Plain English

SPELLING

LESSON 9

In our English lessons, we have been studying the division of words into parts of speech. We have been studying them as we use them in expressing our thoughts but we may study them in other ways also. We may study them as words alone.

Studied in this way we find that we have simple, compound and derivative words. For example, man, man-slaughter, manly. Man is a simple word. Man-slaughter is a compound word formed of twosimple words. Manly is a derivative word derived from man.

When a compound word is first formed, it is usually written with a hyphen; but after the word has been used awhile the hyphen is often dropped and the two parts are written together as a simple word.

A simple word is a single word which cannot be divided into other words without changing its meaning.

A compound word is composed of two or more simple words into which it may be divided, each retaining its own meaning.

A derivative word is one which is derived from a simple word by the addition of another syllable.

In next week's lesson we will take up the study of these derivatives.

Divide the compound words in this week's lesson into the simple words of which they are composed.

Monday

• Birthday
• Coal-tar
• Craftsman
• Foreman
• Gunpowder

Tuesday

• Handkerchief
• Headquarters
• Lawsuit
• Lockout
• Bookkeeper

Wednesday

• Motorman
• Newspaper
• Pasteboard
• Postage-stamp
• Postmaster

Thursday

• Salesman
• Second-hand
• Shirtwaist
• Sidewalk
• Staircase

Friday

• Trademark
• Time-table
• Typewriter
• Tableware
• Sewing-machine

Saturday

• Undergarment
• Underhand
• Water-mark
• Woodwork
• Workshop

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 10

Dear Comrade:

We have been studying this course in Plain English for some weeks now and I trust that you have been enjoying as well as benefiting by the study of our wonderful and expressive language. Did you ever stop to think what a wonderful step it was in evolution when man first began to use the spoken word? And yet it was a still more wonderful step in advance when he began to use the written word for our highest evolution, and development would have been impossible without the help of written speech. An illiterate man may be a good workman and prosperous so far as the material things of life and his immediate contact with his fellow men are concerned, but we have only to think for a moment of what this world would be if we had no written language, to understand what a mighty power it has been in evolution.

Suppose we had no way by which we could communicate with our friends at a distance. Suppose there were no written words by which we could set down the countless dealings between man and man. What a hopeless tangle this social life of ours would soon become! Suppose also that we had no knowledge of the past, no knowledge of the discoveries and inventions of past generations except that which could be handed down to us through oral speech. All our knowledge of history, of the deeds and development of the past, all the observations by which science has uncovered to us the mysteries of nature would be largely lost to us. It was the invention of writing alone which made possible man's growth from barbarism to civilization, and it is more true than we oftentimes realize, that it is "only a wall of books that separates the civilized man of to-day from the savage of yesterday." And yet I wonder if we have ever stopped to think how this art of writing developed. Knowledge of the alphabet and of the letters by which we form our words and hence are able to express our ideas, has become such a common-place thing to us that we have forgotten what a wonder it is and how it has slowly grown and developed through the centuries. Yet there are races to-day that have no written language such as we know and to whom our written language seems truly a miracle.

The story is told of an Indian who was sent from one colony to another with four loaves of bread accompanied by a letter stating their number. The Indian ate one of the loaves and of course, was found out. The next time when he was sent upon a similar errand he repeated the theft but he took the precaution to hide the letter under a stone while he was eating the bread so that it might not see him!

But it is only the things that we do not understand which we invest with mystery and as we study the story of the alphabet in this series of letters we find that it has been a natural development accomplished by the growing powers of man. In succeeding letters we will trace this most interesting story of the alphabet.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

HELPING VERBS

168. We have found that whenever a verb is used by itself in making an assertion it denotes either present or past time. When we use a verb phrase, it expresses some other time than the past or present. These verb phrases are formed by using shall, will, have, had, and the various forms of the verb be with some form of the principal verb. These verbs which help to form verb phrases are called helping, or auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary means helping.

We have used have and had with the past participle to form the present perfect and past perfect time forms. We have used shall and will with different forms of the verb to denote future time, and we have used different forms of the verb be in making the various other time forms. So shall, will, have, had and the various forms of the verb be are helping verbs, which we use to help us in making verb phrases.

169. But these are not all of the helping verbs. There are other helping verbs which we use in forming verb phrases to express different ideas. These are such verbs as should and would, may and might, can and could, must and ought, do and did.

Exercise 1

Fill the blank spaces in the following sentences with the appropriate forms of the helping verbs, shall, will, have, had and be.

1. When......the workers organize?
2. Education......help us win.
3. The world......had enough of war.
4. We......deceived by the masters.
5. The workers......organized into craft unions.
6. They......never ceased the struggle.
7. The state......founded on exploitation.
8. Mutual aid......been an important factor in evolution.
9. The truth......taught to the people.
10. The victory......gained by the proletariat.
11. The nations of Europe......preparing for war for years.
12. The International......recognized war for defense.
13. We......not made the class distinctions, but we......recognize them as long as they exist.
14. The evolution of animals and the evolution of plants......proceeded according to the same general laws.
15. We......never win while the majority remains ignorant.
16. The strikers......betrayed by their leaders.

