Chapter V: Part I: The Parts of Speech (2)

4. At lovers' perjuries,
They say, Jove laughs.

5. The world has all its eyes on Cato's son.

6. My quarrel and the English queen's are one.

7. Now the bright morning star, day's harbinger,
Comes dancing from the East.

8. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds; therefore, let him seasonably water the one, and destroy the other.

9. 'Tis all men's office to speak patience
To those that wring under the load of sorrow.

10. A jest's prosperity lies in the ear
Of him that hears it, never in the tongue
Of him that makes it.

11. No more the juice of Egypt's grape shall moist his lip.

12. There Shakespeare's self, with every garland crowned,
Flew to those fairy climes his fancy sheen.

13. What supports me? dost thou ask?
The conscience, Friend, to have lost them [his eyes] overplied
In liberty's defence.

14. Or where Campania's plain forsaken lies,
A weary waste expanding to the skies.

15. Nature herself, it seemed, would raise
A minster to her Maker's praise!

HOW TO PARSE NOUNS.

69. Parsing a word is putting together all the facts about its form and its relations to other words in the sentence.

In parsing, some idioms--the double possessive, for example--do not come under regular grammatical rules, and are to be spoken of merely as idioms.

70. Hence, in parsing a noun, we state,--

(1) The class to which it belongs,--common, proper, etc.

(2) Whether a neuter or a gender noun; if the latter, which gender.

(3) Whether singular or plural number.

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

[Sidenote: _The correct method._]

71. In parsing any word, the following method should always be followed: tell the facts about what the word _does_, then make the grammatical statements as to its class, inflections, and relations.

MODEL FOR PARSING.

"What is bolder than a miller's neckcloth, which takes a thief by the throat every morning?"

_Miller's_ is a name applied to every individual of its class, hence it is a common noun; it is the name of a male being, hence it is a gender noun, masculine; it denotes only one person, therefore singular number; it expresses possession or ownership, and limits _neckcloth_, therefore possessive case.

_Neckcloth_, like _miller's_, is a common class noun; it has no sex, therefore neuter; names one thing, therefore singular number; subject of the verb _is_ understood, and therefore nominative case.

_Thief_ is a common class noun; the connection shows a male is meant, therefore masculine gender; singular number; object of the verb _takes_, hence objective case.

_Throat_ is neuter, of the same class and number as the word _neckcloth_; it is the object of the preposition _by_, hence it is objective case.

NOTE.--The preposition sometimes takes the possessive case (see Sec. 68).

_Morning_ is like _throat_ and _neckcloth_ as to class, gender, and number; as to case, it expresses time, has no governing word, but is the adverbial objective.

Exercise.

Follow the model above in parsing all the nouns in the following sentences:--

1. To raise a monument to departed worth is to perpetuate virtue.

2. The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.

3. An old cloak makes a new jerkin; a withered serving man, a fresh tapster.

4. That in the captain's but a choleric word,
Which in the soldier is flat blasphemy.

5. Now, blessings light on him that first invented ... sleep!

6. Necker, financial minister to Louis XVI., and his daughter, Madame de Staël, were natives of Geneva.

7. He giveth his beloved sleep.

8. Time makes the worst enemies friends.

9. A few miles from this point, where the Rhone enters the lake, stands the famous Castle of Chillon, connected with the shore by a drawbridge,--palace, castle, and prison, all in one.

10. Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth,
And hated her for her pride.

11. Mrs. Jarley's back being towards him, the military gentleman shook his forefinger.

PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _The need of pronouns._]

72. When we wish to speak of a name several times in succession, it is clumsy and tiresome to repeat the noun. For instance, instead of saying, "_The pupil_ will succeed in _the pupil's_ efforts if _the pupil_ is ambitious," we improve the sentence by shortening it thus, "The pupil will succeed in _his_ efforts if _he_ is ambitious."

Again, if we wish to know about the ownership of a house, we evidently cannot state the owner's name, but by a question we say, "_Whose_ house is that?" thus placing a word instead of the name till we learn the name.

This is not to be understood as implying that pronouns were _invented_ because nouns were tiresome, since history shows that pronouns are as old as nouns and verbs. The use of pronouns must have sprung up naturally, from a necessity for short, definite, and representative words.

[Sidenote: _Definition._]

A pronoun is a reference word, standing for a name, or for a person or thing, or for a group of persons or things.

[Sidenote: _Classes of pronouns._]

73. Pronouns may be grouped in five classes:--

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

(2) Interrogative pronouns, which are used to ask questions about persons or things.

(3) Relative pronouns, which relate or refer to a noun, pronoun, or other word or expression, and at the same time connect two statements They are also called conjunctive.

(4) Adjective pronouns, words, primarily adjectives, which are classed as adjectives when they modify nouns, but as pronouns when they stand for nouns.

(5) Indefinite pronouns, which cannot be used as adjectives, but stand for an indefinite number of persons or things.

Numerous examples of all these will be given under the separate classes hereafter treated.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Person in grammar._]

74. Since pronouns stand for persons as well as names, they must represent the person talking, the person or thing spoken to, and the person or thing talked about.

This gives rise to a new term, "the distinction of _person_."

[Sidenote: Person _of nouns_.]

75. This distinction was not needed in discussing nouns, as nouns have the _same form_, whether representing persons and things spoken to or spoken of. It is evident that a noun could not represent the person speaking, even if it had a special form.

From analogy to pronouns, which have _forms_ for person, nouns are sometimes spoken of as first or second person by their _use_; that is, if they are in apposition with a pronoun of the first or second person, they are said to have person by agreement.

But usually nouns represent something spoken of.

[Sidenote: _Three persons of pronouns._]

76. Pronouns naturally are of three persons:--

(1) First person, representing the person speaking.

(2) Second person, representing a person or thing spoken to.

(3) Third person, standing for a person or thing spoken of.

FORMS OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

77. Personal pronouns are inflected thus:--

FIRST PERSON. _Singular._ _Nom._ I _Poss._ mine, my _Obj._ me

_Plural._ _Nom._ we _Poss._ our, ours _Obj._ us

SECOND PERSON.
_Singular._
_Old Form_ _Common Form._
_Nom._ thou you
_Poss._ thine, thy your, yours
_Obj._ thee you

_Plural._ _Nom._ ye you _Poss._ your, yours your, yours _Obj._ you you

THIRD PERSON.
_Singular._
_Masc._ _Fem._ _Neut._.
_Nom._ he she it
_Poss._ his her, hers its
_Obj._ him her it

_Plur. of all Three_. _Nom._ they _Poss._ their, theirs _Obj._ them

Remarks on These Forms.

