PLAIN ENGLISH: A PRACTICAL WORK ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR USE IN PRIVATE: SCHOOLS, ACADEMIES, COMMERCIAL COLLEGES, AND FOR PRIVATE LEARNERS. CLEVELAND, OHIO ! PRACTICAL TEXT-BOOK COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. Entered according to Act of Congress - In the year 1892, by THE PRACTICAL TEXT-BOOK COMPANY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. EDUCATION DEPT, DEDICATED TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS WHO "DOW T LIKE GRAMMAR." 541359 TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. PAGE. THE SENTENCE: PARTS OF SPEECH DEVELOPED i ANALYSIS OP SIMPLE AND COMPOUND SENTENCES 13 WORD-MAKING 27 PARTS OF SPEECH SUB-DIVIDED 32 ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX SENTENCES 49 FORM-CHANGES ("INFLECTIONS") 53 VERB-PHRASES EXPRESSING TIME, ETC 72 INFINITIVES AND PARTICIPLE-PHRASES 78 AUXILIARY VERBS 82 PECULIAR USES OF WORDS AND PHRASES 85 EXERCISES FOR ANALYSIS , . . 96 PART II. NOUNS Facts concerning, and Errors in the use of 99 Miscellaneous Exercises to be Corrected 100 PRONOUNS. Facts concerning, and Errors, in the use of 100 Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected 103 ADJECTIVES.) ^ > Facts concerning, and Errors in the use of ioz ADVERBS, j Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected 108 VERBS. Facts concerning, and Errors in the use of 112 Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected 116 PREPOSITIONS. Facts Concerning, and Errors in the use of 121 Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected 122 CONJUNCTIONS. Facts Concerning, and Errors in the use of 124 Miscellaneous Errors and Exercises to be Corrected 125 SUPERFLUOUS WORDS 127 POPULAR ABSURDITIES 128 "AWFUL" WORDS 131 MISUSED WORDS 132 BIG WORDS FOR LITTLE IDEAS - 141 COUNTERFEIT WORDS 144 CLEARNESS AND FORCE 147 HINTS TO YOUNG WRITERS AND SPEAKERS * 161 PUNCTUATION ,..<>.<.. 163 CAPITAL LETTERS * ...... c . . . 177 APPROPRIATE PREPOSITIONS . . . 179 APPENDIX. NOTES, QUOTATIONS, AND COMMENTS 191 INTRODUCTORY. For many years, there has been an earnest and increasing demand for a practical text-book on the subject of language ; a book that would present the 'essentials of English syntax unen- cumbered by the rubbish of which the average " grammar" has so largely consisted. With a view to meeting this demand, the present work has been prepared. We claim merit for it on two leading points : i. What it contains ; 2. What it does not contain. We believe that the latter, as much as the former, entitles it to consideration. What the book contains. Some things that are new; more that are not. The method of treating the subject and the order of arrangement are the principal features of originality. In both these respects, the work will be found thoroughly logical. PART I covers the essential points in English syntax, includ- ing all that pertains to the seven parts of speech and the analysis of sentences. Set rules have purposely been omitted. Definitions have been admitted but sparingly, and in no case until the thing defined has been fully explained. The sentences for practice in analysis have been carefully graded so as to lead the student on in a well-lighted pathway. The parsing to be done is informal, not of the " cold-blooded " sort which has so long been the bane of English grammar teaching. Apt illustrations and interesting exercises are introduced from time to time, and the colloquial style of presentation has been adhered to throughout. These features will enhance the value of the book in the hands of beginners, and furnish a helpful review for others. Some of the lessons may seem rather long, but they are natural rather V* INTRODUCTORY. than ' arbitrary divisions of the work. Considering the very small part to be committed to memory, there are but few of the lessons that may not be taken by an average class at one recitation. Some may be surprised to find in a work claiming to be prac- tical, that time-honored exercise, conjugation ; but a closer exam- ination will reveal the fact that the conjugating is not of the " I love," "You love," "He loves" pattern. Only irregular verbs are given for practice, and of these, such troublesome ones as the oft-confused lie and lay } sit and set. PART II is more general in character, covering a variety of subjects and large amount of material for practice, all of which will be found highly practical. The chapters on Clearness and Force, and Punctuation, and the list of Appropriate Prepositions will be found especially valuable features. Considerable space has been given to the study of misused words for the following reason: Once get a student interested in a critical study of words and current phrases, and he naturally becomes critical re- garding other features of English. This makes of him a " reflect- ive user of language," the essential thing for self-improvement. The APPENDIX, consisting for the most part of quotations from the very best authors, constitutes in itself a valuable book of reference for teachers and advanced students. Many of the spicy paragraphs, particularly those from the pens of Gould, Mathews, and White, on misused words, will help to enliven the work and fix the points in the minds of students. The system of references from one part of the book to another, by paragraph numbers, will be found of great value to both student and teacher. By means of these, all facts bearing upon a point may readily be found. The general plan of the work is such as to enable a student to get a maximum of benefit with a minimum of labor and time. Advanced classes, those composed of students who have ac- quired a fair knowledge of English syntax may begin study at Part II, at the same time reviewing the essential points in Part I. INTRODUCTORY. vn On reaching the Appendix, such classes may continue the review work by means of the references to all parts of the book. What the book does not contain. Upon this point, particularly, we base our claim of real merit. The aim has been to exclude all make-believe. Only the facts of our mother-tongue have been presented, and these have been stated in plain English. Mere technicalities are " conspicuous for their absence." Teachers have long been asking themselves and one another this question : u Why do we not get better results from our teaching of English grammar? " To this we venture to give the following answer : We have been attempting to teach so much that does not belong to the English language. A large part of our so-called "grammar" has been pure make-believe. In the words of Richard Grant White, we have been trying to "measure our English corn in Latin bushels." Imported Latinisms, such as 'voice' and ' gender,' together with fictitious ' cases,' 'moods,' ' tenses,' etc., and equally fictitious rules ^ have consumed much valuable time that should have been given to studying the reali- ties and beauties of our language. We have been teaching too much grammar, not enough language. Samuel Ramsey says : " The weary hours and years spent by our youth in parsing Bnglish sen- tences according to forms borrowed from Greek and L,atin are worse than wasted useless for the avowed purpose of learning to speak and write, and leading to a misapprehension of what our language is." The small remnants of real grammar in our language ( to be found in a few pronoun-forms, one ' case ' of nouns, two adjectives, and, to a very limited extent, in verbs ) form a very inconsiderable part of English syntax. There are worse errors in every-day speech than using the wrong pronoun-form, or failing to make the verb " agree with its subject." The old farmer who declares that "them horses is matches," commits a less offense against good English than his pretentious city cousin who announces that " those horses are pretty equally matched with each other." In fact, as Mr. Ramsey says, ours is a language in which " the dictionary counts for everything, the grammar almost nothing." viri INTRODUCTORY. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS AND PARENTS. To Teachers : Read the preface and introduction to this book and ask your students to do the same. Read carefully all foot-notes and notes to the teacher. Require students to read all references. [It may be best, however, to have beginners confine their reference reading to Parts I and II, as some of the points in the Appendix might have a tendency to confuse 1 hem at the start. ] Get up enthusiasm in your classes. To do this, do n >t dwell on minor points ; for instance, don't spend much time on the kinds o r pronouns and ad- jectives in Lessons 13 and 14. All parsing should be informal and should never include facts beyond the point to which the student has advanced at the time. Remember that the mere correcting of errors is, in itself, of little value; indeed, any work that does not lead a student to think for himself is a waste of time. To Parents : Your work must precede, as well as accompany, that of the teacher ; his work is supplementary to yours. You can do very much by encouraging habits of promptness, neatness, and independent effort on the part of your children. Irregular attendance at school is fatal to genuine success. Under the guise of "baby-talk," children are often allowed to form incorrect habits of speech that will stick to them through life. During the first six years of his life, a child can learn more that is wrong than he can possibly unlearn in the next dozen years. Remember that, if your children " hear poor English and read poor English, they will pretty surely speak poor English and write poor English." To both teachers and parents, the following, by Professor Whit- ney, contains most excellent advice : [ Italics are ours. ] " It should be a pervading element in the whole school and home training of the young to make them use their own tongue with accuracy and force, and ? along with any special drilling directed to this end, some of the rudimentary distinctions and rules of grammar are conveniently taught; but that is not the study of grammar, and it will not bear the intrusion of much formal grammar without being spoiled for its own ends. It is constant use and practice, under never-failing watch and correction, that makes good writers and speakers ; the application of direct authority is the most efficient corrective. Grammar has its part to contribute, but rather in the higher than in the lower stages of the work. One must be a somewhat reflective user of language to amend even here and there a point by grammatical reasons ; and no one ever changed from a bad speaker to a good one by applying the rules of grammar to what he said." PLAIN ENGLISH. LESSON 1. 1. Words. There are a great many words in the English lan- guage, but nearly all of them belong to a few classes called " Parts of Speech." This name, ' part-of-speech,' when applied to a word, signifies that there is something incomplete about it ; and this is true, for a word is only a fraction or ( part ' of our speech, or language, as we use it in speaking or writing. (31.) 2. Sentences If a person says 'men,' 'boats,' 'flowers,' ( boys,' and stops without saying anything else, you wonder what he means. You know that he has spoken the names of things, but you cannot tell whether he is going to say something good or something bad about them. Again, if he speaks the words * write,' * sail,' * bloom,' ' work,' without using other words with them, you do not understand what he means, because he has told you only a part of his thought. But if he says 'Men write,' 'Boats sail,' ' Flowers bloom,' 'Boys work,' you begin to understand his thoughts, because he not only has named the things he is thinking about, but has told you what he thinks about them. When two or more words are put together in this way so as to make sense, they form a SENTENCE. 3. Subject and Predicate. You will notice that each of the sentences above has two parts: i. The part about which something is said. This is called the SUBJECT. 2. The part that asserts, or says something about the subject. This is called PLAIN ENGLISH. the . P^EDjOAl;e; ( Predicate means f to speak ' ( to assert.' ) Ne"aHy ; ai} 'our* sentences contain other parts, but we shall find there are always these two ; in fact, we cannot make sense with- out them. If we say ' Business men write rapidly,' ' The large boats sail smoothly,' ' Pretty flowers bloom in the meadow,' * Industrious boys work hard,' we do not change the subjects and predicates of our sentences, except to add other words to them to bring in other ideas we wish to express. 4. In a game of base-ball, each player is named from the part he takes, or what he does ; as " pitcher," " catcher," " umpire," etc. So it is with the words we use in our sentences. What a word does decides what part-of-speech it is. (a) All words used like * men,' 'boats,' 'flowers,' and 'boys,' in the sentences above, to name things, are called nouns. (b) All words used like 'write,' 'sail,' 'bloom,' and 'work,' to assert, or say something of the subject, are called verbs. ( c ) The words ' the,' ' large,' ' pretty,' ' business,' and ' industri- ous,' are not used like ( men,' ' boats,' ' flowers,' ' meadow,' and ' boys,' to name things, so we do not call them nouns. Neither are the words ' rapidly,' ' smoothly,' ' in,' and ' hard,' in these sentences, used like the words * write,' ' sail,' ' bloom,' and ' work,' to assert, therefore they are not verbs. 5. Now let us see what we have learned in this lesson : FIRST. Parts of speech are the classes into which words are divided according to what they do in sentences. (33 1 -) SECOND. A sentence consists of two or more words put together so as to make sense, or express a thought. THIRD. A sentence is composed of two parts: i. The sub- ject, naming the thing about which something is asserted ; and, 2. The predicate -, which does the asserting. PLAIN ENGLISH. . 8 FOURTH. Words used to name things are called nouns. FIFTH. Words used to assert are called verbs. (33 2 -) SIXTH. That all other words in a sentence will be named ac- cording to what they do. SENTENCE MAKING. 6. Make sentences by asserting something of the following Subjects : ( Do not supply more than one word.) trees horses girls winds.. soldiers clerks women snow... children animals bees John.., birds students flags Carrie. To what part-of-speech do the words you have supplied be- long? 7. Make sentences by naming subjects for the following pred- icates I ( Do not supply more than one word. ) walk fly sleep recite swim build sew study ....travel sting read grows ...strike decay burns writes To what part-of-speech do the words you have supplied be- long? 8. For your next lesson, write ten sentences of two words each, by furnishing both subject and predicate. Then, to the subjects and predicates of five of these sentences, add one or two words, as we did with the sentence ' Boys work.' MODEL : The industrious boys work hard. [ See Rule i for capitals. 323.] 4 PLAIN ENGLISH. LESSON 2. Review first lesson. 9. We learned in our first lesson that we can express a thought with two parts of speech, a noun and a verb. We learned also that a verb is a word that asserts, and that the predicate of the sentence is the part that asserts or says some- thing about the subject. Hence, we conclude that every predi- cate must contain a verb. 10. The predicate often consists of more than one word ; as The comet was seen. John had been writing. In the first sentence, it takes two words to make the assertion, was seen; in the second, three are required: had been writing. When two or more words must be taken together in this way to express a meaning, they are called a phrase. Thus, was seen and had been writing are VERB-PHRASES. (333.) 11. Pronouns. While the verb is the only part-of-speech that can be used to make an assertion, a noun is not the only one that can be used as the subject, that is, to tell what we are talking about. If a teacher, in speaking of the boys and girls in his school, should say " They study," or if he should point to George and say " He studies," or to Mary and say " She studies," you would understand his meaning, although he would not be using anyone's name. The words he, she, and they, are used in place of the names of the persons ; hence, they are called PRONOUNS. ( Pro- "means ' for ' or 4 in the place of. ' ) A pronoun mentions a thing without naming it. (334.) 12. There are not many pure pronouns in our language. Those you will use oftenest as subjects of sentences are I> you, he, she, we, they, and it. Write seven sentences using these pronouns for subjects. Let the sentences be short. Use verb- phrases for some of the predicate;:?, PLAIN ENGLISH. 5 13. We shall find that words generally used as other parts of speech are sometimes used as pronouns, that is, ' to represent things without naming them.' Both nouns and pronouns have other uses besides being the subjects of sen- tences. We shall learn about this at another time. Tell what thing is represented by each of the italicized words in the following FABLE. A fox once invited a stork to dine with him. He set before her a shallow dish of food. The fox ate of it greedily for the dish suited his short nose. But the poor bird, dipping in the end of her long beak, could scarcely take up any of it. " You do not take your soup," said the fox. " / fear you do not like tY." Then he bade the servant bring some puddings. But when the pud- dings were brought, they also were all in shallow dishes, so that the poor stork could not enjoy them. The spiteful fox enjoyed his cruel joke, but the hungry stork went home angry. However, she determined to revenge herself on her cunning enemy. She waited till the fox had forgotten his trick and then she sent him an invitation to dinner. When they sat down there were six dishes on the table, but they were so narrow at their tops that the fox could not get his head into them. He tried each dish, but in vain. Meantime, the stork dipped in her long bill and dined very pleasantly ; but the fox was silent and sullen. Presently he burst out : " / do not like your dishes, Mrs. Stork." " Nor did / like your dishes, Mr. Fox." Point out thirty-eight nouns in this fable. LESSON 3. 14. You have seen that a great many sentences can be formed by using a noun or pronoun for the subject and a verb for the predicate. These three parts of speech are the only ones that can form sentences without the help of other words. But there are other parts of speech in most of our sentences, and we are now to consider two of them that are very closely connected with the subject and predicate. 6 PLAIN ENGLISH. 16. Adjectives. If we say ' The chilly wind blows/ ' This red rose has faded/ ' The light wood burns/ ' The cold rain was falling/ we add the words ' the, 7 ' this,' ' chilly/ * light,' ' red,' and ' cold/ to the nouns to describe or point out the things named. All words added to nouns in this way are called ADJECTIVES. The word " adjective " means ' added,' that is, added to a noun. (335.) When we say ' Wood burns/ we make a general statement, that is, we say a thing that is true of any kind of wood ; but when we say ' the wood/ or ' this wood/ or ' hard wood/ or ' light wood/ we limit the word ' wood ' to some par- ticular kind, or to some particular piece of wood, by pointing out or describing the wood we are speaking about. Words added to a noun in this way are said to " qualify " or " limit " it, since they tell what kind or quality the thing is, or else they point out a certain object and thus limit the name so we can tell which one is meant. Therefore An adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun to qualify or limit its meaning. (a) You may generally know an adjective by its answering one of the following questions : Which? What kind? How many? Remark. Sometimes several adjectives limit or qualify the same noun. (b) Words that limit or qualify other words are called modifiers, because they modify ('affect') the ideas represented by the words to which they are added. Point out the adjectives in the sentences at (a) in paragraph 40, and tell what question each one answers. 16. Predicate Adjectives. When we say * Apples fall,' we make a general statement ; but in the sentence, ' Ripe apples fall,' we limit the statement to a certain kind or class of apples, by adding the word ' ripe ' to the noun. But this is not the only way to add a describing word to a noun, for we may say ' The apples are ripe. 1 In this sentence we have done more than simply call them 4 ripe apples ; ' we have made a positive assertion that they are ripe. You will notice that the little word ' are ' does the assert- ing, therefore it is a verb. You will notice also that if you drop PLAIN ENGLISH. 7 the word ( ripe ' and say ' The apples are,' the verb ' are ' does not seem to make a complete predicate. It requires the addition of some word to make the sense complete. Now, ripe is not a verb but an adjective describing the apples, and it is connected to the subject by are. (a) Besides are, there are a few other verbs that do not make complete pred- icates by themselves. The commonest of them are be, am, is, was, and were. ( 100 b, Note.} They are called copula verbs, because they are almost always followed by some word which they couple ( ' connect ' ) to the subject, and which describes or limits the subject in some way. (b) When an adjective is used as we used ( ripe,' to complete the sense of the predicate and qualify the subject, it is called a PREDICATE ADJECTIVE, that is, an adjective in the predicate. (342.) Examples : Iron is heavy. John was sick. We are sorry. I am well. Make sentences of the following by putting adjectives after the copula verbs : The sun is The water is The peaches are The nuts are The children were The flowers were. The fire was The ice was The cherries were.... The men were... (c) The copulas are often put before other verbs to help form verb-phrases; as They are walking, tie. was writing. The berries were picked. Make sentences by putting verbs in the blanks given above. 17. Nouns and pronouns are often used to complete the predi- cate assertion, being coupled to the subject by some copula verb. They are then called predicate-nouns and pronouns. (342.) Examples : Willie is a cash-boy. Frank is a reporter. They are miners. We were chums. It is I. It was she. It was they. Make sentences of the following by putting nouns after the copulas : Charles is Mr. Morgan is lyillie is We are He was They were 8 PLAIN ENGLISH. Complete the following by putting pronouns after the copulas : ( Use only the pronouns given in paragraph 12. ) It is It is It is It is It was It was It was It was WORD EXERCISE. (Oral.) 18. Furnish adjectives that mean the opposite of these: hard, sorry, ripe, little, white, careful, smooth, late, honest, narrow, sweet, full, weak, tough, happy, crooked, long, noisy, slow, light. Write sentences containing these adjectives, or their opposites, and hand them in at your next lesson. ( a ) Write sentences containing the following words used in the ways indicated : Plow, as a noun ; as a verb. Plant, as a noun ; as a verb. Paint, as a noun ; as a verb. Lost, as a verb ; as an adjective. Fire, as a noun ; as a verb. Cold, as a noun ; as an adjective. Light, as a noun ; as a verb ; as an adjective. MODEX : All hope is gone. ( noun. ) I hope not. ( verb. ) LESSON 4. Review, and discuss sentences brought in by students. 19. Adverbs. In our last lesson, we learned about the words that are added to the noun to qualify or limit its meaning. Now let us look at some of those words we added to the verbs in our first lesson. Take the sentence, ' Business men write rapidly.' We may leave off the last word and still have a sentence, since the other three words will make sense without it. The word ' rapidly ' is added to the word ' write ' to express another idea we have in mind. It tells how the men write. Words used in this- way are called ADVERBS, which means * added to verbs.' PLAIN ENGLISH. 9 20. While nearly all adverbs are added to verbs to qualify them, sometimes an adverb is added to an adjective to answer the question how f before it ; as The air was very impure. The road is too rough. Here the adverbs ' very ' and ' too ' are added to the adjectives ' impure ' and 1 rough ' to tell how impure and how rough. Too and very are always adverbs. ( a ) Again, an adverb is sometimes added to another adverb to answer the question how ? Examples : It rained very gently. You must work more carefully. An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a verb or an ad- jective, and it sometimes modifies another adverb. (336.) 21. If we say ' Some business men write very rapidly,' we qualify not only write, by adding to it the word ' rapidly,' but also rapidly, by adding to it the word ' very.' Notice, too, that we have limited the subject still further, by using the word ' some,' which expresses the idea that not all business men write very rapidly, but that some of them do. Thus each word we use in a sentence represents some idea. Each word does something to help us express our thoughts. So, we may say that a word is the sign of an idea. An idea is a part of a complete thought. When we say ' The beautiful little violets bloom in the springtime,' the idea of beauty and the idea of their being little are parts of the thought we express about the violets. 22. How to Tell Adverbs. We can generally tell without much trouble which words are adverbs, for they will answer one of the following questions : How ? When ? Where ? Why f How long ? How often ? and sometimes How much ? but not How many? In the following sentences, fill the blanks with adverbs that will answer some of these questions : That man works (how?) 'quietly;' (when?) daily. The train runs The soldiers marched The girl studies The fire burns The rain falls He talked sensibly. You should walk He was confident. The men fought She reads rapidly. 10 PLAIN ENGLISH. 23. Point out the nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in the following sentences and tell what words the adverbs modify : The leader spoke loudly. Wet wood burns slowly. The soldiers stepped quickly. He was very seriously hurt. The flowers were quite fragrant Then we walked more carefully. Tell which of the underscored words in the fable on page 5 are adjectives and which are adverbs. Tell in each case what the word modifies and what ques- tion it answers. [See paragraphs 15 (a) and 22.] See how many pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs you can find in the story of "Judge Grammar's Court," in paragraph 125. 24. The same word may be an adjective in one sentence and an adverb in another. [See paragraph 4.] WORD EXERCISE. ( Oral or Written. ) Use each of the following words, first as an adjective, then as an adverb : Little, late, hard, first, fast, last, much, more, high, long, short. LESSON 5. 25* We have learned about the independent parts of speech nouns, pronouns, and verbs. With these we can form sentences without the help of other words. We have also studied about the modifying parts of speech adjectives and adverbs. We are now ready to study about two other classes of words that we often use in our sentences. Let us see what they do. 26. Prepositions. We have seen how a noun or pronoun may be used as the subject of a sentence. By putting some word like at, in, of, to, by, for, from, with, or without, before them, we may use nouns or pronouns 4n the place of adjectives and adverbs to describe or limit nouns and verbs. Thus, we may say PLAIN ENGLISH. II 4 He is a man of wealth? or, ' He is a wealthy man.' ' A toad with horns is a curiosity,' or, ' A horned toad is a curiosity.' ' A tree without leaves is not beautiful,' or, ' A leafless tree is not ' etc. 1 1 spoke in haste' instead of, ' I spoke hastily.' ' She writes with ease? instead of, * She writes easily/ ' He went at that time? instead of, ' He went then.' In the first three of these sentences, the phrases * of wealth,' 1 with horns,' and ( without leaves,' are used in the place of the adjectives wealthy, horned, and leafless. In the other three, the phrases ' in haste,' ' with ease,' and * at that time,' take the place of the adverbs hastily, easily, and then. The little words that begin these phrases are called PREPOSI- TIONS. (337.) 27. A phrase, as we have already learned (10) , is made up of words which must be read together to show their meaning in the sentence. (a) When a phrase takes the place of an adjective, it is called an adjectival phrase. ( 338. ) ( b ) When it takes the place of an adverb, a phrase is called adverbial. 