COMMON ERRORS
241. Here are a number of common errors which only constant practice and watchfulness can overcome. Study these over and watch your conversation closely. Force yourself to speak correctly for a time, and soon correct speech will become a habit.
1. Do not use both a noun and a pronoun as the subject of a sentence; as, John, he waited for me. Mary, she refused to go. Leave out the pronouns he and she in these sentences. They are unnecessary and incorrect.
2. Never use hern, ourn, hisn or yourn for hers, ours, his and yours; as, The book is hisn. Ourn stopped on the first. Did you get yourn? Say: This book is his. Ours stopped on the first. Did you get yours?
3. Never say hisself for himself. There is no such word as hisself. Do not say, He hurt hisself. Say, He hurt himself.
4. Do not say them for those; as, Did you bring them songs? Them things are not right. Say, Did you bring those songs? Those things are not right.
5. Do not use an apostrophe in writing the possessive forms of pronouns, as her's, our's, it's. Leave out the apostrophe and write hers, ours, its.
6. Do not use who to relate to animals or things; as, The dog who bit me was killed. Say, The dog that bit me was killed.
7. Do not use myself as the subject. It can be used only as an emphatic or reflexive pronoun. It is correct to say, I found the book myself, and I hurt myself. But do not say, They asked my friend and myself, or Myself and my wife will go. Say, They asked my friend and me. My wife and I will go.
8. Avoid the use of pronouns when the reference to the antecedent is not clear. Better repeat the nouns or re-write the sentence. For example:
He said to his friend that if he did not feel better soon he thought he had better go home.
Now you can interpret this in at least four different ways. No one but the speaker can ever know to whom the pronouns he refer, whether to the speaker or to his friend. Or in the sentence,
A tried to see B in the crowd, but could not because he was so short.
Who was short, A or B? John's father died before he was born. Did John's father die before John was born or did John's father die before John's father, himself, was born? Be careful in the use of pronouns in this way.
9. Remember that I, we, he, she, they and who are always used as subject forms and also as the complement of all forms of the verb be.
10. Remember that me, him, her, them, us and whom are always object forms. Never say, They charged he and I too much. Say, They charged him and me too much. In an attempt to speak correctly and follow the niceties of English, this mistake is so often made. Always use the object form as the object of a verb or preposition.
11. When a participle is used as a noun, and a pronoun is used with it, the pronoun should always be in the possessive form. We make this mistake so frequently. For example, we say: Us going there was a mistake. We should have used the possessive form, Our going there was a mistake. I have never known of him being absent from work. We should say: I have never known of his being absent from work. Did he tell you about me joining with them? This should be, Did he tell you about my joining with them? You talking to him set him to thinking. This should be, Your talking to him set him to thinking. Watch this and wherever you have used a participle as a noun, use the pronoun in the possessive form, as you would with any other noun.
12. Watch carefully that the number of the pronoun always agrees with the number of its antecedent. If you are speaking of one person or thing use a singular pronoun. If you are speaking of more than one person or thing in your antecedent, use the plural pronoun. For example: Each man must do his own work. The soldiers fully understood their danger.
13. When a singular noun, in the common gender (this means that it may name either a male or female being), is the antecedent of the pronoun, it is customary for us to use the masculine pronoun. For example:
Every student should send in his examination paper promptly.
Every member of the class may select his own subject.
Do not use the pronoun their when the antecedent is a singular noun.
SUMMARY
Pronoun—In Place of a Noun
Exercise 1
Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of I, me, or myself, in the blank spaces:
1. My partner and......joined the union.
2. They asked Henry and......to go.
3. May my friend and......call?
4. I will attend to that.......
5. Let my comrade and......go with you.
6. Are you sure it was......?
7. I blame......for joining with them.
8. They accused......of bothering them.
9. I am nearly beside......with grief.
10. The manager dismissed the men......among the rest.
Exercise 2
Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of we, us or ourselves in the blank spaces:
1. They are better off than.......
2. The French as well as......claim a war of defense.
3. Can you blame......who have always stood by you?
4. We will do that for.......
5. Between......comrades there should be no differences.
6. They gave......men work.
7. Do not trouble;......will attend to this.......
8. They sent a special notice to our friends and.......
Exercise 3
Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of thou, thee, thy or thyself in the blank spaces:
1. To......be true, and it follows as the night the day...... canst not then be false to any man.
2. Paul,......art beside......; much learning hath made ......mad.
3. ......shalt love......neighbor as.......
4. Trust....... Every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Exercise 4
Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of he, him, or himself in the blank spaces:
1. ......and John are to blame.
2. I think it was.......
3. My friend and......called on you.
4. He blamed......for the accident.
5. You are no better than.......
6. I shall call for you and.......
7. You and......must come on time.
8. He found the place.......
9. There should be no quarrel between you and......who loves you.
10. If you were......would you go?
Exercise 5
Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of she, her, or herself in the blank spaces:
1. They asked Mary and......to go.
2. Mary and......went.
3. May......and I go with you?
4. Let......and Harry go.
5. Is that Mary? Yes, it is.......
6. There are many points of difference between......and me.
7. You are more beautiful than.......
8. She brought it to me.......
9. If......and I join you, will you go?
10. They must not quarrel over......and me.
Exercise 6
Complete the following sentences using the correct form of they, them, or themselves in the blank spaces:
1. They gave......up.
2. ......and I will finish the work.