[Sidenote: _First and second persons without gender._]

78. It will be noticed that the pronouns of the first and second persons have no forms to distinguish gender. The speaker may be either male or female, or, by personification, neuter; so also with the person or thing spoken to.

[Sidenote: _Third person_ singular _has gender_.]

But the third person has, in the singular, a separate form for each gender, and also for the neuter.

[Sidenote: _Old forms_.]

In Old English these three were formed from the same root; namely, masculine _hē_, feminine _hēo_, neuter _hit_.

The form _hit_ (for _it_) is still heard in vulgar English, and _hoo_ (for _hēo_) in some dialects of England.

The plurals were _hī_, _heora_, _heom_, in Old English; the forms _they_, _their_, _them_, perhaps being from the English demonstrative, though influenced by the cognate Norse forms.

[Sidenote: _Second person always plural in ordinary English._]

79. _Thou_, _thee_, etc., are old forms which are now out of use in ordinary speech. The consequence is, that we have no singular pronoun of the second person in ordinary speech or prose, but make the plural _you_ do duty for the singular. We use it with a plural verb always, even when referring to a single object.

[Sidenote: _Two uses of the old singulars._]

80. There are, however, two modern uses of _thou, thy_, etc.:--

(1) _In elevated style_, especially in poetry; as,--

With _thy_ clear keen joyance
Languor cannot be;
Shadow of annoyance
Never came near _thee_;
_Thou_ lovest; but ne'er knew love's sad satiety.--SHELLEY.

(2) _In addressing the Deity_, as in prayers, etc.; for example,--

Oh, _thou_ Shepherd of Israel, that didst comfort _thy_ people of
old, to _thy_ care we commit the helpless.--BEECHER.

[Sidenote: _The form_ its.]

81. It is worth while to consider the possessive _its_. This is of comparatively recent growth. The old form was _his_ (from the nominative _hit_), and this continued in use till the sixteenth century. The transition from the old _his_ to the modern _its_ is shown in these sentences:--

1 He anointed the altar and all _his_ vessels.--_Bible_

Here _his_ refers to _altar_, which is a neuter noun. The quotation represents the usage of the early sixteenth century.

2 It's had _it_ head bit off by _it_ young--SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare uses _his_, _it_, and sometimes _its_, as possessive of _it_.

In Milton's poetry (seventeenth century) _its_ occurs only three times.

3 See heaven _its_ sparkling portals wide display--POPE

[Sidenote: _A relic of the olden time._]

82. We have an interesting relic in such sentences as this from Thackeray: "One of the ways to know '_em_ is to watch the scared looks of the ogres' wives and children."

As shown above, the Old English objective was _hem_ (or _heom_), which was often sounded with the _h_ silent, just as we now say, "I saw '_im_ yesterday" when the word _him_ is not emphatic. In spoken English, this form '_em_ has survived side by side with the literary _them_.

[Sidenote: _Use of the pronouns in personification._]

83. The pronouns _he_ and _she_ are often used in poetry, and sometimes in ordinary speech, to personify objects (Sec. 34).

CASES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

I The Nominative.

[Sidenote: _Nominative forms._]

84. The nominative forms of personal pronouns have the same uses as the nominative of nouns (see Sec. 58). The case of most of these pronouns can be determined more easily than the case of nouns, for, besides a nominative _use_, they have a nominative form. The words _I_, _thou_, _he_, _she_, _we_, _ye_, _they_, are very rarely anything but nominative in literary English, though _ye_ is occasionally used as objective.

[Sidenote: _Additional nominatives in spoken English._]

85. In spoken English, however, there are some others that are added to the list of nominatives: they are, _me_, _him_, _her_, _us_, _them_, when they occur in the _predicate position_. That is, in such a sentence as, "I am sure it was _him_," the literary language would require _he_ after _was_; but colloquial English regularly uses as predicate nominatives the forms _me_, _him_, _her_, _us_, _them_, though those named in Sec. 84 are always subjects. Yet careful speakers avoid this, and follow the usage of literary English.

II. The Possessive.

[Sidenote: _Not a separate class._]

86. The forms _my_, _thy_, _his_, _her_, _its_, _our_, _your_, _their_, are sometimes grouped separately as POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, but it is better to speak of them as the possessive case of personal pronouns, just as we speak of the possessive case of nouns, and not make more classes.

[Sidenote: Absolute _personal pronouns._]

The forms _mine_, _thine_, _yours_, _hers_, _theirs_, sometimes _his_ and _its_, have a peculiar use, standing apart from the words they modify instead of immediately before them. From this use they are called ABSOLUTE PERSONAL PRONOUNS, or, some say, ABSOLUTE POSSESSIVES.

As instances of the use of absolute pronouns, note the following:--

'Twas _mine_, 'tis _his_, and has been slave to thousands.
--SHAKESPEARE.

And since thou own'st that praise, I spare thee _mine_.--COWPER.

My arm better than _theirs_ can ward it off.--LANDOR.

_Thine_ are the city and the people of Granada.--BULWER.

[Sidenote: _Old use of_ mine _and_ thine.]

Formerly _mine_ and _thine_ stood before their nouns, if the nouns began with a vowel or _h_ silent; thus,--

Shall I not take _mine_ ease in _mine_ inn?--SHAKESPEARE.

Give every man _thine_ ear, but few thy voice.--_Id._

If _thine_ eye offend thee, pluck it out.--_Bible._

My greatest apprehension was for _mine_ eyes.--SWIFT.

This usage is still preserved in poetry.

[Sidenote: _Double and triple possessives._]

87. The forms _hers_, _ours_, _yours_, _theirs_, are really double possessives, since they add the possessive _s_ to what is already a regular possessive inflection.

Besides this, we have, as in nouns, a possessive phrase made up of the preposition _of_ with these double possessives, _hers_, _ours_, _yours_, _theirs_, and with _mine_, _thine_, _his_, sometimes _its_.

