Plain English

The class struggle is waged on the political field.

The class struggle is waged on the industrial field.

53. So a conjunction may be used to connect phrases as well as words.

Now notice the following sentences:

He will speak. I will listen.

He will speak, and I will listen.

He will speak, but I will listen.

He will speak, if I will listen.

He will speak, therefore I will listen.

He will speak, because I will listen.

He will speak, until I will listen.

54. These sentences are joined by different conjunctions, and the conjunction used alters the meaning of the sentence.

The conjunction is a very useful part of speech. Without it we would have many disconnected sentences requiring tiresome repetition of the same words. Like prepositions, there are not many conjunctions in English and they are readily recognized.

55. We will study about these conjunctions at length in later lessons. If you consult the following list of those most commonly used, you can easily pick out the conjunctions in your reading:

and

as

as if

after

although

as soon as

because

besides

before

but

either

for

hence

in order that

lest

neither

nor

or

since

still

so

then

though

that

than

therefore

till

until

unless

while

whether

yet

The seven classes of words which we have studied make up all of our sentences. The hundreds of words which we use in forming our sentences and expressing our thoughts belong to these seven classes. They are either nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions or conjunctions.

Exercise 5

Underscore the conjunctions in the following sentences. Notice whether they connect words or phrases or sentences.

1. We cannot win unless we are organized.

2. Books and music are true friends.

3. Men, women and children work under conditions neither proper nor just.

4. We must educate and organize.

5. The workers on the farms and in the factories must be united.

6. Winter has come and the birds are going South.

7. We have been ignorant, therefore we have been exploited.

8. We must learn before we can teach.

9. We do not understand the situation, because we do not know the facts.

10. Do you know whether these statements are true or false?

IT CAN BE DONESomebody said that it couldn't be done,But he, with a chuckle, repliedThat "maybe it couldn't," but he would be oneWho wouldn't say so till he tried.So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grinOn his face. If he worried he hid it.He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn't be done—and he did it.Somebody scoffed, "Oh, you'll never do that;At least no one ever has done it."But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,And the first thing we knew he'd begun it;With the lift of his chin, and a bit of a grin,Without any doubting or quiddit,He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn't be done—and he did it.There are thousands to tell you it can not be done;There are thousands to prophesy failure;There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,The dangers that wait to assail you.But buckle right in, with a lift of your chin,Then take off your coat and go to it;Just start in to sing as you tackle the thingThat "can not be done,"—and you'll do it.

INTERJECTIONS

56. There is another class of words which we use with sentences, but which are really not parts of the sentences. They are emotional expressions which seem to belong more to the natural language than to the invented language. For example:

Oh! You hurt me!

Aha! Now I have you.

Oh, used in this way, is very apt to sound like a groan, and aha like a shout of triumph. These words do not really belong in the construction of the sentence. The sentence would be complete without them, but they are thrown in to express the emotion which accompanies the thought. We call expressions such as these interjections. Interjection is from the Latin and means literally thrown into the midst of. It comes from the Latin word inter, which means between, and the Latin verb jecto, to throw, so it literally means to throw between.

Some of these words imitate sounds, as for example:

Bang! There goes another shot.

Ding-dong! There goes the first bell.

We do not use interjections very frequently in writing on scientific subjects that express deep thought, but you will find them often used in poetry, fiction, oratory or any emotional writing. Therefore we have our definition of an interjection:

57. An interjection is an exclamatory word or phrase used to express feeling or to imitate some sound.

58. Following is a list of commonly used interjections. Use them in sentences of your own.

oh

hello

bravo

ahoy

aha

hurrah

bow wow

ssh

alas

hist

whirr

pshaw

fie

whoa

ding-dong

rub-a-dub

Exercise 6

Mark the interjections in the following sentences. Notice those which express emotion and those which imitate sound.