3. I found......where......hath thrown......down to rest.
4. I am sure it was......for I saw......plainly.
5. The workers enslave......by their lack of solidarity.
6. ......must learn the lesson.......
Exercise 7
Cross out the wrong word in the following sentences:
1. Everybody do—does as he pleases—they please.
2. No one should waste his—their opportunities.
3. The jury rendered its—their verdict.
4. If anyone wishes war, let him—them do the fighting.
5. The audience displayed its—their approval by its—their applause.
6. The audience remained quietly in its—their seats.
7. The jury adjourned for its—their dinner.
8. Nobody willingly gives up his—their rights.
9. Each one may express his—their opinion.
10. Every man received his—their wages.
Exercise 8
Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of the pronouns who, whose, or whom:
1. ......do you think I am?
2. I am the man......you taught yesterday.
3. With......are you going?
4. The contract was let to a man......we are sure cannot fulfill it.
5. The contractor......wishes to bid will come tomorrow.
6. On......are you depending?
7. The friends......counsel I took, stood by me.
8. He is a man......I am sure will succeed.
9. We tried to talk to those......we thought would understand us.
10. For......did you work?
Exercise 9
Insert who, whose, whom, which, that or what in the blanks in the following sentences:
1. Man is the only animal......uses a written speech.
2. Can you save......you earn?
3. Ricardo's law was that the workers always receive a wage......permits them to produce and reproduce.
4. Have you read the book "War, What For"......Kirkpatrick wrote?
5. Newspapers......distort the news......they print to serve the ruling class are dangerous foes to the workers.
6. The massacre at Ludlow was an event......aroused the working class.
7. They......live by the labor of others are drones in society and should be given the fate......they deserve.
8. The big machine gun......will destroy slavery is the printing press.
9. The man......leadership we should follow is he......preaches social equality.
Exercise 10
In the following quotations note the use of the pronouns and mark whether they are personal, relative or interrogative, whether they are used in the subject form, possessive form or object form:
1. "Camerado, I give you my hand,
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself, will you come travel with me,
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?"
2. "I think I could turn and live with animals they are so placid and self-contained,
I stand and look at them long and long, they do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dis-satisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things.
Not one kneels to another nor to his kind, that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."—Whitman.
Exercise 11
Note the omission of the antecedent in the first sentence, also the use of the relative what in the last sentence of the first paragraph:
"Whoso would be a man, must be nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which, when quite young, I was prompted to make to a valued adviser who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, "What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?" my friend suggested—"But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the devil's child, I will live then from the devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it.
A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Out upon your guarded lips! Sew them up with pack threads, do. Else, if you would be a man, speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon balls, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though you contradict everything you said today. Ah, then, exclaim the aged ladies, you shall be sure to be misunderstood. Misunderstood! It is a right fool's word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."—Emerson.
SPELLING
LESSON 13
There are a few more rules governing the spelling of derivative words. Words ending in silent e keep the e before the suffix beginning with a consonant. Notice the following words:
Words ending in silent e drop the e before the suffix beginning with a vowel, as:
Some words ending in silent e retain the e before the suffix beginning with a vowel, to prevent a change in the pronunciation or to preserve the identity of the word. Notice the following words:
These are words ending in the soft sound of c and g, where the e is retained to preserve the correct pronunciation of the c and g, and with some few words like toe, dye, etc., where the dropping of the e would lose the identity of the word.
The e is dropped in a few words before the suffix beginning with a consonant, as in wholly, nursling, judgment, wisdom, lodgment.
Add the suffixes ment and ing to the words in Monday's lesson; the suffix able to the words for Tuesday and Wednesday; the suffixes some and ous to the words for Thursday; the suffixes ly or ness to the words for Friday and Saturday.
Monday
Excite
Advise
Chastise
Disfranchise
Enslave
Tuesday
Manage
Receive
Blame
Exchange
Imagine
Wednesday
Admire
Service
Desire
Peace
Pronounce
Thursday
Whole
Meddle
Courage
Advantage
Outrage
Friday
Accurate
Positive
False
Definite
Distinct
Saturday
Agreeable
Careful
Awful
Sure
Secure
PLAIN ENGLISH
LESSON 14
Dear Comrade:
You remember our definition of a word; a word is the sign of an idea. In our lessons we have been studying the different kinds of words which we use in the expression of our complete thoughts. Probably the first step in the development of language was to name the objects about us. Then the next logical step would be to invent words which would tell what these objects did. So we have our nouns, which are the names of things; our verbs, which tell what these things do; and in these we have the foundation for spoken and written speech. We soon found, however, that the constant repetition of a name was tiresome and annoying, so we invented words which we could use in place of these nouns; and we have pronouns.
