23 In some of these cases the comparative and superlative are really different words from the positive.[↑]
24 The four classes are not absolute, for the same adverb may be used in different senses and thus belong to different classes. Sometimes, too, there is room for difference of opinion. Thus in the fourth and fifth examples under 1, terribly and surprisingly are equivalent to “in a terrible (or surprising) manner,” and therefore are classified as adverbs of manner; but they may also be regarded as adverbs of degree.[↑]
25 Many comparatives and superlatives in er and est that are no longer allowable in prose are still used in poetry.[↑]
26 Many grammarians regard is and the noun or adjective that follows it (is money, etc.) as the simple predicate; but the nomenclature here adopted is equally scientific and more convenient.[↑]
27 The word tense is simply an English form of the French word for time.[↑]
28 The past tense is often called the preterite (from a Latin word meaning “gone by”). Preterite is in some ways a better name for the tense than past, since both the perfect and the pluperfect tenses also refer to past time.[↑]
29 Silent final e is not counted as an ending.[↑]
30 Notice also the change from v to f before t.[↑]
31 The ending ed indicates tense, not person or number.[↑]
32 The second person singular is often given as “Thou walkest or You walk,” but it is simpler to regard You walk in this use as a plural in a singular sense ([§ 224]).[↑]