Plain English — Edition Insights

vilization began with the invention of the phonetic alphabet and the use of writing. So the study of language becomes not a dull and stupid conning of useless rules and formulas, but an absorbing study of a living, growing, changing thing that mirrors forth the very life of man.

Think while you study. As you look for the definition of words in your dictionary and realize how many shades of meaning we can express in words, remember that this power is a heritage that comes to us from a long past of incessant struggle.

We of to-day are also writing history in words. By our efforts we are adding new words to the language and giving old words a richer meaning. _Brotherhood_, _justice_, for example! The world is coming to understand these glorious words more fully and giving them a new interpretation.

You will see a new beauty and glory in words after you have finished this course and you will have a mastery of this wonderful language of ours.

Watch carefully the use of words in your reading. Especially this week distinguish the nouns and verbs. Use your dictionary constantly and add a few words to your vocabulary every day.

Whenever there is a word used in these lessons which you do not thoroughly understand, look it up at once in your dictionary and master it then and there. Make a list in your note book of the words you look up and at the end of the week go over them again and see if you have them clearly in mind. Watch also the pronunciation of the words. Do not try to do everything all at once, nor should you be discouraged if your progress seems slow. We approach the goal one step at a time and each step takes us nearer and nearer. Just keep steadily at it, Comrade.

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

+19.+ We have found that we use sentences to express our thoughts. But we also find that we use these sentences in different ways for different purposes. Can you notice any difference in the following sentences?

Two classes have always existed. To which class do you belong? Join your class in the struggle.

When I say, _Two classes have always existed_, I am making a simple assertion, stating what I know or believe to be true.

When I say, _To which class do you belong?_ I am asking a question.

When I say, _Join your class in the struggle_, I am giving a command or making a request.

+20.+ +These three kinds of sentences are called assertive, interrogative and imperative.+

+An assertive sentence states a fact or an opinion.+

+An interrogative sentence asks a question.+

+An imperative sentence gives a command, makes a request or expresses a wish.+

+21.+ Any of these three kinds of sentences may be exclamatory; that is, it may express surprise, excitement, impatience, or some other emotion. For example:

Hurrah! Freedom is coming!

This is an assertion expressed as an exclamation.

Oh! Why should war continue?

Here we have a question in the form of an exclamation.

Come! Keep your courage up.

In this, we have a command, an imperative sentence, expressed in the form of an exclamation.

+An exclamatory sentence expresses surprise, excitement or some other emotion.+

In these three forms of sentences, the assertive, the interrogative and the imperative, together with the exclamatory, we are able to express every thought and feeling which demands expression, either for practical or artistic purposes.

The sentence is the basis of spoken and written language and as we trace its development we trace the history of the evolution of man and the growth of his power of expression, as he has developed his powers of mind.

+22.+ +Every sentence must begin with a capital letter.+

+Every assertive and imperative sentence should end with a period.+

+Every interrogative sentence should end with a question mark.+

The word in an exclamatory sentence which expresses strong emotion is followed by an exclamation point. The sentence itself if in interrogative form should be followed by a question mark; if in the assertive or the imperative form it may be followed either by an exclamation point or a period.

Mark the assertive sentences among the following with an _a_ in the blank space. Mark the interrogative sentences with a _q_ for question; the imperative sentences with a _c_ for command; and the exclamatory with an _e_ for exclamation.

1. ...... Books are the true levelers. 2. ...... Put not your trust in princes. 3. ...... To err is human; to forgive divine. 4. ...... What are the rights of a child? 5. ...... Seize common occasions and make them great. 6. ...... Not until all are free, is any free. 7. ...... Freemen! Shall not we demand our own? 8. ...... Is a world of happiness but a Utopian dream? 9. ...... He who will not work, shall not eat. 10. ...... Strike at the polls for freedom! 11. ...... Do the majority want social justice? 12. ...... A friend is the hope of the heart. 13. ...... How beautiful is the vision of peace! 14. ...... Acquire the thinking habit. 15. ...... Is it glorious to die for our country? 16. ...... Lo! Women are waking and claiming their own! 17. ...... Claim your right to the best. 18. ...... What is the highest good? 19. ...... Workers of the world, unite! 20. ...... To remain ignorant is to remain a slave.