28. Point out the prepositions in the following sentences and tell whether they begin adjectival or adverbial phrases ; also tell what single word each of the phrases is equivalent to : MODEL : A man of prudence was chosen. Of is a preposition intro- ducing the adjectival phrase of prudence, which is equivalent to the adjective ' prudent,' describing ' man.' The sentence when abbreviated reads, 'A prudent man was chosen.' i. An act of kindness pays. 2. A thing of beauty is adr ired. 3. Trips of pleasure were taken. 4. A boy without a home should be pitied. 5. He is a man of honor. 6. A person of experience is wanted. 7. It was an act of bravery. 8. The soldiers were men without fears. 9. We all went in haste. 10. They listened with reverence, n. He lived by himself. 12. That man spoke without thought. 13. The soldier was rewarded for his deed of heroism. Point out the subjects and predicates in the sentences above. Point out the prepositions and phrases in the fable on page 5. 12 PLAIN ENGLISH. 29. Conjunctions. In the sentences John and Henry went to school, Mary plays and sings well, The man or his wife will come, I am not glad but sorry, we have three words that are different from any we have yet studied. In the first sentence, the subject is 'John and Henry,' the two names being joined together by the word ' and.' In the second sentence, the same word con- nects the two verbs, ' plays ' and ' sings.' In the third sentence, or is used to connect the two nouns 'man' and 'wife.' In the last sentence, but joins together the adjectives ' glad ' and ' sorry.' (a) These words, and, or, but, and others like them, are called CONJUNCTIONS. ( Con- means ' together ; ' junction, ' to join.' ) [For list of principal conjunctions, see paragraphs no (a) and 112.] ( b ) Conjunctions often connect phrases ; thus They rushed into the house and up the stairs. Here the two abverbial phrases, * into the house ' and ' up the stairs,' are joined together by and. (c) Conjunctions are also used to join sentences together ; as John came and I went. She played but they did not sing. (d) We find, from the above, that Conjunctions join together words, phrases, and sentences. (339.) 30. For your next lesson, write five answers to each of the following questions, using a preposition in each answer : Where did John go ? Where ', or how, did they travel ? When did you go ? MODELS : John went into the house. They traveled through Europe, by boat. I went in the evening, after school, before supper. Point out the conjunctions in the sentences in paragraph 51. PLAIN ENGLISH. 13 LESSON 6. Review briefly the seven parts of speech. 31. We have learned that there are seven different ways in which words may be used in sentences to express our thoughts. There are a few words that are sometimes used along with sen- tences to make exclamations, or express some strong feeling. They are such as, O ! oh ! ah ! pshaw ! hello ! hurrah ! halleluiah ! and are called interjections. Since these words express feelings and not ideas, they do not add anything to the thought of the sentence with which they are used, therefore, they are not properly " parts of speech." They might be compared to the boys that sit on the fence and yell while the men are playing ball. These boys do not take part in the game. They simply give expression to their feelings. (340.) Note. Besides the interjections, there are but few words in our language that are ever used in such a way that we cannot name them as belonging to one of the seven parts of speech. The principal ones are yes and no, used in answer- ing questions ; it and there, when used as indefinite subjects of sentences ; and SO, well, now, why, and that, when used merely to introduce sen- tences. Examples: Did he go? No. Are you busy? Yes. There are exceptions to all rules. Well, it is finished. So, you are going, are you ? // is true that I am going. Why, I am surprised. Now, it happened in this way. 32. The base-ball player does not always take the same part. For instance, the " short-stop " for a base-ball team in one game may be the " catcher" in the next game ; yet he will be the same person. So it is with most of the words we use. They do not always belong to the same part-of-speech, because they do not always do the same thing in the sentences. To illustrate this, take the following sentences : Singing was taught. They are singing. The singing bird delighted us. Here the word * singing ' does three different things. In the first sentence, it appears as the name of an action, therefore it is 14 PLAIN ENGLISH. a noun ; in the second, it is one of the asserting words, therefore it is a verb ; while in the third, it describes or qualifies the noun ' bird,' therefore it is an adjective. So you see we cannot name a word ( tell what part-of-speech it belongs to ) until we find out what it does in the sentence. 33. The work of finding out what a word does and then naming it, is called PARSING. There are two steps in parsing : i. Pointing out the subject and predicate, and the words and phrases that modify them. 2. Naming the part-of-speech to which each word belongs. The first step is usually called analysis. 34. Elements. To analyze anything is * to unloose ' or ( sepa- rate it into its parts ; ' and we speak of ' analyzing ' a sentence when we pick out the subject and predicate and other parts, be- cause we do, in a sense, * unloose ' or * separate ' them from one another. These parts of a sentence are called its ELEMENTS. (a) An element of a sentence may consist of a word, a phrase, or a clause. So far, our phrases have been either verb-phrases, adjectival phrases, or adverbial phrases ; but, as we shall see farther on, phrases of one kind or another may be used as any part of a sentence. 35. Principal Elements. In our first lesson we found that each sentence must contain at least two elements, a subject and a predicate. ( 3. ) Since no sentence can be formed without these two, and since they can express a thought without the help of other elements, the subject and predicate are called PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS. ( Principal means * highest in rank or importance.' ) 36. Sentences containing only principal elements, to be ana- lyzed and parsed : Example of Analysis and Parsing : Snow melts. Snow is the subject of this sentence, and melts is the predicate. Snow is the name of something, therefore it is a noun. Melts is an asserting word, therefore it is a verb. Winds blow. Lawyers plead. Flowers bloom. Men trade. Water freezes. Merchants fail. Women sew. She cried. Children play. Railroads are built. He was arrested. Letters were written. PLAIN ENGLISH. 15 37. Subordinate Elements. We have seen that other parts may be added to the subject and predicate to bring in other ideas. Thus, we may say ' The snow on the mountain melts slowly.' Here the subject ( snow ' is modified by the adjective ' the ' and the phrase ' on the mountain ; ' while the predicate * melts ' is modified by the adverb ' slowly.' Snow is the bare subject, and The snow on the mountains is the complete subject. ( Melts ' is the bare predicate, while melts slowly is the complete predicate. ( a ) The bare subject is the subject without its modifiers. The complete subject is the bare subject with all its modifiers. (b) The bare predicate is the predicate without its modifiers. The complete predicate is the bare predicate with all its modifiers. Remarks. The bare subject and bare predicate are also called the - modified subject and unmodified predicate. (341.) The complete subject and complete predicate are also called the modified subject and modified predicate. (c) All the words and phrases added to the bare subject and bare predicate to form the complete subject and complete pred- icate are called SUBORDINATE ELEMENTS. ( Subordinate means ' lower in rank or importance.' ) There are four subordinate elements ; namely, adjectival, adverbial, objective, and connecting. 38. An adjectival element modifies a noun or pronoun. 39. An adverbial element modifies any other part-of-speech except nouns and pronouns. ( 336 b. ) Remark. Adjectival and abverbial elements, when they are single words, are generally adjectives and adverbs ; but we shall see farther on that nouns and pronouns are sometimes used for these elements. 40. Sentences containing adjectival and adverbial elements, to be analyzed and parsed : MODEI, : The whole train was badly wrecked. Train is the bare sub- ject, and was wrecked is the bare predicate. The complete subject is The whole 16 PLAIN ENGLISH. train ; the complete predicate, was badly wrecked. Train is a name, therefore it is a noun. Was wrecked makes the assertion, therefore it is a verb-phrase. The and whole limit the noun 'train,' therefore they are adjectives. Badly modifies the verb-phrase ' was wrecked,' therefore it is an adverb. f a ) Cold winds blow. The little birds sing. The pretty flowers bloom. Business men trade. The ship was staunch. The winter is mild. The little children are happy. Stale food is unwholesome. Long letters were written. They should be made solid. The boy has been absent. The weather had been hot. Those papers will be valuable. ( b ) Those men talk loudly. The clerk was very angry. Such sights are rarely seen. The note is now due. They seldom make a mistake. We were greatly disappointed. The market is extremely dull. The water is not pure. That man always pays promptly. That lady is very graceful. The streets were nearly blockaded. The bargain has just been completed. She has always been cheerful. Notice that a verb-phrase, as well as a single copula verb, may be followed by an adjective. 41. Sentences containing adjectival and abverbial phrase- elements, to be analyzed and parsed : MODEI, : A gentle breeze was blowing from the south. Bare subject, breeze ; bare predicate, was blowing ; complete subject, a gentle breeze; com- plete predicate, was blowing from the south. From the south is an adverbial phrase modifying ' was blowing.' A and gentle are adjectives modifying the noun ' breeze.' Was blowing is a verb-phrase. From is a preposition intro- ducing the phrase * from the south.' The is an adjective limiting the noun south.' i. The flowers in the garden are blooming. 2. The papers are delivered in the evening. 3. The bushes along the bank are green. 4. Merchants advertise in newspapers. 5. The pebbles in the brook were very smooth. 6. The money was deposited in the bank. 7. The flowers in the woods are fragrant. 8. We walked slowly across the fields. 9. The house by the river was swept away by the flood. 10. Farmers work hard during the summer, n. The dew on the grass sparkled in the sunlight. 12. The man with one arm was drowned. 13. Too many men are guilty of embezzlement. 14. Letters of recommendation will be helpful to you. 15. A large number of boys were present on time 16. Snow remains on some high mountains throughout the summer. 17. The history of words is an interesting study. 18. Regular hours of sleep are neces- sary to health. PLAIN ENGLISH. 17 (a) Adjectival phrases are sometimes used as a part of the predicate after a copula verb ; as John is of a quiet disposition. In this sentence, of a quiet disposition describes John as truly as the adjective 'quiet' does in 'John is always quiet.' Therefore of a quiet disposition is a predicate-adjectival-phrase. ( 16 b and 342. ) ( b ) Sometimes the copula verb is followed by a phrase that does not describe the subject, but tells where the person or thing is y was, or will be ; as He is in Europe. The key was under the mat. I shall be at home. When the phrase thus answers the question where f the copula verb forms the predicate by itself and the phrase is an adverbial one. 19. That man is in earnest. 20. The boys were in fun. 21. The pigs are in the clover. 22. The cow is in the corn. 23. I am in doubt about it. 24. The machine is of little use. 25. The top was of brass. 26. They are by themselves. 27. The bees are on the wing. 28. It will be in a bad condition. 29. We were under shelter. 30. We shall be under obligations to you. 31. The cottage is in the shade of a large oak. ( c ) Adverbial phrases often come at the first of the sentence. [ See rule for punctuating such sentences, 304. ] 32. In some countries, salt is very valuable. 33. In the meantime, the old homestead had been sold to a wealthy planter. 34. In that way, the whole fortune was spent. 35. By this time, we could see quite clearly. 36. For a few minutes, he was dazed by the news. 37. Near the lake, a beautiful mansion had been built. LESSON 7. 42. Objective Elements. In the sentence The lightning struck the tall tree in the park, tree names the object that was struck. And in the sentence The little child overturned the kettle of boiling water, kettle names the object, or thing that the child turned over, 18 PLAIN ENGLISH. Kettle is the bare ( or unmodified ) object, and kettle of boiling water is the complete object. The water scalded him. In this sentence, him is the object telling who was scalded. Again, in the sentence That young lady has a handsome watch, watch is the object, telling what the young lady has, or possesses. When a noun or pronoun is used after a verb in such a way as to answer the question what? (or who?), it is called the object of the verb. (343 and 348. ) Notice that these objects follow verbs that express doing or having ; that is, action or possession, The copula verbs (i6a) do not express action or possession, therefore they are not followed by objects, though, as we have seen (17), nouns and pronouns are sometimes used after them to complete the predicate. Remark. Some verbs that express action or possession do not always have objects after them, while others never do. We shall learn more about this at another time. ( 97 a and 98. ) Turn to lyesson i, and supply modified subjects for the predicates in paragraph 7 and place objects after as many of the verbs as will take objects. 4:3. How to tell the Object. When you are in doubt as to what is the object of a verb, or whether it has an object at all, you may easily find out by reading the predicate and putting the question what f ( or who ? ) after it. If there is a word that will answer the question, that word is the object. Thus, in the first example in paragraph 42, we ask " struck what? " Answer : "the tree;" and in the second example, " overturned what?" Answer: a the kettle" the object. Remark. Since the verb is always limited by its object, consider the object and its modifiers as a part of the complete predicate. Thus, in the first ex- ample above, the complete predicate is ' stritck the tall tree in the park.' (343.) PLAIN ENGLISH. 19 44. Sentences containing objects : [Analyze and parse.] I. The sun warms the earth. 2. They cheered the president. 3. Whittier wrote beautiful poems. 4. The late frost killed the early fruit. 5. Dark clouds cover the sky. 6. I have the lesson. 7. George has a fine dog. 8. You have a bad cold. 9. They had an enjoyable time. 10. Ye shall have peace. 4:5. The principal word in adjectival and adverbial phrases will answer the same question after the preposition that the object of a verb answers after the predicate. Thus, in The firm advertised for a bookkeeper, we may ask " advertised for what ? " Answer : " a bookkeeper." And in He wrote a long letter to me about that matter, if we ask the questions " wrote to whom ? " and " wrote about what?" the answers will be " me" and "matter," the objects of to and about ; while the question "wrote what? " brings out the object of the .verb, " letter." The complete object is a long letter, while the complete predicate is wrote a long letter to me about that matter. Point out the objects of the prepositions in the sentences, in, paragraph 41. 4:6. Direct and Indirect Objects. Verbs of action often liave two objects ; one naming the thing that receives the action, and the other naming the thing indirectly affected by it. Thus, in He gave me a book, The tailor made him a coat, the meaning is not ' He gave mej and * The tailor made him? but 'He gave a book [to] me] and 'The tailor made a coat [for] him. In these sentences, book and coat are the DIRECT OBJECTS, and me and him the INDIRECT OBJECTS. Remark. The indirect object of a verb conies before the direct object, and its relation to the verb may be expressed by to or for. When, however, we supply to or for before the indirect object, the phrase thus formed follows the direct object, and the indirect object of the verb becomes the" object of the 20 PLAIN ENGLISH. preposition. To illustrate this, take the two forms of the second example in paragraph 45: He wrote me a long letter about that matter. He wrote a long letter to me about that matter. 4:7. Point out the direct and indirect objects of the verbs in the following sentences, and then change the indirect object into a phrase, so that it will become the object of to or for : The clerk sold her the goods. The proprietor showed us the letter. The captain told them a big yarn. His friends bought him a gold watch. The careless druggist gave the poor fellow the wrong medicine. The railway company gave all the conductors very strict orders. The government had been furnishing the Indians food and clothing. 4:8. The objective element answers the question what? (or who?) after a verb expressing action or possession. It also answers the question what? (or whom?) after prepositions. (348.) The indirect object of a verb of action names the person or thing to (or for) which the act is done. LESSON 8. FORMS OF ELEMENTS. 49. We have seen that an element of a sentence may be either a word or a phrase. (34^.) We shall see farther on that a clause (which is nearly the same as a sentence ) may be used as an element. ( in a. ) An element consisting of a word is a word element. An element consisting of a phrase is a phrase element. An element consisting of a clause is a clause element. A word, phrase, or clause element that has no modifiers is called a simple element ; but when it has modifiers, it is called a complex element. PLAIN ENGLISH. 21 Two or more elements of the same kind may be joined together by conjunctions ; thus Checks and drafts are cashed. He drinks neither tea nor coffee. You may ride or walk. She teaches shorthand and typewriting. The boys and girls play in the house and on the lawn. Payment in gold or bank-notes was demanded but refused. When two or more word or phrase elements of the same kind are connected in this way, they form what is called a compound element; and the word (a conjunction) that connects them is a connecting element. Remark. Besides conjunctions, there are other connecting elements which we shall learn about at another time. ( 356. ) 50. Simple and Compound Sentences. So far, we have studied sentences that make but one statement, or assertion ; as They all went to the picnic. I stayed at home and worked. Charles works in a factory. Henry is employed in an office. Such sentences are called SIMPLE. They contain but one sub- ject and one predicate each. But we frequently unite two such statements into one sentence by using a conjunction ; thus They all went to the picnic, but I stayed at home and worked. Charles works in a factory, and Henry is employed in an office. You must do your work better, or we shall discharge you. (a) When two or more simple sentences are connected in this way, they form what is called a COMPOUND SENTENCE. 51. Point out the compound elements, the connecting elements, and the compound sentences in the following : i. Silver and gold are precious metals. 2. The merry children laugh and play. 3. Spelling and arithmetic are practical studies. 4. Reading and writing should be learned in youth. 5. Greek and Latin are dead languages. 6. Those apples are mellow and sweet. 7. That flower is beautiful but not fragrant. 8. They came and went in a hurry. 9. They destroyed the town with shot and shell. 10. In this country, the sons of the rich and poor are educated together. ii. "Genuine politeness comes only by a union of inward grace and outward culture." 12. A beaver can live on land or in the water. Remark. Sometimes a part or all of the conjunctions are omitted. [ For the 22 PLAIN punctuation in such cases, see Rule 2 for use of comma, paragraph 303, , c, d. also, rule for semicolon, 3i2 3 . 1 13. They wash, iron, cook, eat, and sleep in the same room. 14. Wheat, corn, and oats are raised in this country, in India, and in Europe. 15. He went to school and I stayed at home. 16. They came but the work was finished. 17. The morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. 18. We silently gazed on the face of the dead, And we bitterly thought of the morrow. 19. The way was long ; the wind was cold ; The minstrel was infirm and old. 20. Great Nature spoke ; observant man obeyed ; Cities were formed ; societies were made. 21. War and love are strange compeers. War sheds blood, and love sheds tears War has swords, and love has darts ; War breaks heads, and love breaks hearts. Note to Teacher. For further work in analyzing compound elements, use the first ten sentences given for practice under Rule 2 for the comma, 303. LESSON 9. ORDER OF ELEMENTS. 52. In the English language, the usual order of the leading elements in a sentence is SUBJECT, PREDICATE, OBJECT; thus Girls like music. Remark. This order of elements is called the NATURAL, or I,OGICAI, order. ( Logical, means ' according to sense, or reason.') (a) Adjectives usually stand before the nouns they modify ; thus The boys generally like mental arithmetic. adi. n. adv. v. adj. n. PLAIN ENGLISH. 23 ( b ) Adverbs may be placed either before or after the verbs they modify ; thus The old man then spoke kindly to the little child. adj. adj. n. adv. v. adv. prep. adj. adj. n. (c) When adverbs modify adjectives or other adverbs, they are placed before^them (344) ; thus She could read and write quite well for one so young. pro. v.-phrase c. v. adv. adv. prep. pro. adv. adj. The business affairs of some men do not, at this season, adj. adj. n. prep. adj. n. v. adv. prep. adj. n. allow them very many opportunities for rest or pleasure. v. pro. adv. adj. n. prep. n. c. n. Notice that the adverb 'not,' and the phrase ' at this season,' come between the two parts of the predicate ' do allow,' in the last sentence. (d) Adjectival and adverbial phrases naturally follow the words they limit, as shown in the sentences above. 53. The logical order of the elements in a sentence is by no means strictly adhered to. Indeed, our language is so flexible that we may express the same thought in different ways by changing the order of the elements, especially the subordinate elements. However, in the assertive sentence (which is the only kind we have considered so far), the leading elements, subject, predicate, and object, usually come in that order. 54. Rewrite the following sentences, placing the elements in their logical order : i. A mighty man was he. 2. Uneasy lies his head. 3. Blessed are the pure in heart. 4. Swiftly fly the twilight hours. 5. A prettier scene you never saw. 6. A jolly old soul was he. 7. A lovelier flower on earth was never seen. 8. Down swept the chill wind from the north. 9. Slow and sure comes up the golden year. 10. Beneath the arched gateway, stood a single sentinel. n. Silently and sadly fell the autumn leaves. 12. Seaward still flows the brook, clear and sparkling. 13. Louder and still louder thundered the tempest. 14. Between Nose and Byes, arose a strange contest. 15. Against the wall leans the peach tree, and over all wanders the woodbine. 1 6. There, in the midst of its farms, reposed the Acadian village. Strongly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock. jy. Floated the boat, with its dripping oars on the motionless water. Filled was Evangeline's heart with inexpressible sweetness. ( 135, Note. ) 21 PLAIN ENGLISH. 18. Still stands the forest primeval ; but under the shade of its branches Dwells another race, with other customs and language. 19. the woods against a stormy sky, Their giant branches tossed. 20. Now on the place of slaughter, Are cots and sheepfolds seen. 21. By the flow of the inland river, Asleep are the ranks of the dead. 22. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds. 23. Filled with awe was Hiawatha At the aspect of his father. On the air about him wildly Tossed and streamed his cloudy tresses. To the Student. When the sentences above have been rearranged, indi- cate the elements in the following manner : * Draw heavy lines under the subject, predicate, and object. Draw a light line under each phrase beginning with a preposition. Make a dotted line under the connecting elements. MODEL. He preached the gospel to the poor, and He^ healed the sick and fed the hungry. (79^.) Note. When a conjunction is omitted, it may be supplied in brackets ; thus The wave was clear, [and] the beach was bright With snowy shells and sparkling stones. *Xo tlie Teacher. This marking of the elements is not given here as a system of diagraming. You will notice that the adjectives and adverbs are not indicated. For beginners, at least, marking the leading elements (including phrases entire) is better than a complex system that goes into detail. Too often the latter becomes mere guess-work with the student, causing him to lose sight of the real object of analysis dissection of the thought expressed. Transposing inverted sentences by placing their elements in logical order, is an exer- cise that may, with profit, be extended. It trains the student to see the leading elements at a glance, and to grasp at once the thought of the sentence, a matter of paramount impor- tance aside from its syntactical bearing. But the real benefit of this exercise cannot be real- ized by practicing with detached sentences or single couplets. Conger selections, in which there is a thread of thought running through several verses, are more profitable. Longfellow's " Evangeline," and " Hiawatha " contain many excellent passages for this work. PLAIN ENGLISH, 25 LESSON 1O. KINDS OF SENTENCES. 55. Besides the assertive sentence (the kind used to make assertions, or simple statements), there are three other kinds; namely, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. The ways in which these sentences differ from the assertive sentence, and from each other, are as follows : 56. Interrogative Sentence. This is the question-asking sentence (inter- 'between;' rogare, ' to ask,'), and the way in which its arrangement differs from the assertive sentence is that the predicate, at least a part of it, usually conies before the sub- ject; thus Can the boy write ? Has she a home ? Did they go ? How soon will he arrive ? ( a ) In pointing out the principal elements of such sentences, consider them as being assertive answers to themselves ; thus The boy can write. She has a home. They did go. He will arrive soon. Remark. In sentences like the last one, the interrogative word (such as, how, why, where, when,} is not used in the answer ; it should be parsed as an interrogative adverb. ( 105.) ( b ) Three words frequently used in asking questions are who, which, and what. These words are sometimes the subjects of interrogative sentences, and sometimes the objects. When a sentence beginning with either of them cannot be changed into an assertive answer, by using the same words and no others, the who, which, or what is the subject ; as Who bought it ? Which was there ? What ails you ? But when the sentence beginning with either of these words can be changed into the assertive form and make sense without using other words, the who, which, or what is not the subject ; as Which do you prefer? What were they hunting? For whom did you ask ? Examples : You do prefer which f You did ask for whom f [ See 348 a. } 26 PLAIN ENGLISH. 57. Imperative Sentence. This is the kind of sentence used when we wish to command or make a request. The peculiar thing about it is that the subject is always omitted but is under- stood to be yoii ( the person spoken to ) ; thus [You] ' Bring me the book.' [You] ' Please shut the door.' In such commands as " Go," " Forward, inarch," " Charge for the guns," he said, the real meaning is ' [You] go,' ' [You] march forward,' He said, ' [You] charge for the guiis.' In analyzing imperative sentences, say merely that ' the subject is you, understood] or that 'the subject is not expressed? [ For the punctuation of assertive and imperative sentences, see paragraph 314.] 