A Short English Grammer

A SHORT ENGLISH GRAMMAR

[Published in the Year 1748.]

SECTION I.

OF LETTERS.

1. LETTERS are either Vowels or Consonants.

2. A Vowel is a letter that may be pronounced alone; as, a, e, i, o, u. A Consonant is a letter that cannot be pronounced without a Vowel; as, b, c, d.

3. A Diphthong is two or more Vowels put together, and pronounced like one; as, au, owe.

4. A Syllable is a Vowel or Diphthong, either single, or pronounced with a Consonant.

5. There are in English twenty-four letters; a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k,1, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.

SECTION II.

OF NOUNS.

1. THERE are seven sorts of words; a Noun, a Pronoun, a Verb, a Participle, an Adverb, a Conjunction, and a Preposition.

2. The three former of these are declinable, that is, often vary their terminations.

3. A Noun is the name of a thing.

4. Nouns are either Substantives or Adjectives.

5. A Substantive is a Noun that may stand by itself; as, a man. An Adjective is a Noun that is always joined with a Substantive; as, good.

6. There are three Genders, the Masculine, the Feminine, and the Neuter.

7. But Nouns have no Genders.

8. A Case is the variation of the last syllable.

9. But Nouns in English have no Cases.

10. The Number of Nouns are two: The Singular, which speaks of one thing; as, a stone: The Plural, which speaks of more than one; as, stones.

11. The Plural Number of Nouns is formed by adding s to the Singular; as, a book, books.

12. But in Nouns ending in ch, sh, ss, or x, by adding es; as, a fox, foxes.

13. Nouns ending in f, or fe, change it into ves; as, a wife, wives.

14. Only those ending in oof, ff, rf, and a few others, are regular; as, a roof, roofs.

15. Nouns ending in y, form the Plural in ies; as, a city, cities.

16. Only those ending in a diphthong are regular; as, a boy, boys.

17. A man has in the Plural, men; a woman, women; a child, children; an ox, oxen; a goose, geese; a foot, feet; a tooth, teeth; a mouse, mice; a louse, lice; a die, dice; a penny, pence.

18. All Adjectives are indeclinable, having no Variation either of Gender, Case, or Number.

19. Adjectives have three Degrees of Comparison; the Positive, Comparative, and Superlative.

20. The Comparative Degree is formed by adding er to the Positive; the Superlative, by adding est; as, rich, richer, richest

21. But in the following Adjectives thus: —

Good better best

bad worse worst

little less least

much, many more most

SECTION III.

OF PRONOUNS.

1. A PRONOUN is a sort of word which is put for a Noun.

2. There are sixteen: I, thou, he; my or mine; thy or thine; his, her; our, your, their; this, that; what, which, who, whose.

3. My, thy, his, her, our, your, their, this, that, which, what, who, whose, are indeclinable.

4. The other Pronouns are declined thus: —

Singular. Plural.

I, me we, us

5. Thou, thee ye, you

6. He, him, Masculine

She, her, Feminine they, them

It, Neuter

7. Who, whom, is either Singular or Plural.

8. This has in the Plural, these; that, those.

9. Her, our, your, their, at the end of a sentence, take s; as, “It is hers.”

10. That is often used for who, or which; as, “The man that spoke,” for “who spoke.”

11. We say, “Thou, Thee,” when we speak to God; “You,” when we speak to men.

12. Pronouns have also three Persons: I, we, are of the First Person; thou, you, of the Second; and all the rest of the Third. SECTION IV.

OF VERBS.

1. A VERB is a sort of word that expresses either doing, and then it is called an Active; suffering, and then it is called a passive; or being, and then it is called a Neuter, Verb.

2. Verbs are not only varied by Numbers and Persons, but also by Moods, Tenses, and Conjugations

3. There are four Moods:

(1.) The Indicative, which shows that a thing is done:

(2.) The Imperative, which commands it to be done:

(3.) The Subjunctive, which generally follows another Verb, and expresses that a thing may, can, or should be done: And,

(4.) The Infinitive, which has neither Number nor Person.

4. There are five Tenses:

(1.) The Present Tense, which speaks of the present time:

(2.) The Preterimperfect, which speaks of the time not perfectly past:

(3.) The Preterperfect, which speaks of the time perfectly past:

(4.) The Preterpluperfect, which speaks of the time that is more than perfectly past: And,

(5.) The Future, which speaks of the time to come.