+23.+ We have learned from our study that we use sentences to express our thoughts. These sentences are made up of words; therefore we call words _parts of speech_. Words are only fractions or parts of speech, and it is by combining them into sentences that we are able to express our thoughts.

There are many thousands of words in the English language. It would be impossible for us to study each word separately. But these words, like people, are divided into classes, so we can study each class of words. These thousands of words are divided into classes much as people are, or rather as people ought to be; for words are divided into classes according to the work which they do. In the Industrial Commonwealth there will be no upper or lower class, but men will be divided into groups according to the work which they do. There will be various industrial groups, groups of agricultural workers, groups of clerical workers, etc. So words are divided into classes according to the work which they do in helping us to express our ideas.

+24.+ +Words are divided into kinds or classes according to their use in sentences.+

+There are eight of these classes of words, called parts of speech.+

+25.+ What a word _does_ determines what part of speech it is. When primitive man, long ago, first began to use words, in all probability the first words which he invented were those used to name familiar objects about him. He invented a word for _man_, _boy_, _tree_, _animal_, etc. Gradually, all the things he met in his daily life received a name. About one half of the words in our language are of this class, the _names_ of things.

Every word which is used as a name of something is called a _noun_. This word _noun_ is derived from the Latin word which means _name_, so it is quite the same thing as saying _name_. Notice the following sentences:

Boys run. Fish swim. Horses neigh. Soldiers march. Flags wave. Flowers fade. Girls study. Winds blow. Men work.

All of the words used like _boys_, _girls_, _fish_, _horses_, _soldiers_, _flag_, _winds_, _flowers_ and _men_, are the names of objects, therefore all of these words are _nouns_. The subject of a sentence is always a noun or a word used as a noun. However, we may use in a sentence many nouns besides the noun which is used as the subject, the noun about which the statement is made. We will study the use of these nouns later in our lessons.

_The famous palace of the kings of the Moors, at Granada, in Spain, was called the Alhambra._ We have six nouns in this sentence, _palace_, _kings_, _Moors_, _Granada_, _Spain_ and _Alhambra_, but the noun _palace_ is the noun which is the subject--the noun which is the name of that about which something is said. _Palace_ is the subject; and _was called_ is the predicate in this sentence.

+26.+ +A noun is a word used as the name of something.+

Now we want to learn to distinguish every word that is used as a name. Pick out the nouns as you read your books and papers until you are able to tell every word which is used as a noun, the name of something.

In the following paragraph, the nouns are printed in italics. Carefully study these nouns:

The _fire_ in the _grate_, the _lamp_ by the _bedside_, the _water_ in the _tumbler_, the _fly_ on the _ceiling_ above, the _flower_ in the _vase_ on the _table_, all _things_ have their _history_ and can reveal to us _nature's_ invisible _forces_.

Underscore every noun in the following quotation:

The whole history of the earth has been one of gradual development, of progress, of slow and painful climbing through the ages. Not only have the hills and the mountains, the rivers and the stars, the trees and the cattle, the beasts and the birds, been developing; but man himself--his mind and his body--has been developing. Men are marvelous little creatures; they have weighed the sun in their balances, measured the stars and analyzed the light and beauty of the rainbow; they have sounded the depths of the ocean; they have learned how the sun and the mountains were born and the rivers were laid in their mighty beds; they have learned how the seas became salt, what the stars are made of. They have learned so much, and yet when it comes to matters of time and space, and law and motion, they still know so little. The only man who is conscious of his ignorance is he who has learned a great deal.--_McMillan_.

+27.+ After the primitive man had invented names for the things about him, probably his next step was to invent words of action. He very naturally wanted to tell what all of these various things _did_. So the words that tell what things do, the words of action, the words that assert, came into the language. A child follows much the same development. As you can readily observe, it first names the objects about it, then learns the words that tell what these objects do.

