_Books_ is a noun, the name of a thing--common, the name of a sort of
things,--neut. gend. it denotes a thing without sex--third pers. spoken
of--plur. num. it implies more than one--and in the objective case, it
is the object of the action, expressed by the active-transitive verb
"prints," and is governed by it according to
RULE 20. _Active-transitive verbs govern the objective case_.
The noun _books_ is thus declined--Sing. nom. book, poss. book's, obj.
book--Plur. nom. books, poss. books', obj. books.
RULE 20. Transitive verbs _govern_ the objective case; that is, they
_require_ the noun or pronoun following them to be in that case; and
this requisition is government. Pronouns have a particular _form_ to
suit each case; but nouns have not. We cannot say, She _struck he_; I
gave the book _to they_. Why not? Because the genius of our language
requires the pronoun following a transitive verb or preposition (_to_ is
a preposition) to assume that _form_ which we call the _objective_ form
or case. Accordingly, the construction should be, She struck _him_; I
gave the book to _them_.--Read, again, the illustration of "government"
on page 52.
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