SHOULD AND WOULD

170. Should and would are the past-time forms of shall and will. We use them to express action or existence dependent upon some condition, thus:

• I should go if I were well enough.
• He should join us if you asked him.

In these sentences should and would express action which is possible now or will be in the future, provided some other action takes place.

The same distinction which we found made in the use shall and will has been made with should and would; that is, that should used with the first person, expresses action dependent upon condition; but would, used with the first person, implies exercise of the will. This rule is not closely followed, though it expresses a nice distinction in the use of should and would. In ordinary usage we use either should or would with the first person without any distinction of meaning, as for example:

• I should struggle on even if it meant death.
• I would stand for my principles though I stood entirely alone.

We do not use should however, with the second and third persons to express an action or existence dependent upon some condition. Should used with the second and third person implies obligation. Would is used with the second or third person to express an action dependent upon some condition, as for example:

• He would not go, even if you insisted.
• They would come if you invited them.
• You would believe him if you could hear him.
• You would be surprised if I should tell you the reason.

171. Should and would in all of the sentences which we have quoted are used to express action or existence dependent upon some condition which is expressed in that part of the sentence introduced by such conjunctions as if and though.

The parts of the sentence introduced by these conjunctions express the condition upon which the other action is dependent. When we use should in sentences without this condition, it means practically the same as ought, and implies an obligation. We use should with the first and second and third persons when we use it with this meaning, as for example:

I should have gone yesterday. You should be with us in this fight. They should never fear defeat.

172. Ought could be used in all these sentences and express practically the same meaning. Should used in this way implies obligation.

Exercise 2

Study carefully the following sentences. Write in the blank space preceding each sentence the number of the paragraph in the lesson which governs the use of the helping verb in that sentence.

1. ...... The workers should organize if they desire to control production.
2. ...... The proletariat would destroy this system if they understood their power.
3. ...... Every worker would join his fellows if he could but realize the class struggle.
4. ...... We would all enjoy plenty if we produced for use instead of for profit.
5. ...... The ruling class would not give up their privileges even though they knew that their cupidity endangers society.
6. ...... The injury of one should be the injury of all.
7. ...... The workers' International should stand for the international solidarity of the workers.
8. ...... You should never fear the ridicule of little minds.
9. ...... You would never fear ridicule if you were conscious of your own power.
10. ...... No man should fear to think for himself.
11. ...... No man would fear to think for himself if the world were truly free.
12. ...... Compromise now would mean defeat.

MAY AND MIGHT

173. May used as a helping verb means present permission in regard to an action or possession, as:

• You may come with us.
• He may have the money.

174. It may also mean a possible action or possession. You may come with us, for example, might mean that some time in the future it is possible that you will come with us. He may have the money, might mean either He is given permission to have the money, or It is possible that he has it.

May, used with many verb forms, means it is possible. For example: He may be hungry, He may have starved. He may have been starving; that is, it is possible that he is hungry; that he has starved; that he was starving.

175. Might is the past form of may and expresses past permission to do or to be and also possibility in the past. For example: The officer said he might go. That is, he gave him permission to go. You might have helped your comrades; that is, you had the power to have helped.

Might is also used to express permission or the power to do in the present and future, on condition. For example:

• He might find work if he were trained.
• The workers might destroy this insane system if they would.

Exercise 3

Study carefully the following sentences. Write in the blank space preceding each sentence the number of the paragraph in the lesson which governs the use of the helping verbs may or might in that sentence.

1. ...... The solidarity of the workers might have averted this war.

2. ......"Of all sad words of tongue or pen,

   The saddest are these—'it might have been.'"

3. ...... You might join us.
4. ...... The people struggle that they may live.
5. ...... Try; you might succeed.
6. ...... The day may come when this day's deeds shall be remembered.
7. ...... Victory might be ours if we dared to face the issue.

8. ......"Men may come and men may go;

   But I go on forever."

9. ...... It seemed possible that we might win.
10. ...... May we ever be loyal and true!
11. ...... It appeared for a time that we might be involved in war.
12. ...... Let come what may, we will not yield.

CAN AND COULD

176. Can is the present-time form and could the past-time form, and both imply ability or power to do or to be.

You can go means You are able to go,—You have the power to go. You may go means You have permission to go. Can is often used when we should use may, when we mean to give permission. Habit plays a great part in our life and knowledge of the right way does not always suffice. It is only continued effort that will establish correct habits of speech. Good English would be easy of accomplishment if "to do were as easy as to know what it were good to do."

We are too often like the mother in the story. "Can I have a piece of pie?" asked the child. "May I?" the mother corrected. Then the child asked, "May I have a piece of pie?" and the mother answered, "Yes, you can." Knowledge said, may; habit said can, and the ready tongue obeyed the force of habit.

Say the correct word over and over aloud until it sounds right to your ear and flows readily to your tongue.

177. Could is sometimes used in the present sense to denote power to do, conditioned upon willingness, as:

• He could if he would.