So the words that tell what things _do_, become the second class of words. These words we call _verbs_. The word _verb_, like the word _noun_, is taken into our language from the Latin. In Latin, the word _verbum_ means _the word_; and the verb is practically _the_ word in a sentence, for we cannot have a sentence without a verb. You may string a number of words together, but if you do not have an asserting word, you will not have a sentence.

Notice the following sentences:

Men work. Flowers fade. Snow flies. Winds blow.

In these sentences, the words _work_, _fade_, _flies_ and _blow_, are the words used to assert or say something of the subject, hence they are the verbs in these sentences.

+28.+ Sometimes it takes more than one word to express the action or make the assertion. Notice the following sentences:

The men are working. The boy has been studying.

In the first sentence it takes two words, _are working_, to make the assertion; in the second, three are required, _has been studying_. These groups of words are called _verb phrases_.

+29.+ +A verb is a word that asserts.+

+A verb phrase is a group of words used as a single verb.+

The verb is perhaps the most difficult part of speech to master. It is not hard to find the verb in short sentences, but in longer sentences it is sometimes difficult.

The sun shines. The man walks. The boys strike.

We very easily see that _shine_, _walk_ and _strike_ are the verbs in these sentences. But let us add other words, as for example:

The sun shines brightly. The man walks for his health. The boys strike the dog.

Now we are very apt to confuse the verb with the words which state _how_ and _why_ the action is performed, or the _object_ towards which the action is directed. But in these sentences, _shine_ and _walks_ and _strike_ are still the verbs, just as in the first sentences. The verb asserts the action; the other words merely give additional information about _how_ or _why_ or _upon what_ the action is performed.

+30.+ Another thing which makes it difficult for us to distinguish verbs in English is that the same word may be used both as a noun and as a verb; but always remember that words are separated into classes according to the work which they do. When a word is used as a _name_ it is a _noun_; when it is used as an _asserting_ word it is a _verb_. Note the following sentences:

The _play_ made the child tired. The children _play_ in the yard.

In the first sentence _play_ is a noun, the subject of the verb _made_. In the second sentence _play_ is the verb, telling what the children _do_. Always classify words according to the work which they perform in the sentence. This will help you very much in finding your verb.

+31.+ Then we have some verbs which do not assert action but express rather a connection or relation between the subject and some other word or words. For example:

The dog belongs to the man. The girl is happy.

In these sentences _belongs_ and _is_ are the verbs. _Belongs_ asserts or shows the relation between _the dog_ and _the man_. _Is_ shows the relation between _the girl_ and _happy_. If we simply say _girl_ and _happy_, we do not show any connection between them or make any statement relating the two, but when we say, _The girl is happy_, we are asserting something, and the word _is_ makes the assertion.

Or when we say, _The girl was happy_, or _The girl will be_ or _may be happy_, in each of these cases, it is the verb or verb phrase _was_ or _will be_ or _may be_, that asserts or shows the relation between the subject _girl_ and the descriptive word _happy_. You will observe that the verbs _will be_ and _may be_ are composed of more than one word and are _verb phrases_.

We will study the verb in succeeding lessons, but let us remember from this lesson that the word or group of words that makes the assertion in the sentence is the verb. Remember too that every sentence must contain a verb.

Get this basic principle firmly fixed in mind that what a word _does_ decides what it _is_--to what part of speech it belongs, and that every class of words fulfills its own function in sentence building.

+Every sentence must have a subject and a predicate.+

+Every sentence must express a complete thought.+

+Every sentence must contain a verb.+

+A noun is the name of something.+

+A verb is a word that asserts.+

+What a word does determines what it is.+

Study carefully the following quotation. The verbs are printed in _italics_.

Slowly, painfully, _proceeds_ the struggle of man against the power of Mammon. The past _is written_ in tears and blood. The future _is_ dim and unknown, but the final outcome of this world-wide struggle _is_ not in doubt. Freedom _will conquer_ slavery, truth _will prevail_ over error, justice _will triumph_ over injustice, the light _will vanquish_ the darkness; and humanity _will rise_ in the glory of universal brotherhood.--_Warren_.

Underscore all verbs and verb phrases in the following quotation:

+The Dream of Labor+: Ours is not the cause of one class, of one sex, of one tribe, of one city, of one state, of one continent.

