Plain English

The business of the New York journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to villify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his race and his country for his daily bread.

You know this and I know it. So what folly is this to be toasting an "Independent Press."

We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping-jacks; they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.—John Swinton.

MODIFIERS OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

434. Remember that a simple sentence is one that contains a single statement, question or command. It is a clause, for it contains a subject and a predicate; but it contains only the one subject and the one predicate. A sentence containing two principal clauses, or a principal clause and a subordinate clause, would contain two complete statements, questions or commands, therefore it would not be a simple sentence, but compound or complex.

Remember, however, that the simple sentences may contain two or more subjects with the same predicate, or two or more predicates with the same subject, or both a compound subject and a compound predicate.

435. The modifiers in a simple sentence are always words or phrases. The modifiers of the subject are either adjectives or adjective phrases. The modifiers of the predicate are either adverbs or adverb phrases. If an adjective or an adverb clause is used as a modifier, then the sentence is no longer a simple sentence, but becomes a complex sentence, for it now contains a dependent clause.

ORDER OF ELEMENTS

436. The usual order of the principal elements in the sentence is the subject, the predicate and the object or complement, thus:

This is called the natural or logical order. Logical means according to sense or reason.

Adjectives usually stand before the nouns they modify, thus:

Good books are helpful.

Adverbs may be placed either before or after the verbs they modify, thus:

The men then came quickly to the rescue.

The adverb then precedes the verb came, which it modifies; and the adverb quickly is placed after the verb.

Adverbs which modify adjectives or other adverbs are placed before the words which they modify, thus:

The more industrious students learn quite rapidly.

In this sentence, the adverb more is placed before the adjective industrious, which it modifies; and the adverb quite is placed before the adverb rapidly, which it modifies.

Adjective and adverb phrases usually follow the words which they modify, thus:

The men in the car came quickly to the rescue.

The manager of the mine remained with the men.

In this last sentence, the adjective phrase, of the mine, is placed after the noun manager, which it modifies, and the adverb phrase, with the men, is placed after the verb remained, which it modifies.

437. These sentences illustrate the logical order in which the elements of the sentence usually come. But this logical order is not strictly adhered to. Many times, in order to place the emphasis upon certain words, we reverse this order and place the emphasized words first, as:

Without your help, we cannot win.

The logical order of this sentence is:

We cannot win without your help.

But we want to place the emphasis upon your help, so we change the order of the words and place the phrase, without your help, first.

438. This inversion of the order helps us to express our thought with more emphasis. Our language is so flexible that we can express the same thought in different ways by simply changing the order of the elements in the sentence. Notice in the following sentences, the inversion of the usual order, and see what difference this makes in the expression of the thought.

Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

A more terrible scene you cannot imagine.

With the shrieking of shot and shell the battle raged.

Louder and louder thundered the tempest.

Silently and sadly the men returned to their homes.

To transpose these inverted sentences—that is to place the elements in their logical order, gives us an insight into the thought expressed in the sentence. It is worth a great deal to us to be able in our reading to see the live elements in the sentence at a glance, and in this way we can grasp at once the thought of the sentence. So you will find that this analyzing of the sentences is very helpful to us in our reading.

439. When we have learned to analyze a sentence quickly we will not be lost in the maze of words. A paragraph is often like a string of pearls. The author has a single thread of thought running through the different sentences which compose the paragraph and if we have trained ourselves well in sentence analysis, we will never lose this thread. It will be like a life line to which we cling while the breakers of thought and emotion roar about us.

Exercise 3

In the following poem, study carefully the inverted order of the sentences. Rewrite them, placing the elements in their logical order. As for example:

To the poor man you've been true from of old.

The elements of the sentence are inverted in this quotation. Rewritten in their logical order this would read:

You've been true to the poor man from of old.

You will note that this inversion is quite common in poetry.

