How to parse. ...

Par. 78, 79.] STATES OF ACTION.

61

did or do prepares the way for it. You may call
this the Negative or Interrogative form of the
Verb.
More rarely this form is used affirmatively, to
emphasize the truth of a statement: -
"Who says I did not come? I did come."
78 Person and Number.
If you alter the Subject of a Verb, you often
have to alter the Verb so as to agree with the
Subject.
1. If you alter "I " into " he," you must alter
"catch " into "' catches," so as to agree with "he."
2. Again, if you alter "he" into " they " you
must alter "catches" to "catch," so as to agree
with the alteration of the Subject from Singular to
Plural.
This is expressed by saying that -
A Verb agrees with its Subject in Person and
Number.
79 As an explanation of our distinction between First, Second, and Third Persons, it may be remembered that the
Romans, whose grammar we have copied, thought it natural for a person speaking to think first of himself (I), secondly of the person to whom he was speaking (you), and
thirdly of any one else about whom he was speaking (him
or her).
The following Scheme shews how a Verb agrees
with its Subject —