_This_ forms the plural _thise_ and _thes_ (_these_). _That_ is always used as a demonstrative, and never as the neuter of the article; its plural is _thos_ (those).[55] The older form, _theos_ = _these_, shows that the _e_ is not a sign of the plural, as many English grammarians have asserted. (2) _Degrees of Comparison._--The comparative degree ends in _-er_, and the superlative in _-est_. Adjectives and adverbs terminating in the syllable _-lyche_ form the comparative in _-loker_ and the superlative in _-lokest_; as, positive _uglyche_ (= ugly), comp. _ugloker_, superl. _uglokest_. The long vowel of the positive is often shortened in the comp. and superl., as in the modern English _late_, _latter_, _last_. Positive. Comparative. Superlative. Brade (broad), bradder, braddest. Dere (dear), derrer, derrest. Lyke (like), lykker, lykkest. Swete (sweet), swetter, swettest. Wayke (weak), wakker, wakkest. Wode (mad), wodder, woddest. The following irregular forms are occasionally met with: Positive. Comparative. Superlative. Fer (far), ferre (fyrre), ferrest. Heȝe (high), herre, heȝest (hest). Neȝe (nigh, near) nerre, nerrest (nest). Sare (sore), sarre, sarrest. Forme (first), formast. Mikelle (great), mo most. Yvel, ill (bad), wers (worre), werst. _Numerals._--_Twinne_ and _thrinne_ occur for two and three. The ordinal numbers are-- first (fyrste), the forme, secunde, that other, tother, thryd, } thrydde, } furþe, fyfþe, sexte, sevenþe, aȝtþe, nente, tenþe, } tyþe. } The Northumbrian numerals corresponding to _sevenþe_, _aȝtþe_, _nente_, _tenþe_, are _sevend_, _aghtend_, _neghend_, _tend_. The Southern forms end in _-the_, as _sevenþe_, _eiȝteoþe_, _nyþe_, _teoþe_ (_tyþe_). [Footnote 53: The feminine form is seldom employed.] [Footnote 54: The Northumbrian plural article is _tha_.] [Footnote 55: The Northumbrian corresponding form is _thas_.] III. +Pronouns.+ In the following poems we find the pronoun _ho_, she, still keeping its ground against the Northumbrian _scho_.[56] _Ho_ is identical with the modern Lancashire _hoo_ (or _huh_ as it is sometimes written), which in some parts of England has nearly the same pronunciation as the accusative _her_. The Northumbrian _thay_ (they) has displaced the older Midland _he_, corresponding to the Southern pronoun _hii_, _hi_ (A.S. _hí_). _Hores_ and _thayreȝ_ (theirs) occasionally occur for _here_.[57] The genitives in _-es_, due no doubt to Scandinavian influence, are very common in Northumbrian writers of the fourteenth century, but are never found in any Southern work of the same period.