HUNGER AND COLDSisters, two, all praise to you,With your faces pinched and blue;To the poor man you've been true,From of old;You can speak the keenest word,You are sure of being heard,From the point you're never stirred,Hunger and Cold!Let sleek statesmen temporize;Palsied are their shifts and liesWhen they meet your bloodshot eyes,Grim and bold;Policy you set at naught,In their traps you'll not be caught,You're too honest to be bought,Hunger and Cold!Let them guard both hall and bower;Through the window you will glower,Patient till your reckoning hourShall be tolled;Cheeks are pale, but hands are red,Guiltless blood may chance be shed,But ye must and will be fed,Hunger and Cold!God has plans man must not spoil,Some were made to starve and toil,Some to share the wine and oil,We are told;Devil's theories are these,Stifling hope and love and peace,Framed your hideous lusts to please,Hunger and Cold!Scatter ashes on thy head,Tears of burning sorrow shed,Earth! and be by Pity ledTo love's fold;Ere they block the very doorWith lean corpses of the poor,And will hush for naught but gore,Hunger and Cold!—Lowell.

SPELLING

LESSON 25

You remember in our lesson in the study of consonants we found there were a number of consonants in English which had more than one sound; for example, c, s, g, x, etc.

A number of other consonants have sounds which are similar; that is, they are made with the organs of articulation in the same position, only one is a soft, and the other a hard sound; for example, p and b, t and d, f and v, etc. These sounds are called cognate sounds. Cognate means literally of the same nature, and so these sounds are of the same nature, only in one the obstruction of the vocal organs is more complete than in the other.

Our language contains a number of words in which there is a difference in the pronunciation of the final consonant when the word is used as a noun and as a verb. The final consonants in these words are the cognate sounds, f, v; t, d; th soft or th hard, s soft, or s hard. When the consonant sound is a soft sound, the word is a noun; and when the consonant sound is a hard sound the word is a verb. For example; use and use; breath and breathe; life and live, etc.

The spelling lessons for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday contain words ending in cognate sounds, in which the words ending with a soft sound are nouns and the words ending in the hard sounds are verbs. Add others to this list as they occur to you.

We have a number of words in the English beginning with ex. In some of these words, the ex has the sound of eks, and in some of the words the ex has the sound of egs. It is not easy at times to know which sound to use.

In regard to the use of ex, follow this rule: When a word beginning with ex is followed by an accented syllable beginning with a vowel, the ex is pronounced egs; in all other words ex is pronounced eks; for example, in executor, the ex is followed by an accented syllable beginning with a vowel, therefore, ex is pronounced egs. In execute, the ex is followed by an unaccented syllable beginning with a vowel, and therefore ex is pronounced eks. In explain, ex is followed by a syllable beginning with a consonant, and it is therefore pronounced eks.

Note that in words like exhibit, exhort, etc., the ex is followed by a vowel sound, the h being silent, and it is therefore, pronounced egs, for it is followed by an accented syllable beginning with a vowel sound.

The spelling list for Thursday, Friday and Saturday contains words beginning with ex. Watch carefully the pronunciation.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Exile

Except

Exhibit

Expert

Exempt

Friday

Example

Excellent

Exhaust

Exit

Expropriate

Saturday

Exercise

Exist

Experiment

Exaggerate

Explanation

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 26

Dear Comrade:

There are really two things which will come to us out of the study of grammar. One of these, which we discussed in our letter last week, is the power of logical thinking. The second is the ability to express our thoughts correctly; that is, according to accepted usage. So you can consider your spoken and written speech from two viewpoints. First, you can look to see if you have used the words correctly. We have noted these common errors especially in our study of the various parts of speech. There are certain errors we often make, as for example, using a plural noun with a singular verb, or using the past time form of the verb for the past participle.

We have noted a great many of these errors in our speech. We might make ourselves understood and express ourselves fairly accurately and still make these mistakes, but it is wise for us to try to eliminate them from our speech for several reasons. To those who understand the use of correct English, these mistakes mark us as ignorant and uneducated. No matter how important and absolutely accurate the thought we are expressing, if we make these grammatical errors, they very naturally discount our thought also. They feel that if we cannot speak correctly, in all probability we cannot think accurately, either.

Then, too, these words in our speech distract the attention of our hearers from the things which we are saying. It is like the mannerism of an actor. If he has any peculiar manner of walking or of talking and persists in carrying that into whatever character he is interpreting, we always see the actor himself, instead of the character which he is portraying. His mannerisms get in the way and interfere with our grasp of the idea.