[Sidenote: _Their uses._]

Like the noun possessives, they have several uses:--

(1) _To prevent ambiguity_, as in the following:--

I have often contrasted the habitual qualities of that gloomy
friend _of theirs_ with the astounding spirits of Thackeray and
Dickens.--J.T. FIELDS.

No words _of ours_ can describe the fury of the conflict.--J.F.
COOPER.

(2) _To bring emphasis_, as in these sentences:--

This thing _of yours_ that you call a Pardon of Sins, it is a bit
of rag-paper with ink.--CARLYLE.

This ancient silver bowl _of mine_, it tells of good old times.
--HOLMES.

(3) _To express contempt, anger, or satire_; for example,--

"Do you know the charges that unhappy sister _of mine_ and her
family have put me to already?" says the Master.--THACKERAY.

He [John Knox] had his pipe of Bordeaux too, we find, in that old
Edinburgh house _of his_.--CARLYLE.

"Hold thy peace, Long Allen," said Henry Woodstall, "I tell thee
that tongue _of thine_ is not the shortest limb about
_thee_."--SCOTT.

(4) _To make a noun less limited in application_; thus,--

A favorite liar and servant _of mine_ was a man I once had to
drive a brougham.--THACKERAY.

In New York I read a newspaper criticism one day, commenting upon
a letter _of mine_.--_Id._

What would the last two sentences mean if the word _my_ were written instead of _of mine_, and preceded the nouns?

[Sidenote: _About the case of absolute pronouns._]

88. In their function, or use in a sentence, the absolute possessive forms of the personal pronouns are very much like adjectives used as nouns.

In such sentences as, "_The good_ alone are great," "None but _the brave_ deserves _the fair_," the words italicized have an adjective force and also a noun force, as shown in Sec. 20.

So in the sentences illustrating absolute pronouns in Sec. 86: _mine_ stands for _my property_, _his_ for _his property_, in the first sentence; _mine_ stands for _my praise_ in the second. But the first two have a nominative use, and _mine_ in the second has an objective use.

They may be spoken of as possessive in form, but nominative or objective in use, according as the modified word is in the nominative or the objective.

III. The Objective.

[Sidenote: _The old_ dative _case._]

89. In Old English there was one case which survives in use, but not in form. In such a sentence as this one from Thackeray, "Pick _me_ out a whip-cord thong with some dainty knots in it," the word _me_ is evidently not the direct object of the verb, but expresses _for whom_, _for whose benefit_, the thing is done. In pronouns, this dative use, as it is called, was marked by a separate case.

[Sidenote: _Now the objective._]

In Modern English the same _use_ is frequently seen, but the _form_ is the same as the objective. For this reason a word thus used is called a dative-objective.

The following are examples of the dative-objective:--

Give _me_ neither poverty nor riches.--_Bible._

Curse _me_ this people.--_Id._

Both joined in making _him_ a present.--MACAULAY

Is it not enough that you have _burnt me_ down three houses with
your dog's tricks, and be hanged to you!--LAMB

I give _thee_ this to wear at the collar.--SCOTT

[Sidenote: _Other uses of the objective._]

90. Besides this use of the objective, there are others:--

(1) _As the direct object of a verb._

They all handled _it_.--LAMB

(2) _As the object of a preposition._

Time is behind _them_ and before _them_.--CARLYLE.

(3) _In apposition._

She sate all last summer by the bedside of the blind beggar,
_him_ that so often and so gladly I talked with.--DE QUINCEY.

SPECIAL USES OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Indefinite use of_ you _and_ your.]

91. The word _you_, and its possessive case _yours_ are sometimes used without reference to a particular person spoken to. They approach the indefinite pronoun in use.

_Your_ mere puny stripling, that winced at the least flourish of
the rod, was passed by with indulgence.--IRVING

To empty here, _you_ must condense there.--EMERSON.

The peasants take off their hats as _you_ pass; _you_ sneeze, and
they cry, "God bless you!" The thrifty housewife shows _you_ into
her best chamber. _You_ have oaten cakes baked some months
before.--LONGFELLOW

[Sidenote: _Uses of_ it.]

92. The pronoun _it_ has a number of uses:--

(1) _To refer to some single word preceding_; as,--

Ferdinand ordered the _army_ to recommence _its_ march.--BULWER.

_Society_, in this century, has not made _its_ progress, like
Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of ingenuity in
trifles.--D. WEBSTER.

(2) _To refer to a preceding word group_; thus,--

If any man should do wrong merely out of ill nature, why, yet
_it_ is but like the thorn or brier, which prick and scratch
because they can do no other.--BACON.

Here _it_ refers back to the whole sentence before it, or to the idea, "any man's doing wrong merely out of ill nature."

(3) _As a grammatical subject, to stand for the real, logical subject, which follows the verb_; as in the sentences,--

_It_ is easy in the world _to live after the world's opinion_.
--EMERSON.

_It_ is this _haziness_ of intellectual vision which is the
malady of all classes of men by nature.--NEWMAN.

_It_ is a pity _that he has so much learning, or that he has not
a great deal more_.--ADDISON.

(4) _As an impersonal subject in certain expressions which need no other subject_; as,--

_It_ is finger-cold, and prudent farmers get in their barreled
apples.--THOREAU.

And when I awoke, _it_ rained.--COLERIDGE.

For when _it_ dawned, they dropped their arms.--_Id._

_It_ was late and after midnight.--DE QUINCEY.

(5) _As an impersonal or indefinite object of a verb or a preposition_; as in the following sentences:--

(_a_) Michael Paw, who _lorded it_ over the fair regions of
ancient Pavonia.--IRVING.

I made up my mind _to foot it_.--HAWTHORNE.

A sturdy lad ... who in turn tries all the professions, who
_teams it, farms it, peddles it_, keeps a school.--EMERSON.

(_b_) "Thy mistress leads thee a dog's life _of it_."--IRVING.

There was nothing _for it_ but to return.--SCOTT.

An editor has only to say "respectfully declined," and there is
an end _of it_.--HOLMES.

Poor Christian was hard put _to it_.--BUNYAN.

[Sidenote: _Reflexive use of the personal pronouns._]

93. The personal pronouns in the objective case are often used _reflexively_; that is, referring to the same person as the subject of the accompanying verb. For example, we use such expressions as, "I found _me_ a good book," "He bought _him_ a horse," etc. This reflexive use of the _dative_-objective is very common in spoken and in literary English.