1. Oh! Is it possible.

2. Hurrah! We have good news at last.

3. Whirr! Whirr! goes the giant machine.

4. Come! Keep up your courage.

5. What! I cannot believe it.

6. Courage! We shall yet win.

7. Bravo! Let those words ring down the centuries.

8. Ding-dong! the bells ring out the hour!

SPELLING

LESSON 3

Since there are forty-two elementary sounds used in the formation of our words and only twenty-six letters to represent these sounds, some of these letters must necessarily represent more than one sound.

Of the forty-two elementary sounds, eighteen are vowel sounds, but we have only five vowels with which to represent these sounds, so each vowel has several different sounds.

Therefore we must have a key to pronunciation to indicate the various sounds which are represented by these letters used in forming the words. When you look up words in your dictionary you will find the vowels marked by certain signs to indicate the pronunciation. These signs are called diacritical marks.

The following table gives the diacritical marks for the vowels. Study this table and learn to pronounce the words you look up. When you have determined the correct pronunciation of the word, repeat it over to yourself aloud a number of times until you have accustomed your ear to the correct pronunciation.

Different dictionaries use different keys to pronunciation. This table is taken from the dictionary which we are using in connection with this course—Winston's New Universal Self-Pronouncing Dictionary.

Key to Pronunciation

ā as in late, fade.

ä as in mar, father.

ȧ as in mask, dance.

a as in cat, had.

aw as in awl, fall.

ē as in he, feet.

ẽ as in her, verge.

e as in let, men.

ī as in line, time.

i as in tin, little.

ō as in vote, home.

ô as in orb, form.

o as in lot, odd.

oi as in oil, join.

o̅o̅ as in moon, school.

oo as in cook, foot.

ou as in out, house.

ū as in mute, unit.

u as in nut, drum.

The spelling lesson for this week is composed of words containing the different vowel sounds. Look up in your dictionary and mark all the a's in Monday's lesson, all the e's in Tuesday's lesson, all the i's in Wednesday's lesson, all the o's in Thursday's lesson, and all the u's in Friday's lesson. In Saturday's lesson note the use of w and y as vowels.

Monday

Pause

Adjective

Lazy

Quality

Advance

Tuesday

Resemble

Descend

Adverb

Interjection

Complete

Wednesday

Limit

Define

Distinct

Imprison

Civilize

Thursday

Form

Footsteps

Proof

Report

Common

Friday

Union

Under

Unusual

Summer

Commune

Saturday

Comply

Employ

Vowel

News

Lawful

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 4

Dear Comrade:

We are studying in this lesson a most interesting part of our language, the words that are the names of things. If we could trace these names of things and the order and time of their coming into the language of men we would have a progressive history of mankind. Way back yonder in the dim dawn of history, men lived upon fruit and nuts. They had no knowledge of the use of fire and could not use foods that required cooking. They communicated with one another by signs. Then they discovered fire and invented the bow and arrow. They could now use fish and flesh for food and they commenced to use articulate speech. This stage has been called the Middle Stage of Savagery. With the invention of the bow and arrow, began the third stage of savagery which merged into the first stage of barbarism with the invention of pottery.

There are three stages of barbarism before we come to the beginning of the era of civilization which begins with the use of the phonetic alphabet and the production of literary records. All tribes that have never attained the art of pottery are classed as savages and those who possess this art but have never attained a phonetic alphabet and the use of writing are classed as barbarians. Civilization began with the spoken and written language and it has been well said that all that separates us from savagery is a wall of books. It is upon the accumulated wisdom of the past that we build. Without this we would be helpless.

So these various names of things have come to us with developing evolving life. As the men of the past gained a knowledge of the use of fire, as they learned to bake the clay and make various utensils; to heat and forge the iron into weapons; to conquer nature in all her phases, to feed the race, to clothe the race, to shelter the race more adequately, our language has grown in volume, strength and beauty.

The study of words and their uses is of great importance to you. Master the few rules necessary and watch your words daily. We are living in an age full of wondrous things and yet many of us have almost as limited a vocabulary as the men of those bygone days, who had never dreamed of the marvels that are commonplace to us.