So in music. You may be absorbed in a wonderful selection which some one is playing and if suddenly he strikes a wrong note, the discord distracts your attention and perhaps you never get back into the spirit of the music again.

So we must watch these common errors in our speech, but we must not let our study of English be simply that alone. The greatest benefit which we are deriving from this study is the analytic method of thought and the logical habit of mind, which the effort to express ourselves clearly and accurately and in well-chosen words will give us. Put as much time as you can possibly spare into this analysis of sentences. Take your favorite writer and analyze his sentences and find out what is his particular charm for you. If there is any sentence which gives you a little trouble and you cannot analyze it properly, copy it in your next examination paper and state where the difficulty lies. Rewrite the passages which please you most and then compare your version with the author's and see if you really grasped his meaning. In this way you will add quickly to your enjoyment of the writing of others and to your power of expressing yourself.

Yours for Freedom,THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

THE SIMPLE SENTENCE

440. We have been analyzing the simple sentence, which contains only words and phrases. We have found that there may enter into the simple sentence, the following elements:

1. The simple subject.

2. The simple predicate.

3. The modifiers of the subject.

4. The object of the verb.

5. The predicate complement.

6. The modifiers of the predicate.

This is not the order in which the elements will appear in the sentence, but this is the order of their importance. We first look for the simple subject and the simple predicate; then we can determine which words are the modifiers of the subject; then we find the object or predicate complement of the verb and the modifiers of the verb; and thus we have all of the elements which go into the construction of the simple sentence.

We may also have two nouns used as the subject or two verbs used in the predicate, connected by a co-ordinate conjunction, thus:

Marx and Engels lived and worked together.

Here we have two proper nouns used as the subject, Marx and Engels. We have also two verbs used as the predicate, lived and worked. We call this a compound subject and compound predicate.

So in one simple sentence, that is a sentence which makes a single assertion, we may have every part of speech. For example:

The most intelligent men and women think for themselves.

In this sentence, we have a noun, verb, pronoun, adjective, adverb, conjunction and preposition—every part of speech except the interjection, which is an independent element and does not enter into the construction of the sentence.

Exercise 1

Write simple sentences of your own containing:

1. A compound subject.

2. A compound predicate.

3. A noun as subject modified by one or more adjectives.

4. A noun as subject modified by a phrase.

5. An incomplete verb with a direct and an indirect object.

6. An incomplete verb with a predicate complement.

7. A predicate modified by one or more adverbs.

8. A predicate modified by an adverb phrase.

COMPLEX SENTENCES

441. The simple sentence is the unit of speech. It is a combination of words which makes a single statement, question or command. But many times a constant repetition of these short sentences would become tiresome, and our written and spoken speech would not flow as smoothly and rapidly as we desire. So we have evolved a way in which we may combine these sentences into longer statements. Let us take the two simple sentences:

We are united.

We shall succeed.

We may combine these into a single sentence by using the co-ordinate conjunction and. Then our sentence reads:

We are united and we shall succeed.

This is a compound sentence, formed by uniting two simple sentences. Both of the clauses are independent and are of equal rank. Neither depends upon the other. They are united by the co-ordinate conjunction and. We can combine these sentences in a different way. For example, we may say:

If we are united, we shall succeed.

Now we have a subordinate clause, if we are united, which is used to modify the verb of the main clause, succeed. We have used the subordinate conjunction if, and so we have a complex sentence formed by uniting the principal clause and a dependent clause.

442. The next step in sentence building, after the simple sentence, is the complex sentence. A complex sentence is a combination of two or more simple sentences, which are so united that one sentence remains the main sentence—the backbone, as it were—and the other sentence becomes subordinate or dependent upon it.

443. A complex sentence is one containing a principal clause and one or more subordinate clauses.

A principal clause is one which makes a complete statement without the help of any other clause or clauses.

A subordinate or dependent clause is one which makes a statement dependent upon or modifying some word or words in the principal clause.