Exercise 4

Study carefully the following sentences. Write in the blank space preceding each sentence the number of the paragraph in the lesson which governs the use of the helping verbs can or could in that sentence.

1. ...... I can say love when others say hate;

   I can say every man when others say one man;

   What can I do? I can give myself to life,

   When other men refuse themselves to life.

2. ...... No one can be free till all are free.
3. ...... They could win their freedom if they would prepare themselves to be free.
4. ...... What can I do, being alone?
5. ...... If all men could catch the vision of freedom, wars would cease.
6. ...... Could you find a better way to spend your time than in study?
7. ...... Men would rise in revolt if they could know the facts.

MUST AND OUGHT

178. Must and ought imply obligation. Must conveys the idea of being obliged to do an action from necessity or compulsion, as,

• You must have known it.
• He must go.

Ought was originally the past time form of owe, hence means to be indebted to, to owe. It conveys the idea of a moral obligation, as,

• You ought to help the cause.
• You ought to understand.

179. Ought is always used with the infinitive, and the same form is used to express both the present and the past time. The difference in time is expressed by a change in the infinitive instead of a change in the form of the helping verb. With may and might and can and could, present and past time are expressed by a change in the form of the helping verb. With the helping verb ought, the difference in time is expressed in the infinitive. For example:

• He ought to pay us our wages.

This means, He owes it to us to pay us our wages now.

• He ought to have paid us our wages.

This means, He owed it to us to pay us our wages some time in the past.

180. The present infinitive is used with the helping verb ought to express present time and the perfect infinitive is used with ought to express past time.

Exercise 5

Study carefully the following sentences. Write in the blank space preceding each sentence the number of the paragraph in the lesson which governs the use of the helping verb must or ought in that sentence.

1. ...... Service must be the key note of the future.
2. ...... Competition must give place to co-operation.
3. ...... Ought we to fear, who know the truth?
4. ...... Government ought to be the administration of things.
5. ...... No man ought to have the power of life and death over any other human being.
6. ...... It may cost much but humanity must be set free at any cost.
7. ...... What ought to be the attitude of the workers toward war?

8. ...... "For man must work and woman must weep,

   For there is little to do and many to keep."

9. ...... The day must come when we can live the dream.

DO AND DID

181. Do and did are used as helping verbs to give emphasis—to form emphatic verb phrases. Do is the present time form and did the past time form, as for example:

• I do wish you would come.
• I did hope he would win.

182. When we use the negative not we use the helping verbs do and did to form our verb phrases. For example, we do not say:

• I obey not.
• I walked not.
• He comes not.
• They arrived not.

But in expressing the present and past time forms with the negative not, we say instead:

• I do not obey.
• I did not walk.
• He does not come.
• They did not arrive.

183. We also use do and did with the present and past time forms of the verb in writing interrogative sentences. For example, we do not say:

• Comes he with them?
• Studied you yesterday?
• Found they the book?
• Think you it is true?

But we say instead:

• Does he come with them?
• Did you study yesterday?
• Did they find the book?
• Do you think it is true?

Exercise 6

Write in the blank space before each sentence the number of the paragraph which governs the use of the helping verb do or did in that sentence.

1. ...... Slaves do not think; they obey.
2. ...... Men do not obey; they think.
3. ...... Do you know that two per cent of the people own sixty per cent of the wealth?
4. ...... The children of the masses do not have the opportunity to attend school.
5. ...... Did not every nation claim a war for defense?

6. ......"We did not dare to breathe a prayer,

   Or give our anguish scope."

7. ...... We do desire the freedom of the people.
8. ...... We did hope that war might be averted.

Let us sum up the auxiliary or helping verbs.

184. Helping verbs are used to express:

• The different time forms—shall, will, have, had, be.
• Power to do or to be—can, could, might.
• Permission—may and might.
• Possibility—may and might.
• Obligation—must, ought and should.
• Necessity—must.
• Condition—would.

Mark the helping verbs in the following exercise:

Exercise 7

• The earth shall rise on new foundations.
• We have been naught, we shall be all.
• No more tradition's chains shall bind us.
• Oh! Liberty! Can man resign thee?
• Can dungeon's bolts and bars confine thee?
• Capital could never have existed if labor had not first existed.
• What can I do? I can talk out when others are silent. I can say man when others say money.
• Do you hear the children weeping, O my brothers?
• Political freedom can exist only where there is industrial freedom. Political democracy can exist only where there is industrial democracy.
• Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.
• If there is anything that cannot bear free thought, let it crack.
• No doctrine, however established, should be protected from discussion.
• Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives the preaching of a new gospel.
• The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
• Every man is a consumer and ought to be a producer.
• No picture of life can have any variety which does not admit the odious facts.
• I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.

Exercise 8

Note the use of the helping verbs in the following quotation. Could you use might or must or ought anywhere and strengthen the emphasis?

"I have looked at this claim by the light of history and my own confidence, and it seems to me, so looked at, to be a most just claim, and that resistance to it means nothing short of a denial of the whole of civilization.

This then is the claim:

It is right and necessary that all men should have work to do which shall be worth doing and be of itself pleasant to do; and which should be done under such conditions as would make it neither over-wearisome nor over-anxious.

