e third person, when the subject is _merely_ spoken
_of_; and in the second person, when the subject is spoken _to_; _and_ in
the first person, _when it names the speaker as such_."--_Nutting cor._
"With us, no nouns are _literally of the_ masculine _or the_ feminine
gender, except the names of male and female creatures."--_Dr. Blair cor._
"_The_ apostrophe is a little mark, either _denoting the possessive case of
nouns_, or signifying that something is shortened: as, '_William's_
hat;'--'the _learn'd_,' for 'the _learned_.'"--_Inf. S. Gram. cor._ "When a
word beginning with a vowel coupled with one beginning with a consonant,
the indefinite article must _not_ be repeated, _if the two words be
adjectives belonging to one and the same noun_; thus, 'Sir Matthew Hale was
_a_ noble and impartial judge;'--'Pope was _an_ elegant and nervous
writer.'"--_Maunder cor._[555] "_W_ and _y_ are consonants, when they
_precede a vowel heard in the same_ syllable: in every other situation,
they are vowels."--_L. Mur. et al. cor._ See _Inst._, p. 16. "_The_ is _not
varied_ before adjectives and substantives, let them begin as they
will."--_Bucke cor._ "_A few English_ prepositions, _and many which we have
borrowed from other languages_, are _often_ prefixed to words, in such a
manner as to coalesce with them, and to become _parts of the compounds or
derivatives thus formed_."--_Lowth cor._ "_H_, at the beginning of
syllables not accented, is _weaker_, but _not_ entirely silent; as in
_historian, widowhood_."--_Rev. D. Blair cor._ "_Not every_ word that will
make sense with _to_ before it, is a verb; for _to_ may govern nouns,
pronouns, or participles."--_Kirkham cor._ "_Most_ verbs do, in reality,
express actions; but they are _not_ intrinsically the mere names of
actions: _these must of course be nouns_."--_Id._ "The nominative _denotes_
the actor or subject; and the verb, the action _which is_ performed _or
received_ by _this actor or subject_."--_Id._ "_But_ if only one creature
or thing acts, _more than_ one action _may_, at the same instant, be done;
as, 'The girl not only _holds_ her pen badly, but _scowls_ and _distorts_
her features, while she _writes_.'"--_Id._ "_Nor is each of these verbs of
the singular number because it_ denotes but one action which the girl
performs, _but because the subject or nominative_ is of the singular
number, _and the words must agree_."--_Id._ "And when I say, '_Two men
walk_,' is it not equally appare