The personal pronouns are not often used reflexively, however, when they are _direct_ objects. This occurs in poetry, but seldom in prose; as,--

Now I lay _me_ down to sleep.--ANON.

I set _me_ down and sigh.--BURNS.

And millions in those solitudes, since first
The flight of years began, have laid _them_ down
In their last sleep.--BRYANT.

REFLEXIVE OR COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Composed of the personal pronouns with_ -self, -selves.]

94. The REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS, or COMPOUND PERSONAL, as they are also called, are formed from the personal pronouns by adding the word _self_, and its plural _selves_.

They are _myself_, (_ourself_), _ourselves_, _yourself_, (_thyself_), _yourselves_, _himself_, _herself_, _itself_, _themselves_.

Of the two forms in parentheses, the second is the old 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,--

Methinks he seems no better than a girl;
As girls were once, as we _ourself_ have been.--TENNYSON.

[Sidenote: _Origin of these reflexives._]

95. The question might arise, Why are _himself_ and _themselves_ not _hisself_ and _theirselves_, as in vulgar English, after the analogy 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_, _theself_, were changed into the possessive _myself_, _thyself_, and the others were formed by analogy with these. _Himself_ and _themselves_ are the only ones retaining a distinct objective form.

In the forms _yourself_ and _yourselves_ we have the possessive _your_ marked as singular as well as plural.

[Sidenote: _Use of the reflexives._]

96. There are three uses of reflexive pronouns:--

(1) _As object of a verb or preposition, and referring to the same person or thing as the subject_; as in these sentences from Emerson:--

He who offers _himself_ a candidate for that covenant comes up
like an Olympian.

I should hate _myself_ if then I made my other friends my asylum.

We fill _ourselves_ with ancient learning.

What do we know of nature or of _ourselves_?

(2) _To emphasize a noun or pronoun_; for example,--

The great globe _itself_ ... shall dissolve.--SHAKESPEARE.

Threats to all;
To _you yourself_, to us, to every one.--_Id._

Who would not sing for Lycidas! he knew
_Himself_ to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.--MILTON.

NOTE.--In such sentences the pronoun is sometimes omitted, and the reflexive modifies the pronoun understood; for example,--

Only _itself_ can inspire whom it will.--EMERSON.

My hands are full of blossoms plucked before, Held dead within
them till _myself_ shall die.--E.B. BROWNING.

As if it were _thyself_ that's here, I shrink with
pain.--WORDSWORTH.

(3) _As the precise equivalent of a personal pronoun_; as,--

Lord Altamont designed to take his son and _myself_.--DE QUINCEY.

Victories that neither _myself_ nor my cause always deserved.--B.
FRANKLIN.

For what else have our forefathers and _ourselves_ been
taxed?--LANDOR.

Years ago, Arcturus and _myself_ met a gentleman from China who
knew the language.--THACKERAY.

Exercises on Personal Pronouns.

(_a_) Bring up sentences containing ten personal pronouns, some each of masculine, feminine, and neuter.

(_b_) Bring up sentences containing five personal pronouns in the possessive, some of them being double possessives.

(_c_) Tell which use each _it_ has in the following sentences:--

1. Come and trip it as we go,
On the light fantastic toe.

2. Infancy conforms to nobody; all conform to it.

3. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.

4. Courage, father, fight it out.

5. And it grew wondrous cold.

6. To know what is best to do, and how to do it, is wisdom.

7. If any phenomenon remains brute and dark, it is because the corresponding faculty in the observer is not yet active.

8. But if a man do not speak from within the veil, where the word is one with that it tells of, let him lowly confess it.

9. It behooved him to keep on good terms with his pupils.

10. Biscuit is about the best thing I know; but it is the soonest spoiled; and one would like to hear counsel on one point, why it is that a touch of water utterly ruins it.

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Three now in use._]

97. The interrogative pronouns now in use are _who_ (with the forms _whose_ and _whom_), _which_, and _what_.

[Sidenote: _One obsolete._]

There is an old word, _whether_, used formerly to mean which of two, but now obsolete. Examples from the Bible:--

_Whether_ of them twain did the will of his father?

_Whether_ is greater, the gold, or the temple?

From Steele (eighteenth century):--

It may be a question _whether_ of these unfortunate persons had
the greater soul.

[Sidenote: _Use of_ who _and its forms._]

98. The use of _who_, with its possessive and objective, is seen in these sentences:--

_Who_ is she in bloody coronation robes from Rheims?--DE QUINCEY.

_Whose_ was that gentle voice, that, whispering sweet,
Promised, methought, long days of bliss sincere?--BOWLES.

What doth she look on? _Whom_ doth she behold?--WORDSWORTH.

From these sentences it will be seen that interrogative _who_ refers to _persons only_; that it is not inflected for gender or number, but for case alone, having three forms; it is always third person, as it always asks _about_ somebody.

[Sidenote: _Use of_ which.]

99. Examples of the use of interrogative _which_:--

_Which_ of these had speed enough to sweep between the question
and the answer, and divide the one from the other?--DE QUINCEY.

_Which_ of you, shall we say, doth love us most?--SHAKESPEARE.

_Which_ of them [the sisters] shall I take?--_Id._

As shown here, _which_ is not inflected for gender, number, or case; it refers to either persons or things; it is selective, that is, picks out one or more from a number of known persons or objects.

[Sidenote: _Use of_ what.]

100. Sentences showing the use of interrogative _what_:--

Since I from Smaylho'me tower have been,
_What_ did thy lady do?--SCOTT.

_What_ is so rare as a day in June?--LOWELL.

_What_ wouldst thou do, old man?--SHAKESPEARE.

These show that _what_ is not inflected for case; that it is always singular and neuter, referring to things, ideas, actions, etc., not to persons.

DECLENSION OF INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.

101. The following are all the interrogative forms:--

SING. AND PLUR. SING. AND PLUR. SINGULAR

_Nom._ who? which? what? _Poss._ whose? -- -- _Obj._ whom? which? what?

In spoken English, _who_ is used as objective instead of _whom_; as, "_Who_ did you see?" "_Who_ did he speak to?"

[Sidenote: _To tell the case of interrogatives._]

102. The interrogative _who_ has a separate form for each case, consequently the case can be told by the form of the word; but the case of _which_ and _what_ must be determined exactly as in nouns,--by the _use_ of the words.

