Page:The New Latin Primer (Postgate).djvu/21

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Parts of Speech.
7

Pronouns are used for Nouns and for Adjectives. They point out something, or describe it less definitely than an Adjective: ĭs he, quīdam lĭbĕr a-certain book.

Verbs show what people do, or what is done to them, or in what state they are: vulnĕrō I-wound, vulnĕrŏr I-am-wounded, stō I-stand.

Adverbs are used to qualify Verbs and Adjectives: cĕlĕrĭtĕr vĕnĭt quickly he-comes, valdē bŏnŭs very good.

Prepositions and Conjunctions have no meaning by themselves.

A Preposition is used with a Noun or Pronoun to show its connexion with the rest of the sentence. Thus, fŭgiunt ăd nāvēs they-fly to the-ships.

Conjunctions are mere links. They couple words or sentences. Thus, cănĭs ĕt vulpēs the-dog and the-fox, vĕniam rŏgābĭs I-will-come if you-ask-me.

Interjections are cries expressing feelings or desires: heu! alas! st! hush!

There is no Article in Latin : dĭēs means day, a day, or the day according to the context.

§ 12. Inflexions.—The changes which words undergo in order to become parts of a sentence are called Inflexions. Inflexions are found in English. Thus we cannot make a sentence out of "Cæsar," "friend," "die," until we have added the proper endings, as "Cæsar's friend dies." In Latin there are a great many more inflexions than in English, and they are used to express what English expresses by means of Prepositions and of Verbs like be, shall, do: dăbĭt lĭbrum Caesărī give-will-he the-book Cæsar-to, that is, he will give the book to Cæsar.

In Inflexion part of the word remains unchanged, and this we call the base; the rest of the word we call the termination or ending. Thus in rĕgĭt he rules, rĕgunt they rule, rĕgēns ruling, rĕg- rule is the Base, and -ĭt, -unt, -ēns, the Terminations.