English Grammar

<p><strong><em>A Noun</em></strong> is the name of any person place or thing that can be known or mentioned: as George York man apple truth.</p><p> </p><p>All words and signs taken technically (that is independently of their meaning and merely as things spoken of) are nouns; or rather are things read and construed as nouns; because in such a use they temporarily assume the syntax of nouns.</p><p> </p><p><br></p><p><strong><em>An Adjective</em></strong> is a word added to a noun or pronoun and generally expresses quality: as A wise man; a new book. You two are diligent.</p><p> </p><p>Adjectives have been otherwise called attributes attributives qualities adnouns; but none of these names is any better than the common one. Some writers have classed adjectives with verbs; because with a neuter verb for the copula they often form logical predicates: as Vices are contagious.</p><p> </p><p>The Latin grammarians usually class them with nouns; consequently their nouns are divided into nouns substantive and nouns adjective. With us substantives are nouns; and adjectives form a part of speech by themselves. This is generally acknowledged to be a much better distribution. Adjectives cannot with propriety be called nouns in any language; because they are not the names of the qualities which they signify.</p><p> </p><p>They must be added to nouns or pronouns in order to make sense. But if in a just distribution of words the term adjective nouns is needless and improper the term adjective pronouns is certainly not less so: most of the words which Murray and others call by this name are not pronouns but adjectives.</p>