For instance, in Sec. 99, _which_ is nominative in the first sentence, since it is subject of the verb _had_; nominative in the second also, subject of _doth love_; objective in the last, being the direct object of the verb _shall take_.

[Sidenote: _Further treatment of_ who, which _and_ what.]

103. _Who_, _which_, and _what_ are also relative pronouns; _which_ and _what_ are sometimes adjectives; _what_ may be an adverb in some expressions.

They will be spoken of again in the proper places, especially in the treatment of indirect questions (Sec. 127).

RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Function of the relative pronoun_.]

104. Relative pronouns differ from both personal and interrogative pronouns in referring to an antecedent, and also in having a conjunctive use. The advantage in using them is to unite short statements into longer sentences, and so to make smoother discourse. Thus we may say, "The last of all the Bards was he. These bards sang of Border chivalry." Or, it may be shortened into,--

"The last of all the Bards was he,
_Who_ sung of Border chivalry."

In the latter sentence, _who_ evidently refers to _Bards_, which is called the antecedent of the relative.

[Sidenote: _The antecedent._]

105. The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun, pronoun, or other word or expression, for which the pronoun stands. It usually precedes the pronoun.

Personal pronouns of the third person may have antecedents also, as they take the place usually of a word already used; as,--

The priest hath _his_ fee who comes and shrives us.--LOWELL

In this, both _his_ and _who_ have the antecedent _priest_.

The pronoun _which_ may have its antecedent following, and the antecedent may be a word or a group of words, as will be shown in the remarks on _which_ below.

[Sidenote: _Two kinds._]

106. Relatives may be SIMPLE or INDEFINITE.

When the word _relative_ is used, a simple relative is meant. Indefinite relatives, and the indefinite use of simple relatives, will be discussed further on.

The SIMPLE RELATIVES are _who_, _which_, _that_, _what_.

[Sidenote: Who _and its forms._]

107. Examples of the relative _who_ and its forms:--

1. Has a man gained anything _who_ has received a hundred favors
and rendered none?--EMERSON.

2. That man is little to be envied _whose_ patriotism would not
gain force upon the plain of Marathon.--DR JOHNSON.

3. For her enchanting son,
_Whom_ universal nature did lament.--MILTON.

4. The nurse came to us, _who_ were sitting in an adjoining
apartment.--THACKERAY.

5. Ye mariners of England,
That guard our native seas;
_Whose_ flag has braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze!--CAMPBELL.

6. The men _whom_ men respect, the women _whom_ women approve,
are the men and women _who_ bless their species.--PARTON

[Sidenote: Which _and its forms._]

108. Examples of the relative _which_ and its forms:--

1. They had not their own luster, but the look _which_ is not of
the earth.--BYRON.

2. The embattled portal arch he pass'd,
_Whose_ ponderous grate and massy bar
Had oft roll'd back the tide of war.--SCOTT.

3. Generally speaking, the dogs _which_ stray around the butcher
shops restrain their appetites.--COX.

4. The origin of language is divine, in the same sense in _which_
man's nature, with all its capabilities ..., is a divine
creation.--W.D. WHITNEY.

5. (_a_) This gradation ... ought to be kept in view; else this
description will seem exaggerated, _which_ it certainly is
not.--BURKE.

(_b_) The snow was three inches deep and still falling, _which_
prevented him from taking his usual ride.--IRVING.

[Sidenote: That.]

109. Examples of the relative _that_:--

1. The man _that_ hath no music in himself,...
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
--SHAKESPEARE

2. The judge ... bought up all the pigs _that_ could be
had.--LAMB

3. Nature and books belong to the eyes _that_ see them.--EMERSON.

4. For the sake of country a man is told to yield everything
_that_ makes the land honorable.--H.W. BEECHER

5. Reader, _that_ do not pretend to have leisure for very much
scholarship, you will not be angry with me for telling you.--DE
QUINCEY.

6. The Tree Igdrasil, _that_ has its roots down in the kingdoms
of Hela and Death, and whose boughs overspread the highest
heaven!--CARLYLE.

[Sidenote: What.]

110. Examples of the use of the relative _what_:--

1. Its net to entangle the enemy seems to be _what_ it chiefly
trusts to, and _what_ it takes most pains to render as complete
as possible.--GOLDSMITH.

2. For _what_ he sought below is passed above, Already done is
all that he would do.--MARGARET FULLER.

3. Some of our readers may have seen in India a crowd of crows
picking a sick vulture to death, no bad type of _what_ often
happens in that country.--MACAULAY

[_To the Teacher._--If pupils work over the above sentences carefully, and test every remark in the following paragraphs, they will get a much better understanding of the relatives.]

REMARKS ON THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: Who.]

111. By reading carefully the sentences in Sec. 107, the following facts will be noticed about the relative _who_:--

(1) It usually refers to persons: thus, in the first sentence, Sec. 107, _a man...who_; in the second, _that man...whose_; in the third, _son_, _whom_; and so on.

(2) It has three case forms,--_who_, _whose_, _whom_.

(3) The forms do not change for 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.

[Sidenote: Who _referring to animals_.]

112. Though in most cases _who_ refers to persons there are instances found where it refers to animals. It has been seen (Sec. 24) that animals are referred to by personal pronouns when their characteristics or habits are such as to render them important or interesting to man. Probably on the same principle the personal relative _who_ is used not infrequently in literature, referring to animals.

Witness the following examples:--

And you, warm little housekeeper [the cricket], _who_ class With
those who think the candles come too soon.--LEIGH HUNT.

The robins...have succeeded in driving off the bluejays _who_
used to build in our pines.--LOWELL.

The little gorilla, _whose_ wound I had dressed, flung its arms
around my neck.--THACKERAY.

A lake frequented by every fowl _whom_ Nature has taught to dip
the wing in water.--DR. JOHNSON.

While we had such plenty of domestic insects _who_ infinitely
excelled the former, because they understood how to weave as well
as to spin.--SWIFT.

My horse, _who_, under his former rider had hunted the buffalo,
seemed as much excited as myself.--IRVING.

Other examples might be quoted from Burke, Kingsley, Smollett, Scott, Cooper, Gibbon, and others.

[Sidenote: Which.]