All of the things about us possess certain qualities and our next great need was for words to describe these qualities; so we have adjectives. Each adjective is a sign of an idea. It adds its part to the expression of our complete thought. So we find that each part of speech comes logically in its place to fill a certain need. Without any one of them, we would be crippled in our power of expression. Each different word is the sign of an idea and the combination of these ideas as represented by the various signs gives us the complete expression of our thought.
So primitive man in the development of written speech had signs to express the various things about him. Naturally his first sign was a picture, as nearly as he could draw it, of the object itself. If he wanted to tell you about a tree he drew a picture of the tree; the picture of a man represented a man, and so on. You will notice among children that this is the first development in their endeavor to express their thoughts in writing. They draw pictures. The average small child cannot understand why you read those strange marks on the page. They want you to read the pictures. To their mind that is the only way to communicate ideas.
These early forefathers of ours grew to be very adept at this picture writing. We have examples of this among the Indians of our own country. There is a picture on the face of a big rock on the shores of Lake Superior which records an expedition across the lake led by a noted Indian chief. Canoes are shown in the picture with the crew denoted by a series of upright strokes and there is a picture of the chief on horseback. You or I would have great difficulty in reading this picture writing, but an Indian could read it right off just as we would read a written page. Aids to memory such as knotted strings and tally sticks were the first step toward written speech. This picture writing was the second step toward the development of written speech.
We owe a great deal to the work which these primitive ancestors of ours accomplished. It took them years and years to develop through these different stages and our rapid development of the last few centuries has only been made possible because of this slow and patient building of the foundation. An understanding of this helps us to appreciate the place we occupy in this great struggle of the ages. The power of written speech opens up to us such tremendous possibilities. Let us make the most of them, that we too may hand on worth while things to those who follow us.
Yours for Education,THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
CLASSES OF ADJECTIVES
242. Adjectives, like nouns and pronouns, are divided into classes. Adjectives are divided into two main classes, qualifying and limiting.
243. An adjective which qualifies a noun is one which names some quality which is possessed by the word which it modifies. When we say, Trees grow, we are making a general statement; that is, we are saying something that is true of any kind of trees. We have not described any particular tree. But when we say, The tall trees grow, The old trees grow, The young trees grow, the words tall, old and young describe certain qualities of the trees, which separate them into classes. So these adjectives are qualifying adjectives.
An adjective qualifies a noun when it attributes some quality to the noun, as, The brave man, The sweet apple, The pretty girl, The large house, etc.
244. But if we say, this tree, that tree, some trees, many trees, three trees, or four trees, we are not giving any quality of the tree, but are pointing out a particular tree or trees and limiting the word to the ones pointed out. So such adjectives as the, this, that, some, many, three and four are limiting adjectives. An adjective limits a noun when it restricts or limits its meaning as to quantity or number.
245. So adjectives are divided into two classes, qualifying adjectives and limiting adjectives.
Words that limit or qualify other words are called modifiers because they modify or affect the meaning of the words to which they are added. So adjectives are modifiers of the nouns and pronouns to which they are added because they modify or qualify or limit the meaning of the noun or pronoun.
The limiting adjectives answer the questions which and how many. The qualifying adjectives answer the questions which and what kind.
246. A qualifying adjective is an adjective which describes the noun it modifies by attributing to it some quality.
A limiting adjective is an adjective which merely shows which one or how many, without describing the noun it modifies.
HOW TO DISCOVER AN ADJECTIVE
247. Sometimes the noun may have several adjectives qualifying or modifying it; as,
The beautiful, old elm tree shades the lawn.
The, beautiful, old and elm, all modify tree, telling something of the qualities or pointing out which tree we are speaking of. You can discover an adjective in a sentence by asking the questions, which, what kind, or how many; and the words that answer these questions will be the adjectives in the sentence. For example in this sentence:
Those three immense factories employ thousands of men.
Factories is the noun, subject of the sentence. Which factory is indicated by the adjective those. How many factories is indicated by the adjective three. What kind of factories is indicated by the adjective immense. So we have three adjectives answering the three questions, which, what kind and how many.
Exercise 1
In the following sentences the adjectives are printed in italics. Study them carefully and determine which are qualifying and which are limiting adjectives. Note that the possessive nouns and possessive pronouns are not adjectives. Its in the phrases its cruel fangs and its savage claws, is a possessive pronoun, third person singular. In the last sentence beggar's, miser's, and Ingersoll's, are nouns in the possessive form.
This terrible war in Europe is slaughtering the working-class.
Gaunt famine follows war.
A docile, meek, humble, working-class makes war possible.
The shrieking shell snarls like a living thing; like some wild beast in ferocious glee it thrusts its cruel fangs in earth and rock and rends living flesh with its savage claws.
Its fetid breath of poison powder scorches in the autumn winds.
Shattered bones, torn flesh and flowing blood were mingled on the battlefield with broken swords and split rifles.
The best modern rifles will force a bullet through five human bodies at a range of twelve hundred feet.
The pitiful dead, slain in war, sleep under the solemn pines, the sad hemlock, the tearful willow and the embracing vines.
A world without the beggar's outstretched palm, the miser's heartless stony stare, the piteous wail of want, the livid lips of lies, the cruel eyes of scorn, was Ingersoll's vision of the future.