AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR

FOR USE OF

HIGH SCHOOL, ACADEMY, AND COLLEGE CLASSES

PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE AT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY NASHVILLE, TN

OF THE FOGG HIGH SCHOOL, NASHVILLE, TENN.

1895

There’s no limit to how many English grammars can be created, nor should there be, until theoretical knowledge and practical use come together more effectively. A lot of valuable work has already been done in this area, but it has mostly been carried out by those who tend to view things from a scholar's perspective, and their writings often target trained individuals rather than inexperienced learners. Finding an advanced grammar that doesn't use complicated words, obscure ideas, or challenging concepts is not easy. These elements make it harder for an average student to understand and absorb grammar facts, leading to a dislike of the subject. Therefore, the main goal of this book is to be both scholarly and practical. It attempts to present grammatical facts in a straightforward way and help students grasp them thoroughly, while also eliminating confusing obstacles as much as possible.

To achieve these goals, it’s important to always keep in mind the real basis of grammar; which is good literature. We've included plenty of quotes from respected authors to show students that they are working with the realities of the language, rather than just the theories of grammarians. It's also suggested that when preparing written exercises, students should use classic English literature instead of “making up” sentences. However, we don’t intend for the use of literary masterpieces for grammatical study to replace or detract from their true value and purpose as works of art. It will likely be beneficial to alternate regular reading and appreciation of literature with studying grammar, so that while students enrich their minds and sharpen their artistic sense, they also develop a keen awareness of all grammatical forms and usages. Occasionally, it has been considered best to leave out explanations and not share personal preferences, allowing students to discover the better approach to understanding certain data through direct engagement with the sources of grammatical rules. It’s not the job of the grammarian to "correct"; rather, it’s to document and organize the usages of language and guide those who navigate any points of contention. Free expression within the framework of good usage should have the greatest possible freedom.

Our goal has been to create a grammar that covers as much ground as possible while still properly defining the term. So, in addition to documenting and organizing the facts of language, we’ve also aimed to foster mental skills and encourage students to delve deeper into this subject. It's unrealistic to expect complete immunity from errors and oversights in such a complex task. We will gladly welcome any help in correcting mistakes.

Though we aim to gather our information directly and use it independently, we want to acknowledge our reliance on the following books and articles:—

Meiklejohn's "English Language," Longmans' "School Grammar," West's "English Grammar," Bain's "Higher English Grammar" and "Composition Grammar," Sweet's "Primer of Spoken English" and "New English Grammar," Hodgson's "Errors in the Use of English," Morris's "Elementary Lessons in Historical English Grammar," Lounsbury's "English Language," Champney's "History of English," Emerson's "History of the English Language," Kellner's "Historical Outlines of English Syntax," Earle's "English Prose," and Matzner's "Englische Grammatik." Allen's "Subjunctive Mood in English," Battler's articles on "Prepositions" in the "Anglia," and many other valuable papers have also been helpful and suggestive.

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to Professor W.D. Mooney of Wall & Mooney's Battle-Ground Academy in Franklin, TN, for his thorough review of the first draft of the manuscript, and to Professor Jno. M. Webb of Webb Bros. School in Bell Buckle, TN, and Professor W.R. Garrett of the University of Nashville for their valuable suggestions and constructive feedback.

W.M. Baskervill.

J.W. Sewell.

Nashville, TN, January 1896.

INTRODUCTION


PART I.
THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

NOUNS.
PRONOUNS.
ADJECTIVES.
ARTICLES.
VERBS AND VERBALS..
Verbs.
Verbals.
How To Parse Verbs And Verbals.
ADVERBS.
CONJUNCTIONS.
PREPOSITIONS..
WORDS THAT NEED WATCHING.
INTERJECTIONS.

PART II.
ANALYSIS OF SENTENCES.

CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO FORM.
CLASSIFICATION ACCORDING TO NUMBER OF STATEMENTS.
Simple Sentences.
Contracted Sentences.
Complex Sentences.
Compound Sentences.

PART III.
SYNTAX

INTRODUCTORY.
NOUNS.
PRONOUNS.
ADJECTIVES.
ARTICLES.
VERBS.
INDIRECT DISCOURSE.
VERBALS.
INFINITIVES.
ADVERBS.
CONJUNCTIONS.
PREPOSITIONS

INDEX

Recently, there have been many negative comments about teaching grammar compared to teaching science, which shows that people have forgotten that grammar is actually a science. The goal we should have in teaching science isn't just to stuff a child's mind with a bunch of facts that may or may not be useful in the future, but to develop and exercise their observational skills and to teach them how to utilize what they observe. In this regard, the grammar teacher has a significant advantage over teachers of other sciences, as the facts they need to highlight are readily available for every student to observe without the need for any special equipment, and these facts are also based on everyone's personal experiences.—Dr. Richard Morris.

The proper study of a language is an intellectual discipline of the highest order. If I exclude discussions on the comparative merits of Catholicism and Protestantism, English grammar was the most important subject of my childhood.—John Tyndall.

INTRODUCTION.

What different opinions writers on English grammar have provided in response to the question, What is grammar? can be illustrated by the following—

These are enough to suggest several different ideas about English grammar—

(1) It creates rules to guide us on how to use words.

(2) It's a record of use that we should follow.

(3) It is focused on the forms of the language.

(4) English does not have grammar in terms of forms or inflections, but simply considers the nature and uses of words in sentences.

Fierce debates have taken place over these opinions, and many works have been written to support the theories. The first of these remained popular for a long time. It originated from the etymology of the word grammar (Greek gramma, writing, a letter), and from an effort to create a treatise on English grammar by using classical grammar as a model.

Perhaps a mix of (1) and (3) has been even more popular, although there has been a lot more classification than there are actual forms.

In recent years, (2) and (4) have been gaining popularity, but they’ve struggled to replace the older, more established theories. Many argue that students should spend their time studying general literature to become fluent and proficient in their native language. Others insist that focusing on forms and inflections is an unnecessary mimicry of classical texts.

Which perspective should the English student embrace? Before we answer this, we need to determine if one of the theories mentioned above should be considered the correct one while dismissing the others.

The real reason for the variety of opinions is a mix-up of two separate things—what the definition of grammar should be and what the purpose of grammar should be.

The field of English grammar is, rightly understood, broader than what any of the definitions above suggest; and the student should have a clear understanding of the area they need to explore.

It must be acknowledged that the language has very few inflections now, compared to Latin or Greek; so a small grammar can cover them all.

It’s also clear to those who have historically studied the language that creating grammar rules can be quite risky: what’s seen as correct today might not be in twenty years, even if our rules are based on a careful analysis of the “standard” writers of our time. Language usage changes alongside our thinking. In Chaucer's time, it was common to use two or three negatives to emphasize a negation, as in, "Ther nas no man nowher so vertuous" (There never was no man nowhere so virtuous). Shakespeare also used what was considered good English when he said more elder ("Merchant of Venice") and most unkindest ("Julius Cæsar"), but that is considered bad English now.