As you use your dictionary watch closely the meaning of the words and choose the words that most aptly express your ideas. Listen to good English spoken as often as you can. Read good English. Mark the difference between good and bad English and gradually you will find yourself using good English naturally and continually.

Yours for Education,THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE

CLASSES OF NOUNS

59. We have learned that the words in a sentence are classified according to the work which each word does. The words which assert are called verbs; the words which are the names of things are called nouns. But now we shall see that these words are again divided into classes according to the special work which they perform. Just as we may gather the people of the world into one great class, the working class, then classify them according to the industry in which they work, thus some are farmers, some teachers, some factory workers; then each class may be subdivided according to the special work which they perform, as truck farmers, high school teachers, machinists, etc.

So we find that nouns are divided into classes according to their meaning in the sentence.

In the sentence, Lincoln was a man of the people, we have two nouns referring to the same person, Lincoln and man, but they are different kinds of names. The word man is a name that may apply to any one of a million persons but the name Lincoln applies to one person only. Some nouns, then, represent a thing as being of a certain kind or class, without showing which particular one is meant. Other nouns are names given to designate a particular individual. These are called common and proper nouns.

60. A proper noun is a special name meant for only one person, place or thing.

All other nouns are common nouns.

A common noun is a name which belongs to all things of a class of objects.

Every proper noun should begin with a capital letter.

Indicate the proper nouns in the following list by drawing a line under the letters that ought to be capitals:

king

month

city

france

dog

virginia

war

wilson

november

doctor

colonel

napoleon

chicago

governor

independence day

freedom

ocean

atlantic ocean

thanksgiving

thanksgiving day

uncle william

thursday

week

general sherman

karl marx

union

labor

united mine workers

newspaper

the daily call

Write the special or proper names of several individuals in each of the following classes:—as city,—Chicago, New York, etc.

River, king, author, country, state, inventor, martyr, month, book, college.

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

61. Some nouns are the names of groups or collections of things and are called collective nouns.

Many soldiers taken together form collectively an army—a number of sheep form a drove. Many of these group or collective nouns will readily occur to your mind.

A collective noun is one that in the singular form, denotes a number of separate persons or things.

Exercise 1

Opposite each of the following collective nouns, write the name of the individuals represented by the collection; as an army of soldiers; a swarm of bees; a flock of birds.

A gang of.......

A committee of.......

A herd of.......

A drove of.......

A hive of.......

A corps of.......

A suite of.......

A group of.......

A class of.......

A multitude of.......

Fill the following blanks with appropriate collective nouns.

A......of horses.

A......of sailors.

A......of wolves.

A......of savages.

A......of singers.

A......of girls.

A......of ships.

A......of quail.

A......of birds.

A......of workers.

ABSTRACT NOUNS

62. When primitive man began to name the objects about him, doubtless he first named the things which he could see, hear, taste, smell and touch,—the objects which he could perceive by the five senses. Then gradually he came to understand that these objects had certain qualities which he could consider apart from the object itself.

He hunted among the stones to find those which were suitable for making his arrow-heads. For this purpose he needed the hardest stone which he could find, so hardness became something which he could think of as something apart from the object itself.

He saw the men about him and found a name for them. Then he knew that some men were stronger than others, so strength was a quality which he could consider apart from the man himself.

These men performed certain actions; they ran, they climbed,—so running and climbing became actions which he could think of as something apart from any individual.

He noted too that men lived in certain conditions; for example, some men were free, some were slaves, so he came to think of slavery and freedom as conditions which could be thought of as something apart from the individual.

So we draw away, or separate certain ideas; the quality from the thing which has it and the action from the thing which does it and the condition from the thing which is in it. These nouns which are used to describe these qualities, actions or conditions are called abstract nouns. Abstract is a word derived from the Latin abs, away from, and tractus, drawn, so it literally means drawn away from.

The nouns which are names of things which we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch or perceive by any of the five senses are called concrete nouns.

63. A concrete noun is the name of an object which may be perceived by one or more of the five senses.

An abstract noun is the name of a quality, a condition or an action.