113. The sentences in Sec. 108 show that--

(1) _Which_ refers to animals, things, or ideas, not persons.

(2) It is not inflected for gender or number.

(3) It is nearly always third person, rarely second (an example of its use as second person is given in sentence 32, p. 96).

(4) It has two case forms,--_which_ for the nominative and objective, _whose_ for the possessive.

[Sidenote: _Examples of_ whose, _possessive case of_ which.]

114. Grammarians sometimes object to the statement that _whose_ is the possessive of _which_, saying that the phrase _of which_ should always be used instead; yet a search in literature shows that the possessive form _whose_ is quite common in prose as well as in poetry: for example,--

I swept the horizon, and saw at one glance the glorious
elevations, on _whose_ tops the sun kindled all the melodies and
harmonies of light.--BEECHER.

Men may be ready to fight to the death, and to persecute without
pity, for a religion _whose_ creed they do not understand, and
_whose_ precepts they habitually disobey.--MACAULAY

Beneath these sluggish waves lay the once proud cities of the
plain, _whose_ grave was dug by the thunder of the
heavens.--SCOTT.

Many great and opulent cities _whose_ population now exceeds that
of Virginia during the Revolution, and _whose_ names are spoken
in the remotest corner of the civilized world.--MCMASTER.

Through the heavy door _whose_ bronze network closes the place of
his rest, let us enter the church itself.--RUSKIN.

This moribund '61, _whose_ career of life is just coming to its
terminus.--THACKERAY.

So in Matthew Arnold, Kingsley, Burke, and numerous others.

[Sidenote: Which _and its antecedents_.]

115. The last two sentences in Sec. 108 show that _which_ may have other antecedents than nouns and pronouns. In 5 (_a_) there is a participial adjective used as the antecedent; in 5 (_b_) there is a complete clause employed as antecedent. This often occurs.

Sometimes, too, the antecedent follows _which_; thus,--

And, which is worse, _all you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son_.
--SHAKESPEARE.

Primarily, which is very notable and curious, I observe that _men
of business rarely know the meaning of the word "rich_."--RUSKIN.

I demurred to this honorary title upon two grounds,--first, as
being one toward which I had no natural aptitudes or predisposing
advantages; secondly (which made her stare), _as carrying with it
no real or enviable distinction_.--DE QUINCEY.

[Sidenote: That.]

116. In the sentences of Sec. 109, we notice that--

(1) _That_ refers to persons, animals, and things.

(2) It has only one case form, no possessive.

(3) It is the same form for first, second, and third persons.

(4) It has the same form for singular and plural.

It sometimes borrows the possessive _whose_, as in sentence 6, Sec. 109, but this is not sanctioned as good usage.

[Sidenote: What.]

117. The sentences of Sec. 110 show that--

(1) _What_ always refers to things; is always neuter.

(2) It is used almost entirely in the singular.
1. The man _that_ hath no music in himself,...
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
--SHAKESPEARE
(3) Its antecedent is hardly ever expressed. When expressed, it
usually follows, and is emphatic; as, for example,--

What I would, _that_ do I not; but what I hate, _that_ do
I.--_Bible_

What fates impose, _that_ men must needs abide.--SHAKESPEARE.

What a man does, _that_ he has.--EMERSON.

Compare this:--

Alas! is _it_ not too true, what we said?--CARLYLE.

DECLENSION OF RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

118. These are the forms of the simple relatives:--

SINGULAR AND PLURAL.

_Nom._ who which that what
_Poss._ whose whose -- --
_Obj._ whom which that what

HOW TO PARSE RELATIVES.

119. The _gender_, _number_, and _person_ of the relatives _who_, _which_, and _that_ must be determined by those of the antecedent; the _case_ depends upon the function of the relative in its own clause.

For example, consider the following sentence:

"He uttered truths _that_ wrought upon and molded the lives of
those _who_ heard him."

Since the relatives hold the sentence together, we can, by taking them out, let the sentence fall apart into three divisions: (1) "He uttered truths;" (2) "The truths wrought upon and molded the lives of the people;" (3) "These people heard him."

_That_ evidently refers to _truths_, consequently is neuter, third person, plural number. _Who_ plainly stands for _those_ or _the people_, either of which would be neuter, third person, plural number. Here the relative agrees with its antecedent.

We cannot say the relative agrees with its antecedent in _case_. _Truths_ in sentence (2), above, is subject of _wrought upon and molded_; in (1), it is object of _uttered_. In (2), _people_ is the object of the preposition _of_; in (3), it is subject of the verb _heard_. Now, _that_ takes the case of _the truths_ in (2), not of _truths_ which is expressed in the sentence: consequently _that_ is in the nominative case. In the same way _who_, standing for _the people_ understood, subject of _heard_, is in the nominative case.

Exercise.

First find the antecedents, then parse the relatives, in the following sentences:--

1. How superior it is in these respects to the pear, whose blossoms are neither colored nor fragrant!

2. Some gnarly apple which I pick up in the road reminds me by its fragrance of all the wealth of Pomona.

3. Perhaps I talk with one who is selecting some choice barrels for filling an order.

4. Ill blows the wind that profits nobody.

5. Alas! it is we ourselves that are getting buried alive under this avalanche of earthly impertinences.

6. This method also forces upon us the necessity of thinking, which is, after all, the highest result of all education.

7. I know that there are many excellent people who object to the reading of novels as a waste of time.

8. I think they are trying to outwit nature, who is sure to be cunninger than they.

[Sidenote: _Parsing_ what, _the simple relative_.]

120. The relative _what_ is handled differently, because it has usually no antecedent, but is singular, neuter, third person. Its case is determined exactly as that of other relatives. In the sentence, "What can't be cured must be endured," the verb _must be endured_ is the predicate of something. What must be endured? Answer, _What can't be cured_. The whole expression is its subject. The word _what_, however, is subject of the verb _can't be cured_, and hence is in the nominative case.

"What we call nature is a certain self-regulated motion or change." Here the subject of _is_, etc., is _what we call nature_; but of this, _we_ is the subject, and _what_ is the direct object of the verb _call_, so is in the objective case.

[Sidenote: _Another way._]

Some prefer another method of treatment. As shown by the following sentences, _what_ is equivalent to _that which_:--

It has been said that "common souls pay with _what_ they do,
nobler souls with _that which_ they are."--EMERSON.

