Chapter II (6)

There is a rich mine of words at your disposal. Do not be satisfied with bits of glass that have no value, when the rich diamonds of real expression can be yours for just a little digging. Save your emotional language for the time when you really need it to express deep emotion.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

INTERJECTIONS

+386.+ We have been studying the parts of speech,--the elements of which sentences are composed. But we have another class of words which we call parts of speech because they are spoken and written as words, but which are really not parts of speech in the same sense as the words which we have been discussing. These are words which we call interjections.

Interjection means, literally, thrown between, from _jecto_, to throw, and _inter_, between. So interjections do not enter into the construction of sentences but are only thrown in between. Every word that is really a part of the sentence is either a noun, a pronoun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, a preposition or a conjunction.

There are words, however, that we use with sentences which do not enter into the construction. For example, you say:

Oh! I am wounded.
Aha! I have conquered.
Alas! He came too late.

+387.+ Words which we use in these sentences, like, _oh_, _aha_, _alas_, are used to express the emotion which you feel in making the statement. Your _Oh!_ in a sentence like: _Oh! I am wounded_, would probably sound very much like a groan. But your _Aha!_ in the, _Aha! I have conquered_, will sound like a shout of victory, and your _Alas!_ in the sentence, _Alas! He came too late_, will express grief or regret over the fact that he came too late.

These words do not assert anything and very much of the meaning which we give them must come from the tone in which they are uttered. Every one, upon hearing them, knows at once whether they express grief or delight.

+388.+ +An interjection is an exclamatory word or phrase used to express feeling or to imitate some sound.+

+389.+ Interjections may be divided into four classes:

1. +Words which we use instead of an assertion to express feeling of various kinds+, as:

(a) Surprise or wonder; as, _Oh_, _Aha_, _What_.
(b) Pleasure, joy, or exaltation; as, _Hurrah_, _Ha, Ha_.
(c) Pain, sadness or sorrow; as, _Alas_, _Alack_.
(d) Contempt or disgust; as _Fie_, _Fudge_, _Ugh_, _Pshaw_.

2. +Words used instead of a question+; as, _Eh?_ _Hey?_

3. +Words used instead of a command+; as:

(a) To call attention; as, _Hello_, _Ahoy_, _Whoa_.
(b) To express silence; as, _Shh_, _Hush_, _Hist_.
(c) To direct or drive out, etc., as, _Whoa_, _Gee_, _Haw_, _Scat_.

4. +Words used to imitate sounds made by animals, machines, etc.+, as, _Bow-wow_, _Ding-dong_, _Bang_, _Rub-a-dub_.

When we wish to imitate noises or sounds made by animals, machines, etc., in writing, we spell out the words as nearly as we can, just as we write _ding-dong_ to represent the sound of the bell or _tick-tock_ to indicate the ticking of a clock.

Note that a number of our verbs and nouns have been formed from imitating the sound which these nouns or verbs describe or express, as for instance, _crash_, _roar_, _buzz_, _hush_, _groan_, _bang_, _puff_, etc.

Exercise 1

Mark the interjections in the following sentences. Which express surprise? Which joy? Which sorrow? Which disgust?

1. Alas! We shall never meet again.
2. Bravo! You have done well.
3. Pshaw! Is that the best you can do?
4. Ship ahoy! All hands on deck.
5. Hello! When did you come?
6. Hurrah! We have won the victory.
7. Alas, alack! Those days will never come again.
8. Hist! You must be as still as mice.

Exercise 2

Write sentences using an interjection to express: 1. Joy. 2. Surprise. 3. Pain. 4. Sorrow. 5. Disgust. 6. To ask a question. 7. To call attention. 8. To silence. 9. To direct. 10. To imitate the sound made by an animal. 11. By a machine.

EXCLAMATORY WORDS

+390.+ Interjections express only emotion or feeling. They do not express ideas. However, we have a number of words which are used somewhat as interjections are used, which we may class as exclamatory words, but they express more than interjections, for they express ideas as well as emotions; but, like interjections, they are used independently and have no part in the construction of the sentence.

+391.+ Many ordinary words and phrases are used in this way as exclamations. When they are so used they have no place in the construction of the sentence; that is, they do not depend upon the sentence in which they are used, in any way. A noun used in this way is not used as the subject or the object, but simply as an exclamation.

For example; the noun _nonsense_ may be used as an interjection, as in the sentence; _Nonsense! I do not believe a word of it_. In this sentence, _nonsense_ is a noun used as an interjection and plays no part in the sentence, either as subject or object, but is an independent construction. There are a number of words used in this way:

1. Nouns and pronouns, as _fire_, _mercy_, _shame_, _nonsense_, _the idea_, _what_.

2. Verbs like, _help_, _look_, _see_, _listen_, _hark_, _behold_, _begone_.

3. Adjectives like, _good_, _well_, _brave_, _welcome_, _strange_.

4. Adverbs like, _out_, _indeed_, _how_, _why_, _back_, _forward_.

5. Prepositions like, _on_, _up_, _down_.

6. Phrases like, _Oh dear_, _dear me_, _good bye_.

Words and phrases such as these, used as exclamations, are not true interjections, for they express a little more than feeling. They express an idea which, in our haste, we do not completely express. The other words necessary to the expression of the idea are omitted because of the stress of emotion. For example:

Silence! I will hear no more.

In this sentence it is understood that we mean, _Let us have silence, I will hear no more_. But in the stress of our emotion, we have omitted the words, _Let us have_.

If we say, _Good! that will do splendidly_, you know that we mean, _That is good_, we have simply omitted _That is_, which is necessary to complete the sentence. Sometimes when we are greatly excited we abandon our sentence construction altogether and use only the most important words. For example:

A sail! a sail!

