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"A work on english grammar and composition"


In Lesson 8 you learned that pronouns are not names, but words used instead
of names. Any one speaking of himself may use _I_, _my_, etc., instead of
his own name; speaking to one, he may use _you_, _thou_, _your_, _thy_,
etc., instead of that person's name; speaking of one, he may use _he_,
_she_, _it_, _him_, _her_, etc., instead of that one's name. These little
words that by their form denote the speaker, the one spoken to, or the one
spoken of are called +Personal Pronouns+.
By adding _self_ to _my_, _thy_, _your_, _him_, _her_, and _it_, and
_selves_ to _our_, _your_, and _them_, we form what are called +Compound
Personal Pronouns+, used either for emphasis or to reflect the action of
the verb back upon the actor; as, _Xerxes himself_ was the last to cross
the Hellespont; The _mind_ cannot see _itself_.
If a noun, or some word or words used like a noun, is to be modified by a
clause, the clause is introduced by _who_, _which_, _what_, or _that_; as,
I know the man _that_ did that. These words, relating to words in another
clause, and binding the clauses together, are called +Relative Pronouns+.
By adding _ever_ and _soever_ to _who_, _which_, and _what_, we form what
are called the +Compound Relative Pronouns+ _whoever_, _whosoever_,
_whichever_, _whatever_, etc.


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