_That which_ is pleasant often appears under the name of evil;
and _what_ is disagreeable to nature is called good and
virtuous.--BURKE.

Hence some take _what_ as a double relative, and parse _that_ in the first clause, and _which_ in the second clause; that is, "common souls pay with _that_ [singular, object of _with_] _which_ [singular, object of _do_] they do."

INDEFINITE RELATIVES.

[Sidenote: _List and examples._]

121. INDEFINITE RELATIVES are, by meaning and use, not as direct as the simple relatives.

They are _whoever_, _whichever_, _whatever_, _whatsoever_; less common are _whoso_, _whosoever_, _whichsoever_, _whatsoever_. The simple relatives _who_, _which_, and _what_ may also be used as indefinite relatives. Examples of indefinite relatives (from Emerson):--

1. _Whoever_ has flattered his friend successfully must at once
think himself a knave, and his friend a fool.

2. It is no proof of a man's understanding, to be able to affirm
_whatever_ he pleases.

3. They sit in a chair or sprawl with children on the floor, or
stand on their head, or _what_ else _soever_, in a new and
original way.

4. _Whoso_ is heroic will always find crises to try his edge.

5. Only itself can inspire _whom_ it will.

6. God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose.
Take _which_ you please,--you cannot have both.

7. Do _what_ we can, summer will have its flies.

[Sidenote: _Meaning and use._]

122. The fitness of the term _indefinite_ here cannot be shown better than by examining the following sentences:--

1. There is something so overruling in _whatever_ inspires us
with awe, in _all things which_ belong ever so remotely to
terror, that nothing else can stand in their presence.--BURKE.

2. Death is there associated, not with _everything that_ is most
endearing in social and domestic charities, but with _whatever_
is darkest in human nature and in human destiny.--MACAULAY.

It is clear that in 1, _whatever_ is equivalent to _all things which_, and in 2, to _everything that_; no certain antecedent, no particular thing, being referred to. So with the other indefinites.

[Sidenote: What _simple relative and_ what _indefinite relative_.]

123. The above helps us to discriminate between _what_ as a simple and _what_ as an indefinite relative.

As shown in Sec. 120, the simple relative _what_ is equivalent to _that which_ or the _thing which_,--some particular thing; as shown by the last sentence in Sec. 121, _what_ means _anything that_, _everything that_ (or _everything which_). The difference must be seen by the meaning of the sentence, as _what_ hardly ever has an antecedent.

The examples in sentences 5 and 6, Sec. 121, show that _who_ and _which_ have no antecedent expressed, but mean _any one whom_, _either one that_, etc.

OTHER WORDS USED AS RELATIVES.

[Sidenote: But _and_ as.]

124. Two words, but and as, are used with the force of relative pronouns in some expressions; for example,--

1. There is not a leaf rotting on the highway _but_ has force in
it: how else could it rot?--CARLYLE.

2. This, amongst such other troubles _as_ most men meet with in
this life, has been my heaviest affliction.--DE QUINCEY.

[Sidenote: _Proof that they have the force of relatives._]

Compare with these the two following sentences:--

3. There is nothing _but_ is related to us, nothing _that_ does
_not_ interest us.--EMERSON.

4. There were articles of comfort and luxury such _as_ Hester
never ceased to use, but _which_ only wealth could have
purchased.--HAWTHORNE.

Sentence 3 shows that _but_ is equivalent to the relative _that_ with _not_, and that _as_ after _such_ is equivalent to _which_.

For _as_ after _same_ see "Syntax" (Sec. 417).

[Sidenote: _Former use of_ as.]

125. In early modern English, _as_ was used just as we use _that_ or _which_, not following the word _such_; thus,--

I have not from your eyes that gentleness
And show of love _as_ I was wont to have.--SHAKESPEARE

This still survives in vulgar English in England; for example,--

"Don't you mind Lucy Passmore, _as_ charmed your warts for you
when you was a boy? "--KINGSLEY

This is frequently illustrated in Dickens's works.

[Sidenote: _Other substitutes._]

126. Instead of the phrases _in which_, _upon which_, _by which_, etc., the conjunctions _wherein_, _whereupon_, _whereby_, etc., are used.

A man is the facade of a temple _wherein_ all wisdom and good
abide.--EMERSON.

The sovereignty of this nature _whereof_ we speak.--_Id._

The dear home faces _whereupon_
That fitful firelight paled and shone.--WHITTIER.

PRONOUNS IN INDIRECT QUESTIONS.

[Sidenote: _Special caution needed here._]

127. It is sometimes hard for the student to tell a relative from an interrogative pronoun. In the regular direct question the interrogative is easily recognized; so is the relative when an antecedent is close by. But compare the following in pairs:--

1. (_a_) Like a gentleman of leisure _who_ is strolling out for
pleasure.

(_b_) Well we knew _who_ stood behind, though the earthwork hid
them.

2. (_a_) But _what_ you gain in time is perhaps lost in power.

(_b_) But _what_ had become of them they knew not.

3. (_a_) These are the lines _which_ heaven-commanded Toil shows on
his deed.

(_b_) And since that time I thought it not amiss To judge _which_
were the best of all these three.

In sentences 1 (_a_), 2 (_a_) and 3 (_a_) the regular relative use is seen; _who_ having the antecedent _gentleman_, _what_ having the double use of pronoun and antecedent, _which_ having the antecedent _lines_.

But in 1 (_b_), 2 (_b_), and 3 (_b_), there are two points of difference from the others considered: first, no antecedent is expressed, which would indicate that they are not relatives; second, a question is disguised in each sentence, although each sentence as a whole is declarative in form. Thus, 1 (_b_), if expanded, would be, "Who stood behind? We knew," etc., showing that _who_ is plainly interrogative. So in 2 (_b_), _what_ is interrogative, the full expression being, "But what had become of them? They knew not." Likewise with _which_ in 3 (_b_).

[Sidenote: _How to decide._]

In studying such sentences, (1) see whether there is an antecedent of _who_ or _which_, and whether _what_ = _that_ + _which_ (if so, it is a simple relative; if not, it is either an indefinite relative or an interrogative pronoun); (2) see if the pronoun introduces an indirect question (if it does, it is an interrogative; if not, it is an indefinite relative).