Turn that claim about as I may, think of it as long as I can, I cannot find that it is an exorbitant claim; yet if society would or could admit it, the face of the earth would be changed; discontent and strife and dishonesty would be ended. To feel that we were doing work useful to others and pleasant to ourselves, and that such work and its due reward could not fail us! What serious harm could happen to us then? And the price to be paid for so making the world happy, must be revolution."—William Morris.

SPELLING

LESSON 10

Simple words are sometimes spoken of as root words. Root means that from which something grows. We know our language is a living, growing thing and these root words are the roots where the growth begins. One way in which this growth is accomplished and new words added to our language is by placing syllables before or after the root word—the simple word—as, for example: unmanly.

In this we have a syllable placed before and a syllable placed after the root word man. The syllable placed before the root word is called the prefix from the Latin pre meaning before and the Latin word to place. Therefore, prefix means literally to place before.

A prefix consists of one or more syllables placed before a word to qualify its meaning.

The syllable placed after the root word, or simple word, is called the suffix, from the Latin sub meaning after and the Latin word to place. Subfix the word should be literally, but for the sake of the sound—the euphony, the good sound—we say suffix.

A suffix consists of one or more syllables placed after a word to qualify its meaning.

The words made by adding prefixes and suffixes are called derivative words.

You remember we used a suffix in forming participles. The present participle is formed by adding the suffix ing to the simple form of the verb. The past participle is formed by adding the suffix ed to the simple form of the verb.

The words in the spelling lesson for this week are derivative words formed by adding a prefix or suffix, or both, to the simple word. Draw a line through the prefix and the suffix and leave the simple or root word.

Monday

• Wonderful
• Prosperous
• Disloyalty
• Uncovered
• Government

Tuesday

• Memorize
• Unreality
• Co-operation
• Dependent
• Truly

Wednesday

• Beautify
• Countless
• Uncomfortable
• Dishonesty
• Producer

Thursday

• Existence
• Untruthfulness
• Discontentment
• Victory
• Removable

Friday

• Impurity
• Unwillingness
• Indebted
• Overwearisome
• Enjoyable

Saturday

• Obligation
• Hopeless
• Endanger
• Precaution
• Denial

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 11

Dear Comrade:

As we begin the study of the story of the alphabet and the evolution of written speech, we discover that primitive man imagined the art of writing to have had divine origin, to have been handed down from the powers above.

It is natural for us to personify and envelop in mystery the things that we do not understand. So these primitive people have attributed the discovery of the art of writing to the gods and have looked upon the parchment containing the written word which they cannot understand, as possessing magical power; but as we come to learn the origin and causes of things, they are divested of their mystery and become no longer gods and enslavers of men. We understand the laws that govern their action and they become our servants. Take lightning for example. Primitive people personified the lightning or called it the thunder bolts of Jove or attributed it to an act of divine providence. We have learned the laws that govern the action of electricity and so this mighty giant is no longer a god to whom we bow in submission, and who slays us at his whim. He has become our most faithful servant who travels along the wires at our behest and obeys our every bidding. So in the early stages, the art of writing belonged only to the favored few and was made the means of enslavement of the common people instead of the means of liberation.

Knowledge has always been power and the ruling classes of the world, desiring power over the people, have striven to keep knowledge within their own circle; so the art of writing was known only to the few. The few books in circulation were laboriously written by hand and circulated, largely among the clergy, who used it as priests have ever used their power—from medicine man to Pope,—for the enslavement of the people and the protection of the privileges of a few. This is aptly illustrated in the law which was known as "the benefit of clergy" which was not entirely repealed until the year 1827. Under this statute, exemption from trial for criminal offenses was given to the clergy and also to any man who could read. If a person were sentenced to death for some criminal offense, the bishop of that community might claim him as a clerk and if, when given a Latin book, he could read a verse or two, the court would declare "he reads like a clerk" and the offender was only burned in the hand and then set free.

The invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century which made possible the diffusion of knowledge among the people, was the beginning of the emancipation of the workers of the world. But while we realize, perhaps, what this art of writing means to us and by the knowledge of its growth and development no longer ascribe it to divine origin or consider it a blessing designed by a supreme being for a favored few, still most of us know very little of the interesting evolution which made possible the alphabet which is the basis of our written and spoken language of to-day. When we realize how through all these long centuries man has been struggling, striving, evolving, developing, reaching out toward fuller, freer and richer life, it gives us courage in our struggle and makes us see ourselves, not as individuals alone, but as links in a mighty chain clasping hands with that primitive man of the past, from whom we have inherited the power we now possess, and reaching forth also to clasp the hands of those who shall come and handing on to them the things for which we have struggled and added to the inheritance of the past.

Next week we will have the story of man's first beginning in the art of writing.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

THE VERB "BE"

185. The verb is perhaps the most difficult part of speech to master because it has more form changes than any other part of speech.

In this lesson we are going to emphasize the most important things to remember in the study of the verb and also call attention to the most common mistakes.