This is not a sentence, for it does not contain a verb, yet we know that what was meant was, _I see a sail, I see a sail_.

Exercise 3

Write sentences using the words given in the foregoing list as exclamatory words, and add as many more to the list as you can think of.

YES AND NO

+392.+ The words _yes_ and _no_, which we use in reply to questions were originally adverbs, but we no longer use them as adverbs. We no longer combine them with other words as modifying or limiting words, but use them independently. They are in themselves complete answers. Thus, if you ask me the question, _Will you come?_ I may say _Yes_, meaning, _I will come_; or, _No_, meaning, _I will not come_.

The responsives _yes_ and _no_ thus stand for whole sentences, so they are really independent words. We may use them in connection with other sentences. For example; I may say, _Yes, I will come_, or _No, I will not come_. Used in this way, they still retain an independent construction in the sentence. We call them responsives because they are used in response to questions.

OTHER INDEPENDENT EXPRESSIONS

+393.+ Other words may be used in an independent construction in sentences, without depending upon the sentence in which they are used or without having the sentences depend upon them, such as:

1. +A word used in address.+ For example:

Mr. President, I move that a committee be now appointed.
Fellow Workers, I rise to address you.

In these sentences, _Mr. President_ and _Fellow Workers_ are nouns used independently; that is, they are neither the subject of the sentence nor used as object or predicate complement. They are independent of all other words in the sentence.

The most common use of words used independently in direct address occurs with imperative sentences. For example:

_Comrades_, rouse yourselves.
_Men_, strike for freedom.

2. +Exclamatory expressions.+ These are nouns used in the manner in which we have already discussed, as in the sentence:

_Nonsense!_ I do not believe a word of it.
Alas! poor _Yorick_! I knew him well.

3. +Words and phrases used parenthetically+, as for example:

_By the way_, I met a friend of yours today.
We cannot, _however_, join you at once.
He called, _it seems_, while we were gone.

In these sentences such words as, _however_, and such phrases as, _by the way_, and, _it seems_, are used independently,--in parenthesis, as it were; that is, they are just thrown into the sentences in such a way that they do not modify or depend upon any other word in the sentence. When we analyze our sentences, these independent words are not considered as elements of the sentences in which they are used. It is sufficient to say that they are independent words.

4. +Conjunctions used as introductory words.+ We have noted the use of conjunctions like the co-ordinates _and_, _but_, etc., and the subordinates _because_, _in order that_, _so_, _for_, _wherefore_, _how_, _whether_, etc., which are used to introduce sentences and connect them in thought with sentences and paragraphs which have gone before.

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

+394.+ +We have a number of words which we use to introduce our sentences.+ They are such words as, _so_, _well_ and _why_. These are ordinarily adverbs, but when they are used merely to introduce a sentence they retain little of their adverbial force. For example:

_So_, that is your only excuse.
_Well_, I cannot understand why you should accept it.
_Why_, that is no reason at all.

In these sentences, _so_, _well_ and _why_ do not modify any of the words in the sentences, but are used merely to introduce the sentences. They serve in a measure to connect them with something which has gone before.

+395.+ +The adverb _there_ is also used as an introductory word.+ When it is used in this manner, it loses its adverbial force. _There_, as ordinarily used, is an adverb of place, but it is often used to introduce a sentence. For example: _There is some mistake about it_. In this sentence _there_ is not used as an adverb, but it is used simply as an introductory word. It is used to introduce a sentence in which the verb comes before the real subject. _Mistake_ is the real subject of the verb is, and _there_ is used simply as the introductory word.

+396.+ +The indefinite pronoun _it_ is also used as an introductory word+, to introduce a sentence in much the same manner as _there_. The real subject of the verb occurs later in the sentence. For example:

It is best to know the truth.

This could be written, _To know the truth is best_, and the entire meaning of the sentence would be conveyed.

+397.+ +Adverbs of mode.+ You remember in our study of adverbs, we had certain adverbs which were called adverbs of mode. These are used to modify the entire sentence. They express the feeling in which the entire sentence is uttered. Adverbs of mode may be regarded also as independent words. They are such words as, _indeed_, _surely_, _certainly_, _perhaps_, etc. For example:

_Indeed_, I cannot tell you now.
_Surely_, I will comply with your request.
_Perhaps_ it may be true.
I _certainly_ hope to do so before long.

Exercise 4

Note in the following sentences the words which are pure interjections, and those which are other parts of speech used as exclamatory words. Mark those which are used in direct address, those which are used parenthetically, and those which are used as mere introductory words.

1. Oh, it seems impossible to believe it.
2. Surely, you will accept my word.
3. Nonsense, there is not the least truth in the story.
4. It will be impossible for us to join.
5. Therefore we urge you to join in this campaign.
6. There is only one solution to the problem.
7. It is difficult to discover the true facts.
8. Well, I have done my best to persuade you.
9. Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order.
10. Comrades, come and stand for your rights.
11. Yes, I have studied that philosophy.
12. Enough! we have been enslaved too long.
13. Hark! we hear the tramp of the army of labor.
14. Alas! that any should refuse to join in this battle.
15. You have not, it seems, understood the issue.
16. Indeed, solidarity is our only hope.
17. Br-r-r-r-r-r-r, thus whirl the machines that grind our children's
lives.
18. Hush! Over the crash of the cannon sounds the wail of Europe's
women and children.

EXPLANATORY WORDS

+398.+ We sometimes use words which do not belong in the construction of a sentence to explain other words in the sentence. For example:

We, _the undersigned_, subscribe as follows:
Helen Keller, _the most wonderful woman of this age_, champions the
cause of the working class.