[Sidenote: _Another caution._]

128. On the other hand, care must be taken to see whether the pronoun is the word that really _asks the question_ in an interrogative sentence. Examine the following:--

1. Sweet rose! whence is this hue
_Which_ doth all hues excel?
--DRUMMOND

2. And then what wonders shall you do
_Whose_ dawning beauty warms us so?
--WALKER

3. Is this a romance? Or is it a faithful picture of _what_ has
lately been in a neighboring land?--MACAULAY

These are interrogative sentences, but in none of them does the pronoun ask the question. In the first, _whence_ is the interrogative word, _which_ has the antecedent _hue_. In the second, _whose_ has the antecedent _you_, and asks no question. In the third, the question is asked by the verb.

OMISSION OF THE RELATIVES.

[Sidenote: _Relative omitted when_ object.]

129. The relative is frequently omitted in spoken and in literary English when it would be the object of a preposition or a verb. Hardly a writer can be found who does not leave out relatives in this way when they can be readily supplied in the mind of the reader. Thus,--

These are the sounds we feed upon.--FLETCHER.

I visited many other apartments, but shall not trouble my reader
with all the curiosities I observed.--SWIFT.

Exercise.

Put in the relatives _who_, _which_, or _that_ where they are omitted from the following sentences, and see whether the sentences are any smoother or clearer:--

1. The insect I am now describing lived three years,--GOLDSMITH.

2. They will go to Sunday schools through storms their brothers
are afraid of.--HOLMES.

3. He opened the volume he first took from the shelf.--G. ELIOT.

4. He could give the coals in that queer coal scuttle we read of
to his poor neighbor.--THACKERAY.

5. When Goldsmith died, half the unpaid bill he owed to Mr.
William Filby was for clothes supplied to his nephew.--FORSTER

6. The thing I want to see is not Redbook Lists, and Court
Calendars, but the life of man in England.--CARLYLE.

7. The material they had to work upon was already democratical by
instinct and habitude.--LOWELL.

[Sidenote: _Relative omitted when_ subject.]

130. We often hear in spoken English expressions like these:--

There isn't one here ‸ knows how to play ball.

There was such a crowd ‸ went, the house was full.

Here the omitted relative would be in the nominative case. Also in literary English we find the same omission. It is rare in prose, and comparatively so in poetry. Examples are,--

The silent truth that it was she was superior.--THACKERAY

I have a mind presages me such thrift.--SHAKESPEARE.

There is a nun in Dryburgh bower,
Ne'er looks upon the sun.
--SCOTT.

And you may gather garlands there
Would grace a summer queen.
_Id._

'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.--CAMPBELL.

Exercises on the Relative Pronoun.

(_a_) Bring up sentences containing ten instances of the relatives _who_, _which_, _that_, and _what_.

(_b_) Bring up sentences having five indefinite relatives.

(_c_) Bring up five sentences having indirect questions introduced by pronouns.

(_d_) Tell whether the pronouns in the following are interrogatives, simple relatives, or indefinite relatives:--

1. He ushered him into one of the wherries which lay ready to attend the Queen's barge, which was already proceeding.

2. The nobles looked at each other, but more with the purpose to see what each thought of the news, than to exchange any remarks on what had happened.

3. Gracious Heaven! who was this that knew the word?

4. It needed to be ascertained which was the strongest kind of men; who were to be rulers over whom.

5. He went on speaking to who would listen to him.

6. What kept me silent was the thought of my mother.

ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Function of adjective pronouns._]

131. Most of the words how to be considered are capable of a double use,--they may be pure modifiers of nouns, or they may stand for nouns. In the first use they are adjectives; in the second they retain an adjective _meaning_, but have lost their adjective _use_. Primarily they are adjectives, but in this function, or use, they are properly classed as adjective pronouns.

The following are some examples of these:--

_Some_ say that the place was bewitched.--IRVING.

That mysterious realm where _each_ shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death.
--BRYANT.

How happy is he born or taught
That serveth not _another's_ will.
--WOTTON

_That_ is more than any martyr can stand.--EMERSON.

[Sidenote: _Caution._]

[Sidenote: _Adjectives, not pronouns._]

Hence these words are like adjectives used as nouns, which we have seen in such expressions as, "_The dead_ are there;" that is, a word, in order to be an adjective pronoun, _must not modify any word, expressed or understood_. It must come under the requirement of pronouns, and _stand for a noun_. For instance, in the following sentences--"The cubes are of stainless ivory, and on _each_ is written, in letters of gold, '_Truth_;'" "You needs must play such pranks as _these_;" "They will always have one bank to sun themselves upon, and _another_ to get cool under;" "Where two men ride on a horse, _one_ must ride behind"--the words italicized modify nouns understood, necessarily thought of: thus, in the first, "each _cube_;" in the second, "these _pranks_," in the others, "another _bank_," "one _man_."

[Sidenote: _Classes of adjective pronouns._]

132. Adjective pronouns are divided into three classes:--

(1) DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, such as _this_, _that_, _the former_, etc.

(2) DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUNS, such as _each_, _either_, _neither_, etc.

(3) NUMERAL PRONOUNS, as _some_, _any_, _few_, _many_, _none_, _all_, etc.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS.

[Sidenote: _Definition and examples._]

133. A DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN is one that definitely points out what persons or things are alluded to in the sentence.

The person or thing alluded to by the demonstrative may be in another sentence, or may be the whole of a sentence. For example, "Be _that_ as it may" could refer to a sentiment in a sentence, or an argument in a paragraph; but the demonstrative clearly points to that thing.

The following are examples of demonstratives:--

I did not say _this_ in so many words.

All _these_ he saw; but what he fain had seen He could not see.

Beyond _that_ I seek not to penetrate the veil.

How much we forgive in _those_ who yield us the rare spectacle of
heroic manners!

The correspondence of Bonaparte with his brother Joseph, when
_the latter_ was the King of Spain.

_Such_ are a few isolated instances, accidentally preserved.

Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness,
reap _the same_.

They know that patriotism has its glorious opportunities and its
sacred duties. They have not shunned _the one_, and they have
well performed _the other_.

NOTE.--It will be noticed in the first four sentences that _this_ and _that_ are inflected for number.

Exercises.

(_a_) Find six sentences using demonstrative adjective pronouns.

(_b_) In which of the following is _these_ a pronoun?--