5. A Conjugation is the manner of varying the beginning or ending of Verbs, in their several Moods.

6. There is but one Conjugation in English.

SECTION V.

OF AUXILIARY VERBS.

1. THOSE are called Auxiliary Verbs which are used in forming the Moods and Tenses of all other Verbs.

2. There are two Auxiliary Verbs, “to have,” and “to be,” beside the Defective ones following: —

3. Indic. Pres. Sin. I thou canst, he can.

Pl. We can ys can, they can.

Imp. Sin. I could, thou couldst, he could.

Pl. We could, ye could, they could.

4. Ind. Pres. I may, thou mayest, he may, etc.

Imp. I might, thou mightest, he might, etc.

5. Ind. Pres. I shall, thou shalt, he shall, etc.

Imp. I should, thou shouldest, he should, etc.

6. Ind. Pres. I will, thou wilt, he will, etc.

Imp. I would, thou wouldest, he would, etc.

7. Ind. Pres. and Imp. I must, thou must, etc.

8. Ind. Pres. and Imp. I ought, thou oughtest, etc.

9. “To have” is conjugated thus:—

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Pres. Sin. I have, thou hast, he has or hath.

Pl. We have, ye have, they have.

Imp. Sin. I had, thou hadst, he had.

Pl. We had, ye had, they had.

Perf. Sin. I have had, thou hast had, he has had.

Pl. We have had, ye have had, they have had.

Preterplu. Sin. I had had, thou hadst had, he had had. Pl. We had had,.ye had had, they had had.

Fut. Sin. I shall or will have, thou shalt or wilt have, he shall or will have. Pl. We shall or will have, ye shall or will have, they shall or will have. IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Sin. Have thou. Pl. Have ye.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

Pres. Sin. I may have, thou mayest have, he may have. Pl. We may have, ye may have, they may have.

Imp. Sin. I might have, thou mightest have, he might have. Pl. We might have, ye might have, they might have. Perf. Sin. I may have had, thou mayest have had, he may have had. Pl. We may have had, ye may have had, they may have had. Preterplu. Sin. I might have had, thou mightest have had, he might have had.

Pl. We might have had, ye might have had, they might have had. Fut. Sin. I should have had, thou shouldest have had, he should have had. Pl. We should have had, ye should have had, they should have had. INFINITIVE MOOD.

Pres. To have. Perf. To have had.

PARTICIPLES.

Active, Having. Passive, Had.

10. A Participle is a sort of word that has Numbers, Genders, and Cases like a Noun, and Tenses like a Verb.

11. Some Participles are Active; some Passive.

12. Again: Some are of the Present, and some of the Preterperfect, Tense.

13. “To be” is conjugated thus: —

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Pres. Sin. I am, thou art, he is.

Pl. We are, ye are, they are.

Imp. Sin. I was, thou wast, he was.

Pl. We were, ye were, they were.

Perf. Sin. I have been, thou hast been, he has been. Pl. We have been, ye have been, they have been.

Preteplu. Sin. I had been, thou hadst been, he had been. Pl. We had been, ye had been, they had been.

Fut. Fin. I will or shall be, thou wilt or shalt be, he will or shall be. Pl. W e will or shall be, ye will or shall be, they will or shall be. IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Sin. Be thou. Pl. Be ye.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

Pres. Sin. I may be, thou mayest be, he may be.

Pl. We may be, ye may be, they may be.

Imp. Sin. I were, thou wert, he were; or, I might be, thou mightest he, he might be.

Pl. We were, ye were, they were; or, we might be, ye might be, they might be.

Perf. Sin. I may have been, thou mayest have been, he may have been. Pl.. We, ye, they may have been.

Preterplu. Sin. I might have been, thou mightest have been, he might have been.

Pl. We, ye, they might have been.

Fut. Sin. I should have been, thou shouldest have been, he should have been.

Pl. We, ye, they should have been.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

Pres. To be. Perf. To have been.

PARTICIPLES.

Active, Being. Passive, Been.

14. The old Auxiliary Verb, “To do,” is conjugated thus;— Indic. Pres. Sin. I do, thou doest, he does or doeth. Pl. We, ye, they do.

Imp. Sin. I did, thou didst, he did.