If we've listed the language's inflections and explained which syntax is most commonly used in some tricky areas, there's still a lot for the grammarian to work on.

Surely our great language, with its vast vocabulary, unique and plentiful idioms, and many ways to express every possible nuance of meaning, deserves serious study, beyond just memorizing inflections and following rules.

Grammar is definitely a way to train the mind; and while it will teach the student to think critically and clearly, it will also, if taught well, help develop sharp observation skills and a good sense of literature. Ongoing exposure to the greatest ideas from the best thinkers will spark a desire for pure, unspoiled English.

Coming back, then, from the question, What ground should grammar cover? we arrive at the answer to the question, What should grammar teach? and we define it as,—

English grammar is the study of the nature of words, their forms, and how they are used and related in a sentence.

This will cover the usual sections: "The Parts of Speech" (with their variations), "Analysis," and "Syntax." It will also need to address any issues that help clarify difficulties, support the classification of related expressions, or draw the student’s attention to common idioms and phrases, encouraging his observation.

A few words here about the authority on which grammar is based.

The statements provided will be backed up by quotes from the main or "standard" literature of modern times, specifically from the eighteenth century onward. This literary English is seen as the basis upon which grammar should be built.

Here and there, there will also be quotes of words and phrases from spoken or colloquial English, referring to the natural, unforced expressions found in everyday conversations and interactions among smart individuals.

These quotes will often clarify unclear constructions, as they maintain expressions that have long disappeared from literary or standard English.

Occasionally, references will be made to vulgar English,—the language of the uneducated and uninformed,—which will help illustrate points of syntax that were once correct or standard, but are now definitely considered bad grammar.

The following pages will cover three divisions:—

1. In the simpler state of the Arabs, the nation is free, because each of her sons rejects a servile submission to the will of a master.—Gibbon.

By looking at this sentence, we see several words employed as names. The most straightforward name is Arabs, referring to a specific group of people; however, in addition to this one, the words sons and master refer to things and can apply to any of those things. The words state, submission, and will are clearly names of a different type, representing ideas rather than objects; and the word nation represents an entire group.

Once you understand the meaning of each of these words, the word that represents it will always bring to mind the thing or idea itself. These words are called nouns.

2. A noun is a word that names something, directly representing an object, substance, or idea in our minds.

Nouns are classified as follows:—

(1) Proper.

(2) Common. (a) CLASS NAMES: i. Individual.
ii. Community.
(b) Material.

(3) Abstract. (a) ATTRIBUTE.
(b) VERBAL

4. A proper noun is a name given to a specific object, whether it's a person, place, or thing.

It focuses or restricts the element it refers to, narrowing it down to a specific use. So, city is a term that can refer to any city, but Chicago identifies one specific city and draws attention to that particular place. King can be used for any monarch, but Alfred the Great refers to just one king.

The word proper comes from a Latin term meaning limited, belonging to one. This doesn’t mean that a proper name can only refer to one object, but rather that whenever such a name is used, it is specific or proper to that object. Even if there are multiple Bostons or Manchesters, the name of each is an individual or proper name.

5. A common noun is a name held by any member of a group of people, animals, or objects.

Common, as used here, comes from a Latin word that means general, shared by everyone.

For example, road is a word that refers to any highway outside of cities; wagon is used to describe any type of vehicle designed for hauling: these words have the broadest meaning. We can say, the man here, or the man in front of you, but the word man is restricted by other words or phrases: the term itself is generally applicable.

Besides thinking about people, animals, and things individually, we can think of them in groups and give names to those groups.

So, groups of men can be referred to as a crowd, a mob, a committee, a council, or a congress, and so on.

These are called COLLECTIVE NOUNS. They properly belong under common nouns because each group is viewed as a unit, and the name given to it applies to any group of that type.

6. The definition provided for common nouns is more accurately applicable to class nouns. However, it can also correctly apply to another group of nouns described below; these are common nouns in that their names refer to every instance of similar substance, rather than to each individual or separate object.

They are called MATERIAL NOUNS. These include glass, iron, clay, frost, rain, snow, wheat, wine, tea, sugar, and so on.

They can be arranged in groups like this:—

The metals: iron, gold, platinum, etc.

(2) Products referred to in bulk: tea, sugar, rice, wheat, etc.

Geological materials: mud, sand, granite, rock, stone, etc.

(4) Natural phenomena: rain, dew, clouds, frost, mist, etc.

(5) Various products: fabric (and the different types of fabric), potash, soap, rubber, paint, celluloid, etc.

7. NOTE.—There are some nouns, like sun, moon, and earth, that appear to be the names of specific individual objects, yet they are not considered proper names.

The reason is that in proper names, the goal is to exclude all other individuals in the same category and assign a specific name to the subject being considered, like when we call a city "Cincinnati." However, in the terms "sun," "earth," and so on, that intention isn’t present. If several objects like the center of our solar system are identified, they are also referred to as "suns" through a natural extension of the term; the same goes for "earth," "world," etc. They stay as common class names.

8. Abstract nouns are names for qualities, conditions, or actions, viewed in an abstract way, or separate from their natural connections.

When we talk about a wise man, we see a certain trait or quality in him. If we just want to focus on that quality without describing the person, we refer to the man's wisdom. The quality is still present just as it was before, but now it's treated only as a label. Similarly, poverty represents the state of being poor; proof refers to the act of proving something or what demonstrates that something has been proven; and so forth.

Again, we can say, "Painting is a beautiful art," "Learning is difficult to master," "a man of insight."

9. There are two main categories of abstract nouns:—

(1) ATTRIBUTE NOUNS, describing attributes or qualities.

(2) VERBAL NOUNS, representing state, condition, or action.

10. The ATTRIBUTE ABSTRACT NOUNS are created from adjectives and common nouns. So, (1) prudence comes from prudent, height comes from high, redness comes from red, stupidity comes from stupid, and so on; (2) peerage comes from peer, childhood comes from child, mastery comes from master, kingship comes from king, and so forth.

II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS come from verbs, as their name suggests. They may be—

(1) Similar to the simple verb. The verb changes its function and is used as a noun; for example, in expressions like "a long run," "a bold move," and "a brisk walk."

(2) Created from verbs by changing the ending or adding a suffix: motion from move, speech from speak, theft from thieve, action from act, service from serve.

(3) Formed from verbs by adding -ing to the base form of the verb. It's important to keep in mind that these words are not used as verbs. They can't govern a word, and they can't show action; they're just names for actions. They are merely the shells of verbs and must be clearly separated from gerunds (Secs. 272, 273).

