s uttered merely to indicate some strong or
sudden emotion of the mind: as, _Oh! alas! ah! poh! pshaw! avaunt! aha!
hurrah!_

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The first thing to be learned in the study of this the second part
of grammar, is the distribution of the words of the language into those
principal sorts, or classes, which are denominated _the Parts of Speech_.
This is a matter of some difficulty. And as no scheme which can be adopted,
will be in all cases so plain that young beginners will not occasionally
falter in its application, the teacher may sometimes find it expedient to
refer his pupils to the following simple explanations, which are designed
to aid their first and most difficult steps.

How can we know to what class, or part of speech, any word belongs? By
learning the definitions of the ten parts of speech, and then observing how
the word is written, and in what sense it is used. It is necessary also to
observe, so far as we can, with what other words each particular one is
capable of making sense.

1. Is it easy to distinguish an ARTICLE? If not always easy, it is
generally so: _the, an_, and _a_, are the only English words called
articles, and these are rarely any thing else. Because _an_ and _a_ have
the same import, and are supposed to have the same origin, the articles are
commonly reckoned two, but some count them as three.

2. How can we distinguish a NOUN? By means of the article before it, if
there is one; as, _the house, an apple, a book_; or, by adding it to the
phrase, "_I mentioned_;" as, "I mentioned _peace_;"--"I mentioned
_war_;"--"I mentioned _slumber_." Any word which thus makes complete sense,
is, in that sense, a noun; because a noun is the _name_ of any thing which
can thus be mentioned _by a name_. Of English nouns, there are said to be
as many as twenty-five or thirty thousand.

3. How can we distinguish an ADJECTIVE? By putting a noun after it, to see
if the phrase will be sense. The noun _thing_, or its plural _things_, will
suit almost any adjective; as, A _good_ thing--A _bad_ thing--A _little_
thing--A _great_ thing--_Few_ things--_Many_ things--_Some_ things--_Fifty_
things. Of adjectives, there are perhaps nine or ten thousand.

4. How can we distinguish a PRONOUN? By observing that its noun repeated
makes the same sense. Thus, the example of the pronoun above, "The boy
loves _his_ book; _he_ has long lessons, and _he_ learns _them_
well,"--very clearly means, "The boy l