186. First, master that little verb be in all its forms. The only way to do this is to commit to memory these forms. Say them over and over until any other form does not sound right.

187. Do not use aint for is not or am not. Do not say, He aint here, or I aint going. Say, He isn't here; I am not going.

A FREQUENT MISTAKE

188. Perhaps one of the most frequent mistakes is the confusion in the use of the past time form and the past participle. Remember that the past time form is never used except in expressing past time; never use it in forming a verb phrase. Take the verb do, for example—say, He did the work, never, He done the work; but we should say, He has done the work, never, He has did the work. Say and seen are confused in the same manner. Watch this carefully.

Exercise 1

Underline the correct word in the following:

1. Who did—done it?
2. He sung—sang well.
3. He sunk—sank before we could reach him.
4. She written—wrote him a letter.
5. He taken—took the book.
6. They swum—swam the river.
7. I saw—seen him do it.
8. They drank—drunk too much.
9. He soon began—begun to fail.
10. The lad ran—run home.
11. They come—came yesterday.

WITH HELPING VERBS

189. Never use the past time form with the helping verbs has, had, was and were. Always use the past participle. Watch this carefully. For example, never say, He has went. Went is the past time form. Say, He has gone.

Exercise 2

Underscore the correct word in the following sentences:

1. He had tore—torn the book.
2. Have you ever sang—sung this tune?
3. They have showed—shown us how to win.
4. She has went—gone away.
5. The trees were shook—shaken by the wind.
6. He was chose—chosen for leader.
7. He has rose—risen from the ranks.
8. It was wrote—written by him.
9. He has took—taken the prize.
10. He was gave—given the money.
11. I have forgot—forgotten the rule.
12. The river was froze—frozen over.
13. The machine was broke—broken.
14. It was wore—worn out.
15. The meal was ate—eaten in silence.

PAST TIME FORMS

190. Watch your speech to see if you use an incorrect verb form for the past time form. Study the table of irregular verbs and refer to it frequently. We often make the mistake of forming the past time form by adding ed when properly it is formed irregularly. For example: we often say drawed for drew, throwed for threw, etc.

Exercise 3

Draw a line under the correct form in the following:

1. He grew—growed rapidly.
2. He knew—knowed better.
3. He catched—caught the ball.
4. He drew—drawed the water.
5. They threw—throwed him over.
6. I drinked—drank the water.
7. I climbed—clumb the tree.
8. I seed—saw him do it.
9. She teached—taught school.

VERBS OF SIMILAR FORM

191. Do not use one verb for another of similar form but different meaning. The following are the most common of these:

Lay (incomplete verb, requires an object) meaning to place or to put; as, to lay the book down. Principal parts: Present, lay; Past, laid; Past participle, laid.

Lie (complete verb, takes no object) meaning to recline, to rest; as, to lie in bed. Principal parts: Present, lie; Past, lay; Past participle, lain.

Set (incomplete verb, requires an object) meaning to place or to put; as, to set the table. Principal parts: Present, set; Past, set; Past participle, set.

Sit (complete verb, takes no object) meaning to rest, as, to sit in a chair. Principal parts: Present, sit; Past, sat; Past participle, sat.

Raise (incomplete verb, requires an object) meaning to cause to rise, to lift up. Principal parts: Present, raise; Past, raised; Past participle, raised.

Rise (complete verb, takes no object) meaning to get up, to ascend. Principal parts: Present, rise; Past, rose; Past participle, risen.

192. NOTE—These three verbs need an object to complete their meaning:

193. NOTE—These three verbs need no object:

Exercise 4

Fill in the following blanks with the correct form of the verbs sit, set, lay, lie, raise and rise:

1. I......it on the table and there it.......
2. They......the battle ship, Maine.
3. Where did you......it?
4. A mile of pipe has been.......
5. The miners......a large strike fund.
6. She......down to sleep.
7. The body......in state three days.
8. The farmers of the U. S.......an enormous wheat crop.
9. The city......on the right bank.
10. We have......the corner stone.
11. When wages are......, prices are......too.
12. He......in bed all morning.
13. ......down Fido.
14. The sun......at six this morning.
15. She has been......there all day.
16. The ship......to during the storm.
17. They have been......new tracks.
18. The hen is......on the eggs.
19. Somebody said, "Early to bed and early to......, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
20. He......motionless for an hour.
21. He......out the trees in rows.
22. He will......in his position.
23. The court will......in May.
24. Where did he......?
25. She......the table while he......there.
26. He......the clock for six o'clock.
27. The water has......two feet since the rain.
28. He......the book down and......on it.
29. The hen has been......a week.
30. ......it on the table.
31. He......in the shade and watched her......the plants.

COMMON ERRORS

194. Remember that in the present time form the third person singular takes the s-form, but the s-form is never used except with the third person singular. We often make the mistake of using the s-form with a plural subject. Notice carefully the following sentences, and correct the errors. All of the sentences are wrong.

1. The days is getting shorter.
2. The men has struck.
3. The trains was late.
4. These papers is written for you.
5. You was disappointed, wasn't you?
6. There is several coming.
7. The nights was dark and cloudy.
8. The clouds has gathered.
9. They was anxious to come.

