ite "ours," "yours," "hers," "its,"
"theirs." "It's" is a contraction for "it is."

[46] "Foundations," p. 60.

EXERCISE XXVI.

_Write from dictation_--
1. John's hat is old, yours is new.
2. The bear was lying on its side, dead.
3. The Browns' house is larger than ours, but ours is more convenient than
theirs.
4. Yours very respectfully, John Smith.
5. See the yacht! it's coining into the harbor under full sail.
6. Show Mary your doll; it should not grieve you that yours is not so
pretty as hers.
7. That fault was not yours.
8. Helen's eyes followed the direction of hers.

NOMINATIVE OR OBJECTIVE CASE.[47]--There are only seven words in the
English language that now have different forms for the nominative and
objective cases; therefore it is only in the use of these words that we
need to observe any rules about "nominative" or "objective." Since,
however, these seven words are more frequently used than any other words,
the possibilities of error in choosing between the nominative and the
objective are many. Mistakes of this kind are common, and produce a very
unpleasant effect on cultivated people. The seven words that have
different forms for the nominative and objective cases are the following
pronouns[48]:--

_Nominative. Objective._
I me
we us
thou thee
he him
she her
they them
who whom

It is taken for granted that the student has already learned the following
principles of syntax:--

1. _Words used absolutely_ and the _subjects of finite verbs_ should in
English be put in the NOMINATIVE form.
2. The _subjects of infinitives_ and the _objects_ of verbs and
prepositions should be in the OBJECTIVE form.
3. Words in _apposition_ should be in the same case.
4. The verb "_to be,"_ or any of its forms _(am, is, are, were,_ etc.),
does not take an object, but, being equivalent in meaning to the symbol
"=," takes the same case after it as before it: the nominative,
if the form is "finite"; the objective, if the form is "infinitive" and
has a subject of its own. "I know it is _he_," "I know it to be _him,"_
and "The stranger is thought to be _he_" are grammatically correct.

Sentences like "She invited Mrs. R. and _I_ to go driving" are common,
even among people generally well-informed. Such mistakes will be avoided
if the speaker stops to think what the form would be if the pronoun w