58. We have seen that words denoting strong feeling are not * parts of speech,' being simply interjections. (31 ; also 340.) These exclamations may include several words ; as O ! Absalom, my son, my son ! Bternity! Oh how long! But such expressions are not sentences, since they do not con- tain a verb. However, whole sentences may be used in an ex- clamatory way to denote strong feeling of some kind ; as O could I speak His matchless worth ! Oh, if I could but live my life over again ! Remarks. These exclamatory sentences, when taken with their connections, are found to be subordinate sentences [ clauses] of condition. ( 188. ) (a) The exclamatory sentence sometimes has the interrogative form to ex- press strong feeling, without any expectation of an answer ; as How could he act so ! Who could have thought such a thing ! (b) Assertive sentences are sometimes made exclamatory in utterance, the order of elements remaining unchanged ; thus As it I could be guilty of such a thing! And that man talks of virtue ! (c) Imperative sentences or expressions are often exclamatory in their utterance. When written, they are followed by the sign of exclamation ; thus- Forward! Charge for the guns ! Don't give up the ship ! PLAIN ENGLISH. 27 LESSON 11. WORD-MAKING. Note to Teacher. -This lesson is put here, chiefly for reference purposes in connection with subsequent work. It may be taken part at a time, along with future lessons, as indicated in paragraph 79 b. 59. We get the words in our language from two sources ; or, in other words, they are of two kinds ; namely Those that originated with or in the language. Those that have been borrowed from other languages. The first kind are called Anglo-Saxon (pure English) words; the others are called foreign words. Both foreign and English words are divided into three classes : SIMPLE, DERIVATIVE, and COMPOUND. Remark. These three classes have reference to the forms of words and not to the parts of speech to which they belong. 60. Simple Words are those that are not made from ( or out of) other words, such as do, kind, seven, home, bear, zvill. ( Simple words are also called "root," "primitive," or " radical " words.) 61. Derirative Words are those that are derived from other words by the use of prefixes and suffixes, as, ado, unkind, seventy^ homely, unbearable, unwilling. A prefix is a syllable placed before a word; as, ado, wwkind. A suffix is a letter or syllable placed at the end of a word; as, home/y, seventy. Prefixes and suffixes are called affixes. Sometimes a prefix and suffix are both added to a word ; as, unw\\\ing, unbearable, unkindness. 62. Compound Words are those that are made by uniting two or more words into one ; as, penholder, mankind, railway, bookkeeper, runaway, wood-box, Anglo-Saxon. 63. One peculiarity about derivative and compound words is that they may, and generally do, belong to a different part-of-speech from the word or words out of which they are made. Thus the adjective ' truthful ' is derived 28 PLAIN ENGLISH. from the noun ' truth/ and by the addition of another suffix we change it from an adjective back to a noun, truthfulness. The noun ' runaway ' is composed of the verb run and the adverb away ; the adverb 'away* is composed of the adjective a and the noun way. Adding prefixes and suffixes to words to form derivatives , or putting words together to form compound words is called composition, or word-making. Many of our words in common use were obtained in this way and it will be interesting to notice how different parts of speech have thus been made. 64. Nouns. DERIVATIVE NOUNS are formed 1. By suffixes to adjectives, themselves either simple or derivative ; as, sick- ness, happiness, eagerness, sadness, security, reality. 2. By suffixes to simple nouns ; as, heroism, skepticism, Americanism, agri- culturist, geologist, conversationist. Note. In this way, a few nouns are formed to denote female sex ; as heroine, countess. In the same % manner we form nouns denoting small things; as, seedling, duckling, gosling, booklet, leaflet. 3. By prefixes to other nouns; as, disadvantage, inability, nonsense, un- certainty, ex-governor. 4. By suffixes to verbs ; as, writer, swimmer, flattery, impeachment. Note. From verbs are derived (by the addition of the suffix ing) a class of words used as the names of actions; as, singing, dancing, writing, printing. As will be seen hereafter, these words are not always pure nouns, being some- times nouns with verbal natures. ( 164.) Furnish nouns belonging to each of the above-mentioned classes. 65. COMPOUND NOUNS are made 1. By putting together two or more simple or derivative nouns ; as, crow-bar, postman, sidewalk, cash-boy, hand-organ, foot-ball. 2. By prefixing an adjective to a noun which it describes; as, bluebell, white- face, midnight, mainsail, red-man. 3. By suffixing a noun to a verb ; as, driveway, feed-box, pickpocket. 4. By suffixing the adjective full (dropping the last /) to nouns; as. handful, spoonful, basketful. ( 360 d. ) 5. By prefixing a preposition to a noun or verb; as, outskirts, output, in- come, forethought, forerunner, overcomer. 6. By prefixing a noun or a participle to a noun, the latter being described by the former; as, seashore, housetop, sewing-machine, carving-knife. 7. Phrases consisting of two or more nouns used as the name of a single person or thing are considered as one word. Examples : Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Sometimes three or more words of PLAIN ENGLISH. 29 various parts of speech are united and used as one noun ; thus, father-in-law ', Stratford-on-Avon, Mary Queen oj Scots, Alexander the Great. (211.) Furnish compound nouns belonging to each of these classes. [ For instruction in the use of the hyphen in compound words, see 319.] 66. Pronouns. In this part-of-speech, we have only simple and compound words no derivatives. (a) SIMPLE PRONOUNS are /, we, you, he, she, it, and they, and none, aught, naught, some, any, one, all, and each. The first seven of these are called personal pronouns (80) ; the others are called indefinites (83). (o) It is true that there are other forms of these simple personal pronouns, such as me, us, his, him, her, them, etc. ; but while" these forms are, in part ( some of them are not), made from the simple forms given above, the change in form is for another purpose, and not to compose new words. ( 141 and 143.) 67. COMPOUND PRONOUNS are made 1. By combining the personal pronouns with the noun self ( or selves) ; thus, myself, himself, herself, yourself, themselves, and ourselves. 2. By prefixing the indefinite adjectives some, any, every, and no, to one, thing, and body ; as, someone, something, somebody, anyone, anything. ( 144 b. ) 3. Phrases. There are two pronoun phrases ; each other and one another. Write all the compound pronouns you can make with the words given above. 68. Adjectives. DERIVATIVE ADJECTIVES are formed 1. By suffixes to nouns, as follows: handy, manly, useful, bridal, boyish, nervous, careless, heroic, reasonable, delightsome, earthen, forked, parental, commercial. 2. By suffixes to verbs; as, movable, desirable, active, talkative, written, broken, defeated, bowed, sparkling, singing. Note. The last six belong to a class of words that are not regarded as pure adjectives except when they are placed immediately before the noun they qualify. ( 87 b and 170. ) 3. By suffixes to other adjectives ; as, later, latest, warmer, warmest, greenish, cleanly, gladsome. Note. The first four of these words are, in fact, formed for the purpose of comparison, and not to make new words. ( 145-6. ) 4. By prefixes to other adjectives; as, unhandy, immovable, impure. Furnish adjectives belonging to the above-mentioned classes. SO PLAIN ENGLISH. 69. COMPOUND ADJECTIVES are made by putting together two or more words of different parts of speech, as follows : 1. A noun and an adjective , as, sea-sick, foot-sore, knee-deep, sky-blue. 2. A noun and a verb ; as, moss-covered, snow-capped, star-spangled. 3. An adjective and a noun, the latter having ed as an adjective suffix ; as, hard-hearted, high-toned, light-fingered, old-fashioned. 4. An adjective and a verb; as, new-born, well-fed, slow-going. 5. An adverb and a verb or an adjective ; as, everlasting, never-ending, over- anxious, full-grown, full-blown. 6. Phrases consisting of three or more words are sometimes used as a single adjective ; thus, a happy- go-lucky fellow, a go-as-you-please style. The article a ( from an ) is used with many, such, what, quite, and few, to form adjective-phrases , thus, many a, such a, what a, quite a, and a few. It is also used before ' great many ; ' as, A great many people were there. Furnish adjectives belonging to each of these classes. 70. Verbs. DERIVATIVE VERBS are formed as follows : 1. By prefixes: (a) To other verbs ; as, unwrap, bemoan, disown, rewrite, enclose, (d) To nouns , as, embalm, enthrone, enjoy, disorder, behead, (c) To adjectives ; as, belate, renew, refresh. 2. By suffixes: (a) To adjectives ; as, purify, nullify, lighten, soften, (b) To nouns ; as, frighten, terrorize, journalize, memorize. 3. By both prefixes and suffixes; as, dishearten, enlighten, unfasten. 4. By changes in the ending of nouns and adjectives ; as, qualify, electrify, beautify, horrify. Note. Some verbs are derived from others by change of form , as, sang from sing, wrote from write, came from come, talked from talk, beaten from beat. But as this change in the form of the verb is not for the purpose of making a new word, it does not really belong to composition. ( 162 *.) 71. COMPOUND VERBS are made 1. By prefixing a preposition to a verb, the use ; as, oversee, uplift, withdraw, outshine, 2. By prefixing a noun to a verb ; as, browbeat, water-soak, case-harden. I. By prefixing a preposition to a verb, the preposition having an adverbial sense ; as, oversee, uplift, withdraw, outshine, foretell. PLAIN ENGLISH. 31 Note i. Many nouns are used as verbs, the verbal use signifying what is done by or with the thing named when the word is a noun ; as, to pen a letter, to hand a book, to express a package, to mail a letter, to people a country, to tree a coon, to roof a house, to snowball a person, to copyright an article. Note 2. Phrases consisting of two or more verbs are not compound verbs, though they are usually parsed as one word. ( 10. ) Furnish verbs belonging to each of the above-mentioned classes. 72. Adverbs. DERIVATIVE ADVERBS are formed in the fol- lowing ways : 1. By suffixes to adjectives, chiefly the suffix ly ; as, dearly, fully, rarely, honestly. 2. By changing the adjective suffix, ble to bly ; as, ably, nobly, feebly; ic is changed to ical before adding ly ; as, heroically, frantically. 3. By the suffix ward, added to nouns and prepositions; thus, skyward, homeward, forward, toward, upward. (See 278 1 .) 4. By adding to adjectives or nouns : (a) The prefix a (from on) ; as, anew, afresh, ahead, afoot, a-fishing. (b) The prefix be (from by); as, beside, beyond. Furnish adverbs belonging to the above-mentioned classes. 73. COMPOUND ADVERBS are made by union of two or more parts of speech, the more common being 1. An adjective and a noun ; as, always, sometime, otherwise. 2. An adjective and an adjective ; as, almost, already. 3. An adverb and an adverb ; as, henceforward, henceforth. 4. An adverb and a. preposition ; as, herewith, nerein, wherefore. 5. A preposition and an adverb ; as, forever, perhaps. 6. A preposition and a noun ; as, overhead, underside, outside. 7. Phrases, consisting of a preposition followed by an adjective, serve the purpose of single adverbs ; as, in vain, of late, at last, for good. Furnish adverbs belonging to the above-mentioned classes. 74. Prepositions. DERIVATIVE PREPOSITIONS are formed 1. From verbs ; as, during, concerning, excepting, respecting. 2. By prefixing a to other parts of speech, chiefly nouns and adjectives ; as, along, around, aslant, aboard. Remark. Strictly speaking, these are compound prepositions, as the prefix a is from the preposition on. 32 PLAIN ENGLISH. 75. COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS are made 1. By uniting two prepositions ; as, into, upon, within, throughout. 2. By uniting a preposition and some other part-of-speech, usually a noun or an adjective ; as, beside, below, between. 3. Phrases, consisting of two or more prepositions, are often used with the value of a single preposition. Examples: From over, from under , because of . Furnish prepositions and preposition-phrases, as above. 76. CODJ unctions. As regards composition, conjunctions are not easily classified. They are much like the derivative and compound adverbs, many of which are used conjunctively [See no a and Note ; also 113.] ( a ) Phrases, consisting of two or more words, are used as conjunctions with an adverbial sense. They are such as, except that, in order that, inasmuch as. LESSON 12. KINDS OF NOUNS. 77. In previous lessons, we have been analyzing sentences and classifying words according to what they do. We have found that there are eight classes of words, as follows : 1. Nouns. Words that name things. (4 a.) 2. Pronouns. Words that mention things without naming them. ( u.l 3. Adjectives. Words that limit or qualify nouns and pronouns. ( 15.) 4. Verbs. Words that assert existence, action, or possession. (4 b, 332. ) 5. Adverbs. Words that modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. ( 20. ) 6. Prepositions. Words placed before nouns and pronouns to form ad- jectival and adverbial phrases. ( 26-7. ) 7. Conjunctions. Words that join words, phrases, and sentences. (29.) 8. Independent words, consisting of interjections and a few words used merely to introduce sentences. (31. Note.) PLAIN ENGLISH. 33 78. So far, we have been calling all names simply nouns. All words used as substitutes for names we have called pronouns. All asserting words we have classed as verbs. But now we shall see there are different kinds of nouns, different kinds of pronouns, different kinds of verbs, and so on with all the parts of speech except the preposition. In the sentence ' Henry is the smallest boy in school,' we have two nouns referring to the same person, ( Henry] ' boy] but you can see they are different kinds of names. The word 4 boy ' is a name that may be applied to each of the boys in school, while the other name does not belong to anyone but Henry ; it is properly his own name. In the sentence, ' New York is a large city.' The name, * New York,' is the proper, or particular name of a certain city, while the word ' city ' is a name that may be applied to other places besides New York. So, in the sentences Dr. Wilson is a noted physician, Pike's Peak is a high mountain, The Mississippi is a long river, Texas is a large state, February is the shortest month, the names, Dr. Wilson, Mississippi, Texas, Pike's Peak, and February are said to be proper nouns, for the reason that they are names that belong only to those persons or objects. In these sentences, the words c physician,' ' river,' ' mountain,' ' state,' and * month ' are names that may be applied to each one of a class of objects ; hence, they are called common nouns. (Common means * applying, or belonging to many.') Write the following names in two columns, one headed PROPER NOUNS, the Other, COMMON NOUNS : [ See Rule 5 for capitals, 323. ] george, man, apple, horse, columbus, ohio, January, town, atlantic, month, lizzie, james, niagara, canal, england, country, ocean, indian, rocky mountains, city, detroit, charles, son, school, people, german, hat, language, paris, Septem- ber, day, friday, dog, rover, Chicago, wealth, money, doctor, henry, paper, John smith, tribune, flower, harper's ferry. Write ten proper nouns from memory and twenty common nouns, names of things in or about the school-room. 84 PLAIN ENGLISH. 79. A great many of our common nouns are names of things that we can- not see or handle ; such as, truth, pleasure, noise, perfume, flavor, knowledge, size. Others are the names of actions or deeds , as, singing, talking, fishing. Examples : Crying will not help the matter. Fishing is fine sport. (a) Still other common nouns are the names of qualities, feelings, etc. ; as, sweetness, happiness, shrewdness, auger, strength, beauty, honesty. These nouns are usually formed from adjectives (64 1 ) and are called ABSTRACT NOUNS. Form such nouns from the following words : Soft, harsh, rough, smooth, cruel, brave, humble, severe, able, responsible, hasty, heavy, sour, sharp, glad, righteous, willing, broad, deep, high, long. (o) Furnish nouns like those in classes 2, 3, and 4, in paragraph 64 ; also compound nouns like those in each of the groups in paragraph 65. * (c) Adjectives sometimes become nouns by being used as the names of the objects they describe ; as, " I would feed the hungry and clothe the poor." (d) Some common nouns are the names of groups or collections of things ; as, pair, crowd, score, family, squad, gang, swarm, flock, herd, jury, army, committee. These are called COW,ECTIVB NOUNS. ( _i 10 p es> wa i ts , runs, sees, sleeps, spends. f I. he. she. it* ) PAST TIME, { fre, * yoUt th e yt } -hoped, waited, ran, saw, slept, spent. Notice that the past time form is not always made in the same way. In the first word, it is made by adding d to the root, hope, forming hoped. In the second, it is formed by adding ed to wait, giving waited. The next two are formed by a change of the vowel in the middle of the word: run, ran; see, saw. The fifth is formed by dropping one of the vowels and adding / at the close. The last is formed by changing final d to /. Note. These two time-forms of verbs are usually called their present and past " tenses." Tense, from tempus, means ' time,' the time of being, action, or possession. These two are the only tenses that a verb has. ( 173 and 180-1-2. ) 162. Verbs whose past forms are made by simply adding d or ed to the root-form, like hope and wait, are said to form them " regularly," and are called REGULAR VERBS. Verbs whose past time forms are not made by adding d or ed to the root-form are said to be IRREGULAR VERBS. These irregular verbs form their past time is the following ways ; PLAIN ENGLISH. 67 1. By change in the vowel letter ; as, ride, rode ; sing, sang ; come, came, 2. By dropping final vowel ; as, bite, bit ; hide, hid. 3. By changing final letter or letters ; as, send, sent ; lose, lost. 4. By dropping vowel from middle ; as, lead, led ; feed, fed. 5. By changing the vowel and final letters ; as, bring, brought. 6. By changing the vowel sound and adding t or d ; as, feel, felt ; deal, dealt; flee, fled. Do changes the vowel letter and adds d. 163. Other Irregular Forms. Be, as we have already noticed, is irregular, having was and were for its past forms. (a ) Go takes a different word for its past time, went. (d) Five verbs, shall, will, can, may, and must, are frequently used in forming verb-phrases. The first four of them have irregular past forms, as follow: should, would, could, and might. Must has no past time form, though it is sometimes used in verb-phrases ex- pressing past time. Shall and will express future time. Should and would are used in phrases denoting present as well as past time. ( c ) About twenty- five verbs have the same form for past that they have for present time. Examples : Beat, put, spread. [ See 329, Note i. ] ( d) Some verbs have both regular and irregular forms to denote past time ; as, dream, dreamt or dreamed ; sweep, swept or sweeped. [ 329, Note 2. ] (e) Two verbs, beware and begone^ have no past forms, while quoth ( now obsolete except in poetry ) is used only in the past time. ( 330. ) Turn to the list of irregular verbs (329) and go over it care- fully, telling in which of the above-mentioned ways each verb forms its past time. [Correct the errors in paragraph 258.] LESSON 24. VERB-FORMS. CONCLUDED. In the last two lessons, we have learned about the number- forms, the time-forms, and the first-person form of verbs, the first-person form being the same as the plural forms of all verbs except be, which has am for the pronoun /. 68 PLAIN ENGLISH. 164. Yerbals. There are no other real verb-forms, but there are two other changes made in the form of a verb when it ceases to assert and becomes, in part, another part-of-speech. Catching trout is fine sport. I always enjoy catching trout. We were engaged in catching trout In each of these sentences the word ( catching ' ( from the verb ' catch ' ) is used as a noun : In the first, as the subject ; in the second, as the object of the verb ' enjoy ; ' in the third, as the ob- ject of the preposition * in.' But there is one way in which this word ( catching ' differs from the ordinary noun. It has an object, ' trout.' Now, as a noun never takes an object, it is plain that catching must be partly a verb and partly a noun. And such, in fact, is the case. It is a verbal-noun, a verb used as a noun but keeping (in part at least) its verb nature. (365.) ( a ) It was a land flowing with milk and honey. In this sentence, the word ( flowing ' ( from the verb * flow ' ) qualifies the noun * land,' thus doing the work of an adjective. At the same time, flowing takes the usual adverb modifier of a verb, the phrase * with milk and honey,' answering how ? There- fore flowing is a verbal-adjective. (b) He came dashing through the crowd as fast as he could run. In this sentence, dashing (from ' dash ' ) is an adverb, telling how he came.' At the same time, it takes the modifier of a verb, the adverbial phrase, * through the crowd,' answering where ? and the adverbial clause, ' as fast as he could run,' answering how f Hence, it is a verbal-adverb. 165. Participles. These VERBALS (verbal-nouns, verbal- adjectives, and verbal-adverbs) partake of the nature of two parts of speech at the same time. Hence, they are called PAR- TICIPLES. (Participle means ' a partaker.' ) 166. A verb has two participles ; one called " imperfect " (or active}, the other, "perfect" (or passive.) PLAIN ENGLISH. 69 (a) The imperfect participle always ends in ing. It expresses action, existence, or possession, as going on, or continuing ( that is, action, etc., not perfect c complete ' ) at the time mentioned in the sentence. This participle has been fully illustrated in the sentences given above. (164.) Remarks. Because it represents action, etc., as continuing at the time men- tioned in the sentence, the imperfect participle is also called the ' present,' or active participle, and we shall hereafter refer to it by the latter name. The active participles that may have objects are those derived from transitive verbs. ( 99. ) Examples : Catching , lifting, bringing. (b) The perfect participle always expresses action, etc., as perfected ( ( completed ' ) at the time mentioned in the sentence. It is formed by adding d or ed to regular verbs. Examples : Waved, from ' wave ; ' defeated, from ' defeat ; ' beaten, from ' beat.' ( c ) The perfect participle is never used as a verbal-noun, and but rarely as a verbal-adverb ; but it is freely used as a verbal- adjective ; thus The enemy, defeated at every point, retreated in haste. The flag, waved by the gentle breeze, seemed exultant. (d) This participle ( the ' perfect ' ) is always the last word in passive verb-phrases ( 101 ) ; hence, it is also called the passive participle. And because it always denotes an action, etc., as past ( completed), it is sometimes called the past participle. 167. What are known as "compound participles" are formed by placing having before a perfect participle, or by placing having been before either an active or a passive participle ; as Having watched ; having been watching ; having been watched. Remark. As these are really phrases and not verb-forms, they do not come under the present head, and will be treated in another place. ( 195.) 168. Briefly stated, the forms and form-changes of verbs are as follpw : i( Number Form. Singular form made by adding s or es to the plural (root) form. [Changing final j, preceded by a consonant, into i. ] 70 PLAIN ENGLISH. 2. Person Form. Using plural form of verb with pronoun 7, excepting in the case of be which takes am for the first person, singular. 3. Time Form. Past time form made 1. By adding d or ed to the root of regular verbs. 2. By variety of changes in root-form of irregular verbs. 4. Participle Forms. Root-form changed 1. By adding ing to make the active participle. 2. By adding d or ed ( regular ) ; also irregular changes to form the per- fect participle. Remark. Owing to the variety of ways in which the perfect participles of irregular verbs are formed, it is better to become familiar with them by memoriz- ing from the list than to attempt learning rules for their formation. ( 329. ) 1 69. Archaic Forms. In Old English there were two other verb-forms : 1. A second person-form ending in st or est* and used only with the old second person ( singular ) thou ; thus Thou lovest, thou walkest ; past, lovedst, walkedst. 2. A third person ( singular ) form ending in th or eth ; thus He loveth, he walketh ; ( no corresponding past form ) . These forms are called archaic ( ' old style '). They abound in the Scriptures, and in poetry. They are still used more or less in poetry and in solemn forms of address ; but they are practically obsolete so far as every-day speech is con- cerned. [ See Twenty-third Psalm, page 98. ] 170. How to distinguish Participles from Nouns and Ad- jectives. Nouns ending in ing should not be confounded with active participles used as nouns. The latter are verbals and take the modifiers of verbs ; the former being pure nouns never take the modifiers of a verb. (64*, Note.) Neither should the adjectives derived from verbs (68 2 ) be confused with the participles. The former immediately precede the noun described ; the latter gen- erally follow the noun or pronoun. Sometimes, however, a participle without modifiers is placed just before the word it limits. In such cases, it may be distin- guished from pure descriptive adjectives by the following test : * Excepting has and was, which add only t, and shall, will, are, and -were, which change the final letter to t; thus, Thou hast, thou shalt, thou wert. [ See 2582 and 377. J PLAIN ENGLISH. 71 Read the two words together without a pause between them. If the idea thus conveyed by it is precisely the meaning in- tended, the word is an adjective. But if the description is not what is intended, the word is a participle. Example : " Listening, we caught the sound of clattering hoofs." Here, plainly, it is not intended to say ' listening we ; ' but just as plainly the writer does mean to call the hoofs ' clattering hoofs.' Therefore, clattering is a descriptive adjective, but listening is a participle. ( 365 b. ) Remark. The participle used as an adjective is sometimes called a " particip- ial adjective." All participles used to complete the verb-phrase after copulas are participial adjectives, since they are a part of the verb-phrase assertion and at the same time are descriptive of the subject ; thus They are hurrying. He was standing. It is painted. I am surprised. 171. Tell which of the words in the following sentences are pure adjectives or nouns, and which are participles ; also tell how the participles are used : i. Singing strengthens the voice. 2. Worrying will not help matters. 3. Catching trout requires skill. 4. Running will not hurt him. 5. The kettle needs scouring. 6. Hunting deer is exciting sport. 7. Rowing a boat is good exercise. 8. They thought he needed close watching. 9. Counterfeiting is punished by the government. 10. Hearing is believing, seeing is knowing, ii. The hunter saw the bear approaching. 12. Looking out of the window, we saw them coming. 13. The moon shining brightly, lighted our pathway. 14. The stars, twinkling in the sky, had the appearance of large diamonds. 15. The hounds, heated by the chase, ran into the water, leaping over each other in their haste. 16. The general, seated on his horse, watched the enemy. Remarks. Notice that participles never assert the action, existence, or pos- session. They only mention these things as taking place or as having taken place. Besides their use as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, participles have other constructions which will be considered farther on. ( Lesson 32. ) 172. Parse the participles in the following fable,* by telling how they are used, whether as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs ; whether they are active or perfect ; and whether they are derived from transitive or intransitive verbs : ( 101 .) A rich gouty man troubled with disease in his feet, went to a physician dis- tinguished for his skill, promising to do exactly what the physician ordered, *From Dr. Abbott's " How to Parse." The fables on pages 5 and 37 were adapted from the same author's " How to tell the Parts of Speech." 