Now parse the sentence which I have parsed, until the manner is quite familiar to you; and then you will be prepared to analyze correctly and systematically, the following exercises.  When you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you; and, if you have not already committed the definitions and rules, you may read them on that, as you apply them.  This mode of procedure will enable you to learn all the definitions and rules by applying them to practice.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Rain descends—­Rains descend—­Snow falls—­Snows fall—­Thunder rolls—­Thunders roll—­Man’s works decay—­Men’s labors cease—­John’s dog barks—­Eliza’s voice trembles—­Julia’s sister’s child improves—­Peter’s cousin’s horse limps.

In the next place, I will parse a noun and a neuter verb, which verb, you will notice, differs from an active only in one respect.

    "Birds repose on the branches of trees.”

Birds is a noun, the name of a thing or creature—­common, the name of a genus or class—­masculine and feminine gender, it denotes both males and females—­third person, spoken of—­plural number, it implies more than one—­and in the nominative case, it is the subject of the verb “repose,” and governs it according to RULE 3. The nominative case governs the verb.  Declined—­Sing. nom. bird, poss. bird’s, obj. bird.  Plural, nom. birds, poss. birds’, obj. birds.

Repose is a verb, a word that signifies to be—­neuter, it expresses neither action nor passion, but a state of being—­third person, plural number, because the nominative “birds” is with which it agrees, agreeably to RULE 4. The verb must agree with its nominative in number and person.

Declined—­1. pers. sing.  I repose, 2. pers. thou reposest, 3. pers. he reposes, or the bird reposes.  Plur. 1. pers. we repose, 2. pers. ye or you repose, 3. pers. they repose, or birds repose.

Now parse those nouns and neuter verbs that are distinguished by italics, in the following

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

The book lies on the desk—­The cloak hangs on the wall—­Man’s days are few—­Cathmor’s warriors sleep in death—­Caltho reposes in the narrow house—­Jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.  The sunbeams rest on the grave where her beauty sleeps.

You may parse these and the preceding exercises, and all that follow, five or six times over, if you please.

OBJECTIVE CASE.—­ACTIVE-TRANSITIVE VERBS.

The objective case expresses the object of an action or of a relation.  It generally follows a transitive verb, a participle, or a preposition.

A noun is in the objective case when it is the object of something.  At present I shall explain this case only as the object of an action; but when we shall have advanced as far as to the preposition, I will also illustrate it as the object of a relation.