In the first sentence, the words, _the undersigned_, are added to the pronoun _we_ to explain who _we_ means. In the second sentence, the words, _the most wonderful woman of this age_, are added to explain who Helen Keller is. Words added to other words in this way are called explanatory words. They are placed in apposition to the noun which they explain. Apposition means _by the side of_, or _in position near_. You remember that in clauses we found that a clause may be placed in apposition with a noun to explain the meaning of that noun. For example:

There is an old saying, _in union there is strength_.

These words in apposition may themselves be modified or limited by other words or phrases or clauses. For example:

Helen Keller, the most wonderful woman of this age, champions the
cause of the working class.

In this sentence, _woman_ is the noun placed in apposition to the particular name, Helen Keller, and the noun _woman_ is modified by the adjectives _the_, and _wonderful_, and by the phrase _of this age_.

Sometimes a second explanatory word is placed in apposition to the first one. This is quite often the case in legal documents or resolutions, where the language is quite formal. For example:

We, the undersigned, _members of Local No. 38_, do hereby move, etc.
I, John Smith, _Notary Public_, in and for the county of Clay, etc.

These words, _undersigned_ and _members_, are both placed in apposition to the pronoun _We_, explaining to whom that pronoun refers.

Exercise 5

In the following sentences note the explanatory words and their modifiers:

1. Wendell Phillips, the great abolitionist, was a man of genius.
2. Buckle, the historian, writes from the view point of the
materialistic conception of history.
3. Giovannitti, the poet, wrote "Arrows in the Gale."
4. Helen Keller, champion of the working class, wrote the introduction
to this book.
5. We, the workers of the world, will some day claim our own.
6. He was found guilty of treason, a crime punishable by death.
7. Ferrer, the martyr of the twentieth century, was put to death by
the Spanish government.
8. Jaures, the great French socialist, was the first martyr to peace.
9. But ye, Plebs, Populace, People, Rabble, Mob, Proletariat, live and
abide forever.
10. Ye are eternal, even as your father, labor, is eternal.
11. This document, the Constitution of the United States, hinders the
progress of the people.
12. The memory of Guttenberg, the inventor of the printing press,
should be reverenced by every class-conscious worker.
13. Wallace, the scientist and author, was co-discoverer with Darwin
of the theory of evolution.
14. Karl Marx, the thinker, applied this theory to social forces.
15. Do you understand the three basic principles of Socialism--the
class struggle, economic determinism and surplus value?

Exercise 6

Read the following list of words and note the ideas which they suggest to you, then make sentences containing these words, _modified by a word or group of words in apposition_, which explain more fully these words.

Law, martyr, society, education, inventor, commander, freedom, Eugene
V. Debs, Karl Marx, Kaiser Wilhelm, The Balkan, Lawrence, Colorado,
Calumet.

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTION

+399.+ We have found that every word in a sentence bears some relation to every other word, except these words which we have been studying, which we use independently. These explanatory words which we have just been studying are not used independently, but do in a sense modify the noun with which they are placed in apposition. Sometimes we place a noun or a pronoun and its modifiers alongside the whole sentence and it does not really modify any part of the sentence, but modifies the whole sentence in a way, for it expresses an attendant thought or an accompanying circumstance. For example:

The workers being unorganized, the strike was easily defeated.
The strikers having won, work was resumed on their terms.

_The workers being unorganised_ and _the strikers having won_ are not clauses for they do not contain a verb. _Being unorganized_ and _having won_ are participles. Neither do they modify any word in the sentence. They are not placed in apposition with any other word. While they do express a thought in connection with the sentence, in construction they seem to be cut loose from the rest of the sentence; that is, they are not closely connected with the sentence, hence they are called absolute constructions. _Ab_ means from, and _solute_, loose; so this means, literally, loose from the rest of the sentence.

We speak of these as absolute constructions, instead of independent, because the thought expressed is connected with the main thought of the sentence and is really a part of it. Notice that the noun used in the absolute construction is not the _subject_ of the sentence.

Take the sentence, _The workers being unorganized, the strike was_ _easily defeated_, the noun _strike_ is the subject of the sentence, and the noun _workers_ is used in the absolute construction with the participle, _being unorganized_.

These absolute constructions can ordinarily be rewritten into adverb clauses. For example, this sentence might read: _The strike was easily defeated because the workers were unorganized_. Do not make the mistake of rewriting your sentences and using the noun in the absolute construction as the subject of the sentence. For example:

The workers, being unorganized, were easily defeated.

This is not the meaning of this sentence. The meaning of the sentence is that the _strike_ was easily defeated _because_ the workers were unorganized. But the adverb clause, _because the workers were unorganized_, instead of being written as an adverb clause, has been written in the absolute construction, _the workers being unorganized_.

While it is nearly always possible to change these absolute constructions into adverb clauses the sentences are sometimes weakened by the change. These absolute constructions often enable us to make a statement in a stronger manner than we could make it with a clause or in any other way.

Exercise 7

In the following sentences, note the groups of words which are used in absolute construction. Rewrite these sentences and if possible change these words used in absolute construction into equivalent adverb phrases or clauses. Note how some of the sentences are weakened when you make this change.

1. _Nationalism having been taught to generation after generation_,
the workers obeyed the call of the master class to slaughter their
fellow workers.
2. _The hour having arrived_, Ferrer was blindfolded and led forth to
die.
3. _The mass being without education_, capitalism gains an easy
victory.
4. _The class struggle being a fact_, why should we hesitate to join
our class?
5. _These facts being true_, such a conclusion is inevitable.
6. _Darwin having stated the theory of evolution_, Marx applied its
principles to social science.
7. _Chattel slavery having been destroyed_, wage-slavery became the
corner stone of capitalism.
8. _The price having been paid_, we claim our own.
9. _The battle ended_, the army left the trenches.