72 PLAIN ENGLISH. if only he would cure him. Seeing his patient deprived of the use of his feet, and too lazy to use them, the physician took him up into a room containing no chair, couch, or seat of any kind, and having a floor lined with iron. There he left him and went out, locking the door behind him. Presently the rich man found his feet growing unpleasantly hot. Irritated at this he called out, but no one answered. Hobbling to the door on his crutches, he found it locked. By this time his feet, heated by the hot iron floor, pained him so much that he be- gan to raise them, lifting first one, then the other, at first slowly, then more and more quickly. In this way, forced to use his legs, he found the use of them grow more and more easy, and was cured against his will. LESSON 25. FUTURE TIME VERB-PHRASES. 173. We have seen ( 161) that past time may be indicated by a change in the form of a verb ; but we very often make a statement in such a way as to show that we do not mean either present time, or past time. Thus, I may say ' I shall write to him about it, and you will hear from him soon,' by which you understand that I have not already written to him, that I am not now writing to him, but that I intend to write to him in the future. In the second part of the sentence, will hear expresses the same idea of future time. (a) Notice that the future time is not indicated by a change in the form of the verbs write and hear, but by placing shall and will before them. Therefore we may say that future time is shown by verb-phrases made by placing shall and will before the root form of the verb. (b) If we change the positions of shall and will in the sentence given above, and say ' I will write to him about it, and you shall hear from him soon,' will in the first person and shall in the second denote future time, and also indi- cate & promise on the part of the speaker. So, in the sentence We will go and see him ; he shall know about it, will In the first person and shall in the third indicate not only future time, but also a determination on our part. PLAIN ENGLISH. 174. Now, let us arrange the future time in all the persons, both singular and plural. SINGULAR. PI,URAI,. I shall [will} write. We shall {will} write. You will [shall} write. You will [shall} write. He will [shall} write. They will [shall} write. 175. By placing the copula be after shall and will, an adjective may be used to complete the predicate ; as, ' I shall be anxious.' Complete the predicates in the above outline, using the adjectives ' anxious,' * happy,' ' sorry,' ' glad,' ' sick.' Notice the difference in the meaning of shall and will in the first per- son, and will and shall in the second and third persons. [ See 366. ] 176. The following table shows how the verb 'see' should be used with the different persons and numbers to indicate the three divisions of time, present, past, and future. Present Time. SINGULAR. PI,URAI<. (Active.) 1. I see 2. You see 3. He sees ( Passive. ) [am seen. ] [ are seen. ] [is seen.] (Active.) We see You see They see Past Time. I saw You saw He saw [was seen.] [were seen. ] [was seen. ] We saw You saw They saw ( Passive. ) [are seen.] [are seen.] [ are seen.] [were seen.] [were seen.] [were seen.]. Future Time. We shall [ will} see You will [ shall} see They will [shall} see [be seen.] [be seen.] [be seen.] 1. I shall [ will} see [ be seen.] 2. You will [shall} see [be seen.] 3. He will [shall} see [be seen.] 177. Conjugation. Giving all the forms of a verb, or its phrases, in the different persons, numbers, and times, like the above, is called CONJUGATION. [ From con- ' together ; ' jugare, * to join.' ] The forms given in the left-hand column of both singular and plural, are called " active " because they represent the subject as acting , thus, ' I see,' ' They see,' etc. ( 100. ) The phrases enclosed in the brackets are called " passive " because they show that the subject receives the action expressed. These are passive verb-phrases, and you will notice that they are made by putting the copulas am, is, are, was, were, before the passive participle, seen. ( i66d.) 74 PLAIN ENGLISH. In tlie active conjugation, only the present (see-s) and the past (saw) forms of the verb are used. In ih& passive, only the perfect participle (seen) is used; and this is true of every verb. Therefore, all we need to know about a verb, in order to conjugate it, is the present, past, and perfect participle forms. For this reason, these forms are called the principal parts of a verb. 178. Conjugate the following verbs, using the active form : Lay ( transitive ) * to place or put ; ' as, to lay a book on the table. Principal parts: Present, lay ; past, laid; perfect participle, laid. In conjugating lay, use " the book " for the object* Lie ( intransitive ) ( to recline ; ' as, to lie on the grass. Principal parts: Present, lie; past, lay ; perfect participle, lain. In conjugating lie, complete the sentence each time by putting the phrase ' on the grass " after the verb ; thus, * I lie on the grass.' Set ( transitive ) ( to place or put ; ' as, to set a table. Principal parts : Present, set; past, set; perfect participle, set. In conjugating set, use " the table " for the object. Sit (intransitive) * to sit in a chair. 7 Principal parts: Present, sit; past, sat ; perfect participle, sat. In conjugating, complete the sentence by the phrase " on the lounge." Do ( transitive ) * to perform ; ' as, to do the work. Principal parts: Present, afo / past, did; perfect participle, done. In conjugating, use "the work" for the object. Have ( transitive ) ' to possess ; ' as, to have respect. Principal parts: Present, have; past, had; perfect participle, had. In conjugating, use " friends " for the object. <"To tlie Teacher. The conjugation of such verbs as those given in paragraph 178 may be made both interesting and practical by using objects after the transitive, and phrases after the intransitive verbs. Indeed, the use of both objects and adverbial phrases after the transitive verbs is recommended and strongly urged. Thus, for example, ' He lays the book on the table,' ' You laid the book on the table,' ' I shall lay the book on the Uble.' Students can thus be led to see that conjugation is not a mere rigmarole of forms, but a practical exercise in sentence-making, the very sentence, too, in which they are likely to make errors. Always repeat the conjugation in the future time, using will and shall, as shown in the brackets, and taking notice of the promise or determination expressed. Drill your students in the conjugation of such troublesome words as lay and lie, sit and set, until the correct form of expression becomes habitual. This work is continued in the next lesson. PLAIN ENGLISH. 75 179. Correct the following errors, giving reasons for the cor- rections : i. You done it yourself. 2. It was did in a hurry. 3. He lay the book down and set on it. 4. They sat the clock. 5. Sit the bucket on the bench and let it set there. 6. I know he done it for I seen him. 7. They are laying idle. 8. They was setting on the fence when we seen them. 9. They done nothing but sit bad examples. 10. Lie it on the shelf, n. He laid in the shade and watched the men sitting fence-posts. [ For further practice, see paragraph 254. ] LESSON 26. PERFECT TIME VERB-PHRASES. 180. Present Perfect Time. By putting have (singular has) before the perfect participle of a verb, we form a verb-phrase denoting time completed but connected in sense with the present time; thus SINGULAR. I have seen, You have seen, He has seen. PifURAi,. We have seen, You have seen, They have seen. This is known as the ''present complete" or "present perfect" time. {Perfect means ' complete.' ) Conjugate the verbs see, lay, lie, sit, set, and do, in the present perfect time, using the following objects after the transitives : See [ the man ] ; lay [the book ] ; set [ the table] ; do [ the work. ] [For principal parts of these verbs, see paragraph 178; also, 329. ] 181. Past Perfect Time. By placing had (past of have} be- fore the perfect participle of a verb, we form a verb-phrase ex- pressing a time before some other past time ; that is, it will denote an action that was perfect ( * completed ' ) at a certain time in the past; as I had seen him there before. They had finished the work before we arrived. This is called the " past complete " or "past perfect" time. 76 PLAIN ENGLISH. Conjugate see, lay, lie, sit, set, and do, in the past perfect time, placing the objects in brackets above after the transitive verbs. 182. Future Perfect Time. By putting have after shall and will in the future time ( 174), between those words and the perfect participle of a verb, we may form verb-phrases indicating a time before some other future time, or an action that will be perfected ( ( completed ' ) before some other future act ; thus I shall have seen him when you arrive. You will have earned your money long before you get it. He will have finished the work by that time. This is called the " future complete " or " future perfect" time. Conjugate see, lay, lie, sit, set, and do, in the future p erfect time, with objects after the transitives. 183. From the foregoing, we find that the following perfect, or completed times may be expressed by the use of have and had: PRESENT ( J have PERFECT. Y U PAST PERFECT. He has (They have) I had You had He had seen, laid, lain, set, sat, done. ( I shall have \ Note. In conjugating- the plural num- FuTURE j her only one change is made from this PERFECT. 1 U . outline. In the third person (present), (_ He will have j has is changed to have. Conjugate the following words, carrying them through the present, past, and future, and the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect divisions of time : [ For principal parts, see 329. ] Fall [on the ice] ; come [ to school] ; go [ to the city ] ; sit [ for a picture ]. 184. Passive Yerb-Phrases. To form the passive conjugation of the perfect times, use the passive participle been after have and had. Conjugate see passively in the perfect times according to the above outline. Note. The passive conjugation of see in the present, past, and future times, was given in our last lesson, paragraph 176. PLAIN ENGLISH. 77 185. Conjugate see, lay, set, and do passively, in the six divis- ions of time, by turning the object of the active verb into the subject of a passive verb-phrase, using the objects given in par- agraph 1 80 ; thus PRESENT TIME. The man is seen by me by you, her, him, us, them. PAST TIME. The man was seen by me etc. FUTURE TIME. The man will [ shall ] be seen by me etc. PRESENT PERFECT TIME. The man has been seen by me etc. PAST PERFECT TIME. The man had been seen by me etc. FUTURE PERFECT TIME. The man will [shall] have been seen by me etc. 186. Conjugate the following verbs in the six divisions of time : [ For principal parts, see list of irregular verbs, paragraph 329. ] Begin [ the work ] ; sing [ a song ] ; eat [ the cake ] ; drink [ lemonade ] ; drive [ the horse ] ; ring [ the bell ] ; throw [ the ball. ] First conjugate actively, using the objects enclosed by the brackets; then conjugate passively, by using those objects for the subjects of passive sentences, as shown above, 185. 187. By using the active participle of the verb we are conju- gating, after the copulas be or am, is, are, was, were, and been, we may form what are known as " progressive " verb-phrases in each of the six divisions of time ; thus I am building. I was building. I shall be building. I have been building. I had been building. I shall have been building. Remark. These progressive verb-phrases do not properly have a passive form. ( 386. ) 188. When subordinate clauses beginning with if, though, or unless, are joined to sentences containing might, could, would, or should, the past form of a verb is used to express present time with either singular or plural subjects thus If he were here, he could tell us. Unless I were sure of it, I should not wait. Though he were to slay me, yet would I trust him. What should you do if you were in my place ? If they were present, they might answer for themselves. If I were in your place, I should do just as you are doing. 78 PLAIN ENGLISH. If is sometimes omitted ; thus Were we sure of it, we should go at once. Were the facts better known, the people would demand a change. Were he here, what he would do might be far from what he should do. ( a ) Were is used in the present time in expressing a wish ; as I wish he were here. I wish I were well again. ( b ) Were is used in the present time after as if, or as though, introducing an adverbial clause of manner ; thus He talks as if he were well informed. You speak as if I were your slave. They act as though they were confident of success. 189. In subordinate clauses, connected by if, unless, etc., to principal clauses expressing future time, the present form of the verb is used with a future sense. (369.) Examples : If they are there, I will tell them. Unless he comes, I shall not go. If it rains, the picnic will be postponed. If he has it with him tomorrow, ask him for it. LESSON 27. INFINITIVES AND PARTICIPLE-PHRASES. 190. Infinitives. The use of the active and perfect partici- ples of verbs as verbal-nouns, verbal-adjectives, and verbal- adverbs, has already been explained. (164.) There is another way in which a verb may be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. This is done by speaking of the action, existence, or possession, represented by the root-form of the verb, without asserting it. In doing this, we generally put the word " to " before the verb ; as, to do, to be, to have. Thus To do our duty is right. To be or not to be is the question. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, were the happy words. PLAIN ENGLISH. 79 Since this way of using the verb does not represent the doing, being, or possessing, as belonging to any particular person, or show whether one person or more than one is concerned in the action, etc., it is called the INFINITIVE use. Infinitive means ' unlimited,' that is, without limit as to person and number. Almost every verb in our language may be used in this infini- tive way ; and because the to is generally ( not always ) used be- fore it, this little word is sometimes called the "sign" of the infinitive. (370.) 191. The following examples show the use of the infinitive, with the construction ( * used in the manner ' ) of a nou0 : 1. To decide was not easy. [ Used as subject. ] 2. He likes to work. [ Used as object of verb. ] 3. His desire is to know more. [ Used as predicate noun. ] 4. They were about to start a factory. [ Object of preposition ; 370 a. ] 5. He came intending to speak first. [ Object of participle.] (a) The infinitive may be used as an adjective; thus 1. They have money to spend, (i. e., ' spending ' money. ) 2. He has no time to spare, (i.e., 'spare' time.) 3. I have a duty to perform, (i.e., 'a duty that I must perform.') ( b ) 'The infinitive may be used as an adverb ; thus 1. They came to disturb us. [ Modifying verb. ] 2. It was beautiful to behold. [ Modifying adjective. ] 3. It is good enough to eat. [ Modifying adverb ' enough.' ] Remark. Notice that the infinitive, like the participle, is a verbal. It does not assert ; and when it is used as a noun, adjective, or adverb, it may take an object or adverb modifier the same as a pure verb. lyike the participle, the in- finitive has still other uses which will be considered in a future lesson. ( p. 93. ) 192. Toy the " sign" of the infinitive, is generally omitted in the following cases : i. After bid, help, hear, feel, let, make, and see, and words of similar mean- ing, such as view, behold, perceive, watch, observe, etc., especially when these verbs are followed by an object to which the infinitive is added as a comple- ment ( 222 ) ; also after have in similar constructions. Bxamples : We heard him speak last night. They helped us sing. Bid them come at once. L,et them go with us. I would have you remember it. They had us try it once. He had them practice constantly. 80 PLAIN ENGLISH. 2. After need and dare, when they are followed by not, or when they are used to begin interrogative sentences ; as, ' Need I come again ? ' ' You need not come again.' ' Dare they do it? ' ' They dare not do it.' 3. After do, used in the sense of "perform; " as, ' I do work.' ( 205. ) Remark. When one of these words is used in a passive phrase, the infini- tive following has the to ; as ^ He was heard to say it. They were dared to come. 4. After the comparatives as and than, following rather, better ', as well, or as lief ; thus I might as well tell him as not. I would as lief not be, as live to be etc. He would rather die than give up his principles ; and so he might better die than give them up. 5. Whe^ two or more verbs used infinitively are connected by a co-ordinate conjunction, the to may be used with the first and omitted before the others; He promised to love, honor, and obey. 193. Tell how the infinitives are used in the following : I. To see the sun is pleasant. 2. To live is not all of life. 3. I love to hear the birds. 4. He tries to do his duty. 5. Her aim was to do right. 6. To part is hard when friends are dear. 7. To comfort the sorrowing is Christ-like. 8. We had no water to drink. 9. He has money to loan. 10. They had no fire to warm them. n. The child has no one to care for it. 12. I hope to return soon. 13. They were about to starve. 14. The ambition of most men is to be- come rich. 15. And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. Point out four infinitives in the fable in paragraph 172, telling how each is used and how the infinitive itself is modified. 194. Inflnitiye-Phrases. By placing the infinitive of be before the active participles of other verbs, and the infinitive of have before perfect participles, we may form infinitive phrases similar in form and nature to the compound participles ( 167) ; thus To be giving is more blessed than to be receiving. To have said nothing would have been better. And such phrases have, like the participle phrases (184-195), passive and progressive, as well as active forms ; thus To have been given a choice would have pleased him. To have been giving assistance all the time would have gratified us. (a) The copulative infinitive, to be, is sometimes followed by an adjective, and even by an adverb ; thus To be good is to be happy. She would like to be here. PLAIN ENGLISH. 81 In such cases, the adjective or adverb may be said to be used infinitively, that is, in an unlimited or indefinite way. 195. Participle-Phrases. We saw in our conjugation of verbs that the perfect ( ( passive ' ) participles of verbs may be used in forming verb-phrases, both active and passive, the active phrases being confined to the completed times. (180-1-2.) We have, seen also (187) that the active participles are used to form active, progressive phrases. (a) Participles and participle-phrases are also both active and passive in sense and use. The" active participle-phrase is formed by placing having before the past participle, or ( for the progress- ive phrase ) having been before the active participle ; thus Having watched for hours, she was tired. ( 365 b. ) Having been watching for days, he was nearly sick. ( b ) The passive participle-phrase is formed by placing being or having been before the passive participle ; thus Being watched, he did not attempt it again. (214.) Having been watched, he had not attempted it again. 196. The participle-phrases are used as nouns, the same as the present participle and the infinitives ; thus in His being watched prevented his attempting it, the phrase ' being watched ' is used as a noun, subject of the sentence, limited by his ; and in He dislikes being watched, the phrase ' being watched ' is used as a noun, the object of the' verb dislikes ; while in He objects to being watched \ it is the object of the preposition to. Parse the infinitives and participles in the story of " Judge Grammar's Court," page 51, by telling how each one is used and how it is modified. 82 PLAIN ENGLISH. LESSON 28. AUXILIARY VERBS * 197. We have found that when a verb is used by itself in making an assertion, it denotes either present or past time. (161.) We have found also that when we wish to denote any other time than the past or present, we do so by making use of the words shall, will, and have ( past had), placing them before the principal verb. Verbs that are used in this way to help form verb-phrases for the purpose of denoting time or expressing some condition of the assertion, are called AUXILIARY or helping verbs. ( Auxiliary means * helping.' ) 198. The pure auxiliary verbs are shall, will, can, may, must, and be. The first four of these have past forms should, would, could, and might. (a) Be is the base or root of the pure copulas, and has for its present forms am, is, are ; past was, were ; perfect participle been. Be means ' exists,' and the word or phrase that follows any of its forms to complete the predicate, qualifies, limits, or explains the subject. (&) Three other words, ought, do, and have, are usually classed with the auxiliaries, though they are, in reality, principal verbs. (371.) Ought means ' owe ; ' do means ' perform ; ' have means ' possess/ USES AND MEANINGS OF THE AUXILIARIES. 199. Shall, Will. Besides denoting future time, these two words may, as we have already seen (173^), be so used as to ex- press a promise or determination on the part of the speaker. (a) In asking a question, use the auxiliary that should be used in the answer. This rule applies to other auxiliaries as well as to shall and will. **To the Teacher. This lesson and the remaining five of Parti may be omitted by beginners and classes whose members are aiming at only the " practical " in their study of language. The subjects discussed in these lessons are mostly technical ; besides, all the salient points are touched upon in Part II, from which reference is made to them from time to time. It might be well, however, to spend some time on the exercises for analysis in lesson 33, before passing to Part II. These points each teacher must decide for himself, being governed by tte circumstances and the needs of hie clas$. PLAIN ENGLISH. 83 Examples : * Shall you see him again ? ' Answer : ' I think I shall.' ' Will you help me tomorrow ?' Answer: ' I will.' (b) Will should not be used with the first person in asking questions as to what the speaker is to do ; thus, ' Will I tell him ? ' should be ' Shall I tell him ? ' (c) Will is used to report the will, or determination, of the third person; as, " He will have his own way about it in spite of everything." 200. Should, Would. These two words are derived from shall and will, of which they are the past forms. They are, however, much used in a present or future sense to express action or existence depending upon some condition ; as I should go if I were able. He would come if you should invite him. ( a ) In general, the difference between should and would is much the same as that between shall and will. Would implies an exercise of the will ; should a dependent action or an obligation. In expressing a conditional action or ob- ligation, should may be used with either of the persons. Remark. In the latter sense, should means the same as ought> though not so strong a word ; as, " He should ( ought to) go." Would is sometimes used in the past to denote a habit or custom ; as, " He would walk the floor for hours at a time." Would is also used in the present to express willingness conditioned upon the ability to do ; as, " He would if he could." In asking questions, use would or should according to 199 a> and b. In reporting what others have said we should use the auxiliaries they used Examples : ' He says he shall be glad to see you ; ' or, ' He said he should be glad to see you.' ' The man says he will not pay the bill ; ' or, ' The man said he would not pay the bill.' [ For further discussion of shall and will t should and would, see 366. ] 201. May, Might. May indicates present permission in re- gard to an action or possession ; as You may go. He may have it. (a ) May also implies a. possible present possession or future action ; thus " He may come " may mean either ' He is at liberty to come,' or, * It is pos- sible that he may ( will ) yet come.' And so, " He may have it," may mean either ' He is granted permission to have it,' or, ' It is possible that he ( now) has it' 84 PLAIN ENGLISH. (b) May also expresses a possible present existence or the possibility of a present perfect action or past existence ; as, " He may be sick." " He may have gone by this time." "He may have been sick." That is, 'It is possible that he is sick,' ' has gone,' ' was sick.' (c) Might, the past of may, is used to express past permission or power to do or be, or the possibility of doing, being, or having ; as, " He said you might go ; " that is, ' He gave you permission to go.' " You might have helped us ; " that is, ' You could ( or ' had the power to ' ) have helped us.' (d) Might is also used in a conditional sense to express either permission or power to do, or the possibility of doing, in the present or future; as, "You might stay if the weather were not so bad." " He might decide in our favor if they would let him alone." " They -might help us if they would." 202. Can, Could. As may implies permission, so can and its past, could, imply ability or power. (a) Can is used only in the present time. Could is used in past and past perfect verb-phrases. In the past perfect it is used in a conditional sense ; as He could have helped us if he had been here. (b ) Could is also used in a present sense to denote ability conditioned upon a willingness to do ; as, ' He could if he would.' 203. Must, Ought. These two words imply obligation. Must bears the idea of an obligation ( a ' being obliged ' ) from necessity or other compulsion. Though it has no past form, must is used as an auxiliary to present perfect verb-phrases ; as "You must have known it," meaning, ' It must be that you knew it,' or, 'It certainly is true that you knew it.' (a) Ought originally 'meant owe, of which word it was the past form. Hence, ought means ' owe ; ' ' to be indebted to ; ' 'to be under obligation to.' It conveys the idea of a moral obligation, or, as we may say, an obligation ' from the very nature of things.' Remark. Should, in one of its senses, is a synonym for ought, though ' ought ' denotes the stronger obligation. [ See 200 a, Remark. ] Examples : We should help one another. You ought to lielp him. (d) Though classed with the auxiliary verbs, ought is, as mentioned above ( 198 b), really a principal verb, always followed by the root infinite of some other verb. ( 371. ) It is used in both present and past senses ; thus "They ought to notify us;" that is, 'They owe it to us to give us notice.' " They ought to have notified us ; " that is, ' They owed it to us to give us notice.' PLAIN ENGLISH. 85 204. Without including shall and will ( used to denote future time, and, when necessary, to express a promise or determination on the part of the speaker), and have (used to express posses- sion, and also to denote completed time), we have the following meanings, or ideas, expressed by the auxiliaries : POTENTIAL. ( ' power ' ) can, could, might. LIBERTY. ( ' permission ' ) may and might. POSSIBILITY. May and might. OBLIGATION. Must, ought, and should. NECESSITY. Must. CONDITIONAL. Would or any other auxiliary followed by if or unless intro- ducing a condition. ( a ) When verb-phrases are introduced by the auxiliaries may, can, might, could, expressing the idea of power, permission, or possibility, the manner (" mode ") of assertion is called the " potential." (b) When the auxiliaries must and ought, and should in one of its senses, are used, the manner of assertion is " obligative," expressing obligation or necessity. (c) When the auxiliaries are used in a conditional sense, the manner of making the statement is said to be " conditional " or " dependent." 