Notice that we may speak of laying something or setting something, or may say that something is laid or is set; but we cannot speak of lying or sitting something, or of something being lain or sat. Set, in some of its meanings, is used without an object; as, "The sun set;" "He set out on a journey."
Lay, the present of the first verb, and lay, the past of lie, may easily be distinguished by the difference in meaning and in the time expressed.
POSSESSIVE FORMS.
Pupils may be required to copy such forms as the following:—
The sailor's story; the farmer's son; the pony's mane; the monkey's tail; a day's work; James's book; a cent's worth; a man's wages; the child's toys; the woman's hat; the sailors' stories; the farmers' sons; the ponies' manes; the monkeys' tails; three days' work; five cents' worth; two men's wages; those children's toys; women's hats.
This may be continued till the pupils are able to form some such statement as the following:—
('s) and (') are the possessive signs, (') being used when s has been added to denote more than one, ('s) in other cases.
Such expressions as the following may be copied:—
Dombey and Son's business; J. J. Little & Co.'s printing-house; William the
Conqueror's reign; Houghton, Mifflin, and Company's publications.
This may be continued till the pupils learn that, when a group of words may be treated as a compound name, the possessive sign is added to the last word only.