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"The scholar's duty;" "My father's house." When the plural ends in s, and commonly when the singular terminates in double s, the apostrophe alone is added; as, "On eagles' wings;" ""For goodness' sake."-The objective case expresses the object of an action, or relation, and generally follows either an active verb, or a preposition; as, "John assists Charles;" They live in Boston."

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QUESTIONS.

What is gender?-How many genders are there? What does the masculine gender denote?-What does the feminine ?-What the neuter?-What is number?-Of how many numbers are nouns ?-What does the singular number express?-What does the plural ?How is the plural of nouns generally formed? -How many cases have English nouns ?What does the. nominative case express?What is said of the possessive case?-What of the objective case?

ILLUSTRATION.

"A man shall leave his father, and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh."

How many nouns are there in this sentence? Which of them are of the masculine gender? -Which feminine?-Which is neuter?-Are they of the singular or plural number?

"The boy plays."—What gender, number, and case is boy?

"The girls learn."-What gender, number, and case is girls?

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My father's house."What case is father's?

"For thy goodness' sake, forgive my sins." -What Lumber, case, and gender is goodness? What number, case, and gender is sake?-What number, case, and gender is sins?

"Love to men."What number, case, and gender is men?

REVIEW.

Some nouns literally neuter are used figuratively in the masculine or feminine gender; as when we say of the sun, he is sitting; or of a ship, she sails well. In this figurative way, we often speak of the moon, the earth, the church, a ship, a country, a city, virtue, fortune, &c. as feminine; and of the sun, time, a mighty river, &c. as masculine.

The English language has three methods of distinguishing the sex, viz.

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3. By a noun, pronoun, or adjective, being prefixed

to the substantive; as,

A cock-sparrow.

A man-servant.

A he-goat.

A he-bear.

A male child.

Male descendants.

A hen-sparrow.

A maid-servant.

A she-goat.

A she-bear.

A female child.

Female descendants.

Some nouns are either masculine or feminine; as, parent, child, cousin, friend, neighbour, servant.

Some nouns, from the nature of the things which they express, are used only in the singular form; as, wheat, pitch, gold, &c. others only in the plural form; as, beilows, scissors, lungs, riches, &c.

Some words are the same in both numbers; as, deer, sheep, swine, &c.

Nouns ending in for fe are commonly rendered plu

ral by the change of those terminations into ves; as, loaf, loaves; half, halves; wife, wives, &c.

Nouns which have y in the singular, and no other vowel in the same syllable, form their plural in ies; as beauty, beauties; fly, flies.

Several nouns form their plural irregularly; as, man, men; woman, women; ox, oxen; child, children; foot, feet; goose, geese; tooth, teeth; louse, lice; mouse, mice; penny, pence; die, dice.

It is agreeable to analogy, and the practice of the generality of correct writers, to construe the following words as plural nouns: pains, riches, alms: and also, mathematics, metaphysics, politics, ethics, optics, pneumatics, with other similar names of sciences.

The word news, notwithstanding its termination, is regarded as singular.

The word means may be singular or plural, as the construction requires.

The following words, which have been adopted from the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages, are thus distinguished with respect to number:

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Some words, derived from the learned languages, are confined to the plural number; as, antipodes, literati, minutiæ.

The following nouns, being both singular and plural in Latin, are used in the same manner in English: hiatus, apparatus, series, species.

When the plural of nouns does not end in s, the possessive case is formed by the addition of s, and an apostrophe, just like the possessive singular; as, men's work; women's clothes.

When the singular ends in double s, the apostrophic 8 is not always omitted, in forming the possessive; as, witness's testimony.

In words ending in ence the apostrophic s is commonly dropped even in the singular; as, For conscience' sake."

When proper names end in s, the apostrophic s is usually added; as "Adams's administration;" "Willis's paper." But in proper names ending in us, custom seems to require that the second s be omitted; as, "Jesus' sake;" "Peleus' son;" "Brutus' speech," &c. Sometimes, though rarely, two nouns in the possessive case immediately succeed each other; as, friend's wife's sister;" "My husband's brother's son.'

Nouns are declined, as in the following examples:

My

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How many ways are there in our language of distinguishing the sex?-What are they? What is the feminine of Master?-of Nephew?-of Sloven?-of Executor?—of Hero?-of Landgrave?-of Widower? --What nouns have no plural form?-What have no singular form? What is the plural of Cherub?--of Criterion?-of Datum?-of Radius?-of Stamen?

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