Plain English

Marvel

Friday

Second

Fashion

Consider

Murder

Incident

Saturday

Constitution

Industry

Vibrate

Tribute

Compliment

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 22

Dear Comrade:

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

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

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

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

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

    Yours for the Revolution,
    THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

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

Wealthy men desire to control the education of the people.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Note the difference between a phrase and a clause.

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

Exercise 1

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

A fearless man always defends his rights.

A man without fear always defends his rights.

A man who is fearless always defends his rights.

1. The unemployed men are becoming desperate.

2. The uneducated masses are demanding equal opportunity.

3. The discovery of gold was an important discovery.

4. Unorganized labor is helpless.

5. The revolution needs intelligent rebels.

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

7. This will be a progressive movement.

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

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

THE INTRODUCING WORD

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