Exercise 8

Mark the interjections in the following quotations. Note the independent constructions. Mark the words used as explanatory words in apposition.

In the mind's eye, I see a wonderful building, something like the
Coliseum of ancient Rome. The galleries are black with people; tier
upon tier rise like waves the multitude of spectators who have come to
see a great contest. A great contest, indeed! A contest in which all
the world and all the centuries are interested. It is the contest--the
fight to death--between Truth and Error.

The door opens, and a slight, small, shy and insignificant looking
thing steps into the arena. It is Truth. The vast audience bursts into
hilarious and derisive laughter. What! Is this Truth? This shuddering
thing in tattered clothes, and almost naked? And the house shakes
again with mocking and hisses.

The door opens again, and Error enters--clad in cloth of gold,
imposing in appearance, tall of stature, glittering with gems, sleek
and huge and ponderous, causing the building to tremble with the thud
of its steps. The audience is for a moment dazzled into silence, then
it breaks into applause, long and deafening. "Welcome!" "Welcome!" is
the greeting from the multitude. "Welcome!" shout ten thousand
throats.

The two contestants face each other. Error, in full armor--backed by
the sympathies of the audience, greeted by the clamorous cheering of
the spectators; and Truth, scorned, scoffed at, and hated. "The issue
is a foregone conclusion," murmurs the vast audience. "Error will
trample Truth under its feet."

The battle begins. The two clinch, separate, and clinch again. Truth
holds its own. The spectators are alarmed. Anxiety appears in their
faces. Their voices grow faint. Is it possible? Look! See! There!
Error recedes! It fears the gaze of Truth! It shuns its beauteous
eyes! Hear it shriek and scream as it feels Truth's squeeze upon its
wrists. Error is trying to break away from Truth's grip. It is making
for the door. It is gone!

The spectators are mute. Every tongue is smitten with the palsy. The
people bite their lips until they bleed. They cannot explain what they
have seen. "Oh! who would have believed it?" "Is it possible?"--they
exclaim. But they cannot doubt what their eyes have seen--that puny
and insignificant looking thing called Truth has put ancient and
entrenched Error, backed by the throne, the altar, the army, the
press, the people and the gods--to rout.

The pursuit of truth! Is it not worth living for? To seek the truth,
to love the truth, to live the truth? Can any religion offer
more?--_Mangasarian_.

SPELLING

LESSON 23

Many words contain letters for which there are no corresponding sounds in the spoken words. Thus, in the spoken word _though_ there are only two sounds, the _th_ and the _o_; _u_ and _g_ and _h_ are silent. There are a great many words in the English language which contain these silent letters. There has been a movement inaugurated for the purpose of simplifying the spelling of these words, omitting these silent letters. Some writers have adopted this method of simplified spelling, and so in some magazines and books which you read you will find these silent letters dropped; for example, you will find _though_ spelled _tho_, _through_ spelled _thru_.

This method of simplified spelling has not been universally adopted and we have not followed it in these lessons because we feared that it would be confusing. Probably in most of your reading you will find the old method of spelling followed and all of these silent letters included. No doubt, as time goes on, we shall adopt this simplified method of spelling and drop all of these silent and useless letters.

In our spelling lesson for this week we have a number of words containing silent letters.

+MONDAY+

In a number of words you will find _ea_ pronounced as short _e_. The board of simplified spelling has suggested that we drop the _a_, which is a silent letter, from these words. If we adopted their suggestion, words like _head_ would be spelled _hed_. Note the spelling of the following words in which _ea_ is pronounced as short _e_ and the _a_ is silent.

Spread, stead, threat, meant, pleasant, stealth.

+TUESDAY+

We have a number of words ending in _ough_ in which the _gh_ is silent.

1. In some of these words the _ou_ is pronounced like _ow_. We have already changed the spelling of a few of these words, for example, we no longer use _plough_, but write it _plow_.

2. In other words ending with _ough_ the _ugh_ is silent and the words end with a long _o_ sound, as in _though_. Many writers have dropped the silent letters ugh and spell this simply _tho_.

3. A few other words ending with _ough_ end with a _u_ sound and those who adopt the simplified spelling have dropped the _ough_ and used simply _u_, as in _through_; many writers spell it simply _thru_. Observe the spelling of the following words and mark the silent letters:

Bough, through, thorough, furlough, borough, though.

+WEDNESDAY+

We have a number of words ending in _mn_ in which the _n_ is silent. Note the spelling of the following words:

Autumn, solemn, column, kiln, hymn, condemn.

+THURSDAY+

We have a number of words containing a silent _b_. Notice the spelling of the following words:

Doubt, debt, dumb, limb, thumb, lamb.

+FRIDAY+

A number of words end with silent _ue_ after _g_. Some writers omit the ue and probably after a while we will drop this silent _ue_, but you will find it used now in most of your reading. These are such words as:

Catalogue, demagogue, decalogue, tongue, league, harangue.

+SATURDAY+

We have a number of words ending with _gh_ in which the _gh_ has the sound of _f_, as in the following words:

Trough, rough, enough, laugh, tough, cough.

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 24

Dear Comrade:

We have finished our study of the different parts of speech and are going to enter upon the work of sentence building. In the next few lessons we will gather up all that we have been studying in these lessons so far. This is a good time to give this work a thorough review. Perhaps there have been a number of things in the lessons which you have not thoroughly understood, or perhaps there have been some rules for which you have not seen the reason. Now as we begin to construct our sentences, all of this will fit into its place. We shall find the reason for many of the things which may not have seemed thoroughly clear to us.