205. Emphatic Verb-Phrases. The use of do (past did) as an auxil- iary is to form what are called emphatic verb-phrases in the present and past times ; as, " I do write letters." " I did write the letters." Remark. But do in these sentences is really a principal verb, followed by the infinitive of another verb as its object ( 192 3 and 371 ). Thus " I did write the letters " means ' I performed the act of writing the letters.' LESSON 29. INDEPENDENT, INTRODUCTORY, AND EXPLANATORY WORDS. In previous lessons on analysis, we have studied the elements of which simple, compound, and complex sentences are com- posed. We have now to notice certain words and expressions that are used in sentences, or along with them, to aid us in the expression of thoughts. 84 PLAIN ENGLISH. 206. Independent Words. Aside from interjections and interjectional phrases, and the responsives, yes and no, there is another way in which words are used independently, that is, without depending upon the sentence with which they are used, or rather, without having the sentence depend upon them. ( a ) A word may be independent by direct address ; as Gentlemen, Your order of yesterday has been filled. Mr. President, I move that a committee be appointed, etc. ( b ) The most common use of words independent by direct address occurs with imperative sentences ( 57 ) ; as Children, [you] obey your parents. Charles, [you] shut the door. (c) A ' modal ' word or phrase ( 104 yj Remark ) is often made independent by being used parenthetically ; thus We will not, however, concede so much. Note. In analysis, the independent words are not considered as elements of the sentence with which they are used. If mentioned at all it is sufficient to say that they are independent words, and to tell whether they are independent by exclamation ( interjectional ), by direct address, or by parenthetical use. 207. Introductory Words. Under this head may be classed ( a ) So, well, why, and that, used to introduce sentences. ( 108 b. ) Remark. The introductory that is often omitted ; as, " I told him [ that ] you wished to see him." " Had you heard [ that ] they were coming ? " ( b ) The indefinites it and there used as subjects. ( 108 a, 212 a.) (c) Conjunctions used to begin sentences and connect them in thought with what goes before. ( 116. ) (d) Modal adverbs ( 104 f), such as indeed, surely, certainly, however, when used to introduce sentences. [See Rule i for the comma, 302, Note /.] Remark. When these ' modal ' words, and phrases of a similar nature, are used parenthet- ically, they may be regarded as independent. ( 206 c. ) [ See 302, Note 3. ] In analysis, words in class ( a ) are not to be considered as elements, they are merely introductory ; those in ( b ) are indefinite subjects. The introduc- tory conjunctions (c) should be parsed as such while the other words under (d) are to be considered as introductory (or ' modal ') adverbs modifying the entire sentence rather than any particular word in it PLAIN ENGLISH. 87 208. Explanatory Words. It frequently occurs that a noun or pro- noun is added to another noun or pronoun by way of explanation ; thus His brother William is attending college. We, the undersigned, subscribe as follows. The noun ' William ' is added to brother to explain or show which brother 13 meant ; and ' the undersigned ' is used to explain who we means. And so in Milton, the poet, was blind when he wrote his greatest poem, Paradise Lost, ' the poet ' is added to explain who Milton was, and ' Paradise I/ost ' is added to 1 poem ' to show which poem is meant. Words added to other words in this way are called " explanatory modifiers," or (more commonly) they are said to be " in apposition " with the noun they explain. ( Apposition means ' in posi- tion near,' or ' by the side of.') 209. Pronouns are placed in apposition with either nouns or pronouns. When they are so used, they should have the subject or object form according as the noun or pronoun which they explain is a subject or an object. (237. ) The most frequent appositional use of pronouns is that of compound pro- nouns used by way of repetition for the purpose of emphasis ; thus Charles himself sees the mistake. I myself saw it. She did it herself. Note. The 'explanatory modifier* (word in apposition) may itself be mod- ified or limited by a word, a phrase, or a clause. 210. Sentences containing explanatory modifiers, to be analyzed: [ For the punctuation of such sentences, see Rule i for comma, 302, Note 4. ] i. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, was a man of genius. 2. Garfield, the soldier, became Garfield the President. 3. You Englishmen are more conserva- tive than we Americans. 4. Fulton, the man who invented the steamboat, was born in Pennsylvania. 5. He was guilty of treason, a crime punishable with death. 6. We, the people of the United States, do hereby ordain and establish this constitution. ( a ) Sometimes a second explanatory word is placed in apposition with the first one; thus 'We, the undersigned, citizens of the State of Ohio, do humbly petition,' etc.; 'I, James Brown, Justice of the Peace in and for the town of Monroe,' etc. 211. On account of historic importance and long association, the noun in apposition in some cases comes to be regarded as a part of the name, and the two, together with the connecting word (usually M^),may be parsed as one word (6s 7 ); thus 88 PLAIN ENGLISH. 1 William the Conqueror ' ; ' Alexander the Great ' ; ' Mary Queen of Scots. [ For the appositional use of adjectives, see 372. ] 212. A clause may be placed in apposition with a single word; thus The old saying, ' A penny saved is a penny earned,' is true. His motion, that the whole subject should be laid on the table, was adopted. Are you aware of the fact that such a law has been passed ? Remark. In sentences like the last one the noun " fact" is usually omitted, so that the noun clause introduced by that seems to be the object of the pas- sive verb-phrase ; thus I was not aware that such a law had been passed. I am informed that they are ready to proceed with the case. (a) Under this head may also be placed the explanatory phrase or clause following the indefinite ' it ' as the subject of a sentence. Thus in // is not all of life to live, // is human to err, the its are explained by the infinitives ' to live ' and ' to err,' which are the real subjects, the logical order of the elements being To live is not all of life. To err is human. And so, in It is true that he was proved guilty of treason, * it ' is explained by the noun clause, ' that he was proved guilty.' 213. A word may stand in apposition with the statement made in a pre- ceding clause ; thus He has what is better, a cool head and a clear conscience. The boy disregarded his parents' advice, a fault too common in these days. Note. Words enclosed by marks of parenthesis are explanatory and in analysis should be disposed of as such unless they constitute a whole clause, in which case the matter may be analyzed as a separate sentence. [For the appositional use of infinitives, see 224. ] PLAIN ENGLISH. 89 LESSON 30. ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS, ATTENDANT ELEMENTS, AND ADVERBIAL NOUNS. In our last lesson we noticed the use of nouns as explanatory mod- ifiers, being placed in apposition with (in position by) the noun modified. Sometimes in fact, quite often we place a noun or pronoun and its modifi- ers alongside a whole sentence, not as modifying any part of it, but to express an attendant thought or accompanying circumstance, thus // being a legal holiday, the banks were closed. The time having expired, the property was sold. Such expressions, or constructions, as, 'The time having expired,' and 'It be- ing a legal holiday,' seem to be cut loose from the rest of the sentence, that is, they are not closely connected with it ; hence, they are called ABSOLUTE con- structions. (Ad- * from ; ' solut, ' loosed.' ) Note. Such a use of a noun or pronoun is most common in connection with a participle or participle-phrase, though other words and phrases are sometimes used as their modifiers. Since the thought expressed by it is so connected with the main thought of the sentence as really to be a part of it, the ' absolute ' construction can hardly be said to be independent. And since they do not modify any particular part of the sentence, these absolute expressions are neither adjectival nor adverbial elements, though they are generally adverbial in sense, for we may say [ See sentences above.] ' The property was sold when ( or because ) the time had expired.' * The banks were closed because it was a legal holiday. 215. The whole of the absolute expression may be called an attendant element. The principal word (a noun or pronoun, as time and z/in the above sentences ) may be regarded as the base of the attendant element, and the other words and phrases as modifiers of this ' base.' Analyze the following sentences, pointing out in each case the base of the attendant element and giving its modifiers : [See Rule I, Note /, for use-of comma, paragraph 302.] i. The sun having set, we returned home. 2. The moon having risen, we resumed our journey. 3. Supper over, we withdrew to the garden for a walk. 4. Torch in hand, our guide led us into the dark cave. 5. The debt having been paid, the mortgage was canceled. 6. The deed having been signed, the money was handed over. 7. Business being dull, they were obliged to close. 8. The bookkeeper being sick, the statements were not rendered. 9. We proceeded to 90 PLAIN ENGLISH. the top, they remaining below. 10. They hurried him off to jail, he protesting and declaring that he was innocent, n. The hour having arrived, we will pro- ceed to transact the business for which we came together. 12. Rain or shine, I'm going. 13. Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. (a) Change the attendant elements in the sentences above into equivalent adverbial phrases or clauses answering some of the questions answered by ad- verbs (104.) Notice that some of the sentences are weakened by the change. 216. Under the head of " attendant elements " maybe placed the construc- tion known as " pleonasm." This consists in placing a noun before a sentence in which something is asked or asserted about the thing mentioned ; thus Your fathers, where are they ? The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago. The use of the infinitive as an attendant element is given in paragraph 226. 217. Adverbial Nouns. Reference has been made to adverbial use of nouns. ( 109.) They are added to verbs and adjectives to denote a fixed or definite time at which a thing took place ; and also to denote measure, or extent of time or distance, and measure of value, of weight, of number, of age; and sometimes to indicate direction. Note. Pronouns are sometimes ( though rarely) used in the same way. When they are so used, they have the object form ; hence these adverbial nouns and pronouns are sometimes called adverbial objectives. ( 373.) Examples of sentences containing adverbial nouns : I. That man is worth fifty thousand dollars. 2. Charles is twenty years old today. 3. We will fill your order tomorrow. 4. They will return next week. 5. He went west last summer for his health. 6. The ship sailed south four days. 7. Apples are worth four dollars per barrel. 8. The hog weighed four hundred pounds. 9. That horse is fifteen hands high. 10. He is worth you and me put together. (a) Such contractions as aboard, afoot, a-hunting, a-fishing, etc., may be regarded and parsed as adverbial nouns. ( 373 a.) PLAIN ENGLISH. 91 LESSON 31. OBJECTS OF INTRANSITIVE VERBS AND PASSIVE VERB-PHRASES, ETC. 218. Intransitive verbs are those which require no object to complete their meaning, and, in general they cannot take an object. But a few intransi- tive verbs do at times take objects of a peculiar kind, as follows : (a) Objects that are like the verb or related to it in meaning ; as They ran a race. He dreamed a dream. I have fought a %&&& fight. Such an object is called a " cognate " object. ( 374. ) ( b ) Objects that point back to the subject ; as He walked himself weary. They talked themselves hoarse. Such an object is called " reflexive." ( Reflexive^ ' bent back,' 375 d.) 219. In passive verb-phrases (101), the object (receiver) of the action is taken for the subject. But when a transitive verb having two objects ( a direct and an indirect^ 46 ) is changed into a passive phrase, and the indirect object is taken for the subject, the direct object retains its position as object of the pred- icate. Thus, we say ' The clerk sold her the goods,' or * She was sold the goods by the clerk ; ' ' The druggist gave the man the wrong medicine,' or ' The man was given the wrong medicine by the druggist ; ' ' The boy asked him that question,' or ' He was asked that question by the boy.' Transpose the other sentences in paragraph 47 in the same manner. 220. In our last lesson it was shown that two words may be used together to name or represent the same thing, one of the words being ' in apposition ' to the other to explain or emphasize it. Predicate nouns and pronouns are used for much the same purpose, but the manner of use is quite different. In the latter case, the nouns and pronouns are united to the subject by some copula or copula-phrase; whereas, the nouns and pronouns 'in apposition ' are added to or placed by the side of the other nouns or pronouns without any sign (word) of connection being used. In the former, the identity ( ' sameness ' ) expressed by the subject and predicate words is asserted by the copula, while in the latter, the identity of the two names ' in apposition ' is assumed, or taken for granted. This may be illustrated by the following examples : Sam is a blacksmith, and he is a happy man. Sam, the blacksmith, is a happy man. 92 PLAIN ENGLISH. 221. Supplemented Object. There is another way in which nouns are added to nouns and pronouns without any sign of connection between them ; thus, in The President appointed him Minister to France, Minister ( ' or Minister-to-France ' ) is added to him, not to explain who him is (for it does not do that), but to show what he was appointed to be. But to be, the 'sign of connection,* is not given, and the word * Minister '- [to-France] seems to be added to him as though it were a part of the object ; and such it is, for the object would not be complete without it. The following examples will make this still more clear : They made her queen. We elected him chairman. In the first example, the pronoun her is not the complete object of made, for it is not true that they made her. The word ' queen ' is added to her to sup- plement ( or complete ) the object, the entire object being her [to be} queen ; and so in the second example, the completed or supplemented object is him [to be} chairman. (a) Adjectives also are sometimes added to the object for the same purpose, especially to reflexive objects ( 218 b ) ; thus Your letter made me [ ] happy. They sang themselves [ ] hoarse. He thinks it [ ] wrong to go there . Do you think it [ ] wise to do so ? Nouns and adjectives added to the object in this way are called supplements of the object. ( 375 .) ( b) Sometimes the sign of connection (to be) is used between the apparent direct object and its supplement. In such cases if the supplement is a pronoun* it must have the object form (375 or any other ; thus This paper has the largest circulation of all [ the papers ] in Ohio; or, Of all the papers in Ohio, this [paper] has the largest circulation. 108 PLAIN ENGLISH. Correct the errors in the following : [Three are correct. ] i. He is the smallest of the two. 2. Of the two she is the thoughtfulest. 3. Which is the largest end ? 4. Which is the broadest, the top or the bottom ? 5. Which is the oldest, you or John ? 6. Which is the tallest, Henry or James ? 7. This is the better of the two. 8. This horse trots the fastest of the two. 9. Of the two machines, that one costs the most, but it is the easiest sold. 10. He was the most forlornest looking object I ever saw. n. She is more carefuler than she was formerly. 12. He is less particular now. 13. A more happier pair you never met. 14. This is a more quicker way. 15. He was the most wittiest person I ever met. 16. They bought a more cheaper kind. 17. It is the most perfect work. 18. That is the most complete cyclopedia published. 19. This was more universal than that. 20. A more hopeless case could not be imagined. 21. The large box was the nearest empty. 22. This store sells more goods than any store in this city. 23. We do the largest whole- sale business of any other firm in the West. 245. Fact 5. The demonstrative adjectives this and that change their form to agree with the number of the noun they limit. [For examples, see paragraph 150.] Note. An error in the use of these and those is usually followed by an error in the verb- form, as, " These kind at e very rare." Say ' This kind is 'etc. ( a ) The indefinite article an drops the n before words begin- ning with a consonant sound. [ See 150 a and 349 .] Correct the following: I. He is a honest man. 2. The child had an large apple. 3. He gave me a answer. 4. The train is a hour late. 5. He was given a opportunity. 6. A ounce of prevention is worth more than an hundred pounds of cure. 7. War calls out many an hero, and exhibits many an heroic act. 8. These class of goods are not profitable. 9. Those kind are less expensive. 24:6. Fact 6. When two negative words are used in the same clause, the second destroys the first. Correct the following : i. I don't want no coffee. 2. He didn't have no money. 3. He can't say nothing to you. 4. He doesn't know nothing about it 5. She doesn't go no- where. 6. He doesn't stop for nothing. MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 247. i. An (ora) is incorrectly used after kind, sort, and similar words PLAIN ENGLISH. 109 / followed by of. Thus, " Do you know what kind of an apple that is ? " "I never heard of that sort of a machine." Omit the an ( or a) after of. 2. Afraid. This adjective is much used as though it were a transitive verb; as, "I am afraid that it is lost." " He is afraid you will get hurt." " We were afraid that he would be defeated." The correct word in such sentences is the transitive verbjfazr. Say ' I fear [that] it is lost.' ' He fears you will get hurt.' 'We feared that ' etc. (207 a, Remark.) 3. Already. This adverb is very often misused or, rather, misplaced, prin- cipally by those of German birth and rearing. Thus, it is common to hear such expressions as " I knew that already," " I have finished it already." The awk- wardness of these and similar sentences comes from using already after the predicate instead of placing it before the verb or between the two parts of the verb-phrase, thus : " I already knew that." " I have already finished it." How- ever, the " already," in such sentences as the last one, is really superfluous. 4. Back for ago. "I heard from him awhile back." " I saw him some time back." Say ' awhile ago,' ' some time ago.' 5. Better for more. " It is better than a week since I saw him." Say ' It is more than a week since I saw him.' 6. Good. This already overworked adjective is made to do service for the adverb well; as, " She sings good." "He writes good" Say 'She sings well.' 'He writes well.' 7. Here and There. These two adverbs are incorrectly used after the ad- verbs this and that; as, "This here book is more interesting than that there one." Say ' This book is more interesting than that one.' 8. How for that. The adverb how is sometimes incorrectly used for the con- junction that; as, " Did I tell you how he thought we ought to allow him a dis- count ? " Say ' he thought that ' etc. 9. Least." Of two evils choose the least." Say * the less: 10. Most for almost. In the following, and similar sentences, the adjective most is incorrectly used for the adverb almost: "I see him most everyday." "We are most there." " He was most starved." Say ' almost every day,' etc. n. Past for by. The adjective past is very commonly misused for the prep- osition by; as, "Have you seen him go past here lately?" "I went past his house yesterday." Say ' by here ; ' ' by his house.' Past is correctly used as an adverb when there is no object following it ; as, " The bullets whistled past." " At times, from the fortress across the bay, The alarum of drums swept past." Longfellow. 110 PLAIN ENGLISH. 12. Plenty for plentiful. The noun plenty is incorrectly used for the ad- jective plentiful in such sentences as, " Peaches are plenty this year." 13. Real, which is an adjective, is often incorrectly used in the place of very or quite to modify a verb or an adjective ; as, " I ain real glad to see you." " It looks real nice." Say ' I am very glad to see you.' 'It looks very nice.' 14. Since for ago. " He visited us about two weeks since.'" Say ' two weeks ago? Since has reference to a lapse of time ; as, " It is a year since I saw him." 15. Some. This adjective is often misused for the adverb somewhat, as in the following sentences : " I am some tired." " They were some weary with their long tramp." Say ' I am somewhat tired.' ' They were somewhat ' etc. 16. Sociable for social. The adjective sociable is often misused for social, both as a noun and as an adjective. Thus, " A sociable ( or ' sociable gathering ' ) will be held at Mr. D.'s house next Wednesday evening." Say 'asocial' or 'a social gathering.' " Sociable " is an adjective applicable only to persons. 17. Sooner for rather. " I would sooner go than not." Say ' I would rather go than not.' 18. Such a for so. The use of the adjective-phrase such a ('kind') for the adverb so is a very common error ; as, " I never saw such a large apple," which means, literally taken, ' I never saw a large apple of that kind.' It should be, ' I never saw so large an apple.' ( 69*. ) 19. The " Articles." In comparing a thing with itself in different capacities, the article should not be used a second time. Thus " That horse is a better pacer than trotter," means that the horse paces better than he trots. But if we should say " That horse is a better pacer than a trotter," our language would mean that the horse paces better than a trotting horse paces. So the sentences^ Corporal Brown was as good a fighter as an officer, Mr. Bdwards is a better teacher than a minister, do not mean the same as when the an (or a) is omitted after the comparatives than and as. So we find that the article, though a little word, is sometimes a very important one. Its use or omission may change the meaning of the entire sentence. (a) When connected adjectives describe the same thing, the article should not be used, except before the first descriptive ; but if the adjectives describe different things, the article should be repeated. Thus, " a red and white flag'" means one flag, while " a red and a white flag " means two flags. ( b ) When connected nouns denote different things, the article should be re- peated, but if the nouns are but different names for the same thing, the article should not be repeated; thus, "the cashier and the bookkeeper" means two persons, while " the cashier and bookkeeper " means one. PLAIN ENGLISH. Ill (c) The article should not be used before a title or name used merely as such; as, "The Queen conferred on him the title of Earl " (not an Earl.) " The youngest son of a duke is called Marquis " ( not a Marquis. ) 20. Very. This word is sometimes incorrectly used to modify the perfect participle of a verb ; as, " She is a very educated woman." " He was very pleased to hear from you." Say ' very well educated ; ' ' very much pleased.' 21. What for? for why? as, " What did you do that for?" or, worse still, " What for did you do that? " Say, merely, ' Why did you do that ? ' 22. Whether or no. This expression is incorrect. The adverb should be not ' whether or not ; ' as, " I shall go whether or not," the meaning of which is, ' I shall go whether [ it rains ] or [ does ] not ' [ rain ], or something of that kind. " You must do it whether or not ; " that is, * whether [you will ] or [will ] not? 23. Worse for more. " I want to see him worse than ever." Say ' more than ever.' MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. [ Three are correct. ] 248. i. It was such a warm day. 2. Of two methods adopt the shortest. 3. The old woman has a fresh basket of eggs. 4. You must go whether or no. 5. The boy worked faithful. 6. The deep cannon's roar aroused them. 7. The clock ticks softly. 8. The speaker only talked of a few things. 9. The shrill whistle's scream broke the solemn night's stillness. 10. Not only he was poor but lazy. n. It requires a few comparatively short years. 12. They are most done. 13. We have a fine lot of silk ladies' gloves. 14. Otherwise, the parties will not only be disappointed but the goods will be left on our hands. 15. The boat glides smooth. 16. He owned a rich tract of land. 17. Did you ever see such a careless fellow ? 18. He is older than any one in his family. 19. The flea can jump farther than any insect of its size. 20. The tree is forty feet high. 21. Will you buy two pair of boots? 22. Which of them two boys can ride the best ? 23. It is not such a great distance as I thought it was. 24. Which is the oldest of the two ? 25. He had two coats, an old and new one. 26. The elephant has a powerful and a flexible trunk, which he always carries with him on a journey. 27. I counted thirteen sails of vessels lying at anchor in the stream. 28. The bear was hungry and began to growl savage. 29. He rode past me so quick I scarce saw him. 30. That is easier said than done. 31. I am real hungry. 32. She never considers the quality, but merit of her visitors. 33. I was aware of that already. 34. What do you suppose he asked that question for? 35. He would make a better farmer than a lawyer. 36. It is our intention to still further reduce the running expenses. 37. This paper has a larger circulation than any other paper in the world. 38. Of all her classmates, that girl is the brightest. 39. This kind of an error is very common. 112 PLAIN ENGLISH. FACTS ABOUT VERBS. 249. Fact 1. In asserting present action, possession, or ex- istence, or past existence, the singular or the plural form of a verb is used according as it is necessary to have it agree with a singular or plural subject. Exception : The pronoun /takes the plural form of the verb to agree wit'i it as the first person singular, except when mere present or past existence ii, asserted by am or was. [ For examples, see paragraphs 157-8-9. ] Correct the errors in the following : [Three are correct. ] I. The men quits work at six o'clock. 2. The trains was late. 3. How does your plans succeed ? 4. The skies was clear. 5. The clouds has disappeared. 6. The stars shines. 7. Those papers is valuable. 8. I see him almost every day. 9. You was absent. 10. There is several waiting. 1 1. They was delighted with the pictures. 12. We was disappointed. 13. The switchmen has struck. 14. Five clerks was employed. 15. The books is interesting. 16. The nights was clear. 17. The days is getting longer. 18. Their prices seem reasonable. 19. The cars goes slowly across the bridge. 20. The farmers works hard. Remark. Errors in the number-form of the verb are most likely to occur when the singular subject is followed by a phrase containing a plural noun. 21. A pound of raisins cost twenty cents. 22. The book of laws were lost. 23. A carload of horses were shipped last week. 24. The number of depositors have greatly increased. 25. A bill of the goods were forwarded. 26. None of the men understand you. (a) Nouns that have but one form for both numbers (132) require the singular or the plural verb, according to the sense in which they are used. Thus, we say ' The sheep were sheared,' or ' the sheep was sheared.' ' Deer like salt/ or ' a deer likes salt.' ' These fish are fresh,' or this fish is fresh.' Remark. Whether the noun in such cases is used in the singular or plural sense may gen- erally be known by the article or the demonstrative preceding it. ( 245. ) (b) When the subject is a collective noun (79 d) in the singu- lar, the singular form of the verb is used if reference is made to the body or collection as a whole ; but if the individuals are referred to, the plural form of the verb is used. Examples : The audience was composed of men and boys. The audience PLAIN ENGLISH. 113 were pleased with the lecture. The army was defeated. The army were loyal to their commander. Remark. Pleasure and loyalty are qualities which cannot be asserted of collections. ( c ) When the subject is plural in form, though either singular or plural in sense, the plural form of the verb is used. Examples : The goods have been forwarded by express. The assets of the firm are as follow. His remains rest in Westminster Abbey. Note. When the plural-form noun may be displaced by a synonym having the singular form, the singular of the verb may be used. The news (' intelligence' or ' information '} was gladly received. 