6. The pronoun stands not merely for a noun, but for a noun in its syntactical relation, and also as restricted by modifying words; as, "We saw the little deformed boy who watched at the gate, and pitied him," i. e., the little deformed boy who watched at the gate.

7. The antecedent, as the term indicates, is something going before; but as an interrogative pronoun inquires for an object as yet unknown, the antecedent cannot be a preceding noun. The pronoun, therefore, must agree in person, number, and gender, not necessarily with the noun in the answer-the subsequent,-but with a noun which the speaker conceived to be the name of the object (however erroneous it might be) when he uttered the question; as, "Who is there?" Ans. "A horse." Here who evidently refers to person, being equivalent to what person. It would have been what, had the speaker known the character of the object inquired for.

69. Classes of Pronouns.

1. Pronouns are divided into three classes, personal, relative, and interrogative.

2. To these classes some grammarians add adjective pronouns. It is true that certain limiting adjectives may take the place of nouns; as, this, that, these, those, each, all, &c. So, any qualifying adjective, preceded by an article, may stand for a noun in the same way; as, The good, the wise, the prudent; but a noun, in both cases, is properly understood. Hence they should be disposed of alike, that is, as adjectives used as nouns.

3. To pronouns, like nouns, belong Person, Number, Gender, and Case.

70. Personal Pronouns.

1. A personal pronoun is used both to represent a noun, and to show whether it is of the first, second, or third person.

2. I (plural we) is of the first person; thou (plural ye or you) is of the second person; he, she, and it (plural they) are of the third person, masculine, feminine, and neuter, respectively.

3. The personal pronouns of the first and second person represent the speaker or the hearer. The gender is supposed to be known, and is not

Pronouns classified. Properties of pronouns. Personal pronouns-1st, 2d, 3d persons.

indicated by the form of the pronoun, while that of the third person is represented by one of the forms, he, she, or it.

4. It is often used in a vague sense, as the subject of verbs descriptive of the weather; as, "It rains." "It thunders." It is used as an expletive, (1.) as the object of a verb; as, "Come and trip it as you go;" (2.) to introduce a sentence whose subject is placed after the predicate. "It is pleasant to see the sun.” "It has been ascertained, that water is composed of oxygen and hydrogen." It is used as subject to represent a noun or pronoun as attribute, of any number, gender, or person; "It is they." "It is James." "It is she."

as, "It is I."

5. Formerly, thou was used in addressing a single individual, and a corresponding form of the verb was used; as, "Thou singest;" but gradually you has come to take its place, till the use of thou, except in the solemn style, is now wholly discontinued. You, therefore, is both singular and plural in its application, but the verb does not change its form; it invariably takes the plural form; as, "You (meaning one) write," not writest.

6. The compound personal pronouns are, first person, myself (plural ourselves); second person, thyself (plural yourselves); third person (masculine) himself, (feminine) herself, (neuter) itself, (plural themselves).

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7. The compound personal pronouns are seldom, if ever, used as the subject of a proposition, though they may be used in apposition with it; as, 'He himself knows not whereof he affirms." When used as the object of a transitive verb, they are called reflexive, because the act of the agent falls back upon himself; as, "The boy struck himself.”

71. Exercise.

1. Substitute the nouns and their modifying words for the pronouns in the following sentences:

At this time, the commander of the American forces and his army took post at Harlem; he now sought to ascertain the state of his enemy's forces on Long Island. Captain Nathan Hale volunteered his services; he entered the British army in disguise. On his return, he was apprehended and sent to the cruel Marshal Cunningham, by whom he was ordered to execution without a trial.

Edward carelessly lost his books on his way to school; he tried to excuse himself to his teacher for his deficiency in his lessons, but she required him to prepare them after school, and recite them to her.

Uses of "it" of "thou." Compound personal pronouns.

72. Declension of the Personal Pronouns.

1. The personal pronouns are thus declined :

:

2. Of the possessives, my, thy, her, our, your, their, are used when the noun is expressed; mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, and theirs (in modern style), when it is understood, and the latter must be changed to the former whenever the noun is supplied. "That book is yours; this is "That book is your book; this is my book."

mine."

3. When mine, thine, &c., are used as in the above example, they seem to perform a double office; first, to represent the speaker, hearer, or person spoken of, as a possessor; and, secondly, like other limiting or qualifying words, when the noun is understood, to represent or stand for that noun, not as a pronoun does, but as an adjective (69, 2). Thus we .say, “This [book] is an arithmetic; that [book] is a geography." "The violent [persons] take it by force." "Mine [my task] was an easy task.” Properly, neither of the above words is a noun. The first three are adjectives used to limit the noun understood, which follows them, and the last a personal pronoun in the possessive case, used to limit the noun task, understood. If it is proper to say that this, that, or violent are used as nouns, it is equally so of the word mine, not in its pronominal, but in its adjective office. It is, then, strictly, a pronoun in the possessive, governed by some noun understood; but may, like an adjective, be parsed as that noun, in the nominative or the objective case.

1. In parsing a pronoun,

73. Exercise.

(1.) Tell what part of speech it is. Why?
(2.) Tell what kind of pronoun. Why?
(3.) Tell what its antecedent is. Why?

(4.) Decline it.

(5.) Give the person, number, gender. Why?

Declension of THYSELF. HIMSELF, &c. The possessives my, thy, mine, thine, &c.

(6.) Rule for person, number, gender. Why?

(7.) Case and construction.

(8.) Rule for construction.

NOTE. In parsing, let the pupil follow this order, and as soon as possible, without any question from the teacher. The pronoun is parsed very much like the noun.

2. Study the following models for parsing :

"David brought his book, and laid it on the table."

His. is a pronoun; it takes the place of a noun; personal; it is used both to represent a noun, and to show whether it is of the first, second, or third person; it refers to David's for its antecedent; (singular, nominative he, possessive his, objective him; plural, nominative they, possessive their or theirs, objective them ;) it is of the third person, singular number, masculine gender, because its antecedent is; (Rule III.: "A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and person ;) possessive case, and is used to limit book, by denoting possession, according to Rule VII. (Repeat it.) It. . is a pronoun (why?); personal (why?); it has book for its antecedent; (decline it); it is of the third person, singular number, neuter gender, because its antecedent book is (Rule III.), objective case, and is the object of laid: Rule VIII. (Repeat the rule.)

"The messenger himself revealed the treachery."

Himself. is a pronoun (why?); compound, composed of him and self; it has messenger for its antecedent; third person, singular number, masculine gender, because its antecedent is (Rule III.), nominative case, and used to identify or explain messenger, according to Rule VI.

3. Parse the PERSONAL PRONOUNS in the following sentences:

Can it be that America, under such circumstances, can betray herself! that she is to be added to the catalogue of republics, the inscription upon whose ruins is, "They were, but they are not!" Forbid it, my countrymen! forbid it, heaven!-Story.

It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to connect our thoughts, our sympathies, and our happiness, with what is distant in place or time.-Webster.

His praise, ye winds that from five quarters blow,

Breathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye pines.-Milton.

Love took up the glass of Time, and turned it in his glowing hands, Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden sands.-Tennyson.

Models for parsing pronouns.