ond_
pers. _Hears_ is singular, and the nom. _men_ is _plural_. Rule 4th
says, _The verb must agree with its nominative_. The expressions should,
therefore, be, thou hear_est_, the men _hear_; and then the verb would
_agree_ with its nominatives. But _why_ must the verb agree with its
nominative? Why must we say, thou talk_est_, the man talks, men _talk_?
Because the genius of our language, and the common consent of those who
speak it, _require_ such a construction: and this _requisition_ amounts
to a _law_ or _rule_. This _rule_, then, is founded in _the nature of
things_, and sanctioned by _good usage_.

RULE 12. _A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the
noun which it possesses_.

It is correct to say, The _man_ eats, _he_ eats; but we cannot say, the
_man_ dog eats, _he_ dog eats. Why not? Because the man is here
represented as the _possessor_, and _dog_, the _property_, or _thing
possessed_; and the genius of our language requires, that when we add to
the possessor, the _thing_ which he is represented as possessing, the
possessor shall take a particular form to show its _case_, or _relation
to the property_; thus, The _man's_ dog eats, _his_ dog eats. You
perceive, then, that the _added_ noun, denoting the thing possessed, has
power _to change the form_ of the noun or pronoun denoting the
possessor, according to RULE 12. thus, by adding dog in the preceding
examples, _man_ is changed to _man's_, and _he_, to _his_.

Now parse the sentence which I have parsed, until the manner is quite
familiar to you; and then you will be prepared to analyze correctly and
_systematically_, the following exercises. When you parse, you may
spread the Compendium before you; and, if you have not already committed
the definitions and rules, you may read them on that, as you apply them.
This mode of procedure will enable you to learn _all_ the definitions
and rules by applying them to practice.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

Rain descends--Rains descend--Snow falls--Snows fall--Thunder
rolls--Thunders roll--Man's works decay--Men's labors cease--John's dog
barks--Eliza's voice trembles--Julia's sister's child improves--Peter's
cousin's horse limps.

In the next place, I will parse a noun and a _neuter_ verb, which verb,
you will notice, differs from an active only in one respect.

_"Birds repose_ on the branches of trees."

_Birds_ is a noun, the name of a thing or creature--common, the name of
a genus or class-