195. When two subjects are connected by and, the s-form of the verb must not be used, unless both subjects refer to one person; as:

• The president and the secretary (two persons) were late.
• The president and secretary (one person) was elected.

196. But when the two subjects are connected by or or nor then use the s-form of the verb; as:

• Neither Germany nor Russia admits a war of offense.
• Either the House or the Senate rejects the bill.

197. Never use the infinitive sign to by itself; as:

• I have not written and do not expect to.
• He has not gone nor does he intend to.

198. Never use don't for doesn't. The use of don't for doesn't is a very common mistake. Don't is a contraction of do not and doesn't of does not. When you are in doubt as to which to use, think or speak the two words in full and see if the verb agrees with the subject. Do not is used with a plural subject, and does not with a singular subject. For example: He don't believe me. This sentence in full would be, He do not believe me, which is incorrect. He does not (doesn't) believe me is correct. Or, They doesn't believe me. This sentence in full would read, They does not believe me, which is incorrect. They do not (don't) believe me is correct.

199. Do not use has got, or have got for must. For example, do not say, We have got to go. Say, We must go. Not, He has got to do what I say; but, He must do as I say.

200. Do not say had ought. For example: You had ought to know better. Omit the had; it is unnecessary and incorrect. Say, You ought to know better.

201. Do not say says I or thinks I.

• Says I, "Will you go?"
• Says he, "That's what will happen."
• Thinks I to myself, "I'll show you."

These are incorrect. Say instead:

• I said, "Will you go?"
• He said, "That's what will happen."
• I thought, "I'll show you."

Exercise 5

Mark all the verbs in the following quotations and note carefully their use.

• 1. Speak properly and in as few words as you can but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation but to be understood.—Penn.

• 2. "Freedom's battle, once begun,

  Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,

  Though baffled oft, is ever won."

Note the use of may and can in this quotation:

• 3. Knowledge cannot be stolen from us. It cannot be bought or sold. We may be poor, and the sheriff may come and sell our furniture, or drive away our cow, or take our pet lamb and leave us homeless and penniless; but he cannot lay the law's hand upon the jewelry of our minds.—E. Burritt.

Note the use of shall and will and would and should in the following. Richard Grant White says: "I do not know in English literature another passage in which the distinction between shall and will and would and should is at once so elegantly, so variously, so precisely, and so compactly illustrated."

• 4. "How long I shall love him I can no more tell,

  Than, had I a fever, when I should be well.

  My passion shall kill me before I will show it,

  And yet I would give all the world he did know it;

  But oh how I sigh, when I think, should he woo me,

  I cannot refuse what I know would undo me."

• 5. I want it said of me by those who know me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.—Abraham Lincoln.

Exercise 6

Note the nouns as well as the verbs in the following quotation. Note also the use of infinitives and participles. Mark every verb and use it in a sentence of your own.

Faith and Truth

You say "Believe;" I say "Trust."

Between those two words is a great gulf fixed.

The idea that there can be a moral obligation to believe external facts is unworthy of a freeman, but to trust is as much the true nature of man as it is that of a babe to draw in its mother's milk.

You say "Creed;" I say "Faith."

A creed at best is but a sorry caricature of a faith.

Faith is the proper atmosphere of man, trust is his native buoyancy, and his only obligation is to follow the highest law of his being.

You have one supreme duty above all creeds and conventions—namely, to think honestly, and say what you think.

Have you doubts about your creed? say so; only thus has the true faith ever advanced.

It is not God, but the devil, who whispers: "Think at your peril!"

Do you see flaws in the ancient structure of respectability and law and order? Say so; only thus has the condition of man ever improved.

Have courage to be the heretic and traitor that you are by nature, and do not worry about the consequences.

Be a creator, as you were born to be, and spurn beyond all infamies the wretched role of a repeater and apologist.

The world lives and grows by heresy and treason.

It dies by conformity to error and loyalty to wrong.
Ernest Crosby.

Exercise 7

In the following paragraph, the predicates are printed in italics, and the participles and infinitives in italic capitals. Study carefully.

If it were taught to every child, and in every school and college, that it is morally wrong for anyone TO LIVE upon the COMBINED labor of his fellowmen without CONTRIBUTING an approximately equal amount of useful labor, whether physical or mental, in return, all kinds of GAMBLING, as well as many other kinds of useless occupations, would be seen TO BE of the same nature as direct dishonesty or fraud, and, therefore would soon come TO BE CONSIDERED disgraceful as well as immoral. Alfred Russel Wallace.

