There are five Personal Pronouns; namely, I, thou, he, she, it; with their plurals, we, ye or you, they.
Personal Pronouns admit of person, number, gender, and case.
Pronouns have three persons in each number.
This account of persons will be very intelligible when the following Pastoral Fragment is reflected on:--
_I_ love thee, Susan, on my life: _Thou_ art the maiden for a wife. _He_ who lives single is an ass; _She_ who ne’er weds a luckless lass. _It’s_ tiresome work to live alone; So come with me, and be my own.
_We_ maids are oft by men deceived; _Ye_ don’t deserve to be believed; _You_ don’t--but there’s my hand--heigho! _They_ tell us, women can’t say no!
The speaker or speakers are of the first person; those spoken to, of the second; and those spoken of, of the third.
Of the three persons, the first is the most universally admired.
The second is the object of much adulation and flattery, and now and then of a little abuse.
The third person is generally made small account of; and, amongst other grievances, suffers a great deal from being frequently bitten about the back.
The Numbers of pronouns, like those of substantives, are, as we have already seen, two; the singular and the plural.
In addressing yourself to anybody, it is customary to use the second person plural instead of the singular. This practice most probably arose from a notion, that to be thought twice the man that the speaker was, gratified the vanity of the person addressed. Thus, the French put a double Monsieur on the backs of their letters.
Editors say “We,” instead of “I,” out of modesty.
The Quakers continue to say “thee” and “thou,” in the use of which pronouns, as well as in the wearing of broad-brimmed hats and of stand-up collars, they perceive a peculiar sanctity.
Gender has to do only with the third person singular of the pronouns, he, she, it. He is masculine; she is feminine; it is neuter.
Pronouns have the like cases with substantives; the nominative, the possessive, and the objective.
Would that they were the hardest cases to be met with in this country!
The personal pronouns are thus declined:--
FIRST PERSON FIRST PERSON CASE. SINGULAR. PLURAL. Nom. I We. Poss. Mine Ours. Obj. Me Us.
Pronouns, you see, are declined without fuss.