To make things easier, take a close look at these examples:

The best ideas and sayings of the Greeks; the moon triggered intense forebodings; at the beginning of his life; he shared his blessings across the land; the great Puritan awakening; our birth is just a sleep and a forgetting; a wedding or a celebration; the rough drawings of the book; masterpieces of Socratic reasoning; the teachings of the High Spirit; those opinions and feelings; there’s time for such reasonings; the well-being of her subjects; her longing for their approval; feelings that their original meaning will definitely not justify; the main bearings of this matter.

12. Some abstract nouns didn't come from any other part of speech but were created directly to express specific ideas or phenomena. Examples include beauty, joy, hope, ease, energy; day, night, summer, winter; shadow, lightning, thunder, etc.

The adjectives or verbs related to these are either derived from the nouns themselves or are completely different words; such as glad—joy, hopeful—hope, etc.

NOTE.—Remember that all sentences are to be selected from standard literature.

SPECIAL USES OF NOUNS.

13. When used in ways that change their usual meanings, nouns of one category can start to resemble or even completely shift to another category. Because words can quickly change their meanings by either expanding or restricting their use, we'll find many examples of this transition between categories; however, most of them fall into the following groups. For more details, see the comments on articles (p. 119).

14. Proper nouns are used as common in one of two ways:—

(1) The origin of something is used for that thing: in other words, the name of the inventor can be used for the invention itself, like davy, which refers to the miner's lamp created by Sir Humphry Davy; or guillotine, named after Dr. Guillotin, its inventor. Alternatively, the name of the country or city where an item comes from can represent the item: like china, from China; arras, from a town in France; port (wine), from Oporto, in Portugal; levant and morocco (leather).

Some of these words have become so worn out from use that we can barely trace their origins anymore; for instance, the word port, mentioned earlier. Other similar examples are calico, which comes from Calicut; damask, which originates from Damascus; and currants, from Corinth, etc.

(2) The name of a person or place recognized for specific qualities is applied to any person or place that has those qualities; thus,—

15. Material nouns can be used as class names. Instead of thinking about the entire body of material that certain uses come from, you can refer to specific uses or aspects of the substance; for example—

(1) Of individual objects made from metals or other materials that can be shaped in different ways. We know about several items made of iron. The material iron includes all the metal found in them; but we can say, "The cook heated the irons," talking about flat-irons; or, "The sailor was put in irons," meaning iron chains. We can also mention a glass to drink from or look into; a steel to sharpen a knife on; a rubber for erasing marks; and so on.

(2) Of classes or kinds of the same substance. These are the same in material but vary in strength, purity, etc. So, it saves time to make the nouns plural and say teas, tobaccos, paints, oils, candies, clays, coals.

(3) In poetic usage, certain words that are inherently singular in concept are made plural or used as general terms, as seen in the following:—

(4) Of detached portions of matter used as class names; as stones, slates, papers, tins, clouds, mists, etc.

16. Abstract nouns are often used as proper names by giving them human characteristics; that is, ideas are described as if they exist within living beings. This is a poetic technique, but it's not limited to poetry.

17. Abstract nouns become partially concrete when they are referred to in the plural.

They aren't just abstract nouns, nor are they common class nouns. For example, take a look at this:—

When we say that art is different from science, that the strength of art is based on fact, and that disposition is what needs to be created, the italicized words are purely abstract nouns. However, when we refer to an art or a science, or to the arts and sciences, the abstract idea is somewhat diminished. The words that come after the article a, or that are made plural, are still names of abstract concepts, not physical things; but they expand the meaning to include different types of art or various branches of science. They are neither class nouns nor pure abstract nouns: they are more accurately described as half abstract.

Test this in the following sentences:—

18. Nouns used as descriptive terms. Sometimes a noun is added to another noun to enhance its meaning or describe it; for example, "a family quarrel," "a New York bank," "the State Bank Tax bill," "a morning walk."

It’s clear that these come very close to the role of adjectives. However, it's more accurate to view them as nouns for the following reasons: they maintain their identity as nouns; they don’t express quality; and they cannot be compared like descriptive adjectives can.

They are more like possessive nouns that belong to another word but are still nouns. They can be seen as shortened expressions, like a walk in the morning, a bank in New York, a bill related to tax on the banks, etc.

NOTE.—If the descriptive word is a material noun, it can be seen as transformed into an adjective. The phrase "gold pen" conveys the same meaning as "golden pen," which includes a pure adjective.

WORDS AND WORD GROUPS USED AS NOUNS.

19. Due to the lack of unique forms and the resulting flexibility of English, words that are typically other parts of speech are often used as nouns; and different groups of words can function as nouns by being used in that way.

(1) Other parts of speech used as nouns:—

(2) Certain word groups used as single nouns:—

(3) Any part of speech can be thought of just as a word, without considering its role in the sentence; also, book titles are treated as simple nouns.

20. It’s important to remember, though, that the cases mentioned above are changes in the use of words rather than their meaning. We rarely encounter examples of one part of speech completely transforming into another.

When the terms the great and the wealthy are used in the sentence above, they aren't just names: we are thinking about the idea of individuals and the qualities of being great or wealthy. These words function as nouns in the sentence but carry an adjectival meaning.

In the other sentences, why and wherefore, When, Now, and Then, are referred to as if they are just nouns; however, the reader views this as an unnatural use of them as naming words, seeing it instead as a figure of speech.

NOTE.—These comments don’t apply, of course, to words that become pure nouns through usage. There are many of these. The adjective good has no connection to the noun goods; similarly, when referring to the principal of a school, or a state secret, or a loyal domestic, or a criminal, etc., these words are completely independent of any adjectival meaning.

Pick out the nouns in the following sentences and identify which class each noun belongs to. Notice if any have changed from one class to another.

21. In Latin, Greek, German, and many other languages, there are some basic rules stating that names for males are usually masculine and names for females are usually feminine. There are exceptions to this general rule, but not in English. In English grammar, male beings are always masculine, and female beings are always feminine.

When talking about inanimate objects, these languages are completely different from ours in how they assign gender to words. For example, in Latin, hortus (garden) is masculine, mensa (table) is feminine, and corpus (body) is neuter; in German, das Messer (knife) is neuter, der Tisch (table) is masculine, and die Gabel (fork) is feminine.

The big difference is that in English, gender is based on the meaning of the word, while in other languages, gender is based on the form. In English, gender depends on sex: if the thing being talked about is male, the name for it is masculine; if it’s female, the name is feminine. So:

22. Gender is the way we use words or modify words to identify different sexes.

23. It's clear from this that English has only two genders—masculine and feminine.

All nouns must be divided into two main categories: gender nouns, which indicate the sex of the object, and neuter nouns, which do not specify sex or refer to inanimate objects, and therefore do not have a sex.

