RULE 3. _The nominative case governs the verb_.
If you employ the pronoun _I_, which is of the _first_ person, singular
number, as the nominative to a verb, the verb must be of the first pers.
sing, thus, I _smile_; and when your nominative is _second_ pers. sing,
your verb must be; as, thou smil_est_. Why, in the latter instance, does
the ending of the verb change to _est_? Because the nominative changes.
And if your nominative is _third_ person, the verb will vary again;
thus, he smiles, the man smiles. How clear it is, then, that _the
nominative governs the verb_; that is, the nominative has power to
change the _form_ and _meaning_ of the verb, in respect to num. and
person. Government, thus far, is evinced in the _form_ of the words, as
well as in the sense.
RULE 4. _The verb must agree with its nominative in number and person_.
It is improper to say, thou _hear_, the men _hears_. Why improper?
Because _hear_ is _first_ pers. and the nominative _thou_ is _second_
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.