CHAPTER III.

INFLECTION.

56. We have learned now to distinguish the parts of speech, according to the different ways in which they are used when we put words together to make a sentence.

Next we have to notice certain changes of form which some of them undergo, according to differences in their meaning, or differences in the connection in which they are used.

57. Let us take as examples the little sentences:

Here man and horse are nouns (32), and I and he are pronouns (34), and each noun has before it an article (52); and each noun or pronoun is the subject (27) of the sentence in which it is used. And learns, runs, go, was are verbs (29), and each is the predicate (27) in its own sentence.

Now every one of these words may change its form a little, in order to mean something a little different from what it now means.

58. Thus, if we want to speak not of one man only, but of more than one, we alter the sound of it (and hence also the spelling), and say men.

If we want to speak of more than one horse, we add another syllable, ending with s, and say horses.

If, instead of myself alone, I speak of a number of persons of whom I am one, I change I to we, and say we go. And in the same way we change he to they.

Here, then, is a set of changes in the form of nouns and pronouns, made in order to show a difference in the number of objects meant, whether a single one or more than one. Hence we call it a change for NUMBER; and we say that man, horse, I, and he are of the SINGULAR number (singular means 'single'), and that men, horses, we, and they are of the PLURAL number (plural comes from the Latin word plus, 'more,' and so means more than one').

What is true of these nouns and pronouns is true also of nearly all the rest; we do not use precisely the same word when we mean one and when we mean more than one. Other examples are

book, books; mind, minds; eye, eyes; beauty, beauties;
ox, oxen; foot, feet; mouse, mice; she or it, they;
this, these; that, those.

That is to say, our nouns and pronouns in general have two number-forms, one singular and the other plural.

59. But if in these little sentences we use the plural forms as subjects instead of the singular, we cannot always use the same forms of the verb as predicates: thus, compare

the man learns;
the horse runs;

he was;

the men learn;
the horses run;
they were;

although, in the other case, we say both

This change in the verb, when it is made, does not, it is true, show a difference of meaning in the same sense as the change in the noun; for we cannot really say that the act of learning or running, or the condition of being, is in itself different according as one person or thing, or more than one, take part in it. The change is, rather, a mere consequence of the change of meaning of the nouns. We have sometimes (not by any means always)

different forms of our verbs, one of which we are accustomed to use along with a singular subject, and another along with a plural subject. It would be just as much a violation of good English usage to say

and the like, as to use man and he and I when we mean more than one person, or men and they and we when we mean only

one.

60. We say, therefore, that the verb also has sometimes two forms, one for use with a subject that is singular, and the other for use with a subject that is plural; and these forms we call the singular and plural number-forms of the verb itself.

And, as the distinction of their use does not depend on anything in the meaning of the verb itself, but only on the character of the subject, we speak of the subject, whether noun or pronoun, as directing or GOVERNING in the matter; the subject being given, the verb is compelled to AGREE with it in respect to number.

These words, GOVERNMENT and AGREEMENT, are much used in grammar, and this is their simple meaning.

There is yet another matter in relation to which they have to be used about the verb and its subject.

61. If we use as subjects the three pronouns, I, thou, he (or she or it), the verb used along with each is generally different: thus,

Here, again, there is nothing changed in the action of learning signified by the verb; the real change is only in the character of its subject. I is always used by a person speaking, to signify himself; thou, to signify the person to

whom he is speaking; he (or she or it), to signify any person (or thing) other than himself or than the person to whom he is speaking- that is, any person or thing spoken of. This difference in the pronouns is called a difference of PERSON; and, in order to distinguish them from one another, we call (153) | the pronoun of the FIRST PERSON, thou (or you) the pronoun of the SECOND PERSON, and he (or she or it) the pronoun of the THIRD PERSON.

62. Hence we say, as before, that the verb has sometimes three person-forms, for use with subjects of the first, second, and third persons respectively; and these forms we call the first, second, and third persons of the verb itself.

And here, again, it is the subject that GOVERNS, or determines what the form of the verb must be, in respect to person as well as number; the subject being given, the verb is made to AGREE with it in both person and number.

63. A verb, we may notice here, is of the first or of the second person only when its subject is a pronoun of the first or of the second person. Every noun has the verb in the third person: thus,

John learns;

Mary learns;

the dog learns.

64. But the verb has also (as well as the noun) changes of form to mark real differences of meaning. Our verbs learns, runs, go (in the sentences given as examples above) have to be altered if we wish distinctly to say that the actions of learning, running, going took place some time ago, at some moment in the past. In that case, we should say

the man learned;

the horse ran; I went.

Thus we make by a change of form of the verb a distinction of the time of the action, as past or present. This is called a distinction of TENSE (the name tense is an al

tered form of the Latin word for time,' tempus); and learns, runs, go are said to be of the PRESENT tense, while learned, ran, went are said to be of the PAST or PRETERIT tense (preterit is a Latin word for 'gone by, past').

The use of the different tenses of the verb does not depend, like that of the different numbers and persons, on the character of any other word with which the verb is joined, but only on the difference of the meaning which we want to express.

65. One other difference of meaning is made, much less often, by a change in the form of the verb. We say

he was here,

but if he were here, I should be glad;

he is angry,

but though he be angry, he will not show it;

he learns his lesson,

but whether he learn it or not I do not care.

This is called a distinction of MODE (or MOOD; it is a Latin word meaning 'manner'): that is, of the manner of viewing the action expressed by the verb, whether as actual or as doubtful, questionable, dependent on a condition. And were, be, learn in these sentences are said to be of the SUBJUNCTIVE mode (subjunctive meaning 'subjoined,' in the sense of 'dependent'); while, as distintinguished from them, the forms was, is, learns are said to be of the INDICATIVE mode (simply pointing out' or stating).

The subjunctive was used in English a great deal more formerly than it is used at present (234).

The form of the verb used in imperative sentences (55) is also called the IMPERATIVE mode (233).

66. This change in the form of any word, either to show