64. You remember we found in the study of adjectives that we have a class of adjectives which are used to describe the qualities of objects, as for example—good, noble, honest, true, wise, etc. Since abstract nouns are the names of qualities, many of our abstract nouns are formed from adjectives. Study carefully the following list of adjectives and nouns. Note that the word is an adjective when it is used with a noun to describe certain qualities. It is a noun when it is used by itself to name that quality.

65. You will notice that another use of abstract nouns is to name actions. The verb is the part of speech which expresses action, therefore many abstract nouns are formed from verbs. Notice the following list:

66. An abstract noun is also the name of a condition. These nouns are derived from the concrete noun which is the name of the person or thing which is in the condition.

Exercise 2

Form abstract nouns from the following adjectives, verbs and nouns.

long

simple

rapid

lovely

loyal

fresh

prove

sing

run

behave

believe

reflect

write

child

agent

infant

rascal

clerk

president

coward

NUMBER FORM

67. So we find that we classify our nouns according to the special work which they do. Now sometimes we find it necessary to change the form of the noun to make it express our thought. Thus we say, book, man, boy, knife, when we wish to express the idea of only one of each object mentioned. But when we wish to express the idea of more than one of them, we say, books, men, boys, knives.

We say, The boy calls; the boys call. The form of the noun boy is changed by adding an s to it. The meaning has also changed. Boy denotes one lad; boys denotes two or more lads. Any change in form and meaning of words is called inflection. The change to denote more than one object is called number. The word boy, denoting one is in the singular number; the word boys, denoting more than one is in the plural number.

68. Inflection is a change in the form of a word to denote a different application or use.

Number is the form of a noun which shows whether it denotes one or more than one.

The singular number denotes one thing.

The plural number denotes more than one thing.

There are a few rules governing the formation of plurals which we must know, and these rules are of great assistance in correct spelling.

69. Most nouns form their plural by adding s—thus:

Long ago in early English all plurals were formed by adding es, and you will read in the first translation of the Bible, for instance, such words as bird-es, cloud-es. Later the e was dropped and s added to the singular without an increase of syllables. But when the singular ends in an s sound, the original syllable es is retained, for two hissing sounds will not unite.

70. So nouns ending in s, x, z, sh or soft ch, form the plural by adding es to the singular. These words end with a sound so much like that of s that we cannot pronounce the plural easily without making another syllable. Thus:

71. In words ending with the s sound but with a final e, only s is added to form the plural, but in pronouncing the word we then have two syllables, thus:

72. Letters, figures, signs, etc., are made plural by adding an apostrophe and the letter s ('s), thus:

Cross your t's and dot your i's.

Do you know the table of 4's?

While most of our nouns form their plural in this regular way by adding s or es, there are some nouns that form their plural by some other change in the form of the word.

73. Notice the following list of words and their plurals:

fly

flies

city

cities

key

keys

day

days

story

stories

enemy

enemies

tray

trays

boy

boys

These nouns all end in y, yet they form the plural differently. Some simply add s and the rest change the y to i and add es. Can you discover the reason?

Wherever the y is preceded by a vowel, as e in key, a in tray, o in boy, the plural is formed by adding s. But when the y is preceded by a consonant, as l in fly, r in story, t in city, and m in enemy, the y is changed to i and es added in forming the plural.

If the singular ends in y after a consonant, change y to i and add es in the plural.

74. There are thirteen nouns ending in f and three in fe which form the plural in ves. They are:

All other nouns in f or fe are regular; adding only s, to form the plural.

75. About forty nouns ending in o after a consonant form the plural in es. The most common ones are:

buffalo

cargo

potato

tomato

negro

veto

cargo

echo

calico

embargo

hero

mulatto

mosquito

motto

tornado

volcano

torpedo

flamingo

Most nouns ending in o form the plural regularly, adding only s, as pianos, banjos, cameos, etc.

76. A few words form their plurals by a change in the word and without adding s or es.