There _is_ a science in language as in everything else, and language, after all, is governed by the will of the people. This has seemed so self-evident to those who make a special study of the language and its development that they have given this power a special name. They speak of the "Genius of the Language" as though there was some spirit guiding and directing the developing power of language.

There is a spirit guiding and directing the developing power of language. That spirit is the creative genius of the people. It is the same spirit that would guide and direct all phases of life into full and free expression, if it were permitted to act. There being no private profit connected with the control of the language, the creative genius of the people has had fuller sway.

The educator sitting in his study cannot make arbitrary rules to change or conserve the use of words. The people themselves are the final arbiter in language. It is the current usage among the masses which puts the final stamp upon any word. Think what this same creative genius might do if it were set free in social life, in industrial life. It would work out those principles which were best fitted to the advance of the people themselves. But those who would profit by the enslavement of the people have put stumbling blocks,--laws, conventions, morals, customs,--in the way of the people.

Their creative genius does not have full sway or free sweep, but let us rejoice that in language, at least, we are free. And let us, as we realize the power of the people manifest in this phase of life, determine that the same power shall be set free to work out its will in all life. Some day the revolution will come. The people will be free to rule themselves, to express their will, not in the realms of words alone, but in their social and economic life; and as we become free within, dare to think for ourselves and to demand our own, we each become a torch of the revolution, a center of rebellion--one of those who make straight the path for the future.

Yours for the Revolution,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

SENTENCE BUILDING

+400.+ Every expression of a complete thought is a sentence. A sentence is the unit in language. Words are the material out of which we build our sentences, so we have been studying the various parts of speech that are used in sentence building. Now we are ready to use these parts of speech in the building of sentences. We have found that there are eight parts of speech, though the interjection, which is termed the eighth part of speech, is not in reality a part of the sentence; but is a complete, independent construction. So in your sentences all of the many hundreds of words which we use can be grouped into seven divisions; _nouns_, _pronouns_, _adjectives_, _verbs_, _adverbs_, _prepositions_ and _conjunctions_.

+401.+ You remember in our first lesson we found that there were just three kinds of sentences. The _assertive_, the _interrogative_ and the _imperative_; or in other words, sentences which state a _fact_, ask a _question_ or give a _command_. We also found that these three kinds of sentences could all be expressed in _exclamatory_ form.

THREE KINDS OF SENTENCES

+Assertive.+ Makes a statement.
+Interrogative.+ Asks a question.
+Imperative.+ Gives a command.

+Assertive sentence;+ _I remember the day._
+Interrogative sentence;+ _Do you not remember the day?_
+Imperative sentence;+ _Remember the day._

In Exclamatory Form

+Assertive;+ _Nonsense! I remember the day._
+Interrogative;+ _What! Do you not remember the day?_
+Imperative;+ _Oh come! Remember the day._

ANALYSIS--SIMPLE SENTENCES

+402.+ Now that we have finished the study of the various parts of speech, we are ready for sentence building and for sentence analysis. Sentence analysis is the breaking up of the sentence into its different parts in order to find out how and why it is thus put together. To analyze anything is to break it up or separate it into its different parts. We speak of analyzing a sentence when we pick out the subject and the predicate and their modifiers, because we thus unloosen them or separate them from one another.

These parts of the sentence are called the elements of the sentence. The elements of a sentence consist of the words, phrases and clauses used in forming the sentence.

+403.+ Let us begin from the simplest beginning and build up our sentences, using the various parts of speech as we have studied them. Let us take the simplest form of sentence which we can consider. For example:

Men work.

There are only three parts of speech which can be used to make a simple sentence in this manner, and these are, either the noun and the verb, or the pronoun and the verb. We might say instead of _Men work_, _They work_, and have a complete sentence.

In the sentence _Men work_, _men_ is the subject and _work_ is the predicate. The subject and the predicate are the two principal elements in a sentence. No sentence can be formed without these two parts and these two parts can express a thought without the help of other elements. Now we may begin to enlarge the subject by adding modifiers.

You remember we have found that a noun may be modified by an adjective. So we add the adjective _busy_, and we have:

Busy men work.

Our simple subject is still the noun _men_, but the complete subject is the noun with its modifier, _busy men_. We may add other adjectives and say:

The busy, industrious men with families work.

Here we have our simple subject _men_ modified by the adjectives, _the_, _busy_ and _industrious_, and also by the adjective phrase, _with families_. So the complete subject of the sentence now is, _the busy, industrious men with families_.

Our predicate is still the single verb _work_. Let us now enlarge the predicate. We have found that adverbs are used to modify verbs, and so we may say:

The busy, industrious men with families work hard.
The busy, industrious men with families work hard in the factory.

Our simple predicate, _work_ is now enlarged. It is modified by the adverb, _hard_ and the adverb phrase, _in the factory_. So our complete predicate is now, _work hard in the factory_.

+404.+ These sentences with the simple subject and the simple predicate and their modifying words and phrases form simple sentences.

+A simple sentence is one which expresses a single statement, question or command.+

+405.+ A simple sentence, therefore, will contain but one subject and one predicate. The subject may be a compound subject and the predicate may be a compound predicate, but still the sentence expresses a single thought. For example: _The boys sing_. This is a simple statement with a simple subject and a simple predicate. Then we may say: _The boys sing and play_. We still have a single statement, but a compound predicate, _sing and play_.

