Observations upon the cardinal numbers.

Although the above examples would suffice without further illustrations, yet you are to observe, that when two or more numbers are joined together, the greatest goes first in the Spanish language: thus they say, veint y cinco, veinte y ocho, twenty-five, twenty-eight; putting the copulative conjunction y immediately after the great

est, and act in that respect quite contrary to some English people who say, Five and twenty, eight and twenty, &c. N. B. This must be considered as a general rule.

There are again two other sorts of numbers, called Collective and Distributive: the Collective denotes a cer- ́ tain quantity of things joined together, as una docena a dozen, una cincüentena fifty. The Distributive expresses a part of the whole; as la mitad the half, el tercio the third part, el decimo the tenth part; &c.

CHAPTER IV.

OF PRONOUNS.

PRONOUNS are words used instead of nouns, to avoid. the repetition of a substantive, which would be very tedious without their help.

There are six sorts of pronouns; called personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, and indefinite.

1

Of personal pronouns.

The personal pronouns denote the persons: there are three persons; the first is that who speaks, the second is that to whom one speaks, and the third is the person of. whom one speaks. The pronouns of the first person are yo I, mi me, nosotros we; and those of the second are tu thou, vos or vosotros you, said only of persons or personified objects; but those of the third el he, ellos they, ella she, ellas they, are said of persons, animals, and things.

As the same pronoun is expressed one way when it is conjunctive, that is to say, joined to a verb, and another when disjunctive, a strict attention must be given to the following declension, in which they are carefully distinguished.

Declension of conjunctive personal pronouns.

First person-Masculine and feminine.

Sing. Nom. yo, I.

Gen. de mi, of me.