Plain English

In the second sentence, He asked, "what do you want?" the noun clause what do you want is the object of the verb asked, and is introduced by the interrogative pronoun what.

We will study in a subsequent lesson the use of noun clauses introduced by relative pronouns. In this lesson we are studying the conjunctions.

In the last sentence, I know where it is, the noun clause where it is, is the object of the verb know, and is introduced by the conjunction where.

363. Noun clauses are introduced by the subordinate conjunctions, where, when, whence, whither, whether, how, why, and also by the subordinate conjunction that. For example:

I know where I can find it.

I inquired when he would arrive.

We do not know whence it cometh nor whither it goeth.

Ask whether the train has gone.

I don't know how I can find you.

I cannot understand why he does so.

I believe that he is honest.

In all of these examples the noun clauses are used as the objects of the verb. Noun clauses may also be used as objects of prepositions. As, for example:

You do not listen to what is said.

He talked to me about what had happened.

He told me to come to where he was.

364. Noun clauses may also be used as the subject of a sentence. As for example:

That he is innocent is admitted by all.

That he was guilty has been proven.

Why he should do this is very strange.

How we are to live is the great problem.

In all of these sentences, the noun clause is used as the subject of the verb. You will note that most frequently the noun clause used as subject of the verb is introduced by the subordinate conjunction that. But quite often we write these sentences in a somewhat different way. For example:

It is admitted by all that he is innocent.

It has been proven that he was guilty.

You will notice in these sentences we have expressed practically the same thought as in the sentences where the noun clause was used as the subject of the verb.

But now we have this little pronoun it used as the subject, instead of the clause, which is the real subject of the sentence. It is simply used as the introductory word in the sentence. The noun clause is in reality the subject of the sentence.

365. Noun clauses may also be used as the predicate complement with a copulative verb. For example:

The general opinion is that he is innocent.

The problem is how we may accomplish this quickly.

The question was why any one should believe such statements.

In all of these sentences the noun clause is used as the complement of the incomplete verbs is and was, to complete the meaning, just as we use a noun as the predicate complement of a copulative verb in such sentences as, Socialism is a science. War is murder.

366. A noun clause may also be used in apposition to a noun to explain its meaning. Apposition means to place alongside of. Note in the following sentences:

The fact, that such a law had been passed, alters the situation.

His motion, that the matter should be laid on the table, was adopted.

In the first sentence, the clause, that such a law had been passed, is placed beside the noun fact and explains what that fact is. The clause, that the matter should be laid on the table, is in apposition to and explains the noun motion.

These noun clauses are used in apposition.

Exercise 3

Complete the following sentences by inserting the appropriate conjunctions and pronouns in the blank spaces:

1. Can you tell......Germany has a million fighting men?

2. Would you be pleased......the United States should intervene in Mexico?

3. The Mexican revolution will continue......the people possess the land.

4. No one may vote in the convention......he has credentials.

5. ......Debs was in Woodstock jail, he became in Socialist.

6. ......the treaty was signed, hostilities ceased.

7. We shall win......we have the courage.

8. ......we have lost this battle we shall not cease to struggle.

9. All are enslaved......one is enslaved.

10. Humanity will be free......labor is free.

11. Let us do our duty......we understand it.

12. Man will never reach his best......he walks side by side with woman.

13. We must struggle......we would be free.

14. ......we shout for peace, we support war.

15. All our sympathies should be with the man......toils,......we know......labor is the foundation of all.

16. ......all have the right to think and to express their thoughts every brain will give to all the best......it has.

17. ......man develops he places greater value upon his own rights.

18. ......man values his own rights he begins to value the rights of others.

19. ......all men give to all others the rights......they claim for themselves this world will be civilized.

Exercise 4

Note all the co-ordinate and subordinate conjunctions in the following verses from "The Ballad of Reading Gaol." Underscore the subordinate clauses. Are they adverb or noun clauses? Do the co-ordinate conjunctions connect words, phrases or clauses?

