Chapter I: Inflection

+52.+ +Inflection is a change of form in a word indicating some change in its meaning. A word thus changed in form is said to be inflected.+

Thus the nouns _man_, _wife_, _dog_, may change their form to
_man’s_, _wife’s_, _dog’s_, to express possession; or to _men_,
_wives_, _dogs_, to show that two or more are meant.

The pronouns _I_, _she_, may change their form to _our_, _her_.

The adjectives _large_, _happy_, _good_, may change their form to
_larger_, _happier_, _better_, to denote a higher degree of the
quality; or to _largest_, _happiest_, _best_, to denote the highest
degree.

The verbs _look_, _see_, _sing_, may change their form to _looked_,
_saw_, _sang_, to denote past time.

The examples show that a word may be inflected (1) by the addition of a final letter or syllable (_dog_, _dogs_; _look_, _looked_), (2) by the substitution of one letter for another (_man_, _men_), or (3) by a complete change of form (_good_, _better_, _best_).

+53.+ The inflection of a substantive is called its +declension+; that of an adjective or an adverb, its +comparison+; that of a verb, its +conjugation+.

NOTE. Some forms which we regard as due to inflection are really
distinct words. Thus _we_ is regarded as a form of the pronoun _I_,
but it is in fact an altogether different word. Such irregularities,
however, are not numerous, and are properly enough included under the
head of inflection.

The table below gives a summary view of inflection, and may be used for reference with the following chapters.

SUBSTANTIVES (NOUNS AND PRONOUNS)

Gender { Masculine (_male_)
{ Feminine (_female_)
{ Neuter (_no sex_)

Number { Singular (_one_)
{ Plural (_more than one_)

Person { First (_speaker_)
{ Second (_spoken to_)
{ Third (_spoken of_)

Case { Nominative (_subject case_)
{ Possessive (_ownership_)
{ Objective (_object case_)

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Comparison { Positive Degree
{ Comparative Degree
{ Superlative Degree

VERBS

Number { Singular }
{ Plural }
} _Verb agrees with Subject_
Person { First }
{ Second }
{ Third }

Tense { Simple Tenses { Present
{ { Past
{ { Future
{
{ Compound Tenses { Perfect (or Present Perfect)
{ { Pluperfect (or Past Perfect)
{ { Future Perfect

Mood { Indicative (_all six tenses_)
{ Imperative (_Present Tense only_)
{ Subjunctive (_Present_, _Past_, _Perfect_, _Pluperfect_)

Voice { Active (_Subject acts_)
{ Passive (_Subject receives the action_)

Infinitives (Present and Perfect)
Participles (Present, Past, and Perfect)