My is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—­personal, it personates the person speaking, understood—­first pers. it denotes the speaker—­sing. num. it implies but one—­and in the possessive case, it denotes possession; it is governed by the noun “friend”, agreeably to RULE 12. A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the noun it possesses.  Declined—­first pers. sing. nom.  I, poss. my or mine, obj. me.  Plur. nom. we, poss. our or ours, obj. us.

    “Young man, thou hast deserted thy companion, and left him in
    distress.”

Thou is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—­personal, it personates “man”—­second person, it represents the person spoken to—­mas. gend. sing. num. because the noun “man” is for which it stands, according to RULE 13. Personal pronouns must agree with the nouns for which they stand in gender and number.

Thou is in the nom. case, it represents the actor and subject of the verb “hast deserted,” and governs it agreeably to RULE 3. The nom. case governs the verb. Declined—­sec. pers. sing. num. nom. thou, poss. thy or thine, obj. thee.  Plur. nom. ye or you, poss. your or yours, obj. you.

Him is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—­personal, it personates “companion”—­third pers. it represents the person spoken of—­mas. gend. sing. num. because the noun “companion” is for which it stands:  RULE 13. Pers. pro. &c. (Repeat the Rule.)—­Him is in the objective case, the object of the action expressed by the active-transitive verb “hast left,” and gov. by it:  RULE 20. Active-trans. verbs gov. the obj. case.  Declined—­third pers. mas. gend. sing. num. nom. he, poss. his, obj. him.  Plur. nom. they, poss. their or theirs, obj. them.

    “Thrice I raised my voice, and called the chiefs to combat, but
    they dreaded the force of my arm.”

They is a pronoun, a word used instead of a noun—­personal, it represents “chiefs”—­third pers. it denotes the persons spoken of—­mas. gend. plur. num. because the noun “chiefs” is for which it stands:  RULE 13. Pers.  Pron. &c. (Repeat the Rule.) It is the nom. case, it represents the actors and subject of the verb “dreaded,” and governs it:  RULE 3. The nom. case, gov. the verb.  Declined—­third pers. mas. gend. sing. num. nom. he, poss. his, obj. him.  Plur. nom. they, poss. their or theirs, obj. them.

NOTE.  We do not apply gender in parsing the personal pronouns, (excepting the third person singular,) if the nouns they represent are understood; and therefore we do not, in such instances, apply Rule 13.  But when the noun is expressed, gender should be applied, and two Rules.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

I saw a man leading his horse slowly over the new bridge.  My friends visit me very often at my father’s office.  We improve ourselves by close application.  Horace, thou learnest many lessons.  Charles, you, by your diligence, make easy work of the task given you by your preceptor.  Young ladies, you run over your lessons very carelessly.  The stranger drove his horses too far into the water, and, in so doing, he drowned them.