I know not whether Laws be right,Or whether Laws be wrong;All that we know who lie in gaolIs that the wall is strong;And that each day is like a year,A year whose days are long.But this I know, that every LawThat men have made for Man,Since first Man took his brother's life,And the sad world began,But straws the wheat and saves the chaffWith a most evil fan.This too I know—and wise it wereIf each could know the same—That every prison that men buildIs built with bricks of shame,And bound with bars lest Christ should seeHow men their brothers maim.With bars they blur the gracious moon,And blind the goodly sun:And they do well to hide their Hell,For in it things are doneThat son of God nor son of ManEver should look upon!In Reading gaol by Reading townThere is a pit of shame,And in it lies a wretched manEaten by teeth of flame,In a burning winding sheet he lies,And his grave has got no name.And there, till Christ call forth the dead,In silence let him lie:No need to waste the foolish tear,Or heave the windy sigh:The man had killed the thing he loved,And so he had to die.And all men kill the thing they love,By all let this be heard,Some do it with a bitter look,Some with a flattering word,The coward does it with a kiss,The brave man with a sword.—Oscar Wilde.

SPELLING

LESSON 21

In Lesson No. 17 we studied concerning abstract nouns derived from qualifying adjectives. We found that we formed these nouns expressing quality from adjectives that describe quality by the addition of suffixes.

Adjectives may likewise be formed from nouns and also from verbs by the addition of suffixes. There are a number of suffixes which may be used to form adjectives in this way; as, al, ous, ic, ful, less, able, ible, ary and ory. Notice the following words: nation, national; peril, perilous; reason, reasonable; sense, sensible; custom, customary; advise, advisory; hero, heroic; care, careful, careless.

To some words, more than one suffix may be added and an adjective of different meaning formed; for example, use, useless, useful; care, careless, careful.

Make as many adjectives as you can from the nouns and verbs given in the spelling lesson for this week by the addition of one or more of the following suffixes:

Al, less, ous, ic, ful, able, ible, ary, ory, and ly.

Monday

Accident

Danger

Origin

Commend

Element

Tuesday

Critic

Libel

Attain

Revolution

Contradict

Wednesday

Cynic

Injury

Respect

Station

Migrate

Thursday

Event

Parent

Order

Virtue

Marvel

Friday

Second

Fashion

Consider

Murder

Incident

Saturday

Constitution

Industry

Vibrate

Tribute

Compliment

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 22

Dear Comrade:

We have practically finished the study of the different parts of speech. We are now in possession of a knowledge of the tools which we need to use in expressing ourselves. We are ready to make practical application of this knowledge in writing and speaking. We will find that with our increasing ability to express ourselves there comes also the power to think clearly. The analysis of language has meant a growing power to think on the part of the people.

We sometimes imagine that simplicity of language was a part of primitive life, but this is not true. Simplicity of language is the product of high civilization. Primitive life was marked, not by simplicity of language, but by the scarcity of language. They made one word stand for an entire sentence, and if they wished to express a little different meaning, an entirely different word had to be used, as for example, in the primitive language: I said to her, would be one word, and I said to him, would be another, entirely different, word.

But as the power of thought began to develop, we began to analyze our meaning and we found that this thought was identical except the him and the her. So as we analyzed our thought our expression of it became more simple. In most languages, the different meaning of the verb, for example, is expressed by an arbitrary change in the verb form. This is called the inflection of the verb. In English we would use several words to express the same thing. For example, the Latin word Fuissem requires four English words to express the same meaning; I should have been, we say in English. So instead of having to learn a great number of different changes in the verb form, we, by the use of auxiliary verbs, have, shall, do, be, etc., are able to express all these shades of thought much more simply and clearly.

Most other languages also have changes for gender. Every noun has a gender of its own and sometimes this form gives the wrong gender to living beings and attributes sex to sexless objects and the only way to know the gender of the noun is simply by memory. Then the adjectives, possessive pronouns and the articles a and the have gender also and have to be changed to suit the gender of the noun; this involves a great effort of memory. So while the English may seem somewhat involved to you, it is, after all, much simpler than other languages. It has been freed from many superfluous endings and unnecessary complications.

