Some adjectives are not compared. They are easily identified by their meaning. They indicate some quality which is of such a nature that it must be possessed fully or not at all, yearly, double, all. Some adjectives have a precise meaning in which they cannot be compared and a loose or popular one in which they can be; for example, a thing either is or is not round or square. Nevertheless we use these words in such a loose general way that it is not absolutely incorrect to say rounder and roundest or squarer and squarest. Such expressions should be used with great care and avoided as far as possible. None but the very ignorant would say onliest, but one often sees the expressions more and most unique. This is particularly bad English. Unique does not mean rare, unusual; it means one of a kind, absolutely unlike anything else. Clearly this is a quality which cannot be possessed in degrees. An object either does or does not have it.
An article is a little adjective which individualizes the noun, a boy, an apple, the crowd.
A which is used before consonantal sounds and an which is used before vowel sounds are called indefinite articles because they individualize without specializing. The is called the definite article because it both individualizes and specializes.
A may be used before o and u if the sound is really consonantal as in such a one, a use, a utility. An may be used before h if the h is not sounded, for example, an hour but a horror.
A verb is a word which asserts or declares. In other words, it makes a noun or pronoun tell something. John paper tells nothing. John wastes paper tells something. Verbs are the most difficult of all the parts of speech to understand and to use properly. As a rule, an English verb has something more than fifty parts which, with their uses, should be thoroughly learned from a grammar. This is not so difficult a matter as it might appear, except to those whose native speech is not English. Nevertheless you should be on the guard against such blunders as I seen, I seed, for I saw, I runned for I ran, I et for I ate, I throwed for I threw, and the like. In most verbs these parts are regular. In some they are irregular. A list of irregular verbs will be found at the end of this volume.
While the plan of this book does not call for a systematic study of verbs any more than of any other words, it is desirable to call attention to some points as being the occasions of frequent mistakes.
A simple sentence consists of a verb, its subject, and its object. The verb indicates the action, the subject is the noun (name of a person or thing) which does the act, the object is the noun to which the thing is done. Verbs have forms denoting person and number, for example:
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st I love | 1st We love | |
| 2nd You love (thou lovest) formal and archaic. | 2nd You love | |
| 3rd He loves | 3rd They love | |
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1st I was | 1st We were | |
| 2nd You were (thou wast) | 2nd You were | |
| 3rd He was | 3rd They were |