“Rex-imus, rexistis, rexerunt.”
“Excellent! That’s fifth time I’ve heard you that tense, isn’t it?”
“The seventh,” said Laura colourlessly.
“The seventh? Dear, dear. Well, we’ve got it right at last. And now,” said Mr. Priestley with the air of one conferring a substantial favour, “I think we might actually go on to Syntax.”
“Oh?” said Laura, with the air of one wondering just where the favour lies.
Mr. Priestley picked up the Kennedy and fluttered its pages lovingly. “Vir bonus bonam uxorem habet,” he crooned. “‘The good man has a good wife.’ Vir bonus is the subject, you see, habet the verb, and bonam uxorem the object. A verb, of course, agrees with its subject in number and person. Just repeat that, please.”
“A verb, of course, agrees with its subject in number and person.”
“Yes, and an adjective, as I’ve told you already, agrees in gender, number, and case with the substantive it qualifies.”
“An adjective, as you’ve told me already, agrees in gender, number, and case with the substantive it qualifies,” repeated Laura listlessly. “May I go to bed now, please, Uncle Matthew?”
“Certainly not. We must master this first page of syntax before bedtime. It’s only just past ten o’clock. Veræ amicitiæ sempiternæ sunt. ‘True friendships are everlasting.’ That is another example of….”