Take a little time each day to read something out of the best literature. The quotations given in each of these lessons are from our very best writers. A study of these will be a wonderful help and inspiration to you and bring you in touch with some of the great thinkers of the revolution. They are our comrades and are putting into words the thoughts and hopes and dreams of our lives.

Yours for the Revolution,THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

367. In our study of subordinate clauses, we have studied subordinate clauses used as adverbs and as nouns. We have found that adverb clauses can be used in the same way as adverbs, to describe the time, place, manner, cause, condition or purpose of the action expressed in the verb. We have found, also, that a noun clause may be used in any way in which a noun can be used, as the subject of the sentence, the object of a verb or preposition or as the predicate complement. But these are not the only uses to which the subordinate clause may be put. Note the following sentences:

Wealthy men desire to control the education of the people.

Men of wealth desire to control the education of the people.

Men who are wealthy desire to control the education of the people.

Do you see any difference in the words which are used to modify the noun men? In the first sentence, wealthy is an adjective, modifying the noun men. In the second sentence, of wealth is a prepositional phrase, used as an adjective modifying the noun men. In the last sentence, who are wealthy is a clause used in exactly the same way that the adjective wealthy and the adjective phrase of wealth are used, to modify the noun men.

We have expressed practically the same meaning in these three ways: by a word; by a phrase; by a clause.

368. A word used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective.

A phrase used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective phrase.

A clause used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective clause.

Note the difference between a phrase and a clause.

369. A prepositional phrase, used as an adjective, consists of the preposition and the noun which is its object, together with its modifiers. A phrase never has either a subject or a predicate. Who are wealthy, is a clause because it does contain a subject and a predicate. The pronoun who is the subject in the clause, and the predicate is the copulative verb are with the predicate complement, the adjective wealthy.

Exercise 1

In the following sentences change the adjective into a phrase and also into a clause, if possible. For example:

A fearless man always defends his rights.

A man without fear always defends his rights.

A man who is fearless always defends his rights.

1. The unemployed men are becoming desperate.

2. The uneducated masses are demanding equal opportunity.

3. The discovery of gold was an important discovery.

4. Unorganized labor is helpless.

5. The revolution needs intelligent rebels.

6. A few wealthy men are striving to control education.

7. This will be a progressive movement.

8. Labor-saving inventions throw men out of employment.

9. Scientific men prophesy a great advance for the mass.

THE INTRODUCING WORD

370. You will notice that these adjective clauses are introduced by the relative pronouns who, which and that. These relative pronouns fulfil something of the office of a conjunction, because they are serving as connecting elements; they join these subordinate clauses to the words which they modify. But you will note, also, that these relative pronouns not only serve as connecting elements, but they also play a part in the subordinate clause, as either the subject or object. For example:

The man who has no education is handicapped in the struggle.

Are these the books that you ordered?

In the first sentence, who has an education is an adjective clause modifying the noun man, introduced by the relative pronoun who, which is also the subject of the verb has.

In the second sentence, that you ordered is an adjective clause, modifying the noun books, introduced by the relative pronoun that, which is also the object of the verb ordered.

371. There is no need to be confused in this matter of clauses. If the clause is used as a noun, either as the subject or the object or in any other way in which a noun can be used, it is a noun clause. If it is used as an adverb and will answer any of the questions why, when, where, or how, etc., it is an adverb clause. If it is used as an adjective,—if it modifies a noun or pronoun,—it is an adjective clause.

You will note that the only way in which a noun is used that does not have its corresponding clause is as a possessive. We do not have possessive clauses. The clause used as an adjective always modifies a noun or pronoun.

372. An adjective clause is a clause used as an adjective and hence always modifies a noun or pronoun.

An adjective clause may be introduced by the relative pronouns, who, which or that. The use of this clause is a great help to us in the expression of our ideas, for it enables us to combine several sentences containing related thoughts into one sentence so we have it all presented to the mind at once.

Exercise 2

In the following sentences, note which are the noun clauses and which are the adjective clauses and which are the adverb clauses. The verb in the subordinate clause is in italics.