27. Those cannon was captured at Gettysburg. 28. That trout were hard to catch. 29. The committee were composed of two ladies and one gentleman. 30. The committee are ready to report. 31. The army were disbanded. 32. The crowd was impatient. 33. The congregation were large. 34. The class are small. 35. The class was disappointed. 36. The crew was cruelly treated. 37. The crew were reduced in numbers. 38. The crowd are very noisy. 39. The fleet of vessels are a pretty sight. 40. A party of friends is coming. 41. Our party were made up of ladies and gentlemen. 42. The number of mistakes were a matter of surprise to us. 43. A number of mistakes was made. 44. The scissors was lost. 45. The ashes is in the way. 46. Molasses has risen in price. 47. His clothes was ruined. Use each of the following words as the subject of a sentence : Shears, wages, measles, riches, tongs, mumps. 250. Fact 2. Whether the singular or plural form of a verb shall be used with a compound subject depends upon whether the assertion is made about one thing or more than one. [ For examples, see paragraph 155. ] (a) Singular subjects connected by and require the plural form of the verb. Exception /. When the nouns connected by and form a single name, or re- fer to the same person, the singular form of the verb is used ; as, " The wife and mother kneels in prayer." " The husband and father was gone." Exception 2. When the nouns connected by and are emphatically distin- guished by each, every, or no, the singular form of the verb is used ; as, " Each day and each hour gives opportunities." Exceptions. When nouns of different numbers are connected by and, fol- lowed by not, the verb agrees with the first one ; as, " Money and not promises is what we want." " Votes and not talk were what the candidate needed." 114 PLAIN ENGLISH. (b) Singular subjects connected by or or nor, or by any con- junction that emphatically distinguishes one of the subjects from the other, require the singular form of the verb. Examples : Either the horse or the cow is to be sold. Neither the President nor his secretary was present. The man as well as the boy was guilty. Wheat but not corn was raised there in abundance. Exception i. When the members of a compound subject connected by or or nor are of different numbers, the verb agrees with the last one ; as, " Either he or they are to blame." " One or both were present." " Either you or he is re- sponsible." " Neither you, he, nor I deserve the credit for it." / Correct the errors in the following sentences, and tell which statement or exception applies to each : [ Two are correct. ] I. That boy and his sister goes to our school. 2. The man and his son was both blind. 3. Every man, every woman, and every child were numbered. 4. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. 5. Principle and not policy are to be thought of first. 6. The horse together with the buggy and a set of har- ness is to be sold by auction tomorrow. 7. " Sunshine and Shadow " are the title of a book. 8. The boy's mother but not his father deserve great credit. 9. The ambition and the avarice of man is the sources of his unhappiness. 10. Her beauty and not her talents attract attention, u. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. 12. Gold or U. S. Treasury notes is a legal ten- der for the payment of debts. 13. Neither the house nor the lot are worth much. 14. Good order in our affairs, and not mean savings, produce great prof- its. 15. Whether one person or more were concerned in it, we cannot tell. 16. Riches, honor, and pleasure steals away the heart from religion. 17. Neither the captain nor the sailors was acquainted with the coast. 18. One or both of the witnesses was present. 19. Are one or both of the banks closed ? 251. Fact 3. When who, which, or that, is the subject of a clause, the verb in the clause agrees with the antecedent. [For examples, see paragraph Ii8a. ] Correct the following : i. These are the times that tries men's souls. 2. It was the poor people who was oppressed. 3. The statistics which has been published are not complete. 4. The questions that is to be discussed are of interest to all. 252. Fact 4:. When who, which, or what, is used in asking a question, the number of a verb depends upon whether the ques- tion is asked about one thing or more than one. ( 154. ) PLAIN ENGLISH. 115 Correct the following : i. Who is those boys? 2. What was the questions? 3. Which was those? 4. Which is the ones you want ? 5. Who was his assistants ? 253. Fact 5. When the indefinite * there ' is the subject, the verb conforms to the number of the noun or pronoun following it. Examples : There is one thing to be done. There are several points that should be settled. ( 207 b. ) Correct the following : i. There is a few questions I would like to ask. 2. There was several ac- cidents happened. 3. There is few so careful as him. 4. There has been others who was just as deserving as her. 5. There was some doubts about it. 254. Fact 6. In passive verb-phrases and phrases denoting completed time, the perfect participle of the verb is used. ( i66d.) Examples : I have seen an end of all perfection. She has gone to walk. The letter has been written. He had lain there three days. They were given nothing in return. It was begun long ago. He was beaten. Correct the errors in the following : [Two are correct.] i. The apples were froze on the trees. 2. He has been saw there by several. 3. The ship was sank by the enemy. 4. The meal was ate in silence. 5. Our kindness was forgot. 6. The letter was wrote hastily. 7. I am nearly froze. 8. The work was did for I done it myself. 9. The price of wheat has fallen. 10. He has wore that hat a year. n. The check should have been wrote with ink. 12. You should have came. 13. I would have came if I could. 14. The man had became discouraged. 15. I have came a long distance. 16. The house is began but not finished. 17. My knife was stole. 18. Have you saw him lately? 19. The horses have ran away. 20. He should have took a receipt. 21. They will have saw their best days. 22. We shall have ran the race and finished the course. 23. They were driven out of their own homes. 255. Fact 7. In stating general truths, and in speaking of present facts, the present-time form of the verb is used. Examples : Plato taught that the soul is immortal. Columbus was scoffed at for believing that the earth is round. Correct the following : i. Christ taught that love was the fulfilling of the law. 2. The teacher told us that every star was a sun. 3. Who was that man we just passed ? 4. Am I glad ? I should say I was. 5. He proved that the earth was round. 116 PLAIN ENGLISH. 256. Fact 8. In subordinate clauses of condition (188) intro- duced by if, though, or unless, the past were is used in the pres- ent time, with either singular or plural subjects. Were is also used to denote present time in an objective clause after a wish, and after as if, or as though, connecting an adverbial clause to a present-time verb. ( 188 a, b. ) " If I were a voice, a persuasive voice, I would travel this wide world o'er." " Would she were mine, and I today, like her a harvester of hay." [ For further examples, see 188. ] Correct the errors in the following : [One is correct.] I. If I was him I should go. 2. If he was here he would decline the nom- ination. 3. If I was him I should resign. 4. If we was to tell you, you would not believe it. 5. Would that she was here. 6. I wish you was going with us. 7. Don't you wish it were yours ? 8. Was he ever so great his conduct would debase him. 9. If it was otherwise we might consider your proposal. 10. Un- less I was sure of it I should not stay. u. They act as if they was glad of it. 257. Fact 9. Shall with the first person, and will with the second and third persons, denote simply future time, so far as the speaker is concerned. Will with the first person, and shall with the second and third persons, indicate a promise or determination on the part of the speaker. Note, Should and would follow the rule for shall and will. [For examples, see paragraph 173 b; also 366, and the last exercise on p. 97.] Correct the following : I. I promise you it will be as you wish it. 2. He will do the work for I shall compel him to do it. 3. I will drown for nobody shall help me. 4. I hope I will see you soon. 5. You will hear from me tomorrow. 6. He will obey my rules or I shall punish him. 7. When will we three meet again ? 8. I think I will not go. 9. Shall you promise me to see to it ? 10. Will we go to the con- cert tonight ? MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 258. i. Using a perfect participle to express past time. Correct the following : I. We are quite sure he done it. 2. I seen him there yesterday. 3. They come PLAIN ENGLISH. 117 by boat last night. 4. The boy run as fast as he could. 5. I eat my breakfast in a hurry. 6. He rung the bell violently and we all sprung to our feet. 7. She sung two pieces. 8. The sun sunk from sight. 2. Using a present perfect verb-phrase to denote a time previ- ous to that indicated by a subordinate clause following it. Example : I have graduated from the high school, since when I have been attending the business college. Omit the first have. 3. Using the " auxiliary" part of a verb-phrase by itself after as or than, when the rest of the phrase has not been given in the preceding clause. Note. This is one of the most common errors in every-day talk and writing. Examples : I will give as much as he has. You had done more for me than they would. In these examples, the rest of the verb-phrase after has and would cannot be supplied from the same sentence; for "as he has give" and "than they would done " do not make sense. Say ' as much as he has given ; ' ' more than they would do? or ' would have done.' Remark. When the correct form of the principal verb can be supplied, front the same sentence, it may be omitted ; as, " You have not tried as hard as he has," or simply, " as hard as he." ( 351. ) 4. Using the infinitive " sign " without its verb ; as " I have never gone there and do not intend to." " He has not paid it nor does he expect to." [ See Error 3 above. However, the Remark under Error 3 does not apply to the use of the infinitive " sign " by itself. ] Say ' and do not intend to go ; ' ' nor does he expect to do so,' or ' to pay it.' 5. Using the present perfect form of an infinitive after the past form of a verb, or after a present perfect verb-phrase ; as- He intended to have gone. They had hoped to have been invited. Say ' He intended to go.' ' They had hoped to be invited.' 6. Using an indefinite expression as to time before a definite time mentioned in the same sentence ; as I used to do that last fall. We used to go there last year. Say ' I did that last fall.' ' We went there last year.' 7. Using the active form of a verb with a passive meaning ; as One tires of hearing it. The reader soon wearies of such stuff. Say ' be- comes tired,' ' grows, or becomes weary ' etc. 118 PLAIN ENGLISH. 8. Using the wrong subject for a passive verb-phrase ; as All bills are requested to be paid at once. By which is meant ' All persons (or customers) are requested to pay their bills at once.' 9. Using the archaic and the common forms of verbs in the same sentence. (169.) Example : If thou will be diligent thou shall succeed. Use you instead of thou, or change will and shall to the archaic forms wilt and shalt. ( 377. ) 10. Aint; etc. The use of aint for ' is not,' or ' am not ; ' haint for ' has not,' or 'have not; ' taint for ' it is not.' Such expressions are very slovenly. 11. As follows, As follow. When that which may be inserted after as, the verb should be follows; but when the construction requires those which, the verb should be follow. Examples: "His statement was as [ that which ] fol- lows" " His words were as [ those which ] follow." When the predicate before as is complete, or when the things referred to are mixed with other matter, as follows should be used, the meaning in such cases being ' as [ shown by that which ] follows? For examples, see paragraphs 55, 69,70,85, 168,258! \ and 303!. 12. Don't for doesn't. The use of don't for doesn't is a very common error. The former is a contraction of ' do not,' the latter of 'does not.' When you are in doubt as to which you should use, think or speak the two words in full to see if the verb agrees with the subject For example : " He don't understand it." This sentence in full would read " He do not understand it," which is incorrect, just as it would be incorrect to say "We doesn't understand it," both being contrary to Fact i (249). The former should be ' He doesn't understand it ; ' the latter, ' We don't understand it.' / is the only singular subject with which don't should be used. 13. Daresn't. This contraction is often incorrectly used with a plural sub- ject; as, "You daresn't do it," which is equivalent to " You dares not do it." [ See remarks under Error 3. ] Daren't and daresn't are not, however, good contractions, and should not be used. 14. Had rather, Had better. These very common expressions are not logically correct. They should be would rather, and might better ; as I would rather stay at home than to go, not I had rather stay at home etc. You might better leave your work for a while, not You had better leave etc. Remark. In these two sentences, rather and better axe merely adverbs, hence they are not a part of the verb-phrases. ' Had stay,' and ' had leave ' are incor- rect combinations of the past had with the present stay and leave. [ See Error 15, next page ; also paragraph 380. ] PLAIN ENGLISH. 119 15. Had have. Had may follow have ; as " I have had the letter copied," "We have had several liberal offers," etc., but have should never be used after had in a verb-phrase, since the past form of a verb should never precede the present or present perfect form. Hence, such expressions as " If I had have known that," " Had you have kept your promise," are incorrect. Omit have. 16. Had ought. For the reason given above, had is not only superfluous, but incorrect in sense in such sentences as " He had ought to go," " You had ought to have seen it." Say ' He ought to go,' ' You ought to have' etc. 17. It's. The use of ifs for *tis. [ See Brror 5, paragraph 239.] 18. Lie and Lay. Much of the confusion and misuse of these troublesome words may be avoided by remembering that lie means ' rest,* while lay means transitive action, that is, action affecting an object. Their principal parts are Lie, lay, lain ; active, lying. Lay, laid, laid; active, laying. Examples of correct usage : Lie. I lie down a while each day. The book lies on the table. They are lying on the grass. He lay abed yesterday until nine o'clock. It had lain there all day. The farm has lain idle a long time. Lay. I will lay it away for you. Lay the book on the table. She laid her gloves on the counter. We have laid their plans well. We were laying the walk yesterday. (381. ) Correct the following : i. It laid there all day. 2. Lie the ruler on the desk. 3. You might better lay down and rest awhile. 4. They have lain the boards cross-wise. 5. I would rather lie my money by for a " rainy day." 6. I had been laying on the grass. 7. The hen has lain four, eggs. 8. Go and lay down on the lounge. 9. They were laying in ambush. 10. Lie the books on the table and let them lay there. 19. Mistaken. "You are mistaken''' Say ' You mistake,' or * in error,' or 1 incorrect,' if such is your meaning. Mistaken has a different meaning. 20. Of for have. Of is sometimes carelessly used in the place of have after might, could, would, should, or ought to; as, "You might of gone with us." "You ought to of told us." 21. Raise for rise. These words are both verbs, but raise is transitive and must have an object. Thus, the following sentences are correct : Did you raise the money ? The farmer raises corn. They will raise the barn. They raised the flag. Bach one in favor of this may raise his right hand. The following are incorrect : Do you think the river will raise ? When will the moon raise ? The bread 120 PLAIN ENGLISH. did not raise. The balloon began to raise. The sun raises at five o'clock. The river is raising. The price of wheat did not raise after all. (a) Raise (always a verb) is incorrectly used as a noun, thus : " There was a slight raise in the land." " There was a general raise in prices." The noun in these and similar sentences should be rise. 22. Says for said. In such expressions as " Says I, what will you do ? " "Says he, that's what I think," the past form of the verb (said] should be used. 23. See for saw. " I see him there yesterday." Say ' I saw him ' etc. 24. Sit and Set. These two words are often misused, but most of the errors may be avoided by remembering that sit means to rest, to be in a position of rest, or to be in session, as of a court ; while set means action, ' to put a thing in place,' * to appoint ; ' as 'to set a day ' for doing something. The principal parts of the two words are as follow : Sit, 'sat, sat ; active, sitting. Set, set, set; active, setting. Examples of correct usage : Sit. Will you sit and talk awhile ? Please sit in the easy chair. We sat and talked for an hour. They had been sitting but a short time. The hen is sitting. The court sits the first Tuesday in October. [See 382.] Set. You have set the lamp in the wrong place. I had set a time for doing the work. They are setting out trees. The sun sets at six o'clock. ( 382 a. ) Correct the following : i. He set as still as a mouse. 2. We have set until we are tired. 3. He sits a bad example. 4. We sat the hen and she is setting. 5. Please set down and stay a while. 6. How long have you been setting here ? 7. The sun is sitting. 8. When will the court set again. 9. The blind man was setting by the wayside. 10. They are sitting fence posts. 25. Thinks I, or thinks's I, for I thought ; as, " Thinks I, I'll watch and see." " Thinks's I to myself, I'll see about that" Say < I thought 'etc. MISCELLANEOUS EXERCISES TO BE CORRECTED. [ Three are correct. ] 259. i. A bushel of apples sell for a dollar. 2. They expected to have arrived by boat. 3. The tide is raising. 4. Haint you going with us ? 5. It had been lain carefully. 6. We shall have ran the race. 7. No, I aint. 8. To set up late is bad for one's health. 9. The price of wheat did not raise after all. 10. We had hoped to have heard from him again, n. It has laid there for some time. 12. Taint very far. 13. The fireworks was what they was depending on to draw the crowd. 14. I sat my watch by correct time yesterday. 15. I hoped to have seen you before you left the city. 16. Set the pail on the bench and PLAIN ENGLISH. Ml let it set. 17. He aint got any money. 18. He would have been pleased to have met you. 19. He is as cross as a sitting hen. 20. She desired to have come. 21. You have drove too fast. 22. Have you ever spoke to him? 23. Will I bring you a pen and some paper? 24. The meaning of your words are doubt- ful. 25. One half the mol> was driven back. 26. Do set down and rest yourself. 27. Don't set on the damp grass. 28. The governor in company with his staff was here. 29. He and Johnny goes swimming every day. 30. The committee were unanimous in its action. 31. Where was you when the bell rung? 32. There's ten of us going. 33. Yes, says I, we'll go together. 34. Thinks I to myself, I'll do it. 35. He has broke my pencil. 36. The ship lays in the har- bor. 37. He has sprained his ankle, since which time he has not been able to work. 38. She has taken a complete course in music, since when she has been engaged in teaching. 39. He ought to have known better. FACTS ABOUT PREPOSITIONS. 260. Fact 1. Regarding this part-of-speech, the important fact to be observed is that appropriate prepositions should follow certain words, the preposition in any case depending upon the meaning to be expressed. [For list of appropriate prepositions, see 324.] Correct the errors in the following : [Five are correct. ] i. He was accused for stealing the goods, but the jury acquitted him from it. 2. The two boys were inbeparable to each other. 3. The old man leaned against his staff and told them his story. 4. He listened at the music of the waves. 5. John's mother was frightened at the news of his narrow escape. 6. The peasants are dying with cholera. 7. Garfield graduated from Hiram Col- lege. 8. The soldier was killed by a stray bullet. 9. The dying child opened her eyes and smiled at me. 10. The opposition against the Chinese in this country seems to grow. u. In accordance to an old custom the president an- nually issues a proclamation for a national thanksgiving day. 12. Napoleon was banished from France and kept a prisoner in the island of St. Helena. 13. Three boys agreed with themselves to buy a melon. 14. The grocer was impatient with the clerk for his awkwardness. 15. What's the matter of him? 16. James reads in the Bible for his mother. 17. The resources of the United States are ade- quate for the support of many millions more people. 18. Were you ever ad- monished against doing wrong or reminded of your duty in this matter ? 19. Life in the country is quite different than it is in the city. 20. Persons are often frightened by ghosts. 21. They are generally good for flattering who are good at nothing else. 22. The poor man was healed from his wound. 23. He practiced medicine in the south. 24. The immigrants landed in New York. 25. The letter was dated from Dublin. 122 PLAIN ENGLISH. 261. Pact 2. When a participle is used as a noun and is preceded by an article, it should be followed by a preposition. Examples : By the observing of the rules of health one may avoid sickness. A liking for liquor was one of his inheritances. Remark. The opposite of the above is true, that is, if the article is omitted before the parti- cipial noun, the preposition should be omitted after it. Example : Observing the rules of health will enable us to avoid sickness. Correct the following : 1. The reading good books improves the mind. 2. Learning shorthand re- quires patience. 3. Appointing of postmasters is a big task for the President. 4. The educating children is a responsible undertaking. MISCELLANEOUS ERRORS. 262. i. Repeating a preposition after a verb, the same prep- osition having been used to introduce a preceding phrase. Example : At which hotel did you stay at? Omit the last " at." 2. Using the preposition "of" and a transitive verb before the same object. Example : " He did not remember of seeing you." Omit of. 3. At, By. Goods are sold by auction, not at auction. We tnay buy things at an auction, but the selling is by auction, since " auction " signifies the man- ner of selling; as, "How did they dispose of their stock? Answer: " By auc- tion." 4. At fault." He is at fault in the matter." Say ' in fault ' or ' in error.' At fault is a hunting phrase meaning " off the scent." In fault should be used when blame is expressed ; in error ^ when the person is incorrect. 5. Below, Under. These words have reference to place. They should not be used in the sense of less or fewer when reference is made to an amount or number; as, "The total is below one hundred dollars." "There were un- der fifty present." Say ' less than one hundred dollars,' ' fjwcr than fifty ' etc. 6. Differ with, Differ from. Both these expressions are correct. Differ front should be used when a mere courteous difference of opinion is meant. Differ with is correct when there is a positive disagreement, especially when the difference leads to a quarrel or hot dispute. 7. In for into. When entrance is denoted, into should be used instead of in. Examples : He came into ( not in ) the room. We got into ( not in ) the carriage. PLAIN ENGLISH. 123 Change in to into in the following sentences and notice the change in mean- ing: He jumped in the river. He walked in the water. The guide led the way in the cave. They were driven in the pasture. The captain urged his horse in the thickest of the fight. The people ran in the street. The team ran in the field. 8. Like for as. Both these words express similarity, but like (prep.) compares things, expressing similarity of quality or appearance; while as (conj.) compares actions. Examples : He holds the pen as you do but his writing does not look like yours. She does not look like you but she talks just as you do. I feel as if I ought to go. Do not say, ' I feel like I ought to go.' 9. On, Upon. In many connections these words are interchangeable ; in others, however, there is a positive difference between their meanings. The distinction is as follows : On means merely over, or resting on a thing ; upon implies or conveys the idea of motion. Example : "The boy climbed upon the wagon." " He rode on the wagon." In the following sentences, change on to upon, or upon to too, more, most. The same are used most freely with adjectives. But as adjectives shade off into participles, implying something of condition or action, they take more or less freely the whole series of qualifying adverbs which the verb takes." Professor Whitney" Essentials," p. 136. 355. "The words * yes ' and 'no,' which are used in replying or re- sponding to a question, and are therefore called responsives, were originally adverbs, but are so no longer because they never combine with other words as modifying or limiting them, but are in themselves complete answers. Thus, in answer to the question, ' Will you go ? ' yes and no means respectively, ' I will go,' or ' I will not go.' The responsives stand thus for a whole sentence, and hence are not properly parts of speech at all, in the real meaning of that name, but are more analogous with the interjections.' " Professor Whitney. 356. Connectives (49). There are five classes of connective words: Copula verbs (i6a), relative (or conjunctive) pronouns (82), conjunctive ad- verbs ( 105), prepositions (26), and conjunctions (29). But of these only the last named are pure connectives. (a ) A pure connective is a word that does nothing but connect other elements. { b ) The copula verbs assert as well as connect. ( 16.) (c) The relative pronouns connect, but at the same time they have some other office in the sentence, either as subject, object, or adjective-relative. (82 and 119.) (d) The conjunctive adverbs, aside from being connectives, are also a modifying effect on other words. ( 105. ) (e) Prepositions are usually regarded as being pure connectives, but, in reality, their chief use is not to connect, but to introduce phrases that they help to form. They are a sort of phrase " article," as shown by the use of for to intro. 'uce a noun phrase. ( 222 a.) 357. Conjunctions ( 113 a). In speaking of those words that are "usually and naturally adverbs," but which at times become co-ordinate conjunctions, Professor Sill says : " When these words are so used, and, but, or, or nor can be PLAIN ENGLISH. 201 put in their places or supplied before them, without materially changing the meaning ; thus ' The day is warm, nevertheless (co-ord. conj. ) it is pleasant,' maybe changed to ' The day js warm, but nevertheless (adverb) it is pleasant.' ' Be obedient, else ( co-ord. conj. ) I will punish you,' may be changed thus ' Be obedient, or else (adverb) I will punish you.' ' He was determined, yet ( co-ord. conj ) he was quiet,' may be changed into 'He was de- termined, and yet ( adverb ) he was quiet.' " (a) Such phrases as ' as well as,' 'as far as,' etc., are adverbial conjunctive- phrases when they mean something like ' also,' or ' besides ; ' as, The man as well as the boy was in the wrong. But when the phrase introduces a compari- son, the second word is an adjective or an adverb ; the first, an adverb modifying the second, and the last word is the conjunction. Examples : He looks as well as usual. I worked as long as I could. You did not go as far as we did. ( b ) Correlatives ( 114). Concerning the pairs of words that are commonly called " correlative conjunctions," it is to be observed that the first word of the pair is not a conjunction, either in sense or use, since it connects nothing. It is strange that grammarians have gone on copying one another in this as in other things. Professor Sill is the only one, so far as we have observed, who does not consider the first word of the pair a conjunction. He says, " Some conjunctions regularly follow certain other words, usually adjectives or adverbs. Words so belonging together are called correlative words." 