Plain English

Pronunciation

Saturday

Idle

Idol

Mutual

Wealthy

Neighbors

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 8

Dear Comrade:

You have often read the words organic and inorganic but did you ever stop to think of the meaning of these words? We say a body is organic—a rock is inorganic; one grows from within, the other is built from without. A tree is organic; it grows. A house is inorganic; it is built. The house was never a baby house, growing from a tiny house to a large one. But the tree was once a baby tree, a sapling, and grew branch by branch to its present height. So we have two classes of things—those which grow and those which are made.

Language belongs to the class of things which grows. It is organic. We have even used the same terms in speaking about language that we use in talking of a tree. We use the words ROOT, STEM and BRANCH to describe its growth.

Language, too, has its different terms of life like a tree, its youth, its maturity, its old age, its death.

So we have dead languages like Latin and Greek—languages which are no longer living,—no longer serving mankind. But these dead languages have left living children, languages that have descended from them.

The Italian language for example is the child, the descendant of the classical Latin. We have many words in our English language from these dead languages. About five-sevenths of the words in our English are from these classical languages. The remaining two-sevenths are from the Anglo-Saxon. We use the Anglo-Saxon words more frequently, however, in our every day speech.

And it is interesting to note that our best poetry—that which stirs our blood and touches our hearts—is written in the strong forceful Anglo-Saxon words.

These words we are studying have been through some interesting experiences as they have passed from race to race down to us and the history of life is mirrored in their changes. How much more interesting they seem when we know something of their sources, just as we are more interested in a man when we know something of his boyhood and youth and the experiences through which he has passed.

You may think that the study of verbs is rather difficult and involved, but it is more simple in English than in any other language. There are fewer changes in the verb form in order to express time and person. Do not rely on the memorizing of the rules. Rules never made one a fluent speaker. Write sentences in which the correct form is used. Read aloud from the best authors until the sound of the words is familiar and they come readily to the tongue. We have used for the exercises in these lessons excerpts from the best authors.

Study these exercises carefully and note the use of the different verbs especially, this week. Verbs, like all else, are yours to command. Command them.

    Yours for Education,
    THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

PROGRESSIVE VERB PHRASES

132. We have learned how to form the three principal time forms, present, past and future and the perfect or completed form of each of the three, present perfect, past perfect and future perfect. And still we have such a wonderful language that we can express other shades of meaning in time.

133. There is still another phase of action which we must have a verb phrase to express. Suppose you want to describe something you are now doing and are continuing to do, something not yet completed. To say, I do it now, is not satisfactory. Instead we say, I am doing it now.

You have by the verb phrase, am doing, described a progressive action, an action going on in the present. You may also want to describe what you were doing yesterday, an action that continued or progressed in the past. You would not say, I built the house yesterday but, I was building the house yesterday. Again you may want to describe an action which will be progressing or going on in the future. You do not say, I shall build the house next week but, I shall be building the house next week.

So we have progressive verb phrases.

134.The present progressive describes an action as continuing or progressing in the present.

It is formed by using the present time form of the verbbeand the present participle.

You remember that the present participle is formed by adding ing to the simple form of the verb.

135.The past progressive time form describes an action which was continuing or progressing in the past. It is formed by using the past time form of the verbbeand the present participle.

136.The future progressive describes an action which will be progressing or going on in the future. It is formed by using the future time form of the verbbeand the present participle.

137. The perfect time forms also have a progressive form. There is a difference of meaning in the present perfect and its progressive form. You say for instance, I have tried all my life to be free. You mean you have tried until the present time and the inference is that now you have ceased to try. But, if you say, I have been trying all my life to be free, we understand that you have tried and are still trying.

138.So we have the present perfect progressive which describes an action which progressed in the past and continued up to the present time. It is formed by using the present perfect form of the verbbeand the present participle.

139.The past perfect progressive describes an action which was continuing or progressing at some past time. It is formed by using the past perfect time form of the verbbeand the present participle.

140.The future perfect progressive describes an action which will be progressing at some future time. It is formed by using the future perfect time form of the verbbeand the present participle.

Exercise 1

In the following sentences mark all the progressive forms, and note whether they are present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect or future perfect.

1. The old order is passing.

2. Men will be struggling for freedom so long as slavery exists.

3. The class struggle has been growing more intense as wealth has accumulated.

4. The workers are realizing their power.

5. He had been talking for an hour when we arrived.

6. Next Monday I shall have been working for one year.

7. The workers will be paying interest on war debts for generations to come unless they repudiate.

8. While Marx was writing his books, he lived in abject poverty.

9. The Industrial Relations Commission has been investigating industrial conditions.

10. Ferrer was martyred because the Modern Schools were educating the people.

11. The nations of Europe had been preparing for war for many years.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

141. Notice carefully the following sentences; select the subjects in these sentences which show who or what performed the action; select the subjects that show who or what receives the action. Do you notice any difference in the meaning of these sentences? Do you notice any difference in their form?

The engine struck the man.