English Grammar and Composition for Public Schools

by G. H. Armstrong

Which of the italicized words in the following sentences is used as the subject of the sentence, which to denote ownership, and on which does the action expressed by the verb end?

1.	The boy is here.
2.	The boy’s book is on the table.
3.	He sent the boy with it.

The word upon which the action expressed by the verb ends is called the object of the verb.

Point out in the following sentence a noun used as the subject of the verb, a noun used to denote ownership, a noun used as the object of a verb, and a noun used as the object of a preposition:—

That girl’s father shot a bear in the forest.

The relation which a noun or pronoun bears to some other word in the sentence is called case.

A noun used as the subject of a verb is in the nominative case; as, The slate is broken. A noun used to denote ownership or possession is in the possessive case; as, Mary’s book is torn. A noun used as the object of a verb or a preposition is in the objective case; as, He left his pencil on the desk.

EXERCISE I.

Name the case of all the nouns and pronouns in the following sentences, and state the reason for the case of each:—

1.	I sailed a boat on the lake.
2.	This man’s hat was carried off by the wind.
3.	Eight horses drew the Queen’s carriage.
4.	On the deck stood the captain of the ship.
5.	Oft I had heard of Lucy Gray;
	And, when I crossed the wild,
	I chanced to see at break of day
	The solitary child.—Wordsworth.