]
Thy ancestors virtue is not thine.
If the writer of this sentence meant _one_ ancestor, he should have
inserted the apostrophe after _r_, thus, "_ancestor's"_; if more than
one, after _s_, thus, _"ancestors'_ virtue;" but, by neglecting to place
the apostrophe, he has left his meaning ambiguous, and we cannot
ascertain it. This, and a thousand other mistakes you will often meet
with, demonstrate the truth of my declaration, namely, that "without the
knowledge and application of grammar rules, you will often speak and
write in such a manner as not to be _understood."_ You may now turn back
and re-examine the "illustration" of Rules 3, 4, and 12, on page 52, and
then correct the following examples about _five_ times over.
A mothers tenderness and a fathers care, are natures gift's for mans
advantage. Wisdoms precept's form the good mans interest and happiness.
They suffer for conscience's sake. He is reading Cowpers poems. James
bought Johnsons Dictionary.
RULE 4. A verb must agree with its nominative in number and person.
Those boys improves rapidly. The men labors in the field. Nothing
delight some persons.
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