Gender nouns refer to names of people and certain names of animals; neuter nouns include some animals and all non-living things.

24. Some words can be gendered or neutral nouns depending on how they are used. For example, the word child is neutral in the sentence, "A little child shall lead them," but is masculine in the sentence from Wordsworth,—

Of the animals that people frequently interact with or find most interesting, they are referred to using gender-specific terms, as shown in these sentences:—

Other animals aren’t classified by sex and are referred to as neuter, since the sex doesn’t matter.

25. According to the definition, there can't be a "common gender": words either indicate sex (or the sex is made clear by the context) or they don't indicate sex at all.

If words like parent, servant, teacher, ruler, relative, cousin, domestic, etc., don't indicate the gender of the individuals, they are considered gender-neutral words.

26. In simple terms, the classification of words by gender, or the absence of it, is,—

(MASCULINE: Males.)
Gender nouns {
(FEMININE: Women.

Neuter nouns: Names of inanimate objects or living beings whose gender can't be identified.

27. Gender changes apply only to masculine and feminine nouns. Forms would be a better term than inflections, since inflection refers specifically to the case of nouns.

There are three ways to tell the genders:—

(1) By adding a gender word in front of another word.

(2) By adding a suffix, usually to a masculine word.

(3) By using a different word for each gender.

28. Typically, the gender words he and she are added to neutral words; like he-goat—she-goat, cock sparrow—hen sparrow, he-bear—she-bear.

One feminine, woman, puts a prefix before the masculine man. Woman is a short way of writing wifeman.

29. The majority of gender words are those that have suffixes. In this case, the original native endings have mostly been replaced with foreign suffixes.

The native suffixes used to indicate the feminine were -en and -ster. These are still present in vixen and spinster, although both words have lost their original meanings.

The word vixen used to be the feminine form of fox in Southern England. They referred to fox as vox; for from they said vram; and for the older term fat they used vat, like in wine vat. So, vixen comes from fyxen, which is derived from the masculine fox.

Spinster is an outdated term from a large group of words that were used in Old and Middle English,^[1] but have since lost their original meaning related to women. The old masculine counterpart to spinster was spinner, but now spinster has no connection to it.

The foreign suffixes come in two types:—

(1) These are borrowed words like czarina, señorita, executrix, and donna. They are linked to foreign words and are never used for words that are considered English.

(2) This is considered the standard or regular ending for feminine words, -ess (from French esse, Low Latin issa), the one that's most commonly used. The corresponding masculine form might end in -er (-or), but in many cases, it doesn’t. Whenever we adopt a new masculine word, the feminine version is created by adding the -ess ending.

Sometimes the -ess has been added to a word that is already feminine due to the ending -ster; for example, seamstr-ess, songstr-ess. The ending -ster had then lost its power as a feminine suffix; it has no significance now in the words huckster, gamester, trickster, punster.

30. The ending -ess is added to many words without changing the ending of the masculine; as,—

The masculine ending can be dropped before adding the feminine -ess; as,—

The feminine form can drop a vowel that appears in the masculine; for example—

Empress has been shortened from emperice (twelfth century) and emperesse (thirteenth century), from Latin imperatricem.

Master and mistress were in Middle English maister—maistresse, from the Old French maistre—maistresse.

31. When the older -en and -ster fell out of use as the distinctive markers of the feminine, the ending -ess, derived from the French -esse, gained much greater popularity than it has today.

Instead of saying doctress, fosteress, wagoness like they did in the sixteenth century, or servauntesse, teacheresse, neighboresse, frendesse as they did in the fourteenth century, we have dropped the ending in many cases and either use a prefix or let the masculine terms serve for the feminine as well.

Thus, we say doctor (for both males and females) or woman doctor, teacher or female teacher, neighbor (for both males and females), etc. We often use terms like author, editor, and chairperson to refer to individuals of any gender.

NOTE.—There seems to be a distinction made: when we refer to a female as an active agent only, we use the masculine ending, as in, "George Eliot is the author of 'Adam Bede;'" but when we intentionally differentiate from a male, we use the feminine, as in, "George Eliot is an eminent authoress."

32. In some of these pairs, the feminine and masculine forms are completely different words; others share the same root. Some of them have an interesting history, which will be discussed below:—

Girl originally referred to a child of either gender and was used for both boys and girls until around the fifteenth century.

Drake is unique because it comes from a corresponding feminine form that is no longer in use. It isn’t historically related to our word duck, but is derived from ened (duck) and an outdated suffix rake (king). Three letters from ened have dropped off, resulting in our word drake.

Gander and goose originally came from the same root word. Goose has different related forms in languages similar to English (German Gans, Icelandic gás, Danish gaas, etc.). The masculine form was created by adding -a, the old marker for masculine. This gansa evolved into gan-ra, gand-ra, and finally gander; the d was added to make it easier to pronounce, like in many other words.

Mare, in Old English mere, had the masculine mearh (horse), but this has long been outdated.

Husband and wife don't have the same origin. Husband comes from a Scandinavian word (Anglo-Saxon hūsbonda from Icelandic hús-bóndi, likely meaning house dweller); wife was used in Old and Middle English to refer to a woman in general.

King and queen are thought by some (Skeat, among others) to have the same root word, but the German etymologist Kluge argues that they do not.

Lord is believed to be a simplified version of the Old English hlāf-weard (loaf keeper), which was written as loverd, lhauerd, or lauerd in Middle English. Lady comes from hlœ̄̄fdige (hlœ̄̄f meaning loaf, and dige having an uncertain origin and meaning).

Witch comes from the Old English wicce, while wizard originates from the Old French guiscart (prudent). They aren't directly related, but both trace back to the same root.

Sir comes from the Old French sire (Latin senior). Madam is derived from the French ma dame, which comes from Latin mea domina.

33. Besides gander and drake, there are two other masculine words that were created from the feminine:—

Bridegroom, from Old English brȳd-guma (bride's man). The r in groom has entered from mixing it up with the word groom.

Widower, evolved from the fading ending -a in Old English to -e in Middle English. The older forms, widuwa—widuwe, became the same, so a new masculine ending was added to differentiate the masculine from the feminine (compare Middle English widuer—widewe).

34. Just like we give abstract ideas human traits (Sec. 16), we can talk about physical objects using gendered terms; for example,—

This isn’t just a poetic way of speaking. In everyday conversation, personification is quite common: a pilot refers to his boat in the feminine; an engineer does the same with his engine; etc.

In these situations, gender is indicated by the pronoun rather than the noun's form. However, the fact that in English, the distinction of gender is limited to differences in sex makes these deviations more impactful.

35. In nouns, number refers to how we indicate whether we are talking about one item or multiple items.

36. Our language has two numbers—singular and plural. The singular form refers to one thing, while the plural form refers to more than one.