Exercise 8

Underscore all the verbs in the following and note the participles, the infinitives and the various time forms; also the helping verbs:

What, speaking in quite unofficial language, is the net purport of war? To my knowledge, for example, there dwell and toil, in the British village of Dumrudge, usually some five hundred souls. From these, by certain 'natural enemies' of the French, there are selected, say thirty able-bodied men; Dumrudge, at her own expense, has suckled and nursed them; she has, not without difficulty and sorrow, fed them up to manhood and trained them in the crafts, so that one can weave, another build and another hammer. Nevertheless, amidst much weeping and swearing, they are selected; all dressed in red and shipped away, at the public charges, some two thousand miles, or, say only to the south of Spain, and fed there till wanted. And now to that same spot in the south of Spain are thirty similar French artisans, in like manner, wending their ways; till at length the thirty stand facing the thirty, each with his gun in his hand. Straightway, the word 'Fire' is given, and they blow the souls out of one another; and in the place of the sixty brisk, useful craftsmen, the world has sixty dead carcasses, which it must bury and anew shed tears for.

Had these men any quarrel? Busy as the devil is, not the smallest! They lived far enough apart; were the entirest strangers; nay, in so wide a universe, there was even, unconsciously, by commerce, some mutual helpfulness between them.

How then?

Simpleton! Their governors had fallen out; and instead of shooting one another, had these poor blockheads shoot. —Carlyle.

SPELLING

LESSON 11

There are but few rules which can be learned to aid in the spelling of English words. The spelling of words must be largely mastered by concentration and effort of the memory. It will help you to memorize the correct spelling if you will write each word a number of times. This gives you a visual image of the word. Then spell it aloud a number of times. This will give you an auditory image.

Words which you find difficult to master, write in a list by themselves and review frequently. There are a few rules, however, which are helpful to know. There is one rule of spelling we want to learn this week concerning words formed by adding a suffix.

A word of one syllable which ends in a single consonant before which stands a single vowel, doubles the final consonant when a suffix beginning with a vowel is added.

For example: mat, matted, matting; sun, sunned, sunning.

Mat ends in t, a single consonant which is preceded by the single vowel a,—so you double the t when you add the suffix ed or ing, which begin with a vowel.

Notice these: Blend, blended, blending; Help, helped, helping.

These words do not end in a single consonant, so you do not double the consonant.

Notice also: Lean, leaned, leaning; Rain, rained, raining.

These words end in a single consonant, but before the consonant is a double vowel, ea in lean and ai in rain. So we do not double the final consonant.

This same rule holds true of any suffix, beginning with a vowel, as er and est, for example: sad, sadder, saddest. Slim, slimmer, slimmest.

Learn to spell the following words. Add the suffixes ed and ing to the words for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Add er and est to the words for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Monday

• Chat
• Cheat
• Grin
• Groan
• Suit

Tuesday

• Sap
• Soap
• Bet
• Beat
• Rot

Wednesday

• Talk
• Teach
• Gain
• Stir
• Plan

Thursday

• Thin
• Dear
• Flat
• Cheap
• Straight

Friday

• Clean
• Brief
• Fair
• Shrill
• Wet

Saturday

• Strong
• Great
• Mad
• Fleet
• Fat

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 12

Dear Comrade:

In this lesson we are beginning the study of still another part of speech. You will notice that in words, at least, we give credit and place in society only because of work performed. In the society of men, people are given place and position too often because of outward dress and form or because of some special privilege. They are not given their place in society because of the work which they do or because they perform any useful function. In fact, in our topsy-turvy world, those who perform no work at all, but are simply parasites upon society, have claimed for themselves the best of everything and the highest positions.

Surely some time we shall see a society as successfully organized as our society of words, when men will be received, not because of that which they possess, but because of that which they do and are. Man has really laid the foundation for an ideal commonwealth in his organization of words into a spoken and written language.

When we think back across the centuries and think of the primitive man as he dwelt in trees to protect himself from the wild animals, we wonder what sort of speech he used then. Possibly it was only a little more articulate than the speech of some animals.

But man had within him the instinct to question, and this has been the root of all his progress. We can imagine these primitive men witnessing the wonder of fire, as the terrible unknown god of the lightning set fire to the forest in which they lived; but after the fear had subsided, some adventurous, inquiring forefather of ours ventured near the ashes, and began to investigate concerning this fearful and wonderful thing.

So gradually they discovered the use of fire, and with it a wonderful new future opened before the primitive man. With these great discoveries, he needed a better form of communication with his comrades, so articulate speech developed. But when we go back into the beginning of written speech, it is difficult for us to trace it to its beginning.

The first evidence we find was of man as a sign maker. On the walls of caves in France and Belgium and here in America, we have found rude sketches which the scientists tell us date back to the Ice Age and the Old Stone Age. Here the primitive man has drawn for us crude pictures describing different phases of his life, the animals about him, the hunt and the chase, and in these pictures we find the very beginning of our alphabet of to-day.

How much more wonderful it makes our spoken and written language to know that man has developed it himself. It has not been handed down by some god or powers above; but the spirit of rebellion against the things that be; the great desire to know more and to find out the reason why of all the things around us,—these have been the forces that have led the race from the animal-like beings that lived in trees to the race of today that understands in a large measure the laws that govern life.

