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LESSON XVII.

CASE.

Mention the subjects of the verbs in the following sentences:

1. The boy bought a watch.

2. An officer caught the thief.

3. Birds build nests.

What did the boy buy? Whom did the officer catch? What do birds build? Which words limit the actions expressed by the verbs? The noun or pronoun that limits the action expressed by a verb is called the object of the verb.

State the offices of the italicized words in the following:

1. We followed the shepherd's dog.

2. The horse's bridle is broken.

When a word is used to show to whom or to what something belongs, it is said to denote possession.

Find in the following sentences a noun used (1) as the subject of a verb, (2) as the object of a verb, (3) as the object of a preposition, (4) to denote possession : —

1. The boy stood by the door.

2. He heard his father's voice.

3. A wave upset the boat.

4. The traveller walked through the fields.

The relation which a noun or pronoun bears to some other word in the sentence is called case.

A noun used as the subject of a verb is said to be in the nominative case; as,

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The bell rang.

A noun used to show possession is said to be in the possessive case; as,

The child's eyes are blue.

A noun used as the object of a verb or of a preposition is said to be in the objective case; as,

1. They launched the vessel.

2. He gazed at the flowers.

The case of a noun is determined by the relation that it bears to some other word in the sentence.

The possessive case of nouns is the only one that has a special form. The common or ordinary form of the noun is used in the other cases.

The alteration in the form of a word to express a change of meaning is called inflection. Nouns are inflected to indicate number and case. A noun is said to be declined when its number and case forms are regularly arranged; as,

NOM. AND OBJ. CASE.

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POSSESSIVE CASE.

boy's,

boys'.

State the kind, the gender, the number, and the case of the

nouns in the following sentences:

1. This tree stood in the centre of an ancient wood

2. The waves rush in on every side.

3. Grandfather's chair stood by the fireside.

4. The stranger shook his head mournfully.

5. Birds have wonderfully keen eyes.

6. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty firelock, and with a heart full of trouble and anxiety turned his steps homeward.

7. Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye. -SCOTT.

8. When the rock was hid by the surge's swell,

The mariners heard the warning bell. - SOUTHEY.

9. The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep. - GRAY. 10. They shook the depths of the desert gloom. -HEMANS.

EXERCISE II.

1. Write five sentences containing nouns in the nominative case.

2. Write five sentences containing nouns in the posses

sive case.

case.

3. Write five sentences containing nouns in the objective

LESSON XVIII.

POSSESSIVE FORMS OF NOUNS.

Mention the nouns that are in the possessive case, and tell how the possessive is formed in each example: :

1. She knelt by the lady's side.
2. The ladies' gallery is closed.
3. Men's voices were heard.

Add the apostrophe and s ('s) to a singular noun, to form the possessive; as, boy, boy's; man, man's.

The s is sometimes omitted in poetry for the sake of the metre ; and it is also omitted in a few words where too many hissing sounds would come together; as, for conscience' sake; for righteousness' sake; for Jesus' sake.

Add the apostrophe (') to a plural noun ending in s, to form the possessive; as, boys, boys'; ladies, ladies'.

Add the apostrophe and s ('s) to a plural noun not ending in s, to form the possessive; as, men, men's; children, children's.

The possessive sign does not always denote possession. It is used to show authorship, origin, kind, etc.; as, Lowell's poems; the sun's rays; men's clothing.

EXERCISE I.

Point out the nouns in these sentences, tell how each is used, and name its case:

1. The lark's song rang in her ears.

2. The sound of horses' hoofs was heard in the distance. 3. The scene brought to mind an old writer's account of Christmas preparations.

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4. The incidents of the Revolution plentifully supplied the barber's customers with topics of conversation.

5. The boy rang the janitor's bell.

6. A burst of laughter came from the servants' hall.

7. I noted but two warblers' nests during the season. Vainly the fowler's eye

8.

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong.

9. He felt that his little daughter's love was worth a thousand times more than he had gained by the Golden Touch.-HAWTHORNE.

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EXERCISE II.

Write in one column the possessive singular forms, and in another column the possessive plural forms of the following

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Tell how the possessive case is formed in the following compound words and phrases:

1. The lieutenant-governor's reverie had now come to an end.

2. Bright and Dun's window is filled with flowers. 3. They are reading Graham and Wood's History. When a name is composed of two or more words, add the possessive sign to the last word only; as, Marsh and Wood's store; Lee and Peabody's office.

Two connected nouns implying separate possessions must each take the possessive sign; as, Webster's and Worcester's dictionaries.

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