Pl. We, ye, they did.

PARTICIPLES.

Active, Doing. Passive, Done.

SECTION VI.

OF REGULAR VERBS.

A REGULAR verb is conjugated thus:—

INDICATIVE MOOD.

Pres. Sin. I fear, thou fearest, he feareth or fears. Pl. We fear, ye fear, they fear.

Imp. Sin. I feared, thou fearedst, he feared.

Pl. We feared, ye feared, they feared.

Perf. Sin. I have feared, thou hast feared, he hath feared. Pl. We have feared, ye have feared, they have feared. Preterplu. Sin. I had feared, thou hadst feared, he had feared. Pl. We had feared, ye had feared, they had feared. Fut. Sin. I shall or will fear, thou shalt or wilt fear, he shall or will fear. Pl. We, ye, they shall or will fear.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Sin. Fear thou. Pl. Fear ye.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

Pres. Sin. I may fear, thou mayest fear, etc.

Imp. Sin. I might fear, thou mightest fear, etc.

Perf. Sin. I may have feared, etc.

Preterplu. Sin. I might have feared, etc.

Fut. Sin. I should have feared, etc.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

Pres. To fear. Perf. To have feared.

PARTICIPLES.

Active, fearing. Passive, feared.

The Passive Voice is only the Auxiliary Verb “To Be,” conjugated throughout with the Passive Participle.

SECTION VII.

OF IRREGULAR VERBS.

1. THE following Verbs form the Imperfect Tense and the Participle Passive irregularly.

2. Where no Participle is set down, it is the same with the Imperfect. Present Imperf. Part. Pass.

Abide abode

Bear bore, bare born

Become became become

Begin began begun

Bend bent

Beseech besought

Bid bad

Bind bound

Bite bit

Bled bled blooded

Blow blew blown

Break broke broken

Breed bred

Bring brought

Burn burnt

Buy bought

Build built

Catch caught

Chide chid

Choose chose chosen

Cleave clave or clove cloven

Cling clung

Creep crept

Deal dealt

Die died dead

Dig dug

Draw drew drawn

Drink drank or drunk drunken

Drive drove driven

Fall fell fallen

Feed fed

Feel felt

Fight fought

Find found

Flee fled

Fly flew flown

Fling flung

Forsake forsook forsaken

Freeze froze frozen

Get got

Give gave given

Go went gone

Grind ground

Grow grew grown

Hang hung

Hide hid

Hold held

Keep kept

Know knew known

Lie lay laid

Lead led

Leave left

Lend lent

Lose lost

Make made

Meet met

Rend rent

Ring rung

Rise rose

Run ran

See saw seen

Seek sought

Sell sold

Send sent

Shake shook

Shine shone

Shoot shot

Shrink shrunk

Sing sang or sung

Sit sat

Slay slew slain

Sleep slept

Slide slid

Sling slung

Slink slunk

Smite smote smitten

Speak spoke spoken

Speed sped

Spend spent

Spin spun

Spring sprung

Stand stood

Steal stole stolen

Stick stuck

Stink stunk

Stride strid

Strike struck

String strung

Strive strove

Swear swore sworn

Sweep swept

Swim swum

Swing swung

Take took

Teach taught

Tear tore torn

Tell told

Think thought

Throw threw thrown

Tread trod

Wear wore worn

Weave wove woven

Weep wept

Win won

Wind wound

Work wrought

Wring wrung

Write writ or wrote written

3. A Verb must always be of the same Number and Person with the Noun or Pronoun going before it; as, “I love you.” “Christians love one another.” SECTION VIII.

OF ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS, AND CONJUNCTIONS.

1. AN Adverb is a sort of word which is added to a Verb to perfect, explain, or enlarge its sense.

2. Adverbs are compared like Noun Adjectives.

3. Among these may be reckoned those words expressing some sudden passion, which are commonly called Interjections; as, “as! oh!”

4. A Preposition is a sort of word which is commonly set before another, or compounded with it; as, “I go to London.”

5. A Conjunction is a sort of word which joins words or sentences together; as, and, or.

I cannot but subscribe to the remark of a late eminent writer, that, “in the simplicity of its structure, the English far exceeds all modern tongues;” and, I verily believe, all ancient too; at least, all that I have any acquaintance with; the Greek and Latin in particular.