It is only as we, through this spirit of rebellion, this same divine discontent with the things that are, seek to do our own thinking that we can add our share to the heritage of the race. Let us have the same courage that must have inspired the heart of that primitive man who dared to venture and inquire concerning the fearful things of nature round about him. Let us think for ourselves. Ask always the question "why" and demand the reason for all things. Thus we shall free ourselves and help to free the race.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

IN PLACE OF A NOUN

202. You remember in our study of the parts of speech we found that we have one part of speech that can be used in place of a noun. This is a very helpful part of speech for it saves us a great deal of tiresome repetition. Notice the following sentences:

• John Smith is a machinist.
• John Smith works at the machine.
• The machine is John Smith's master.

This is awkward and the repetition is tiresome. So we say instead:

• John Smith is a machinist.
• He works at the machine.
• It is his master.

You readily understand who and what we mean by he and it and his, and we will all agree that the latter is a much better way of making the statements. These words like he and his and it, which we use in place of the noun, we call pronouns. Pro means literally in the Latin, for or in place of; so when we say pronoun we are practically saying, in place of a noun.

A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun.

203. The word for which a pronoun stands or the noun in whose place it is used is called its antecedent. Ante means before and cedent comes from the Latin word meaning go, hence antecedent means literally, going before.

Notice this sentence: The manager spoke to the men before he left and told them to stop at the office. Manager is the antecedent of the pronoun he, and men is the antecedent of the pronoun them.

The word for which a pronoun stands is called its antecedent.

KINDS OF PRONOUNS

204. The Latin language has had a great deal of influence upon English. Many of our words are taken from the Latin. You remember that all of the names of our parts of speech are derived from Latin words. We also feel the influence of the Latin language in the way in which we number our personal pronouns. The Romans naturally thought that one would think of one's self first, and so the pronouns referring to one's self, or the person speaking, are called the first person pronouns. They are, I, my, mine, me and we, our, ours, and us.

Then they naturally thought that one would think second of the person spoken to, so the pronouns referring to the person spoken to are called the second person pronouns. Formerly thou was used in speaking to one person. In German and many other languages this form is still used, but in English we do not today use the singular form thou with its variations, thy, thine, and thee, except in poetry or poetic prose. In every-day speech we use you and its forms, your and yours, for both the singular and the plural.

Then the Romans considered last the person or thing of whom they were speaking; so pronouns referring to the person or thing spoken of are called the third person pronouns. These are he, she, and it, with their other forms, his, him, her, hers, its, in the singular, and they, their, theirs and them in the plural.

A personal pronoun is one that denotes the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken of.

COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS

205. All of these forms of pronouns which we have named are simple forms; but we have several personal pronouns which have a compound form; that is, a form made by the addition of self or selves to the simple forms.

These are called compound personal pronouns. They are, in the singular, myself, thyself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, and in the plural, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.

The compound personal pronouns have two uses, reflexive and emphatic.

Reflexive

206. A compound personal pronoun has a reflexive use when the actor becomes the object of its own action or in other words when the subject and the object refer to the same thing; as in this sentence, He has hurt himself, himself is the object of the incomplete verb has hurt, but it refers to the subject he. Reflexive is from the Latin re meaning back and from the Latin verb meaning throw, so reflexive means literally thrown back. These pronouns throw their meaning back to the subject.

Emphatic

207. A compound personal pronoun has also an emphatic use when it directs especial attention to the noun or pronoun to which it refers. For example in the sentence, He did the work himself, or, He, himself, did the work, himself gives emphasis or intensifies the meaning of the pronoun he.

Remember a compound personal pronoun is correctly used only in these two ways, reflexive and emphatic. For example, the following sentences are incorrect:

• This is for yourself and your comrade.
• Ourselves will find out the reason.

The correct form would be:

• This is for you and your comrade.
• We, ourselves, will find out the reason.

208. You can readily distinguish between the reflexive and the emphatic use. In the reflexive, the compound personal pronoun is always the object of a verb or preposition, and the subject of the sentence is its antecedent. The subject and the object always refer to the same thing.

In the emphatic use, the compound personal pronoun is neither the subject nor the object, but is thrown into the sentence simply to render it emphatic, and to call special attention to its antecedent.

Exercise 1

Supply the compound personal pronoun in the following blanks and tell whether the use is reflexive or emphatic.

1. He discovered the truth.......
2. The workers have robbed......by their ignorance.
3. You must educate.......
4. You must do the work.......
5. He must defend.......
6. Capitalism overreaches.......
7. The people will rule.......
8. We will settle the question.......

Write six sentences in which the compound personal pronouns are correctly used.

SINGULAR AND PLURAL

209. Personal pronouns, like nouns, have number form. Nouns simply add s to the singular form to denote the plural, but in personal pronouns we have different words which we use to express one or more than one person or thing. In the first, second, and third person forms, personal pronouns also have different forms for the object form, the possessive and the subject form. The following table gives the singular and plural of the subject form,—that is the form which is used as the subject of the sentence.

210. Remember that the first person refers to the person speaking, the second to the person spoken to, and the third person to the person or things spoken of. When we speak of things, we never use the first or second person, unless we are speaking of them in a personified form. So in the third person singular, we have the pronoun it which refers to one thing. In the plural, we have no special pronoun referring to things, but the pronoun they is used to refer both to persons and things.