358. (123 a.) That, introducing a noun clause, has by some been called a conjunction. A conjunction connecting what ? In case the noun clause is, used objectively, does it, as the object, need any connecting element between it and the verb? That in such cases is merely introductory and may properly be called the " clause article." [ See definition of "article " above, 349. ] 359. ( 126-7.) These form-changes are generally called "inflections." 'Inflection* means a 'bending.' [866362.] 360. Plurals of Proper Nouns, Titles and Compound Nouns. " Most proper nouns form their plurals regularly. Examples : The Germans ; all the Smiths ; the Joneses ; both Queen Marys ; the two Gen. Jacksons ; any of the Henrys of England ; either of the Mrs. Browns ; the Shakespeares and Miltons of our time. (a ) When we wish to refer to several members of the same family, we may give the plural form to the title, instead of to the name. Examples : The Misses Blackman ; the Messrs. Irving. ( b ) The title is also made plural when it is used with several names. Examples : Gens. Grant and Sherman ; Drs. Carey and Field ; Misses Mary, Alice, and Edith Browning ; Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. ; Presidents Cleveland and Harrison. 202 PLAIN ENGLISH. (c) Compound nouns generally add the sign of the plural to that part of the word which is limited or described by the other part. Examples : Blackbirds, merchantmen, house-tops, steamboats, hangers-on, brothers-in law, knights-errant, commanders-in-chief. ( d) Some words, originally compounds, are no longer regarded as such, and are treated as simple words. Examples: Mouthfuls, handfuls, spoonfuls. ( e) Some few compounds make both parts of the word plural. Examples: Men-servants; knights- templars." Whitney & Lock-wood's Grammar, p. 41. 361. "Gender." Paragraph 134 contains all that we deem it necessary or advisable to give on the subject of sex distinction in words. The matter is of no practical importance in the construction of an English sentence. The term " gender " has not been employed, for the reason that its use to denote sex is a forced meaning. In Latin (from which the term was copied), German, French, and other inflected languages, gender has to do with the words and not with the objects themselves. In any of these languages, the name of a woman may be of the masculine " gender," or the name of an inanimate object may be either of the masculine or feminine " gender;" and so an adjective may be of the masculine, feminine, or neuter gender, according to its required agreement with the word it qualifies. ( a ) The number of English nouns to which the female suffix, ess, may properly be added is very small. Of these, the greater part are titles, such as countess, empress, princess, etc., where the distinction of sex is a matter of necessity. The ess should not be added to a noun denoting vocation, office, or rank, unless the noun primarily means a man, which is rarely the case. Besides, ess is generally superfluous because the noun is almost always accompanied by a female pronoun or title ; as, she, Mrs., Miss, or by some female Christian name. Thus it is absurd to say, " Mary is a waitress at the Hotel de Bowser," " She was a poetess of considerable fame," or " Mrs. Queerquill is an editress of no mean ability," and so forth. 362. " Case w ( 135 ) .The word case is from the Greek word which means " falling," that is, as the Greeks applied the term to words it meant the " fall- ing " or " bending " of a word (its deviation in form), from the subject form which they regard as erect. Hence, as Dr. Abbott remarks, " The Greeks would not have used such an expression as a subjective [ ' nominative ' ], * case ' at all ; to them it would have been as absurd as to speak of an erect falling." (a) Plainly, then, nouns have but one 'case,' the possessive. The so-called * nominative case ' is not properly a ' case,' having nothing to distinguish it as such. Neither is the objective use of a noun a ' case ' since a noun in that posi- tion has no form ( ' falling' or ' bending ' ) to distinguish it. PLAIN ENGLISH. 203 (3) With a few of the pronouns, however, the matter of ' case ' is different. /, he, she, we, they and who have three forms to indicate their subjective, ob- jective and possessive uses. (Though his maybe used in all three positions, while who is becoming a common form for both subject and object. 348.) You has the possessive form but no distinctive nominative or objective forms, hav- ing supplanted thou and thee as singular nominative and objective forms. We have spoken of the ' cases ' of pronouns and the possessive ' case ' of nouns, as forms. Dr. Abbott speaks of them as the " uses " of these parts of speech. 363. Possessive of Nouns in Apposition (137)." When a possessive noun is followed by an explanatory word, the possessive sign is added to the explanatory word only. But if the explanatory word has several modifiers, or if there are more explanatory words than one, the principal word only takes the sign. Remark. When a common noun is explanatory of a proper noun, and the name of the thing possessed is omitted, the possessive sign may be added to either the modifying 1 or princi- pal word ; as, We stopped at Tiffany, the jeweler's, or, We stopped at Tiffany's, the jeweler. ( If the name of the thing possessed is given, the noun immediately before it takes the sign.) Examples : This is Tennyson, the poet's home. I took tea at Brown's, my old friend and school-mate. This belongs to Victoria, queen of England's domain. This province is Victoria's, queen of England." From Higher Lessons in English ( Reed & Kellogg) , /. 211. 364. Person in Verbs (157-8-9). The archaic forms art and wast have gone out of general use along with thou and thee. With them also have gone the verb-form of the second person ending in st or est and the third person form ending in th or eth. These forms are founu. in older English. You in supplanting thou has carried with it the plural are which has thus be- come both singular and plural. This reduces the person signification of verbs in modern English to the first person singular of the verb be am, which dis- tinguishes the singular / from all other singular subjects. The use of the plural form of other verbs with / is plainly a person use, since it cannot be a number use. But it is to be observed that it is not a use which the verb itself indicates; for it (the verb) does not distinguish between the first person singular, and the first, second, and third persons plural. Clearly, then, the distinction of person in verbs is so limited as hardly to deserve men- tion in parsing. 365. Participles (164). Properly speaking, the participial noun ('ver- bal-noun') is an infinitive, sometimes called the "infinitive in ing" or the " participial infinitive ; " also called the " gerund." It is from the old English infinitive in an. However, as it is a true participle in that it shares in the na- ture of two parts of speech at once, we have classed it as such to avoid confu- sion to the student. (a) [ See paragraph 104. ] The verbal noun ('participle') is used also in the predicate after the copula ; as His favorite pastime is telling stories to children. 204 PLAIN ENGLISH. (6) Dr. Abbott regards participles in such sentences as Listening, we caught the sound of clattering hoofs, [ Example, p. 71, top.) IvOoking out of the window we saw them coming, [ Sentence 12, par. 171. ] as adverbially used, being abridged adverbial clause ; thus When ( or because) we were listening ', we caught the sound etc., and he treats the participial attendant element as adverbial in sense as shown in paragraph 214. We believe this to be in the line of common-sense simplicity tfl analysis and parsing. 366. Shall and Will ( 175.) Thus, when I say I shall go I state merely proposed future action on my part ; if I am asked to go and I reply I will go it is understood that I have promised to go. Again, if there is any hindering cause or obstacle to prevent my going I may resolve to go anyway, in which case I naturally say, I will go, showing the exercise of will-power, a determination on my part. The speaker may exercise will-power for himself but not for another. Thus, he may express determination by saying, I will go, but not by You, or he will go. He can, however, denote his own determination in regard to another, and its effects upon the person spoken to or spoken of; and this he does by saying, " You, or he, shall ^o ; " that is, ' I will oblige (compel) you, or him, to go.' We should not lose sight of this distinction between shall and will, for if we do, we shall lose their real significance and come to regard them as mere auxil- iaries whose only use is to help express future time. The mere emphasizing of shall in the first person, and will in the second and third, will not make this distinction as to determination on the part of the former, or obligation or necessity placed upon the latter. (a) Shall and will have been thoroughly discussed by able writers; but for the space it occupies we know of nothing better than the following by Mr. Richard Grant White : " The distinction between these words, although very clear when it is once apprehended, is liable to be disregarded by persons who have not had the ad- vantage of early intercourse with educated English people. I mean English in blood and breeding ; for, as the traveller found that in Paris even the children could speak French, so in New England it is noteworthy that even the boys and girls playing on the commons use shall and will correctly The radical signification of will (Anglo-Saxon willan) is purpose, intention, determination; that of shall (Anglo-Saxon sceal, ought, ) is obligation. 1 will do means, I purpose doing I am determined to do. I shall do means, radically, I ought to do ; and as a man is supposed to do what he sees he ought to do, / shall do came to mean, I am about doing to be, in fact, a mere announcement of future action, more or less remote. But BO you shall do means, radically, you ought to do ; and therefore unless we mean to impose an obligation or an- PLAIN ENGLISH. 206 nounce an action on the part of another person, over whom we claim some con- trol, shall, in speaking of the mere voluntary action of another person, is inap- propriate; and we therefore say you will, assuming that it is the volition of the other party to do thus or so. Hence, in merely announcing future action, we say, I or we shall, you, he, or they will ; and, in declaring purpose on our own part, or on the part of another, obligation, or inevitable action, which we mean to control, we say, I or we will, you, he, or they shall. Official orders, which are in the form you will, are but a seeming exception to this rule of speech, which they, in fact, illustrate. For in them the courtesy of superior to subordinate, carried to the extreme even in giving command, avoids the semblance of com- pulsion, while it assumes obedience in its very language. Should and would follow, of course, the fortunes of shall and will ; and, in the following short dialogue, I have given, I believe, easily apprehended examples of all the proper uses of these words, the discrimination of which is found by some persons so difficult. A husband is supposed to be trying to induce his reluctant wife to go from their suburban home to town for a day or two. He, I shall go to town tomorrow. Of course you will ? She. No, thanks. I shall not go. I shall wait for better weather, if that will ever come. When shall we have three fair days together again ? He. Don't mind that. You should go. I should like to have you hear Ronconi. She. No, no ; I will not go. He. [ To himself. ] But you shall go, in spite of the weather and of yourself. [ To her.] Well, remember, if you should change your mind, I should be very happy to have your com- pany. Do come ; you will enjoy the opera; and you shall have the nicest possible supper at Delmonico's. She. No ; I should not enjoy the opera. There are no singers worth listening to ; and I wouldn't walk to the end of the drive for the best supper Delmonico will ever cook. A' man seems to think that any human creature would do anything for something good to eat. He. Most human creatures will. She. I shall stay at home, and you shall have your opera and your supper all to yourself. He. Well, if you will stay at home, you shall ; and if you won't have the supper, you shan't ; but my trip will be dull without you. I shall be bored to death that is, unless, indeed, your friend, Mrs. Dashatt Mann, should go to town tomorrow, as she said she thought she would; then, perhaps, we shall meet at the opera, and she and her nieces will sup with me. She. [ To herself. ] My dear friend Mrs. Dashatt Mann ! And so that woman will be at her old tricks with my husband again. But she shall find that I am mistress of this situation, in spite of her big black eyes and her big white shoulders. [To htm.} John, why should you waste yourself upon those ugly, giggling girls? To be sure, she's a fine woman enough ; that is, if you will buy your beauty by the pound, but they ! He. O, think what I will about that, Iimust take them, for politeness' sake ; and, indeed, although the lady is a matron, it wouldn't be quite proper to take her alone would it ? What should you say ? She. Well, not exactly, perhaps. But it don't much matter, she can take care of herself, I should think. She's no chicken ; she'll never see thirty-five again. But it's too bad you should be bored with her nieces and since you're bent on having me go with you and after all, I should like to hear Ronconi and you shan't be going about with those cackling girls well, John, dear, I'll go. Words and Their Uses, p. 267. 367. Future and Perfect " Tenses" ( 180). It is usual to speak of the 206 PLAIN ENGLISH. verb-phrases that indicate the future and perfect ( also called the ' oblique ') divisions of time as " tenses " of the verb ; but in reality no verb can by itself denote more than two divisions of time. Thus, a person may say ' I walk? ' I walked? expressing present and past action. But if he wishes to denote future time he must say, 'I shall (or will) walk? making use of the verb walk, which by itself denotes present time. Clearly, then, future time is not expressed by the verb walk but by the auxiliary shall (or will) placed before it. And so in "I have walked," the verb walked is nothing more or less than the past time form of walk. It is by the use of have before the past walked that we denote what is called the " present perfect tense." (a) Have, in itself, denotes possession, present possession; as, "He has the toothache," " I have an idea," " We have fears." Walked denotes a com- pleted or perfect action ; hence, have walked literally denotes present posses- sion of a perfect or completed action, and is, therefore, properly called the "present perfect time." It is not, however, the present perfect tense of the verb walked but a " present perfect " verb-phrase. (b) Had denotes past possession ; as, "He had the money," "They had a quarrel." So in the sentence, " I had walked a long distance," had walked de- notes past possession of a completed action ; hence it is a " past perfect " verb- phrase, with walk as its base. (c) Again, in " I shall have walked," the phrase shall have walked denotes future (shall) possession (have) of a perfect, or completed, action (walked). 368. " Mode." Regarding the so called " mode " of verbs, it should be observed that the mode ( ' manner ' ) of making an assertion is not a quality ('modification ') of the verb itself, but a characteristic, so to speak, of the entire expression. For instance, a verb has no form ('inflection') which in itself denotes subjunctive use ; for that, it must depend upon its connection with the words expressing doubt, supposition, or future contingency. 369. The "subjunctive mode" (so called) of verbs is now practically confined to the use of were in the present ( under the circumstances mentioned in paragraph 188 ) and the use of the present form of verbs with a future sense in conditional clauses as shown in 189. ( a ) Concerning the subjunctive use of be and the present plural form of other verbs with both singular and plural subjects, in expressing present doubt or a future contingency as the possible condition upon which some other action depends, grammarians and good writers are divided in opinion and usage ; but the preponderance of opinion and usage favors abolishing the subjunctive. Some authors still hold that these subjunctive uses are important since they make a distinction between assumed facts or facts about which the speaker is in doubt, and mere future contingencies; thus, If it rains ( now, as you say it does ), I shall not go. If It rains ( tomorrow, as it may ), I shali not go. But these same authors tell us that when there is doubt at to whether the in- PLAIN ENGLISH. 207 dicative or the subjunctive mode is required, we are to use the indicative. Now> it is this very uncertainty about the subjunctive that makes it objectionable ; for the perplexity usually results in a ridiculous mixture of the indicative and subjunctive forms of expression, sometimes in the same sentence. On this point Edward S. Gould says : [ " Good English," p. 147. ] " The subjunctive mood is a universal stumbling-block. Nobody seems to understand it, although almost everybody attempts to use it. At the best, when it is used correctly supposing that there is anything correct about it it gives to a sentence an air of pedantry, if not of affectation. Mr. Bryant [William Cullen ], and Professor Hadley of Yale College, denounce it as absurd, and many other educated men hold the same opinion." [ Here follows a lengthy quotation from Goold Brown, who himself quotes Chandler assaying: "It would, perhaps, be better to abolish the use of the subjunctive mood entirely. Its use is a continual source of dispute among grammarians and of perplexity to schools," etc. Mr. Gould then continues : ] " Brown's entire comments on the subjunctive mood fill three closely printed royal octavo pages, 338-340 of his " Grammar of Grammars," and the reader is referred to them for a full discussion of the subject. Enough is here quoted to justify the first paragraph of this chapter; and some instances of the Way in which good writers use or abuse and do use and don't use the subjunctive, may serve to illustrate, and possibly to vindicate, Chandler's remark, " It would, perhaps, be better to abolish the use of the subjunctive mood entirely." [ Here follow a number of sentences showing how good writers have erred in the use of the subjunctive mood. Of these we quote only the following : ] 1. " If indeed, the saying- be true, " etc." If heaven expresses one thing," etc. 2. " Unless he fail to express himself," etc. " If he does explain himself," etc. 3. " If heaven is used in one sense only, and if that sense be the sidereal host," etc. Mr. Gould then concludes his remarks upon the subjunctive by saying: " Similar quotations from English literature, past and present, might be con- tinued through hundreds and thousands of pages. But perhaps enough has been given to induce the reader to say of the subjunctive, as is sometimes said of a difficult conundrum, " we had [ might ?] better give it up." 370. The Infinitive (190). The question as to whether the so-called " sign " of the infinitive is a preposition may be of interest to philologists, but it is of no importance to the average student of language. It is a mere techni- cality, and practically there is no good reason for considering it other than a part of the infinitive. Whatever the to may have been in former times, one thing is quite certain, it has come to be, as Mr. Ramsey says, " a mere earmark of the infinitive." But since this "earmark " is so often lacking, we question the propriety of calling it a " sign," and would suggest the name " infinitive article " as a term more nearly fitting the case. (a ) About is now the only preposition that takes an infinitive object ( 191* ,. Formerly the infinitive was used after for. [ See Matt. II :8 ; John x : 10. ] 208 PLAIN ENGLISH. 371. Auxiliary Verbs (198). Formerly, all the auxiliaries were re- garded as principal verbs, and the verb following one of them was regarded as an infinitive (as, indeed, it is) without its " sign." In course of time, most of the auxiliaries came to be regarded as mere helpers in the verb-phrases ; but as shown in paragraphs 203, 205, and 367, ought ', do, and have are in reality principal verbs. 372. Appositive Adjective (211). "When an adjective is joined to a noun or a pronoun in a looser and more indirect way, as if it were the predicate of an abbreviated descriptive clause, it is called an APPOSITIVE ADJECTIVE. Its use is much like that of the appositive noun ; and it is often, but not always, placed after the noun which it qualifies. Examples : All poetry, ancient and modern, abounds in sentiment. That is, all poetry, whether it be ancient or modern. Tired and hungry, he hastened home. That is, since he was tired and hungry" Whitney & LockwoocTs Grammar ; p. 97. 373. Adverbial Objective (217). "Nouns which express measure, either of time, distance, weight, number, age, or value, etc., may be used like adverbs, to qualify verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. They may then be called ADVERBIAL OBJECTIVES. Examples : They walked a mile. The pole was five feet long. You should have come a day earlier. There is now no special case-form for this construction ; but we know, from the forms in older English and in other languages, that the case of the noun is the objective. Besides, we can often use a preposition to connect such a nouu with the word which it qualifies. Examples : He waited an hour=He waited for an hour. It is three acres larger=It is larger by three acres. He died last night=*during last night." Whitney & LockwoocTs Grammar, p. 52. (a.) "The adverbial phrase is sometimes contracted into a noun or a prep- ositional prefix ; e. g., * aboard,' ' afoot,' ' afield ; ' and sometimes still further into a noun without prefix of any kind ; as, I am going fishing ( this is a con- traction for ' go on fishing,' or ' go a-fishing.' ) " How to Parse, p. 94. 374. Cognate Object ( 218)." Some verbs, though generally intransi- tive, take occasionally after them an object whose meaning is akin to the verb. Such objects are called cognate ( co-, ' together ; ' nate, ' born : ' Hence, ' born together,' 'related," 'akin'). This usage is more common in poetry and in elevated language than in ordi- nary prose 1. They have slept their sleep. 2. He has fought a good fight ; They shouted applause. 3. We have walked a long walk today." How to Parse, p. 92. PLAIN ENGLISH. 209 875. Supplements (221). Dr. Abbott calls nouns and adjectives, used to complete the object after "verbs of identity," supplements ; to distinguish them from the infinitive complements of subjects and objects. ( 222-3. ) His treatment of these constructions is very thorough. [ See " How to Parse," p. 102.] (a) Professor Whitney calls these supplements of the object "objective or factitive predicates." He says : " An object along with a predicate word qualifying it is taken especially often by a verb that is used in a factitive sense ; that is, in the sense of ' making or causing or bringing about ' something by means of the action which the verb signifies." He then gives some examples, among which are the following : Thus taking sing in the usual sense, we should never speak of " singing a throat." but we may say, " I sang my throat hoarse," meaning " I made my throat hoarse by singing." And in like manner, "She wrings the clothes dry," "They planed the board smooth," etc.; where wrings dry means ' makes dry by wringing,' and so on. (b) "Even intransitive verbs are thus used factitively with objects and qualifying predi- cate ; thus, " He danced his feet tired ; " " They wept their eyes blind." ( c ) "A verb, whether transitive or intransitive, is especially often used factitively when it is also used reflexively. [ See 218 b. ] Thus, " They sang themselves hoarse," "He walked him- self weary. [On the preceding page of " Essentials " appear the following examples of a similar use of the noun to complete the direct object : " We called him a coward." " They chose her queen." (d) " An adjective or a noun is called objective or factitive predicate when it is brought by the verb into relation with the direct object, as qualifying or describing that object." (LAIN ENGLISH. cester and Webster, wherein each lexicographer strove to get into his book more words than could be found in the other's book has caused many words to appear in the two dictionaries which do not belong there." If the makers of " unabridged " dictionaries would confine their definitions of a word to those that are legitimate and necessary, the value of such books would be increased in- versely as the square of the pages of matter thus omitted. Then they might do another excellent thing by putting all incorrectly formed words into an appen- dix where those who use the books might be warned that " these words are spurious." If DeQuincey's statement that " All languages tend to clear themselves of synonyms as intellectual culture advances " is true, our dictionaries do not represent a very high state of intellectual culture. When the definitions ( meanings ) of a word are spun out until it ( the word ) is represented as a syn- onym of other words whose primary meanings are radically different from it, the word in question loses just so much of its force. The greater the number of meanings given a word the less definite it is. If a word has but one mean- ing, we are never in doubt as to what the writer or speaker means when he uses it ; but when a word has a half dozen different meanings, we stand just one chance in six of being right in our interpretation of the user's meaning, for the context will not always help us out in this respect. Hence, the importance of confining words as nearly as possible to their primary meanings, certainly to their necessary meanings. 391. Couple. (272.) "The noun couple is necessarily the result of the verb to couple. The act of coupling precedes the fact of being coupled, and therefore the meaning of the noun is controlled by the meaning of the verb. People of all classes, and writers of all positions, without the slightest misgiving, com- punction, or remorse, daily fabricate such phrases as a couple of days, a couple of dollars, a couple of eggs, a couple of books, a couple of weeks, months, or years ; and so on, to the end of English nouns-substantive. And for all that, those very people and those very writers would laugh to scorn any man who ventured to say, a brace of days, weeks, months, or years ; a. yoke of eggs ; a pair of dollars ,- a span of books." Good English, p. 42-43. 392. I>epot and Station. (272. ) " Railroad depot is the abominable name usually given in this country to a railway station. Every depot is a station, although not in all cases a passenger or even a freight station ; but very few stations are depots. A depot is a place where stores and materials are deposited for safe keeping. Station means merely a standing, and a railway station is a railway standing a place where trains and passengers stand for each other. There is no justification whatever for calling such a place a depot. And to aggravate the offense of so doing as much as possible, the word is pronounced in a manner which is of itself an af- front to common sense and good taste that is, neither day-poll, as it should be if it is used as a French word, nor dee-pott, as it should be if it has been adopted as an English word. With an affectation of French pronunciation it is called dee-poh, the result being a hybrid English- French monster, which, with the phrase of which it forms a part, should be put out of exist- ence with all convenient despatch." Words and Their Uses, p. 148. 393. Either. ( 272. ) There is a use of either which gives it the signifi- cation of" ' one and the other ; ' as, " On either side of the river was the tree of life;" " On either side of the street grew stately elms." But this use of the PLAIN ENGLISH. 