+Hints for Oral Instruction+.—In the sentence, The robin's eggs are blue, the noun robin's does what? +P+.—It tells what or whose eggs are blue. +T+.—What word names the things owned or possessed? +P+.—Eggs. +T+.—What word names the owner or possessor? +P+.—Robin's.

+T+.—The noun robin's is here used as a modifier. You see that this word, which I have written on the board, is the word robin with a little mark (') called an apostrophe, and the letter s added. These are added to denote possession.

In the sentence, Webster, the statesman, was born in New Hampshire, the noun statesman modifies the subject Webster by explaining what or which Webster is meant. Both words name the same person.

Let the pupils give examples of each of these two kinds of +Noun
Modifiers+—the +Possessive+ and the +Explanatory+.

Analysis and Parsing.

+Model+.—Julia's sister Mary has lost her diamond ring.

sister (Mary) " has lost " ring
==============="============'=============
\Julia's " \her \diamond

+Explanation of the Diagram+.—Mary is written on the subject line, because Mary and sister both name the same person, but the word Mary is inclosed within marks of parenthesis to show that sister is the proper grammatical subject.

In oral analysis, call Julia's and Mary modifiers of the subject, sister, because Julia's tells whose sister, and Mary explains sister by adding another name of the same person. Her is a modifier of the object, because it tells whose ring is meant.

Julia's sister Mary is the modified subject, the predicate is unmodified, and her diamond ring is the modified object complement.

1. The planet Jupiter has four moons. 2. The Emperor Nero was a cruel tyrant. 3. Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a fever.

mother
========
\wife's
\Peter's

4. An ostrich outruns an Arab's horse. 5. His pretty little nephew Arthur had the best claim to the throne. 6. Milton, the great English poet, became blind. 7. Caesar gave his daughter Julia in marriage to Pompey. 8. London, the capital of England, is the largest and richest city in the world. 9. Joseph, Jacob's favorite son, was sold by his brethren to the Ishmaelites. 10. Alexander the Great [Footnote: Alexander the Great may be taken as one name, or Great may be called an explanatory modifier of Alexander.] was educated under the celebrated philosopher Aristotle. 11. Friends tie their purses with a spider's thread. 12. Caesar married Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna. 13. His fate, alas! was deplorable. 14. Love rules his kingdom without a sword.