Now we may make a compound subject, and say, _The boys and girls sing and play_, but we have still a single statement, for both predicates are asserted of both subjects. So, _The boys and girls sing and play_, is a simple sentence.

If we say, _The boys sing and the girls play_, we have a compound sentence, composed of two simple sentences, _The boys sing_, _The girls play_.

If we say, _The boys sing while the girls play_, we have a complex sentence formed of the simple sentence, _The boys sing_, and the dependent clause, _while the girls play_.

+406.+ Now let us sum up our definitions:

+Every sentence must contain two parts, a subject and a predicate.+

+The subject of a sentence is that part about which something is said.+

+The predicate is that part which asserts something of the subject.+

+The simple subject of a sentence is a noun, or the word used in place of a noun, without modifiers.+

+The simple predicate is the verb or verb phrase without its modifiers.+

+The complete subject of a sentence is the simple subject with all of its modifiers.+

+The complete predicate of a sentence is the simple predicate with all of its modifiers.+

+A simple sentence is one which expresses a single statement, question or command.+

+A complex sentence is one containing an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.+

+A compound sentence is one containing two or more independent clauses.+

+A clause is a part of a sentence containing a subject and a predicate.+

Exercise 1

In the following sentences the simple subject and the simple predicate are printed in _italics_. Find all of the modifiers of the subject and all of the modifiers of the predicate, and draw a single line under the complete subject and two lines under the complete predicate.

1. Beautiful _pictures hang_ on the wall.
2. Those elm _trees grow_ rapidly every year.
3. A terrible _storm broke_ unexpectedly at sea.
4. The clear, crystal _water runs_ swiftly to the sea.
5. The beautiful _flowers fade_ quickly in the heat.
6. The happy, boisterous _children play_ at school every day.
7. The sturdy _oak_ in the forest _stands_ bravely through every
storm.
8. Their arching _tops_ almost _speak_ to us.
9. A _cry_ of joy _rings_ through the land.
10. The _leaves_ of the trees _flutter_ in the wind.
11. Great _clouds_ of smoke _float_ in the air.

Exercise 2

Note carefully the following simple sentences. Each of these groups of two words will suggest ideas and pictures to you. Lengthen each sentence by adding modifiers to the simple subject and to the simple predicate so as to make a fuller and more definite statement. For example: _Ships sail_. This is a simple subject and simple predicate. We add adjectives and an adjective phrase and adverbs and an adverb phrase as modifiers and we have, as follows:

The stately _ships_ in the bay _sail_ proudly away to foreign shores.

Snow melts.
Winds blow.
House stands.
Boys run.
Soldiers fight.
Tides flow.
Children play.
Ships sail.
Guns boom.
Women endure.

ANOTHER ELEMENT

+407.+ You will note that all of these verbs which we have used in these sentences have been complete verbs as _hang_, _grow_, _runs_, _fade_, etc. A complete verb, you will remember, is a verb that does not need an object or a complement. It is complete within itself. It may be modified by an adverb or an adverb phrase, but when you leave off these modifiers you still have complete sense.

In any of the sentences above you may cross out the adverb or the adverb phrase which modifies the verb and you will still have complete sentences. For example:

Great clouds of smoke float in the air.

Here, the adverb phrase, _in the air_, may be omitted and still we have complete sense, thus:

Great clouds of smoke float.

+408.+ The incomplete verbs, however, require either an object or complement to complete their meaning.

Incomplete verbs are of two kinds; those that express _action_ and those that express _state_ or _condition_.

An incomplete verb that expresses action requires an object which is the receiver of the action expressed in the verb, so we have another element which enters into the simple sentence, when we use an incomplete verb. For example:

The busy man makes shoes.

In order to complete the sentence, we must use an object with the incomplete verb _makes_. To say, _The busy man makes_, is not enough. We must have an object which is the receiver of the action expressed in the verb, _makes_. Verbs of action often have two objects. One object names the _thing_ that _receives_ the action and the other names the _thing_ indirectly _affected_ by the action. For example:

The tailor made him a coat.

+409.+ _Coat_ is the _direct_ object of the verb _made_. But we have another object in the pronoun _him_. We do not mean that the tailor made _him_, but that the tailor made him a _coat_. _Coat_ is the direct object and _him_ is the indirect object. The indirect object is always placed before the direct object. The indirect object may be used as the object of the preposition _to_ or _for_. As for example, this sentence might be rewritten to read, _The tailor made a coat for him_. In this sentence, _him_ is not the indirect object of the verb, but is the object of the preposition _for_.

+410.+ The direct object of the verb always answers the question _what?_ As for example, the tailor made _what?_--_a coat_. The indirect object of the verb names the person or thing _to_ or _for_ which the act is done,--_the tailor made a coat for whom?_--for _him_.

The direct and indirect object become a part of the complete predicate of the sentence. There may be other modifiers also, as adverbs or adverb phrases, and all of these taken together form the complete predicate in the sentences where you have used an incomplete verb. As for example:

The tailor gladly made him a coat for the occasion.

The complete predicate is, _gladly made him a coat for the occasion_, formed of the verb _made_, the direct object, _coat_, the indirect object _him_, the adverb modifier, _gladly_, and the phrase modifier, _for the occasion_.

Exercise 3

In the following sentences, underscore the direct object with one line and the indirect object with two lines. The verb is in italics.

1. He _gave_ her a book.
2. He _wrote_ me a long letter.
3. Her father _bought_ her a watch.
4. The nurse _gave_ the patient his medicine.
5. The mother _gave_ her daughter a present.
6. _Give_ me time to think.
7. The clerk _sold_ her a dress.
8. The teacher _read_ the children a story.
9. The company _furnishes_ the men food and shelter.
10. The man _showed_ us his wounds.

