The _order of parsing_ a NOUN, is--a noun, and why?--common, proper, or
collective, and why?--gender, and why?--person, and why?--number, and
why?--case, and why?--RULE:--decline it.
_The order of parsing_ a VERB, is--a verb, and why?--active, passive,
or neuter, and why?--if _active_--transitive or intransitive, and
why?--if _passive_--how is it formed?--regular, irregular, or defective,
and why?--mood, and why?--tense, and why?--person and number, and
why?--with what does it agree?--RULE:--conjugate it.
I will now parse two nouns according to the order, and, in so doing, by
applying the definitions and rules, I shall answer all those questions
given in the order. If you have _perfectly committed_ the order of
parsing a noun and verb, you may proceed with me; but, recollect, you
cannot parse a verb _in full_, until you shall have had a more complete
explanation of it.
_John's hand trembles_.
_John's_ is a noun, [because it is] the name of a person--proper, the
name of an individual--masculine gender, it denotes a male--third
person, spoken of--singular number, it implies but one--and in the
possessive case, it denotes possession--it is governed by the noun
"hand," according to
RULE 12. _A noun or pronoun in the possessive case, is governed by the
noun it possesses_.
Declined--Sing. nom. John, poss. John's, obj. John. Plural--nom.
Johns, poss. Johns', obj. Johns.
_Hand_ is a noun, the name of a thing--common, the name of a sort or
species of things--neuter gender, it denotes a thing without sex--third
person, spoken of--sing. number, it implies but one--and in the
nominative case, it is the actor and subject of the verb "trembles," and
governs it agreeably to
RULE 3. _The nominative case governs the verb:_--that is, the nominative
determines the number and person of the verb.
Declined--Sing. nom. hand, poss. hand's, obj. hand. Plur. nom. hands,
poss. hands', obj. hands.
_Trembles_ is a verb, a word which signifies to do--active, it expresses
action--third person, singular number, because the nominative "hand" is
with which it agrees, according to
RULE 4. _The verb must agree with its nominative in number and person_.
You must not say that the verb is of the third person because _it is
spoken of_. The verb is never spoken of; but it is of the third person,
and singular or plural number, because its nominative is.
Conjugated--First pers. sing. I tremble, 2 pers. thou tremblest, 3 pers.
he trembles, or, the hand trembles. Plural, 1 pers. we tremble, 2 pers.
ye or you tremble, 3 pers. they or the hands tremble.
Government, in language, consists in the power which one word has over
another, in causing that other word to be in some _particular case,
number, person, mood_, or _tense_.