37. There are three ways to change a singular form to a plural:—

By adding -en.

(2) By changing the root vowel.

By adding -s (or -es).

The first two methods were common, along with the third, in Old English, but in modern English, -s or -es has become the "standard" ending; that is, whenever we take on a new word, we make its plural by adding -s or -es.

38. This form only exists in the word oxen, even though it was quite common in Old and Middle English; for example, eyen (eyes), treen (trees), shoon (shoes), which is still used in Lowland Scotch. Hosen appears in the King James version of the Bible, and housen is still commonly used in regional speech in England.

39. But later, other words were changed to mimic the old words ending in -en by creating a double plural.

Brethren has gone through three stages. The old plural was brothru, then brothre or brethre, and finally brethren. The decline of inflections resulted in this addition.

Children has gone through the same history, although the earlier form childer was used in literary English until the seventeenth century and can still be seen in some dialects; as,—

Kine is another example of a double plural, but it no longer has a singular form.

40. Examples of this inflection are,—

Some other words—like book, turf, wight, borough—used to have the same inflection, but now they just have the ending -s.

41. Similar to this group are some words, originally neuter, that are the same in both singular and plural; like deer, sheep, swine, etc.

Other words that follow the same usage are, pair, brace, dozen, when used after numbers (if not following numbers, or if preceded by the prepositions in, by, etc., they add -s): also trout, salmon; head, sail; cannon; heathen, folk, people.

The words horse and foot, when referring to soldiers, keep the same form in the plural; for example,—

Instead of -s, add -es—

(1) If a word ends with a letter that can't take -s and still be pronounced. Examples include box, cross, ditch, glass, lens, quartz, etc.

If the word ends in a sound that can't take -s, a new syllable forms; for example, niche—niches, race—races, house—houses, prize—prizes, chaise—chaises, etc.

-Es is also added to some words ending in -o, though this sound combines easily with -s and doesn't create an extra syllable: cargo—cargoes, black—blacks, hero—heroes, volcano—volcanoes, etc.

Usage varies a bit with other words in this category, with some taking -s and others taking -es.

(2) If a word ends in -y and is preceded by a consonant (the y is then changed to i); for example, fancies, allies, daisies, fairies.

Formerly, however, these words ended in -ie, and the real ending is therefore -s. Notice these from Chaucer (fourteenth century):—

And these are from Spenser (sixteenth century):—

(3) For some words that end in -f or -fe, the plural form changes to -ves: calf—calves, half—halves, knife—knives, shelf—shelves, etc.

43. Material nouns and abstract nouns are always singular. When these words take on a plural ending, they lose their identity and shift to different categories (Secs. 15 and 17).

44. Proper nouns are usually singular, but can be made plural when we want to refer to several people or things that share the same name; for example, the Washingtons, the Americas.

45. Some words are typically singular, even though they look plural. Examples include optics, economics, physics, mathematics, politics, and many fields of study; also news, pains (in the sense of care), molasses, summons, means: such as,—

Two words, means and politics, may be plural in their construction with verbs and adjectives:—

Some words have no singular.

Sometimes, however, some of these words are structured like singular nouns. Take note of the following:—

In Early Modern English, "thank" is used.

47. Three words were originally singular, and the current ending -s isn't truly a plural form, but they are commonly understood as plural: alms, eaves, riches.

48. Some nouns have two plurals that have different meanings.

In talking about coins, twopence, sixpence, etc., you can add -s, creating a double plural, like two sixpences.

49. Some words have one plural form with two meanings—one that matches the singular, and the other that is different from it.

Numbers also refers to issues, or editions, of a magazine.

50. Compound words can be divided into two categories:—

(1) Those whose parts are so closely connected that they form one word. These make the last part plural.

(2) Those groups where the first part is the main one, followed by a word or phrase that acts as a modifier. The main member adds -s in the plural.

NOTE.—Some words ending in -man are not compounds of the English word man, but instead add -s; examples include talisman, firman, Brahman, German, Norman, Mussulman, Ottoman.

51. Some groups make both parts of the group plural; like men singers, menservants, women servants, women singers.

52. When it comes to plurals of names with titles, English writers have different opinions. The title can be made plural, like the Messrs. Allen, the Drs. Brown, the Misses Rich; or the name itself can be pluralized.

The former is probably more commonly used today, although the latter is often seen; for example,—

53. Several foreign words have been adopted into English without altering their form. These are known as domesticated words and keep their foreign plurals.

Others have been adopted, and over time have changed their power to fit English words. They are then referred to as naturalized, or Anglicized, or Englished.

The domesticated words may keep the original plural. Some of them have an additional English plural in -s or -es.

Find the plurals of these words in the dictionary:—

I. FROM THE LATIN.

II. FROM GREECE.

When foreign words are fully adopted into the language, they form their plurals in the usual manner; as,—

54. Letters, numbers, etc., form their plurals by adding -s or 's. Words mentioned just as words, without regard to their meaning, also add -s or 's; for example, "His 9's (or 9s) look like 7's (or 7s)," "Avoid using too many and's (or ands)," "Change the +'s (or +s) to -'s (or -s)."

55. Case is a modification or usage of a noun (or pronoun) to indicate its relationship to other words in the sentence.

In the sentence, "He sleeps in a felon's cell," the word felon's describes the cell, indicating a relationship similar to possession; cell has another relationship, contributing to the idea of location with the word in.

56. As inflections have generally diminished, the number of case forms has significantly decreased.

There are now only two forms of English nouns—one for the nominative and objective, and one for the possessive: therefore, dealing with inflection is quite simple when it comes to learning about cases.

But there are reasons why grammars discuss three cases of nouns when there are only two forms:—

(1) Because the relationships between all words, whether they are changed in form or not, need to be understood for analysis purposes.

(2) Because pronouns still have three case forms and three case relations.

57. Nouns, then, can be classified into three cases: the nominative, the objective, and the possessive.

58. The nominative case is used like this:—

(1) As the subject of a verb: "Water finds its own level."

(2) As a predicate noun, completing a verb, and referring to or explaining the subject: "A bent twig makes a crooked tree."

(3) In apposition with another nominative word, enhancing the meaning of that word: "The reaper Death with his sharp sickle."

(4) In direct address: "Lord Angus, you have lied!"

(5) With a participle in an absolute or independent phrase (there's some debate about whether this is a true nominative): "The work done, they returned to their homes."

(6) With an infinitive in exclamations: "David dying!"

Pick out the nouns in the subject case, and explain how each one is used in that case.

59. The objective case is used like this:—

(1) As the direct object of a verb, referring to the person or thing that directly receives the action of the verb: "Woodman, spare that tree!"

(2) As the indirect object of a verb, naming the person or thing indirectly affected by the action of the verb: "Give the devil what he deserves."

