N. B. Every word, either in the cardinal or ordinal numbers, which is marked thus (*), has the last o changed for an a whenever applied to a feminine noun.

A pronoun is a word which prevents the necessity of repeating the noun, by supplying its place.

There are five sorts of pronouns: namely, Personal, Possessive, Relative, Interrogative, and Demonstrative.

Personal.

The personal pronouns are peculiar in having two objective cases, one of which never can be used with, nor the other without, a preposition.

3

Plur. Nom. ellos, they.

1st Obj. los and les,** them and to them.**
2d Obj. á ellos, them, or to them.

Sing. Nom. ella, she.

1st Obj. la and le,* *

2d Obj. á ella,

her, and to her.**

her, or to her.

Plur. Nom. ellas, they.

1st Obj. las and les,* * them, and to them.** 2d Obj. á ellas, them, or to them.

Terminations marked thus (*) have the last o changed into a when they represent feminine nouns.

N.B. Where the first objective case has two terminations, the one marked with the double asterisk corresponds in English with the one only which bears the same mark: thus the English for los is them; and for les, to them. This second termination might be properly termed the dative of the pronoun, and I should have adopted the expression had it more frequently occurred; but it is distinguishable only in the plural of the third person masculine ; and in both numbers of the hird person feminine.

Those marked thus (*) change the o into a when

they relate to a feminine noun.

Relatives.

Sing. Nom.
Obj.

quien, who.

whom or to whom.

Plur. Nom.

á quien,

quienes, who.

Obj. á quienes, whom or to whom.

The other relatives are,

Nom. Sing. qual, Plur. quales, who, which, and

cuyos, whose or of which.

Those terminations marked thus (*) change the o into a when relating to a feminine noun.

The noun to which a relative refers is called its antecedent.

Interrogatives.

When the relative pronouns are used in asking a question, they are called Interrogatives; as quien está ahí? who is there? qual de los dos? which of the two? &c.

-those.

Obj. case aquellos, aquellas,

There are some words to which grammarians have given the names of indefinites, or indefinite pronouns. See Rules on the use of these pronouns, in Part II.

Observation.

Possessives and demonstratives‡ are used in Spanish both as adjectives and as pronouns: when they are used adjectively, they are joined to some substantive with which they must always agree; as nuestro rey, our king ; nuestra patria, our country; nuestros enemigos, our ene

The neuter terminations esto, eso, and aquello, are never used adjectively.

mies; nuestras hazañas, our exploits; este exército, this army; esa batalla, that battle ; estas tropas, these troops; esos soldados, those soldiers. When used as pronouns they represent a noun, which either is understood or has been formerly mentioned in the period, and whose gender and number they always assume; as Esta (habilidad) es una de las tuyas (habilidades), This is one of thy tricks; Occuparás la plaza de un mozo que murió quince dias ha, porque era de delicada complexion, la tuya parece mas robusta, y no morirás tan presto, Thou wilt fill the place of a lad, who died a fortnight ago, because he was of a delicate constitution; thine seems more robust, and thou wilt not die so soon. Gil Blas, book i. chap. 4.

OF VERBS.

A verb is that part of speech generally used to affirm something concerning the noun, which is the subject of discourse, or, as it is commonly called, the subject of the verb; as soy, I am; ella duerme, she sleeps; el escribió, he wrote.*

A verb may make three different species of affirmation concerning its subject; and hence there are three different sorts of verbs, called active, passive, and neuter.

An active verb affirms that its subject is acting or doing something; as el monge predica, the monk preaches; el niño lee, the child reads.

A passive verb describes its subject as being acted upon, or suffering; as el xefe fué herido, the

* Affirmation is the general characteristic of a verb; and therefore, as I shall have occasion to speak of verbs being negatively used, it is necessary to observe, in order to reconcile the seeming contradiction, that verbs always retain their affirming property, even in a negative sentence, and that to use a verb negatively means to place such words either before or after it, as may counteract the impression produced on the mind by the affirmation; as amó, he loved; no amó he loved not; alguno vendrá, some one will come; ninguno vendrá, no one will come. By these examples we may see that the verbs amar and venir remain unaltered, for the negatives no and ninguno make no part of either of the verbs.