+Hints for Oral Instruction+.—Number and gender, as you have already learned, are modifications affecting the meaning of nouns and pronouns. Number is almost always indicated by the ending; gender, sometimes. There are two other modifications which refer not to changes in the meaning of nouns and pronouns, but to their different uses and relations. In the English language, these changes are not often indicated by a change of form.

I Paul have written. Paul, thou art beside thyself. He brought Paul before Agrippa. In these three sentences the word Paul has three different uses. In the first, it is used as the name of the speaker; in the second, as the name of one spoken to; in the third, as the name of one spoken of. You will notice that the form of the noun was not changed. This change in the use of nouns and pronouns is called +Person+. The word I in the first sentence, the word thou in the second, and the word he in the third have each a different use. I, thou, and he are personal pronouns, and, as you have learned, distinguish person by their form. I, denoting the speaker, is in the +First Person+; thou, denoting the one spoken to, is in the +Second Person+; and he, denoting the one spoken of, is in the +Third Person+.

Personal pronouns and verbs are the only words that distinguish person by their form.

The bear killed the man. The man killed the bear. The bear's grease was made into hair oil. In the first sentence, the bear is represented as performing an action; in the second, as receiving an action; in the third, as possessing something. So the word bear in these sentences has three different uses. These uses of nouns are called +Cases+. The use of a noun as subject is called the +Nominative Case+; its use as object is called the +Objective Case+; and its use to denote possession is called the +Possessive Case+.

The possessive is the only case of nouns that is indicated by a change in form.

A noun or pronoun used as an attribute complement is in the nominative case. A noun or pronoun following a preposition as the principal word of a phrase is in the objective case. I and he are nominative forms. Me and him are objective forms.

The following sentences are therefore incorrect: It is me; It is him; Me gave the pen to he.

+DEFINITIONS.

Person is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes the speaker, the one spoken to, or the one spoken of.

The First Person denotes the one speaking.

The Second Person denotes the one spoken to.

The Third Person denotes the one spoken of.

Case is that modification of a noun or pronoun which denotes its office in the sentence.

The Nominative Case of a noun or pronoun denotes its office as subject or as attribute complement.

The Possessive Case of a noun or pronoun denotes its office as possessive modifier.

The Objective Case of a noun or pronoun denotes its office as object complement, or as principal word in a prepositional phrase+.