(3) Adverbially, defining the action of a verb by indicating time, measure, distance, etc. (in earlier stages of the language, this had the regular accusative ending): "Full fathom five your father lies;" "Cowards die many times before their deaths."

(4) As the second object, completing the verb, and thus becoming part of the predicate when acting on an object: "Time turns the worst enemies into friends;" "You turn the storm into a calm." In these sentences, the real predicates are turns enemies into friends, taking the object enemies, and are equivalent to the single verb, reconciles; and turns a storm into calm, taking the object storm, meaning calms it down. This is also referred to as the predicate objective or the factitive object.

(5) As the object of a preposition, it refers to the word that the preposition indicates and connects to another word: "He must have a long spoon to eat with the devil."

The preposition can sometimes take the possessive form of a noun, as will be shown in Sec. 68.

(6) In apposition with another objective: "The opinions of this group were completely controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a patriarch of the village, and landlord of the inn."

Point out the nouns in the objective case in these sentences, and explain the function of each one:—

60. The possessive case always modifies another word, whether it's stated or implied. There are three forms of possessive that show how a word connects meaning-wise to the modified word:—

(1) Appositional possessive, as in these expressions,—

In these sentences, the phrases translate to of the rocky isle [of] Scio and in the bay [of] Baiæ, where the possessive essentially functions like an appositional objective. It's a poetic expression, with the equivalent phrase used in prose.

(2) Objective possessive, as demonstrated in the sentences,—

In these cases, the possessives work like an object following a verb: for example, for murdering Sir Thomas Overbury; an elegy to commemorate yesterday. That's why the use of the possessive here is referred to as objective.

(3) Subjective possessive, the most common of all; as,—

If this were expanded into the power that his Creator has, the word Creator would be the subject of the verb: hence it is called a subjective possessive.

61. This last possessive indicates various relationships. Possession in some form is the most common. The type of relationship can usually be clarified by rephrasing the possessive into a different phrase: for instance, "Winter's harsh storms are gathering now" (i.e., storms that winter might have); "His beard was of several days' growth" (i.e., growth that several days had produced); "The forest's leaping panther will yield his spotted hide" (i.e., the panther that the forest conceals); "Whoever sheds man's blood" (blood that belongs to man).

62. As mentioned earlier (Sec. 56), there are just two case forms. One is the simple form of a word, which shows the relationships of nominative and objective; the other is created by adding 's to the simple form to make the possessive singular. To create the possessive plural, just add an apostrophe if the plural nominative ends in -s; add 's if the plural nominative does not end in -s.

63. The complete declension of nouns is as follows:—

NOTE.—The difficulty that some students have in writing the possessive plural would be reduced if they remember there are two steps to take:—

(1) Create the nominative plural following Sections 39-53

(2) Follow the guideline mentioned in Sec. 62.

64. In Old English, many words had the singular genitive ending -es; in Middle English, even more words adopted this ending. For example, in Chaucer, "From every schires ende," "He was very worthy in his lordes war," "at his beddes side," "mannes heart," etc.

By the end of the seventeenth century, the current method of indicating possession had become common. However, the apostrophe was not then seen as representing the omitted vowel of the genitive (like lord's for lordes): due to a mistaken belief, the ending was thought to be a contraction of his, similar to how schoolboys sometimes write, "George Jones his book."

Though this opinion was inaccurate, the apostrophe has been a huge help, since otherwise, words with a plural in -s would have three identical forms. Visually, all the forms are now distinct, but auditorily, they might sound the same, and the context must indicate which form is meant.

The use of the apostrophe in the plural also started in the seventeenth century, because people thought s wasn't a possessive indicator and wanted to create different forms.

65. Sometimes the s is dropped in the possessive singular if the word ends in a hissing sound and another hissing sound follows, but the apostrophe stays to indicate possession; for example, for goodness' sake, Cervantes' satirical work.

In other cases, the s is rarely left out. Check out these three examples from Thackeray's writings: "Harry ran upstairs to his mistress's apartment;" "A postscript is added, as by the countess's command;" "I saw what the governess's views were on the matter."

66. In compound expressions, when they include words that are in apposition or combined with a phrase, the possessive sign is usually placed last, although there are cases where both appositional words are marked.

Compare the following examples of literary use:—

More commonly, people replace the possessive with an equivalent phrase; for example, in the name of the emperor their master instead of the emperor their master's name.

67. The possessive is sometimes used without attaching to any noun in the sentence; words like house, store, church, dwelling, etc., are implied: for example,—

68. A unique expression, a double possessive, has developed and become a standard phrase in contemporary English.

In most cases, a possessive relationship in Old English was shown with the inflection -es, which corresponds to 's. In French, the same relationship was indicated by a phrase that corresponds to of and its object. Both of these are now used together; sometimes they are combined as one modifier, creating a double possessive. There are several reasons for this:—

(1) When a word is modified by a, the, this, that, every, no, any, each, etc., while also being modified by a possessive noun, it's awkward to place the possessive before the modified noun as it would change the meaning. Instead, we place it after the modified noun using of.

(2) It’s more emphatic than the basic possessive, especially when paired with this or that, because it highlights the modified word more clearly.

(3) It prevents confusion. For example, in a sentence like, "This introduction of Atterbury's has all these advantages" (Dr. Blair), the statement clearly means only one thing—the introduction that Atterbury made. If, however, we use the phrase of Atterbury, the sentence might be understood as just explained, or it might mean the act of introducing Atterbury. (See also Sec. 87.)

The following are some examples of double possessives:—

(a) Identify the possessive nouns and indicate whether each one is appositional, objective, or subjective.

(b) Rewrite the sentence by changing the possessive forms into equivalent phrases.

69. Parsing a word means gathering all the information about its structure and how it relates to other words in the sentence.

In parsing, some idioms—like the double possessive, for instance—don’t follow regular grammatical rules and should just be considered idioms.

70. So, when breaking down a noun, we say,—

(1) The category it belongs to—common, proper, etc.

(2) Whether it's a neuter noun or a gendered noun; if it's gendered, which gender does it belong to.

(3) Whether it’s singular or plural.

(4) Its role in the sentence, determining its case.

71. When analyzing any word, you should always follow this approach: first, describe what the word does, then provide the grammatical details about its class, inflections, and relationships.

"What is bolder than a miller's neck scarf, which grabs a thief by the throat every morning?"

Miller's is a term used for every member of its group, which makes it a common noun; it refers to a male, so it's a masculine gender noun; it signifies just one individual, thus it’s in singular form; it indicates possession or ownership, and modifies neckcloth, which makes it a possessive case.

Neckcloth, like miller's, is a general term; it has no gender, so it's neuter; it refers to one item, making it singular; the subject of the verb is is implied, so it's in the nominative case.