It is the wish for a better world where Man shall be Man; where the beast shall become subdued; where everything shall lead to complete development; where the good of each shall be bound up in the good of all; where all shall feel the sorrows of each and shall run to his rescue.

A glimpse of this ideal takes us into the Land of Promise, where peace and plenty shall reign supreme; where brothers shall no longer battle among themselves, but for one another; where the atmosphere shall be laden with love, the love that saves; where the hate that kills shall be unknown; where heart and brain shall work together and shall make life better and more complete; where the fullness of life shall be for all and where men and women shall be as happy at their work as little children at their play.

The mere glimpse into that land makes life worth living, makes work worth doing, makes dreams worth dreaming, gives us hope and faith--the faith we need in the labor for our cause, the faith which shall help us win.--_Oscar Leonard_.

We have found that there are a number of words in English which may be used either as nouns or verbs, depending upon the function they serve in the sentence. In the following sentences underscore the nouns with a single line, the verbs with two lines:

1. They _man_ the boats. 2. The _man_ has a boat. 3. The women _pass_ this way. 4. They held the _pass_ for hours. 5. Little children _work_ in the mines. 6. The _work_ of the world is done by machinery today. 7. The armies will _cross_ the bridge. 8. He built a _cross_ of rude stones. 9. The leopard cannot _change_ its spots. 10. We will force a _change_ in the law.

In the following poem, mark every noun and every verb and verb phrase. You will find the verb phrases in several places divided by the word _not_, as in _I do not obey_. _Do obey_ is the verb phrase. We will learn to what part of speech _not_ belongs a little later.

I DO NOT OBEY, I THINK.

"Captain, what do you think," I asked, "Of the part your soldiers play?" The Captain answered, "I do not think-- I do not think, I obey."

"Do you think your conscience was meant to die, And your brains to rot away?" The Captain answered, "I do not think-- I do not think, I obey."

"Do you think you should shoot a patriot down, And help a tyrant slay?" The Captain answered, "I do not think-- I do not think, I obey."

"Then if this is your soldier's code," I cried, "You're a mean, unmanly crew; And with all your feathers and gilt and braid, I am more of a man than you;

"For whatever my lot on earth may be And whether I swim or sink, I can say with pride, 'I do not obey-- I do not obey, I think.'"

The twenty-six letters in the English alphabet are divided into vowels and consonants. A vowel is a letter which represents a sound of the human voice but slightly interrupted by the vocal organs. The vowels are _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_ and _u_. All of the remaining letters of the alphabet are consonants. A consonant is a letter which represents a sound of the human voice greatly obstructed by the vocal organs. Consonant is from the Latin _con_, meaning _with_, and _sono_--_I sound_. So it means literally _I sound with_.

The consonants are produced by union of the breath with the vocal organs. The consonant sounds are so called because they are always "sounded with" a vowel; they are used only in combination with vowels in forming words or syllables.

In English a consonant alone never forms a word or a syllable. Sound the different consonants _b_, _c_, _d_, _f_, _g_, _h_, _j_, _k_, _l_, _m_, _n_, _p_, _q_, _r_, _s_, _t_, _v_, _x_ and _z_, by themselves and you will see how the sound of the breath is obstructed or changed by the use of the vocal organs--the lips, the tongue, the teeth, etc.--in making these various sounds.

_W_ and _y_ are sometimes vowels and sometimes consonants. _W_ and _y_ are vowels when they are used with another vowel representing a vowel sound as in _awe_, _new_, _joy_, _eye_, etc. _Y_ is sometimes used as a vowel by itself as in _by_, _cry_, etc. _W_ and _y_ are consonants when they are used at the beginning of a syllable or before a vowel in the same syllable as in _wine_, _twine_, _yield_ and _year_.

Look up the meaning of the words in this week's lesson. Master the spelling and use them in sentences of your own construction.

Reason Evolution Justice Thorough Beauty

Assertive Review Surprise Basis Separate

Interrogative Period Capital Capitol Function

Example Contain Imperative Question Speech

Method Various Familiar Industry Alphabet

Travel Sense Cents Sail Sale