or ed, to the verb:  thus, from the verb rule, are formed three participles, two simple and one compound; as, 1. ruling, 2. ruled, 3. having ruled.

7.  THE ADVERB.

An Adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place, degree, or manner:  as, They are now here, studying very diligently.

8.  THE CONJUNCTION.

A Conjunction is a word used to connect words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms so connected:  as, “Thou and he are happy, because you are good.”—­L.  Murray.

9.  THE PREPOSITION.

A Preposition is a word used to express some relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally placed before a noun or a pronoun; as, The paper lies before me on the desk.

10.  THE INTERJECTION.

An Interjection is a word that is uttered merely to indicate some strong or sudden emotion of the mind:  as, Oh! alas! ah! poh! pshaw! avaunt! aha! hurrah!

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—­The first thing to be learned in the study of this the second part of grammar, is the distribution of the words of the language into those principal sorts, or classes, which are denominated the Parts of Speech.  This is a matter of some difficulty.  And as no scheme which can be adopted, will be in all cases so plain that young beginners will not occasionally falter in its application, the teacher may sometimes find it expedient to refer his pupils to the following simple explanations, which are designed to aid their first and most difficult steps.