Thief is a common noun referring to a class; the association indicates that a male is intended, thus masculine gender; singular form; and the object of the verb takes, so it's in the objective case.

Throat is neutral, belonging to the same category and form as the word neckcloth; it is the object of the preposition by, so it is in the objective case.

NOTE.—The preposition can sometimes take the possessive form (see Sec. 68).

Morning is similar to throat and neckcloth in terms of class, gender, and number; regarding its case, it indicates time, has no governing word, but functions as the adverbial objective.

Follow the model above to identify all the nouns in the following sentences:—

72. When we want to mention a name multiple times in a row, it can be awkward and tiring to repeat the noun. For example, instead of saying, "The student will succeed in the student's efforts if the student is ambitious," we can make the sentence better by shortening it to, "The student will succeed in his efforts if he is ambitious."

Again, if we want to know who owns a house, we obviously can't give the owner's name, but by asking, "Whose house is that?" we use a word in place of the name until we find out what it is.

This shouldn't be taken to mean that pronouns were invented because nouns were annoying, since history shows that pronouns are as old as nouns and verbs. The use of pronouns must have developed naturally, out of the need for short, clear, and representative words.

A pronoun is a word that replaces a name, a person or thing, or a group of people or things.

73. Pronouns can be divided into five categories: —

(1) Personal pronouns, which identify the person by their form (Sec. 76).

(2) Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions about people or things.

(3) Relative pronouns refer to a noun, pronoun, or other word or expression and simultaneously link two statements. They are also known as conjunctive.

(4) Adjective pronouns, words that are mainly adjectives, are considered adjectives when they modify nouns, but serve as pronouns when they replace nouns.

(5) Indefinite pronouns can't be used as adjectives; they represent an unspecified number of people or things.

Numerous examples of all these will be provided in the separate classes discussed later.

74. Since pronouns represent both people and names, they need to refer to the speaker, the person or thing being addressed, and the person or thing being discussed.

This leads to a new term, "the distinction of person."

75. This distinction wasn't necessary when discussing nouns, since nouns have the same form, regardless of whether they refer to people or things that are being addressed or talked about. It's clear that a noun cannot represent the person speaking, even if it had a different form.

From analogy to pronouns, which have forms for person, nouns are sometimes referred to as first or second person based on their use; that is, if they are used alongside a pronoun of the first or second person, they are said to have person by agreement.

But usually, nouns refer to something being talked about.

76. Pronouns are naturally divided into three persons:—

(1) First person, representing the speaker.

(2) Second person, referring to a person or thing being addressed.

(3) Third person refers to a person or thing that is being talked about.

Personal pronouns are inflected like this:—

78. You'll notice that the pronouns for the first and second persons don’t have different forms for gender. The speaker can be male or female, or even neutral through personification; the same goes for the person or thing being addressed.

But the third person has, in the singular, a distinct form for each gender, including the neuter.

In Old English, these three came from the same root; specifically, masculine hē, feminine hēo, and neuter hit.

The form hit (for it) is still heard in informal English, and hoo (for hēo) in some dialects of England.

The plurals were hī, heora, heom in Old English; the forms they, their, them possibly come from the English demonstrative, though they were influenced by the related Norse forms.

79. You, your, etc., are old forms that are no longer used in everyday conversation. As a result, we don’t have a singular pronoun for the second person in common speech or writing, so we use the plural you to represent the singular. We always pair it with a plural verb, even when talking about a single person or thing.

80. There are, however, two modern uses of thou, thy, etc.:—

(1) In an elevated style, especially in poetry; as,—

(2) When addressing God, like in prayers, etc.; for instance,—

81. It’s important to look at the possessive its. This form has developed relatively recently. The old form was his (from the nominative hit), and this remained in use until the sixteenth century. The shift from the old his to the modern its is illustrated in these sentences:—

Here his refers to altar, which is a neutral noun. The quotation represents the usage of the early sixteenth century.

Shakespeare uses his, it, and sometimes its as the possessive form of it.

In Milton's poetry (seventeenth century) its appears only three times.

82. We have an interesting relic in sentences like this one from Thackeray: "One way to understand 'em is to see the frightened expressions of the ogres' wives and kids."

As shown above, the Old English objective was hem (or heom), which was often pronounced with the h silent, just like we now say, "I saw 'im yesterday" when the word him isn't emphasized. In spoken English, this form 'em has survived alongside the literary them.

83. The pronouns he and she are frequently used in poetry and, at times, in everyday conversation, to give human qualities to objects (Sec. 34).

84. The nominative forms of personal pronouns are used in the same way as the nominative forms of nouns (see Sec. 58). It's usually easier to determine the case of these pronouns than with nouns, because they not only have a nominative use but also a nominative form. The words I, you, he, she, we, you, they are almost always nominative in modern written English, although you can occasionally be used as an objective.

85. In spoken English, there are some additional nouns that are included in the list of nominatives: they are me, him, her, us, them, when they appear in the predicate position. For example, in a sentence like, "I am sure it was him," standard written English would require he after was; however, everyday English typically uses the forms me, him, her, us, them as predicate nominatives, while those mentioned in Sec. 84 are always subjects. Still, careful speakers avoid this and adhere to the conventions of standard English.

86. The forms my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their are sometimes categorized separately as POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, but it's more accurate to refer to them as the possessive case of personal pronouns, just like we talk about the possessive case of nouns, without creating more classifications.

The forms mine, thine, yours, hers, theirs, and sometimes his and its, have a unique function. They stand separate from the nouns they modify instead of being placed right before them. Because of this usage, they are referred to as ABSOLUTE PERSONAL PRONOUNS, or as some people call them, ABSOLUTE POSSESSIVES.

Here are some examples of absolute pronouns:—

Formerly my and your came before their nouns, if the nouns started with a vowel or a silent h; thus,—

This use is still found in poetry.

87. The forms hers, ours, yours, theirs are actually double possessives because they add the possessive s to what is already a standard possessive form.

Besides this, we also have, like in nouns, a possessive phrase formed by the preposition of along with these double possessives, hers, ours, yours, theirs, and with mine, thine, his, and occasionally its.

Like the noun possessives, they have several uses:—

(1) To avoid confusion, as in the following:—

(2) To bring emphasis, as in these sentences:—

(3) To express disdain, anger, or sarcasm; for example,—

(4) To make a noun more broadly applicable; so,—

What would the last two sentences mean if the word my was used instead of of mine, and came before the nouns?

88. In their role, or how they are used in a sentence, the absolute possessive forms of personal pronouns are quite similar to adjectives that function as nouns.

In sentences like, "The good alone are great," and "None but the brave deserves the fair," the italicized words function as both adjectives and nouns, as explained in Sec. 20.