217 word has been sharply criticised by both Gould and Mathews. Commenting upon the same point, Mr. White says : " Either is a singular word. It expresses, and from Anglo-Saxon times has expressed, in the best usage, one of two and both of two. Thus, ' On either side of the river was the tree of life,' means that the tree grew on both sides alike; but, ' Take either side of the river,' means that one or the other of the two sides may be taken. It is almost impossible to explain how this word means both one and two, and how it can be used without causing any confusion for intelligent people." Again, the same author speaking of the pronunciation of these words, says : " For the pronunciation i-ther and ni-ther, with the i long, which is sometimes heard, there is no authority, either of analogy or of the best speakers. It is an affectation, and in this country, a copy of second-rate British affectation. Persons of the best education and the high- est social position in England generally say eether and needier." Words and Their Uses. 394r. m? Sick. (273.) " I was present once when a British merchant, receiving in his own house a Yankee youth at a little party, said, in a tone that attracted the attention of the whole room, 'Good evening! We haven't seen you for a long while. Have you been se.eck* ( the sneer prolonged the word ), ' as you say in your country ? ' ' No, thank you,' said the other frankly and promptly, ' I've been hill, as they say in yours.' British officers have sick leave ; British invalids keep a sick bed, or a sick room, and so forth, no matter what their ailment. No one of them ever speaks of ill leave, an ill room, or an ill bed. Was an 111 Club ever heard of in England? The incongruity is apparent, and it is new-born and needless. For the use of /'// an adverb as an adjective, thus, ' an ill man,' there is nodefence and no excuse, except the contamination of bad example." Words and Their Uses, 395. Likewise. (273. ) "An English Quaker was once asked by a lawyer whether he could tell the difference between also and likewise. ' O, yes,' was the reply, ' Erskine is a great lawyer ; his talents are universally admired. You are a lawyer also but not like-a/zj*.' Words : Their Use and Abuse, p. 346. 396. Nice. ( 274.)" One of the most offensive barbarisms now prevalent is the use of this as a pet word to express almost every kind of approbation, and almost every quality. Of the vulgarity of such expressions as ' a nice man ' (meaning a good or pleasing man), ' a nice day,' ' a nice party,' etc., there cannot be a shadow of doubt. ' A nice man ' means a fastidious man ; a ' nice letter ' is a letter very delicate in its language. Some persons are more nice than wise." Words: Their Use and Abuse, p. 358. 397. Own, Confess* (274.) " A man commits a crime, and on being arrested and intimidated into a confession, he ' owns ' the crime. It must be owned, that it is a queer kind of ownership. There are other kinds. On the other hand, when confess is the right word, it is frequently tagged with a to, which makes strange work of the writer's or speaker's meaning. To confess is to acknowledge or to disclose something; and in the latter sense it is to reveal some previously unknown fact to some person or persons. Yet one of the well-edited Massachusetts newspapers stated that A. B , previously to being hung, ' confessed to two murders,' besides the one for which he suffered ; C. D. ' confessed to three murders ; ' and E. F. confessed to four murders,' all previously un- known to the courts. That jumble of to's was contained in one paragraph of the newspaper referred to." Good English, p. 138. 398. I"dl-mell. (274.) "This word or phrase implies a crowd and confusion (Fr. melee}, and should never be applied, as it is by some speakers and some writers for the press, to an individual ; as, for instance, in this sentence from a first-rate newspaper : ' I rushed pell- mell out of the theatre.' The writer might as well have said that he rushed out promiscuously, or that he marched out by platoons.' " Words and Their Uses, p. 145. 218 PLAIN ENGLISH. 399. I*reent. (274. ) " The use of this word for introduce is an affectation. . . In France, every person, in being made acquainted with another, is presented, the French lan- guage not having made the distinction which is made in Kngland between present and intro- duce. We present foreign ministers to the President ; we introduce, or should introduce, our friends to each other. We introduce the younger to the older, the person of lower position to the person of higher, the gentleman to the lady not the older to the younger, the lady to the gentleman." Words and Their Uses, p. 147. 400. Ra*se. ( 274.} " Raising the rent, for increasing the rent. A landlord notified his tenant that he should raise his rent. ' Thank you,' was the reply ; ' I find it very hard to raise it myself.' " Words : Their Use and Abuse, p. 366. 401 . ( 2 74- ) " Rctnemlicr and Recollect are used interchangeably, as if they were synonyms, and the preference seems to be most generally given to the latter. They are not synonymous, and the distinction between them is an important one, which ought to be preserved. That which lies in our memory at hand, ready for use at any moment, we remember; but we also really do remember much that does not lie at hand, that we cannot find in our mind's storehouse on the instant, and this we try to recollect, that is, to re-collect. Therefore, the ex- pression, I don't remember, but I will try to recollect, is not only correct, but it sets forth a condition of the mind expressible in no other way, and to speak of which we have frequent necessity. The ability to do so will be impaired, if not altogether lost, when the distinction between the two words is done away." Every-Day English, p. 414. 402. ( 2 7 6 -) ** Anticipate means, by derivation, to take beforehand, and its proper meaning in English is to take first possession of, or to take before the proper time. If a man's note is due on the soth, and he pays it on the 25th, he anticipates its due payment. A man may anticipate another in doing something which both intend doing; that is, he may succeed in doing it first. But his looking forward to doing either of these acts is not anticipation ; it is expectation." Every-Day English, p. 413. 4:03. Caption. (276.)" The affectation of fine, big-sounding words which have a flavor of classical learning has had few more laughable or absurd manifestations than the use of caption (which means seizure, act of taking), in the sense, and in the rightful place, of head- ing. In our newspapers, even in the best of them, it is too common. This monstrous blunder was first made by some person who knew that captain and capital expressed the idea of head- ship, but who was sufficiently ignorant to suppose that caption, from its similarity in sound to those words, had a kindred meaning. But captain and capital are from the Latin caput, a head ; and caption is from capio, I seize, captum, seized. Language rarely suffers at the hands of simple ignorance ; by which indeed it is often enriched and strengthened ; but this absurd misuse of caption is an example of the way in which it is made mere empty sound, by the pre- tentious efforts of presuming half-knowledge." Words and Their Uses, p. 08. 404. ( 2 7 6 - ) ** Inaugurate is a word which might better be eschewed by all those who do not wish to talk high-flying nonsense, else they will find themselves led by bad examples into using it in the sense of begin, open, set up, establish. To inaugurate is to receive or induct into office with solemn ceremonies. The occasions are very few in regard to which it may be used with propriety. But we shall read ere long of cooks inaugurating the preparation of a dinner, and old Irish women inaugurating a peanut stand ; as well these as inaugurating, in- stead of opening, a ball, or inaugurating, instead of setting up, or establishing, a business." Words and Their Uses, p. 128. 405. Initiate. ( 276. ) " It may be more elegant to say, the kettle took the initiative, than to use the homelier phrase to which our ears have been accustomed ; but I have not been able to make the discovery. And I may as well here despatch a rabble of such words, all of kindred origin and pretentious seeming. Unless a man is a crown prince, or other important public functionary, it is well for him to have a house and a home, where he lives, not a place of PLAIN ENGLISH. 219 residence, where he resides. From this let him and his household go to church or to meeting, if they like to do so; but let not the inmates proceed to the sanctuary. And if, being able and willing to do good, he gives something to the parson for the needy, let him send his cheque, and not transmit it. Let him oversee his household and his business, not supervise them. Let him reject, disown, refuse, or condemn what he does not like, but not repudiate it, unless he expects to cause shame, or to suffer it, in consequence of his action ; and what he likes let him like or approve or uphold, but not indorse ; and, indeed, as to indorsing, let him do as little of that as possible. I have come from pretension into the shop, and, therefore, I add, that if he is in- formed upon a subject, has learned all about it, knows it, and understands it, let him say so, not that he is well posted on it. He will say what he means, simply, clearly, and forcibly, rather than pretentiously, vulgarly, and feebly. It is noteworthy and significant that the man who will say that he is posted upon this or that subject, is the very one who will use such a foolish, useless, pretentious word as recuperate, instead of recover. Thus the Washington correspond- ent of a leading journal wrote that General Grant and Mr. Speaker Colfax expected to start for Colorado on the first of July, and that their trip is ' for the sole purpose of recuperating their health.' If the writer had omitted five of the eight words which he used to express the purpose of the travellers, and said the trip is ' for health only,' his sentence would have been bettered inversely as the square of the number of words omitted. But it will not do to be so very exact- ing as to ask people not to use any more words than are necessary, and so all that can be reason- ably hoped for is, that recuperate may be shown to the door by those who have been weak enough to admit him. He is a mere pompous impostor. At most and best, recuperate means recover ; not a jot more or less. Recover came to us English through our Norman-French kins- folk, and sometime conquerors. It is merely their recouvrer domesticated in our household. They got it from the Latin recuperare. But why we should go to that word to make another from it, which is simply a travesty of recover, passes reasonable understanding. ... It would be well if all such words as those of which I have just treated could be gathered under one head, to be struck off at a blow by those who would like to execute justice on them." White. 4:06. Observe. ( 276.)" Used to mean heed, take note of, keep in view, follow, attend to, fulfil, it does good service. But in the sense of say, as, I observed to him so and so, for, I said so and so to him, or, What did you observe ? for, What did you say? it might bette'r be left to people who must be veiy elegant and exquisite in their speaking." Words and Their Uses. 407. I*araplieriialla (276. ) "It is a law-term and only a law-term, originally; and it so continues. Any use of it, put of the law, cannot be appropriate. A man cannot have paraphernalia. As it is thus a law-term, 'the people' would do much better to let it alone. But as it is a long word, the attempt to make them let it alone is something like trying to make a boy let a long stick of candy alone. As Hamlet says of ' French falconers,' they ' fly it at any- thing they see,' appendages, ornaments, trappings; in short, a miscellaneous collection of any sort of things. The word comes from the Greek, through the Latin, with very little change of spelling or pronunciation, and its meaning is, simply and concisely, beyond dower ; inde- pendent of dower ; that is, over and above dower ; and, when combined in Law Latin thus, paraphernalia dona, it means ' goods in the wife's disposal,'' articles which a wife brings with her at her marriage, beyond her dower or jointure.' "Good English, p. 54. 4:08. ( 2 77-) ** I*reclicate means primari y to speak before, and, hence, to bear wit- ness, to affirm, to declare. So the Germans call their clergymen predicants, because they bear witness to and declare the gospel. But in English, predicate is a technical word used by gram- marians to express that element of the sentence which affirms something of the subject, or (as a noun ) that which is affirmed. And thus action may be predicated of a body or an individual ; but action predicated by a body upon circumstances or statements, is simple absurdity. Those persons for whom this distinction is too subtle might better confine themselves to plain En- glish, and ask, What are you going to do about it? language good enough for a chief justice or a prime minister." Words and Their Uses, p. 146. 220 PLAIN ENGLISH. 409. Counterfeit Words. ( 278. ) There are certain laws, so to speak, governing the formation, or coinage of new words. Probably no one can ex- plain just how or why these laws exist. They seem to be a part of the life of our language ; to have, in fact, originated with the language, and to be an under- lying principle in its growth. When these principles or laws are violated, the result is a spurious word, a base coin, and the effect upon the language is harmful, just as it would be harmful to the finances of a country if the govern- ment should allow the counterfeiting of its currency to go unrestrained. For instance, one of the principles of word-formation is that both parts of a derivative or compound shall be from the same source. To illustrate this, take the Greek suffixes ize and ist, the former being the suffix for verbs and the latter for nouns. These suffixes should not be added to Anglo-Saxon words. The failure to observe this rule leads to the formation of such vulgarisms as talkist, walkist, shootist. The Anglo-Saxon suffix er should be added to all such words as walk, talk, shoot and teach, but not to such words as telegraph, photograph, and paragraph, which should give us telegraphist, etc. Again, the Greek suffix ize is sometimes erroneously added to verbs of long standing in the language without adding anything to the meaning. Thus, jeopardize, ' to jeopard ;' experiineniize (or experimentalize see 279), 'to ex- periment.' A good example of a spurious compound is cablegram, formed by the union of the Anglo-Saxon cable with the Greek gram. Concerning this word, Richard Grant White says, " There could not be a finer specimen of an utterly superfluous monster than this English-Greek hybrid cablegram." 4-10. Anyways, Towards, etc. ( 278. )" Early English writers have given the words in a separate form ; as, for example, the translators of the Bible say to us ward, etc. But where is there a warrant for the addition of the final j to any of the words, excepting its in- cidental, or perhaps accidental, use by certain old English writers, as Milton, Shakespeare, Dr. South, and others ? Those authors are doubtless followed by modern writers without number ; but also, one might suppose, without reflection on the part of the writers ; and certainly with- out our knowing that the fault may not have been with the printer." Good English, p. 25. Gent and Pants. ( 278. ) " Let these words go together, like the things they signify. The one always wears the other." Words and Their Uses. The things called pants in certain documents, Were never made for gentlemen, but gents. Oliver Wendell Holmes. Strictly speaking, we should say trousers instead of pantaloons. 412. Marry. ( 327. )" There has been not a little discussion as to the use of this word, chiefly in regard to public announcements of marriage. The usual mode of making the an- nouncement is ' Married, John Smith to Mary Jones.' Some people having been dissatisfied with this form, we have seen, of late years, in certain quarters, ' Married, John Smith with Mary Jones ; and in others, 'John Smith and Mary Jones.' I have no hesitation in saying that all of these forms are incorrect. We know, indeed, what is meant by any one of them ; but the same is true of hundreds and thousands of erroneous uses of language. Properly speaking, a man is not married to a woman, or married with her ; nor area man and woman married with each other. The woman is married to the man. It is her name that is lost in his, not his in hers ; she becomes a member of his family, not he of hers." Words and Their Uses, p. 139 PLAIN ENGLISH. 2 21 USAGE NOT THE FINAL LAW AS TO CORRECTNESS. It should be noticed that Errors 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, and 16, pages 117-19, are questions of logical relations rather than of " grammar." So, also, are most of the "popular absurdities," pages 128-31. Indeed, nearly all the errors in English syntax may be resolved into questions concerning the logical sequence of words, their relations according to sense ; and this law of logical relations in the sentence is the final law as to what is correct. Some, however, defend such expressions as had rather, and is being done, on the ground that they are idiomatic and have the support of good usage. It is true that idioms, being, in the main, metaphorical, defy all attempts at classification according to the technical terms and definitions of " grammar ; " but an idiom should not be illogical, and those idioms that are not logical will sooner or later be discarded as erroneous, just as in the case of " whether or no." [ See 379.] As to usage : No amount of good usage, however eminent the users may be, can make a wrong an illogical thing right; nor will calling an illogical expression an " idiom " save it from the fate it deserves, though it may require a long time to bring people to see that it is wrong. The idea that usage decides all questions as to correctness of speech is an erroneous one, and one that has done much harm. There is scarcely an error in English syntax (even the gross errors which grammarians and others have pointed out and sought to correct in their chapters on " false syntax," ) but may be justified and defended on the ground of "-good usage'' The first concern of the great speaker or the great writer is not about words, which are but the vehicles of thought, but with great thoughts and themes. Often these thoughts come as an inspiration to such a person and his business is to give them to the world. In his impassioned utterances, the speaker's tongue may not always be accurate, and it is often the case that he has not an opportun- ity to recast his sentences before they appear in print. With the writer, it is different. He is supposed to use greater care in his choice of words and forms of expression ; but much of our best English literature has come from pens that have been impelled by impassioned or inspired minds. And so pens have slipped, as well as tongues. Again, many errors in our great masterpieces of literature have been the result of imperfect, or incorrect translation, while still others, no doubt, have crept in through the carelessness of printers. Of course, when the common people find certain words and forms of expres- sion in what is regarded as good literature, or hear them from the lips of good public speakers, they (the people) are excusable for supposing them to be cor- rect and, hence, for using them. But if such words and expressions are incor- rect illogical it is the duty of teachers of our language to point out the fact and do what they can to help preserve the purity, simplicity, and logical force of our noble English tongue. 222 PLAIN ENGLISH. THE ENGLISH A GRAMMARLESS LANGUAGE. " If then Grammar be merely declension and conjugation, which is not far from the truth, it plays comparatively a very insignificant part in English. All the irregularities of our language are more than compensated by the extreme paucity [small number] of its grammatical forms. It is almost as grammarless as Chinese, in which no written word is ever varied by a single stroke or dot, and when spoken admits of only a change of tone. The weary hours and years spent by our youth in parsing English sentences according to forms borrowed from Greek and Latin are worse than wasted useless for the avowed purpose of learning to speak and write, and leading to a misapprehension of -what our language is. . Grammar then treats of everything relating to a language that can be reduced to general facts, principles, or rules. It has to deal chiefly with the various forms assumed by the same words. This is, in English, a very narrow field, but extremely rocky." Samuel Ramsey. Sir Philip Sidney, in his "Apology for Poetry," published in 1595, said : " I know some will say it is a mingled language. And why not so much the better, taking the best of both the other? Another will say that it wan teth [lacks] grammer. Nay, truly, it hath that praise that it wanteth not ( does not need] grammer ; for grammer it might have, but it needes it not ; being so easie of itselfe, and so voyd of those cumbersome differences of cases, genders, moodes, and tenses, which I think was a peece of the Tower of Babilon's curse that a man should be put schoole to learne his mother tongue. But for the uttering sweetly and properly the conceits of the minde, which is the end of speech, that hath it equally with any other tongue in the world ; and is particularly happy in compositions of two or three words together, neere the Greeke, far beyond the Ratine, which is one of the greatest beauties can be in a language." " The reason why English has no grammar is that it Is tmcunTDered with cases, genders, moods, and tenses, and, we may almost say, with grammatical person. For these are the essence of grammar, or rather, I should say, its conditions ; without them there can be no grammar. Grammar has to do with the correct form and correlation of words. But in English there is no form, and conse- quently no correlation dependent upon form that has any noteworthy influence upon the construction of the sentence. Let candid objectors wait a little before they spring up to reply. I said ' noteworthy influence ' meaning "by this phrase to allow for certain small remnants of grammar which are to be found in the English language. For English had once a grammar. When the English- speaking people were rude, ignorant, savage, and heathen, without literature, without any semblance of fine art, knowing little even of the useful arts, living in hovels, tilling the ground in the rudest manner, having a money price for man's life, their language had a grammar, which surpassed in complexity that of the Romans, and almost equal to that of the Greeks. But as they became civilized they rid themselves of this complexity; and when they had reached the point at which they were about to produce a Bacon and a Shakespeare, they had, to all intents and purposes, freed themselves from it entirely." White. INDEX. Numbers refer to paragraphs. For general subjects, see Table of Contents. Absolute constructions, 214. Adjectives, 15; predicate adjectives, 16; deriv. andcomp., 68-9; kinds of, 87-93; how to distinguish from pro., 94 ; forms of, 145 ; comparison, 145; facts and errors, 241-8. Adjective-phrases, 6g G . Adjectival phrases, 27 a; clauses, 118. Adverbs, 19-21, 336; how to tell, 22; deriv. and comp., 72-3; classes of, 103-5; facts and errors, 241-8. Adverb-phrases, 73 7 . Adverbial phrases, 27^7 clauses, 117. Adverbial nouns, 79^, 109, 217, 373. Analysis, 33; exercises simple sen- tences, 36, 40-1, 44 ; compound sentences, 51 ; complex sentences, 117-25; miscel., 228. Appositional use of nouns, 208 ; pro- nouns, 209; adj., 372; infi. and part., 224. Articles, 90, 349, 358, 370. Attendant elements, 215. Auxiliary verbs, 197 ; uses, etc., 199-204. Can and could, 202. Clauses, ma; adverbial, 117; adjec- tival, 118; noun, 120-3; conditional, 188-9. Comparatives, ii2 5 ; form of pronoun after as and than, 237 a. Conjugation, 177; exercises, 178-80-6. Conjunctions, 29, 339; composition of, 76; kinds, co-ordinate, no; subordinate, in; correlative, 114, 264; errors, 264-6. Conjunctive-adverbs, 105. Conjunction-phrases, 76 a, 113. Copula verbs, i6a, no, Note ; 352. Elements, 34; principal, 35; subordi- nate, 37; adjectival, 38; adverbial, 39, 336 , objective, 42-8 ; connecting, 49, 356 ; word, phrase, clause, 49; forms of, simple, com- plex, compound, 49 ; order of, 52-3 ; placing in logical order exercise, 54 ; attendant, 215. "Gender," 361. Had rather , etc., 380. Have, use in verb-phrases, 180, 367 a. Independent words, 31, Note; 206. Infinitives, 190; constructions, 191, 222-5 .' " sign " of omitted, 192 ; summary of uses, 226 ; infinitive-phrases, 194. Interjections, 31, 340. Is being built, etc., 386. // and there, indef. subjects, 108, 212. Lie and lay, 258 18 , 381. May and might, 201. "Mode," 368. Must and ought, 203. Nouns, 4 a, 5*; predicate nouns, 17; derivative and compound, 64-5; kinds of, 78-9 ; forms of; facts and errors, 229-233. Number-form of nouns, 128; of pro- nouns, 140 ; of adjectives, 150 ; of verbs, 152. Object, 42, 343; how to tell, 43; direct and indirect, 46; objective element, 48; ob- jects of intransitive verbs and passive verb- phrases, 218-19; supplemented object, 221; complement of, 222. Participles, 165; how to distinguish from nouns and adjectives, 170. Participle-phrases, 195 ; used as nouns, 196; summary of uses, 226. Parts of speech, i, 4, 5*, 331. Phrases, 10; adjectival, 27 a; noun, 65* ; adjective, 696 ; adverb, 73? ; adverbial, 273,- predicate-adjectival, 41 a, 342 ; inverted, 41 c ; punctuation of, 304. Possessive form of nouns, 135; in apposition, 363 ; of pronouns, 141-2 ; joint and separate poss., 136; poss. phrases, 137. Predicate, 3-5 ; must contain a verb, 9; bare and complete, 37; active and passive forms, 1 01. INDEX. Prepositions, 26 ; deriv. and comp., 74-5 ; facts and errors, 260-3; appropriate, 324-8. Preposition-phrases, 75*, 338. Principal parts of verbs, 177. Pronouns, 11,334; simple and comp., 66-7; kinds of, 80-4 ; how to distinguish from adjectives, 94 ; forms of, 140-1-3 ; facts and errors, 234-240. Pronoun-phrases, 67 3 . Sentences, 2, 5 2 ; simple and comp., 50 ; kinds of, 55-8 ; complex, 124. Sex distinction in nouns, 134, 361. Shall and will, 173-5, 199, 3 66 - Should and would, 200. Subject and predicate, 3, 5 3 ; bare and complete, 37, 341 ; complement of subject, 223. Supplements of obj. and subj., 221-2, 375. Sit&ndset, 258* 4 , 382. "Tense," 161, Note; 367. 77m/, 8s/; " clause article," 358. Time-form of verbs, 160; but two forms, 161, 1730. To, " sign " of infinitive, 190-2, 370. Verbs, 4^, 5 5 , 332; copulas, i6a, ioo, Note; 352; deriv. and comp., 70-1; kinds, 96-8; how to tell trans, from intrans., 100; reg. and irreg., 162; prin. parts, 177; infini- tives, 190; facts and errors, 249-59; list of irregular, 329 ; defective, 330. Verb-forms: number, 152; person, 157- 9, 364; time, 160; regular and irregular, 162; other irregular forms, 163; participle forms, 164-6 ; summary, 168 ; archaic, 169. Verb-phrases, 10, 333 a; passive, ioi } 184; expressing future time, 173; "perfect" time, 180-2 ; progressive, 187 ; emphatic, 205. Verbals, 164. Were used in the present, 188-9. Who, which and that, uses of, 85, 347. Words, i ; do not always belong to same part-of-speech, 32, 331 ; Anglo-Saxon and foreign, 59 ; simple, derivative and com- pound, 60-2 ; independent, 206 ; introductory, 207 ; explanatory, 208. Word-making, 63-76. PRINCIPAL AUTHORS CONSULTED. ABBOTT, REV. E. A. 1 How to Write Clearly, 1876. How to tell the Parts oj Speech, 1883. How to Parse, 1883. Roberts Brothers, Boston. CAMPBELL, L. J. Hand-book of Synonyms and Prepositions, 1881. (Ed. 1890.) Lee & Shepard, Boston. GOULD, REV. EDW. S. Good English, i88o.--A. C. Armstrong & Son, N. Y. MATHEWS, WILLIAM Words : Their Use and Abuse, 1880. S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago. RAMSEY, SAMUEL The English Language and English Grammar, 1892. G. P. Putnam's Sons, N. Y. SiLL, J. M. B. 2 Practical Lessons in English, 1880. American Book Co., N. Y. TOWNSEND, L. IArt of Speech, 1884. D. Appleton & Co., N. Y. WHITE, RICHARD GRANT Every-Day English, 1880. Words and Their Uses, 1870. (igthEd. 1890.) Hough ton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. WHITNEY, W. D. 3 Essentials of English Grammar, 1880. WHITNEY & LOCKWOOD English Grammar, 1892. Ginn & Company, Boston. 1. Head Master of the City of London School. 2. Principal State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Michigan. 3. Professor of Languages in Yale University ; Editor-in-chief of the Century Dictionary. PRACTICAL TEXT BOOKS. 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