of language.  To analyze a sentence, is to separate from one another and classify the different words of which it is composed; and to analyze or parse a word, means to enumerate and describe all its various properties, and its grammatical relations with respect to other words in a sentence, and trace it through all its inflections or changes.  Perhaps, to you, this will, at first, appear to be of little importance; but, if you persevere, you will hereafter find it of great utility, for parsing will enable you to detect, and correct, errors in composition.

SYSTEMATIC ORDER OF PARSING.

The order of parsing a NOUN, is—­a noun, and why?—­common, proper, or collective, and why?—­gender, and why?—­person, and why?—­number, and why?—­case, and why?—­RULE:—­decline it.

The order of parsing a VERB, is—­a verb, and why?—­active, passive, or neuter, and why?—­if active—­transitive or intransitive, and why?—­if passive—­how is it formed?—­regular, irregular, or defective, and why?—­mood, and why?—­tense, and why?—­person and number, and why?—­with what does it agree?—­RULE:—­conjugate it.

I will now parse two nouns according to the order, and, in so doing, by applying the definitions and rules, I shall answer all those questions given in the order.  If you have perfectly committed the order of parsing a noun and verb, you may proceed with me; but, recollect, you cannot parse a verb in full, until you shall have had a more complete explanation of it.

    John’s hand trembles.

John’s is a noun, [because it is] the name of a person—­proper, the name of an individual—­masculine gender, it denotes a male—­third person, spoken of—­singular number, it implies but one—­and in the possessive case, it denotes possession—­it is governed by the noun “hand,” according to

RULE 12. A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the noun it possesses.

Declined—­Sing. nom.  John, poss.  John’s, obj.  John.  Plural—­nom.  Johns, poss.  Johns’, obj.  Johns.

Hand is a noun, the name of a thing—­common, the name of a sort or species of things—­neuter gender, it denotes a thing without sex—­third person, spoken of—­sing. number, it implies but one—­and in the nominative case, it is the actor and subject of the verb “trembles,” and governs it agreeably to

RULE 3. The nominative case governs the verb:—­that is, the nominative determines the number and person of the verb.

Declined—­Sing. nom. hand, poss. hand’s, obj. hand.  Plur. nom. hands, poss. hands’, obj. hands.

Trembles is a verb, a word which signifies to do—­active, it expresses action—­third person, singular number, because the nominative “hand” is with which it agrees, according to

RULE 4. The verb must agree with its nominative in number and person.

You must not say that the verb is of the third person because it is spoken of.  The verb is never spoken of; but it is of the third person, and singular or plural number, because its nominative is.