So in the sentences illustrating absolute pronouns in Sec. 86: mine represents my property, his represents his property, in the first sentence; mine represents my praise in the second. However, the first two have a nominative use, and mine in the second has an objective use.

They can be described as having a possessive form, but are used either as nominative or objective depending on whether the modified word is in the nominative or objective case.

89. In Old English, there was a case that still exists in use, but not in form. In a sentence like the one from Thackeray, "Pick me out a whip-cord thong with some dainty knots in it," the word me is clearly not the direct object of the verb; it indicates for whom or for whose benefit the action is performed. In pronouns, this dative usage, as it is called, was indicated by a separate case.

In modern English, the same use is often seen, but the form is the same as the objective. Because of this, a word used this way is called a dative-objective.

The following are examples of the dative-objective:—

90. In addition to this use of the objective, there are others:—

(1) As the direct object of a verb.

(2) As the object of a preposition.

In apposition.

91. The word you and its possessive form yours are sometimes used without referring to a specific person being addressed. They are similar to indefinite pronouns in usage.

The pronoun it has several uses:—

(1) To refer to a single word before; as,—

(2) To refer to a previous group of words; thus,—

Here it refers back to the entire previous sentence, or to the idea, "any man doing wrong simply because he has a bad nature."

(3) As a grammatical subject, it represents the actual, logical subject that comes after the verb; as in the sentences,—

(4) As a neutral subject in some phrases that don't require another subject; as,—

(5) As an impersonal or indefinite object of a verb or a preposition; as in the following sentences:—

93. Personal pronouns in the objective case are often used reflexively, meaning they refer to the same person as the subject of the accompanying verb. For example, we say things like, "I found myself a good book," "He bought himself a horse," etc. This reflexive use of the dative-objective is very common in both spoken and written English.

The personal pronouns aren't usually used reflexively when they are direct objects. This happens in poetry, but rarely in prose; for example,—

94. The REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS, or COMPOUND PERSONAL pronouns, are created by adding the word self to personal pronouns, with the plural form being selves.

They are myself, (ourself), ourselves, yourself, (thyself), yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves.

Of the two forms in parentheses, the second is the traditional form of the second person, used in poetry.

Ourself is used to follow the word we when this represents a single person, especially in the speech of rulers; as,—

95. The question might come up, why are himself and themselves not hisself and theirselves, like in nonstandard English, following the pattern of myself, ourselves, etc.?

The history of these words shows they are made up of the dative-objective forms, not the possessive forms, with self. In Middle English, the forms meself and theself were changed into the possessive forms myself, thyself, and the others were formed by analogy with these. Himself and themselves are the only ones that still have a distinct objective form.

In the forms yourself and yourselves, we have the possessive your identified as both singular and plural.

96. There are three uses of reflexive pronouns:—

(1) As the object of a verb or preposition, referring to the same person or thing as the subject; as in these sentences from Emerson:—

(2) To emphasize a noun or pronoun; for example,—

NOTE.—In such sentences, the pronoun is sometimes left out, and the reflexive modifies the implied pronoun; for example,—

(3) As the exact equivalent of a personal pronoun; as,—

(a) Create sentences that include ten personal pronouns, with some for masculine, feminine, and neuter.

(b) Bring up sentences that have five personal pronouns in the possessive form, including some that are double possessives.

(c) Identify the function of each it in the following sentences:—

97. The question words we use today are who (along with the forms whose and whom), which, and what.

There’s an old word, whether, that used to mean which of two, but it’s now outdated. Examples from the Bible:—

From Steele (18th century):—

98. The use of who, along with its possessive and objective forms, is present in these sentences:—

From these sentences, it’s clear that the interrogative who refers to people only; it isn’t changed for gender or number, but only for case, having three forms; it’s always in the third person, since it always asks about someone.

99. Examples of using the question which:—

As shown here, which doesn't change for gender, number, or case; it can refer to either people or things; it is selective, meaning it identifies one or more from a group of known people or objects.

100. Sentences showing the use of interrogative what:—

These show that what is not changed for case; that it is always singular and neutral, referring to things, ideas, actions, etc., not to people.

101. Here are all the question forms:—

In spoken English, who is used as the objective instead of whom; for example, "Who did you see?" "Who did he speak to?"

102. The question word who has a different form for each case, so you can tell the case by the word's form; however, the case of which and what has to be determined just like with nouns—by the use of the words.

For example, in Sec. 99, which is nominative in the first sentence because it's the subject of the verb had; nominative in the second as well, being the subject of doth love; and objective in the last, as it serves as the direct object of the verb shall take.

103. Who, which, and what are also relative pronouns; which and what can sometimes function as adjectives; what can act as an adverb in certain expressions.

They will be discussed again in the appropriate sections, particularly in the section on indirect questions (Sec. 127).

104. Relative pronouns are different from both personal and interrogative pronouns because they refer to an antecedent and can also connect clauses. The benefit of using them is that they help combine short statements into longer sentences, creating a more fluid conversation. For example, we might say, "He was the last of all the Bards. These bards sang about Border chivalry." Or, it can be shortened to,—

In the latter sentence, who clearly refers to Bards, which is known as the antecedent of the relative.

105. The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun, pronoun, or other word or expression that the pronoun represents. It typically comes before the pronoun.

Personal pronouns in the third person can also have antecedents, as they usually replace a word that has already been used; as,—

In this, both his and who refer to the priest.

The pronoun which can have its antecedent come after it, and the antecedent can be a single word or a phrase, as explained in the comments on which below.

106. Relatives can be SIMPLE or INDEFINITE.

When the word relative is used, it refers to a simple relative. Indefinite relatives and the indefinite use of simple relatives will be discussed later on.

The SIMPLE RELATIVES are who, which, that, what.

107. Examples of the relative who and its forms:—

108. Examples of the relative which and its forms:—

109. Examples of the relative that:—

110. Examples of how to use the relative what:—

[To the Teacher.—If students go through the sentences above thoroughly and evaluate every statement in the paragraphs that follow, they will gain a much better understanding of the relatives.]

111. By carefully reading the sentences in Sec. 107, you'll notice the following facts about the relative who:—

(1) It usually refers to people: so, in the first sentence, Sec. 107, a person...who; in the second, that person...whose; in the third, child, whom; and so on.

(2) It has three case forms—who, whose, whom.

(3) The forms don’t change based on the person or number of the antecedent. In sentence 4, who is first person; in 5, whose is second person; the others are all third person. In 1, 2, and 3, the relatives are singular; in 4, 5, and 6, they are plural.

112. Although in most cases who refers to people, there are instances where it refers to animals. It has been noted (Sec. 24) that animals are referred to by personal pronouns when their traits or behaviors are significant or interesting to humans. Likely following the same idea, the personal relative who is often used in literature to refer to animals.

Check out these examples:—