1. Life is what we make it.

2. We acquire the strength that we overcome.

3. While he slept the enemy came.

4. All that he does is to distribute what others produce.

5. When faith is lost, when honor dies, the man is dead.

6. Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just; he is naked though he be locked up in steel whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.

7. When strength and justice are true yoke fellows, where can we find a mightier pair than they?

8. You will gain a good reputation if you endeavor to be what you desire to appear.

9. Live as though life were earnest and life will be so.

10. He that loveth makes his own the grandeur that he loves.

11. Who does the best his circumstance allows does well; angels could do no more.

12. He is not worthy of the honeycomb that shuns the hive because the bees have stings.

13. We always may be what we might have been.

14. Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.

15. Let me make the songs of the people and I care not who makes the laws.

16. Attention is the stuff that memory is made of.

17. A great writer has said that grace is beauty in action; I say that justice is truth in action.

18. If we do not plant knowledge when young it will give us no shade when we are old.

19. You can no more exercise your reason if you live in constant dread of laughter than you can enjoy your life if you live in constant dread and terror of death.

WHICH RELATIVE PRONOUN TO USE

373. We are sometimes confused as to which relative pronoun to use in introducing an adjective clause. We hesitate as to whether we should use that or who or which. Remember that who always refers to persons, which refers to animals or things, and that may refer to either persons, animals or things.

So when referring to a person, we may use either who or that, and when referring to animals or things, we may use either which or that. As, for example, we may say, either, The man who was here yesterday came back today, or The man that was here yesterday came back today. Either is correct, for who and that both refer to persons.

374. We may make a little distinction in the use of who and that when referring to persons, however. A clause introduced by that is usually a restrictive clause. It limits or restricts the meaning of the noun which it modifies. When you say, The man that was here yesterday, you mean that man and no other, limiting your meaning to that particular man. On the other hand, when you say, The man who was here yesterday, there is no restriction or limitation expressed in the use of the clause, but it is merely a descriptive clause, adding a new fact to our knowledge concerning that particular man.

The same is true when we are speaking of things using either that or which. The clause introduced by which is presumably a descriptive clause. We do, however, often use who or which when the sense of the clause is restrictive, but we should never use that to introduce an adjective clause, unless the sense is restrictive. When in your sentences you can use, instead of the relative pronoun who or which, the conjunction and, you can know that the use of the pronoun who or which is correct. As, for example:

I have read the book, which I found very interesting.

You could say instead:

I have read the book and I found it very interesting.

This would express the same meaning. But if you say: I have read the book that I found very interesting, you mean that you limit your idea to this particular book.

375. We do not always observe these niceties in our spoken and written speech, but it is interesting to know the shades of thought and meaning which you can express by the proper use of the language. The man who runs an engine and learns to know and love his machine almost as though it were a human being, can easily recognize the slightest change in the action of his machine. His ear catches the least difference in the sound of the running of the machine, a difference which we, who do not know and love the machine, would never notice.

So it is in language. Once we have sensed its beauty and its wondrous power of expression, we notice all these slight differences and shades of meaning which may be expressed by the use of words. In just the same manner the musician catches the undertones and overtones of the music, which we, who possess an uneducated ear, cannot know; and the artist also has a wondrous range of color, while we, who are not sensitive to color, know only a few of the primal colors.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH CONJUNCTIONS

376. The adjective clauses which we have been studying so far have been introduced by relative pronouns. Adjective clauses may also be introduced by conjunctions, such as, where, when, whence, or why. As, for example:

Antwerp is the place where a terrible battle was fought.

No man knows the hour when opportunity will be his.

Each group has a different reason why this world-war was precipitated.

Note in these sentences the clauses, where a terrible battle was fought, when opportunity will be his, why this world-war was precipitated, are all adjective clauses modifying the nouns place, hour and reason, and are introduced by the conjunctions where, when, and why. These are adjective clauses because they modify, by either limiting or describing, the nouns with which they are used. You will note that we could omit the nouns in the first two of these sentences and these clauses would become noun clauses, for they would be used in the place of a noun. As, for example:

Antwerp is where a terrible battle was fought.

No man knows when opportunity will be his.