PARSING.

To parse words is to tell what parts of speech they are, and to name all the peculiarities of their inflection, and syntactical relation.

The pupil should be accustomed from the very first to point out the parts of speech in the Exercises, or in an ordinary reading book. He should be able to distinguish nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns accurately before proceeding further, for unless he thoroughly masters these, what follows will be a complete maze to him. As he advances in the inflection of words he should be expected to add more and more particulars to his parsing; and it would be well if the teacher anticipated some of the fundamental rules of Syntax, so as to make it complete as soon as possible. Parsing ought to embrace not only every important particular respecting individual words, but especially the connection which subsists between them.

The following scheme will accomplish this double object.

Person.. (if 1st. or 2nd., the 3rd. need not be mentioned.)
Number.. Singular.

Mood
Tense

Number

and

Person

Indicative: Present, past, or future (perfect, or

imperfect).

Imperative: (Tense need not be mentioned.)

Subjunctive: Present, past, or future;-old, or

modern form.

Infinitive: Present imperfect, or perfect, modified by the auxiliary ; nominative to ; or, objective after

Singular, or plural.

1st., 2nd., or 3rd. person, agreeing with its

nom.

Gerund (or dative of the infinitive), governed by

expressing

Participle, perfect or imperfect, joined to the auxiliary

to form the

or, used as an adjective to

Number Singular, or plural (or plural used for singular).
Gender. Masculine, feminine, or neuter.

EXAMPLES OF PARSING.

First kind. This should be nothing more than the underlining of nouns, verbs, adjectives, &c., or the writing of easy sentences in a column, with the names of the parts of speech opposite.

Second kind (when classification has been mastered).

instant-adjective, qualifying "way."

way, -noun common, singular, objective, after "take." for -conjunction causal, joining "take," &c., with "travels," &c. honour-noun abstract, singular, nominative to "travels." travels-verb intransitive, indicative, present, third person, singular. in -preposition, governing "strait.'

a

-article indefinite.

-adverb, modifying "narrow."

narrow- -adjective, qualifying "strait."

where -adverbial conjunction of place.

one

but

goes

-adjective numeral, limiting "person" understood.
-only-adverb, qualifying "one."

-verb intransitive, indicative, present, third person, singular.

abreast-adverb, modifying "goes."