KINDS OF DEPENDENT CLAUSES

444. Dependent clauses are of three kinds. They may be used either as nouns, adjectives or adverbs, and so are called noun clauses, adjective clauses or adverb clauses.

NOUN CLAUSES

445. Noun clauses are those which are used in place of a noun. They may be used in any way in which a noun may be used, except as a possessive.

1. The noun clause may be used as the subject of the sentence. For example:

That he is innocent is admitted by all.

The clause, that he is innocent is used as a noun, the subject of the sentence.

2. The noun clause may be used as the object of a verb, thus:

I admit that I cannot understand your argument.

The clause, that I cannot understand your argument, is in this sentence the object of the verb admit.

3. The noun clause may be used as the predicate complement, thus:

The fact is that this policy will never win.

The clause, that this policy will never win, is here used in the predicate with the copulative verb is.

4. The noun clause may also be used in apposition, explaining the noun with which it is used, thus:

The motion, that the question should be reconsidered, was carried.

That the question should be reconsidered, is here a noun clause, used in apposition with the noun motion, and explains the meaning of the noun.

5. The noun clause may also be used as the object of a preposition, thus:

I now refer to what he claims.

The noun clause, what he claims, is here the object of the preposition, to.

Exercise 2

In the following sentences the noun clauses are printed in italics. Determine whether they are used as the subject, or object of the verb, as predicate complement, in apposition, or as the object of a preposition.

1. The fact is that I was not listening.

2. Whatever King Midas looked upon turned to gold.

3. He acknowledged what we had suspected.

4. We will never know what the real situation was.

5. The fact that the wage is insufficient can be easily proved.

6. He replied to what had been asked.

7. The claim was that he had made a speech inciting to riot.

8. The law that labor unions are in restraint of trade was upheld.

9. That we cannot win by compromise is readily apparent.

10. Labor demands that it shall have its full product.

11. Whoever controls education controls the future.

12. He came to where the militia was in camp.

Exercise 3

Write sentences containing noun clauses used:

1. As the subject of a verb.

2. As the object of a verb.

3. As a predicate complement.

4. In apposition.

5. As the object of a preposition.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

446. A dependent clause in a complex sentence may also be an adjective clause.

An adjective clause is a clause used as an adjective, and, hence, always modifies a noun or some word used as a noun, such as a pronoun or a participle. In Lesson 22, we studied adjective clauses and found that they could be introduced by the relative pronouns, who, which, that and as, and also by conjunctions such as, when, where, whither, whence, etc. An adjective clause may modify any noun or any word used as a noun in the sentence.

1. An adjective clause may modify the subject, thus:

Men who have become class-conscious do not make good soldiers.

In this sentence the clause, who have become class-conscious, modifies the noun men, and is introduced by the relative pronoun who.

2. An adjective clause may modify the noun which is the object of the verb, as:

The men supported the party which fought for their rights.

Here the clause, which fought for their rights, is an adjective clause introduced by the pronoun which, and it modifies the noun party, which is the object of the verb supported.

3. An adjective clause may also be used to modify the noun which is used in the predicate complement, as:

That was the book which I enjoyed.

In this sentence the clause, which I enjoyed, is an adjective clause modifying the noun book, which is used as the predicate complement with the copulative verb was.

4. An adjective clause may also be used to modify the noun which is used as the object of a preposition, as:

He arrived on the train which was late.

Here the adjective clause, which was late, modifies the noun train, which is the object of the preposition on.

Sometimes it is a little difficult to discover these adjective clauses, for frequently the connecting word is omitted, as for example:

I could not find the man I wanted.

In this sentence, the pronoun whom is omitted; the complete sentence would read:

I could not find the man whom I wanted.

Whom I wanted is an adjective clause modifying the noun man.

Exercise 4

In the following sentences the relative pronouns and the conjunctions introducing adjective clauses are omitted. Rewrite the sentences using the proper relative pronouns and conjunctions. The adjective clauses are in italics.

1. The people you are seeking are not here.

2. I have read the book you brought.

3. The articles you mentioned are not listed.

4. I will go to the place you say.

5. This is a book you should read.

6. Those are ideals the people will readily grasp.