Exercise 4

In the following sentences underscore the complete subject and the complete predicate. Notice especially the direct and the indirect objects of the incomplete verbs. The simple subjects and the direct objects are in italics.

1. A great many _miles_ separate _us_ from our friends.
2. The merry _shouts_ of the children fill the _air_ with music.
3. A gentle _breeze_ brings us the _perfume_ of the flowers.
4. A careless _druggist_ gave the unfortunate man the wrong
_medicine_.
5. His admiring _friends_ gave him a beautiful _ring_.
6. _Soldiers_ obey _orders_ from their superiors.
7. This terrible _war_ claims _thousands_ of victims.
8. The _power_ of hunger drives the _unemployed_ to rebellion.
9. The _workers_ of the world produce _enough_ for all.
10. The retiring _secretary_ showed us a _letter_ from the president.
11. The old sea _captain_ told them an interesting _story_ of life at
sea.
12. _Labor_ produces all _wealth_.

COPULATIVE VERBS

+411.+ We have another class of incomplete verbs which require a complement to complete their meaning. These are the copulative verbs. The number of copulative verbs is small. They are: all forms of the verb _be_; also, _like_, _appear_, _look_, _feel_, _sound_, _smell_, _become_, _seem_, etc. These verbs require a noun or an adjective or a phrase as a complement, to complete their meaning. They are really connective words serving to connect the noun or adjective or phrase used in the predicate with the noun which they modify. The noun or adjective or phrase used to complete the meaning of the copulative verb is called a predicate complement. For example:

The man is a hero.

Here we have a noun, _hero_, used as a predicate complement after the copulative verb, _is_, to describe the noun _man_.

The man is class-conscious.

In this sentence, we have an adjective, _class-conscious_, in the predicate to modify the subject, _man_. It is connected with the subject by the copulative verb _is_.

The man is in earnest.

Here we have a phrase, _in earnest_, used in the predicate to modify the noun _man_, and connected with the subject by the copulative verb _is_.

+412.+ So in the predicate with the copulative verbs--incomplete verbs which express state or condition--we may use a noun or an adjective or a phrase. A noun used as the predicate complement may have modifiers. It may be modified by one or more adjectives or adjective phrases. These adjectives in turn may be modified by adverbs. The complete predicate, then, is the copulative verb with its predicate complement and all its modifiers. For example:

Grant was the most famous general of the Civil war.

In this sentence, _Grant_ is the complete subject, _was the most famous general of the Civil war_ is the complete predicate. _Was_ is the copulative verb; _general_ is the noun used as the predicate complement; _the_ and _famous_ are adjectives modifying _general_; _most_ is an adverb modifying the adjective _famous_, and, _of the Civil war_ is an adjective phrase modifying _general_, so our complete predicate is, _was the most famous general of the Civil war_.

When an adjective is used in the predicate complement it, too, may have modifiers and more than one adjective may be used. For example:

The man is very brave and loyal to his class.

Here we have two adjectives used in the predicate complement, _brave_ and _loyal_. _Brave_ is modified by the adverb _very_, and _loyal_ is modified by the adverb phrase, _to his class_. The complete predicate is, _is very brave and loyal to his class_.

When we use a phrase as a predicate complement, it, too, may have modifiers and more than one phrase may be used. For example:

The man is in the fight and deeply in earnest.

In this sentence, two phrases are used in the predicate complement, _in the fight_ and _in earnest_. The second phrase, _in earnest_ is modified by the adverb _deeply_. The complete predicate is, _is in the fight and deeply in earnest_.

Exercise 5

Fill the blanks in the following sentences with a noun and its modifiers used as predicate complement. Name all of the parts of speech which you have used in the predicate complement as we have done in the sentences analyzed above:

The men are _loyal members of the Union_.
Slavery is.......
Liberty will be.......
War is.......
The machine is.......
The children were.......

Fill the blanks in the following sentences with one or more adjectives and their modifiers used in the predicate complement.

The work is _hard and destructive to the children_.
The history will be.......
Labor has been.......
Peace will be.......
Poverty is.......

Fill the blanks in the following sentences with a phrase used in the predicate complement.

His service was _for his class_.
Socialism is.......
The workers are.......
The message shall be.......
The government is.......
The opportunity is.......

VERB PHRASES

+413.+ Note that in most of the sentences which we have used, we have used the simple form of the verb, the form that is used to express _past_ and _present_ time. In expressing other time forms we use verb phrases. Note the summary given in section 145, which gives the different time forms of the verb.

+414.+ Sometimes in using the verb phrase you will find that other words may separate the words forming the phrase. When you analyze your sentence this will not confuse you. You will easily be able to pick out the verb phrase. For example:

I shall very soon find out the trouble.

Here the adverbs, _very_ and _soon_, separate _find_ from its auxiliary _shall_. The verb phrase is, _shall find_. The negative _not_ very often separates the words forming a verb phrase. For example:

I will not go.

In this sentence, _will go_ is the verb phrase.

When we use the auxiliary verb _do_ to express emphasis, and also the negative _not_, _not_ comes between the auxiliary verb _do_, and the principal verb. For example:

I do not obey, I think.

In this sentence, _do obey_ is the verb phrase.

In interrogative sentences, the verb phrase is inverted and a part of the verb phrase is placed first and the subject after. For example:

Will you go with us?

_You_ is the subject of this interrogative sentence and _will go_ is the verb phrase; but in order to ask the question, the order is inverted and part of the verb phrase placed first. In using interrogative adverbs in asking a question, the same inverted order is used. For example:

When will this work be commenced?

In this sentence, _work_ is the subject of the sentence and _will be commenced_ is the verb phrase. If you should write this in assertive form, it would be:

This work will be commenced when?

By paying close attention we can easily distinguish the verb phrases even when they are used in the inverted form or when they are separated by other parts of speech.

LET US SUM UP

+415.+ The elements of a sentence are the words, phrases or clauses of which it is composed.

+A simple sentence is one which contains a single statement, question or command.+

+A simple sentence contains only words and phrases.+ It does not contain dependent clauses. The elements of a simple sentence are:

{The simple subject--the noun, or the
The complete subject { word used in place of the noun--and
{ all its modifiers.

The complete predicate {The simple predicate--the verb, and
{ all its modifiers.

Exercise 6

In the following sentences, the simple subjects and the simple predicates of the principal clauses are printed in italics. Locate all the modifiers of the subjects and predicates, and determine the part of speech of each word in the sentence.

Sentences Nos. 1, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, 18, 30, 31, 32 and 37 are simple sentences.

Sentences Nos. 2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, 26, 28, 33, 34 and 36 are complex.

Sentences Nos. 3, 10, 12, 21, 23, 24, 25, 29 and 35 are compound.

No. 8 is incomplete, having neither subject nor predicate.

No. 9 is incomplete, there being no predicate in the principal clause.

No. 20 is a simple sentence, with a complex sentence in parenthesis.

No. 27 consists of two dependent clauses.

In the complex sentences, draw a line under the dependent clauses.

"Br--r--r--r--r--r--r--r--r--."

1. What _are_ the _machines saying_, a hundred of them in one long
room?
2. _They must be talking_ to themselves, for I see no one else for
them to talk to.
3. But yes, there _is_ a boy's red _head_ bending over one of them,
and beyond _I see_ a pale face fringed with brown curly locks.
4. There _are_ only five _boys_ in all, on the floor, half-hidden by
the clattering machines, for one bright lad can manage twenty-five
of them.
5. Each _machine makes_ one cheap, stout sock in five minutes,
without seam, complete from toe to ankle, cutting the thread at the
end and beginning another of its own accord.
6. The _boys have_ nothing to do but to clean and burnish and oil the
steel rods and replace the spools of yarn.
7. But how rapidly and nervously _they do_ it--the slower hands
straining to accomplish as much as the fastest!
8. Working at high tension for ten hours a day in the close, greasy
air and endless whirr----
9. _Boys_ who ought to be out playing ball in the fields or taking a
swim in the river this fine summer afternoon.
10. And in these good times, the _machines go_ all night, and other
_shifts_ of boys _are kept_ from their beds to watch them.
11. The young _girls_ in the mending and finishing rooms downstairs
_are_ not so strong as the boys.
12. _They have_ an unaccountable way of fainting and collapsing in
the noise and smell, and then _they are_ of no use for the rest of
the day.
13. The kind _stockholders have had_ to provide a room for collapsed
girls and to employ a doctor, who finds it expedient not to
understand this strange new disease.
14. Perhaps their _children will be_ more stalwart in the next
generation.
15. Yet this _factory is_ one of the triumphs of our civilization.
16. With only twenty boys at a time at the machines in all the rooms,
_it produces_ five thousand dozen pairs of socks in twenty-four
hours for the toilers of the land.
17. _It would take_ an army of fifty thousand hand-knitters to do what
these small boys perform.

"Br--r--r--r--r--r--r--r--r--."

18. What _are_ the _machines saying_?
19. _They are saying_, "We are hungry."
20. "_We have eaten_ up the men and women. (There is no longer a
market for men and women, they come too high)--
21. _We have eaten_ up the men and women, and now _we are devouring_
the boys and girls.
22. How good _they taste_ as we suck the blood from their rounded
cheeks and forms, and cast them aside sallow and thin and
careworn, and then call for more.
23. Br--r--r--r--r--r--r--r! how good _they taste_; but _they give_
us so few boys and girls to eat nowadays, although there are so
many outside begging to come in--.
24. Only one _boy_ to twenty of us, and _we are_ nearly _famished_!
25. _We eat_ those they give us and _those_ outside _will starve_, and
soon _we shall be left_ almost alone in the world with the
stockholders.
26. Br--r--r--r--r--r--r--r! What shall we do then for our food?" the
_machines chatter_ on.
27. "When we are piling up millions of socks a day for the toilers
and then there are no toilers left to buy them and wear them.
28. Then perhaps we shall have to turn upon the kind stockholders and
feast on them (how fat and tender and toothsome they will be!)
until at last we alone remain, clattering and chattering in a
desolate land," _growled the machines_.
29. While the _boys went_ on anxiously, hurriedly rubbing and
polishing, and the _girls_ downstairs _went_ on collapsing.
30. "Br--r--r--r--r--r--r--r!" _growled_ the _machines_.
31. The _devil has_ somehow _got_ into the machines.
32. _They came_ like the good gnomes and fairies of old, to be our
willing slaves and make our lives easy.
33. Now that, by their help, one man can do the work of a score, why
_have we_ not plenty for all, with only enough work to keep us
happy?
34. _Who could have foreseen_ all the ills of our factory workers and
of those who are displaced and cast aside by factory work?
35. The good wood and iron _elves came_ to bless us all, but _some_ of
us _have succeeded_ in bewitching them to our own ends and turning
them against the rest of mankind.
36. _We must break_ the sinister charm and _win_ over the docile,
tireless machines until they refuse to shut out a single human
being from their benefits.
37. _We must cast_ the devil out of the machines.

--_Ernest Crosby_.

SPELLING

LESSON 24