Plain English Part 102

Let us finish the a.n.a.lysis of the sentences in the paragraph quoted from Jack London. In the second sentence, _It has increased a thousand-fold_, the personal p.r.o.noun _it_, which refers to the noun _efficiency_, is the subject of the sentence; and when you ask what _it_ has _done_, you find that the question is answered by the verb, _has increased_. Therefore, _has increased_ is the verb in the sentence. The noun, _thousand-fold_ is used as an adverb telling how much it has increased. It is an adverb-noun, which you will find explained in Section 291.

In the next sentence, _Wonderful artifices and marvelous inventions have been made_, we find two _nouns_ about which a statement is made.

_Artifices_ have been made and _inventions_ have been made; so _artifices_ and _inventions_ are both the _subjects_ of the sentence.

Therefore, we have a compound subject with a single verb, _have been made_. _Artifices_ is modified by the adjective _wonderful_, and _inventions_ is modified by the adjective _marvelous_, so we have _wonderful artifices and marvelous inventions_, as the complete subject, and _have been made_, as the complete predicate.

In the last sentence, _Why then do millions of modern men live more miserably than the cave-man lived?_, we find a sentence which is a trifle more difficult of a.n.a.lysis. It is written in the interrogative form. If you find it difficult to determine the subject and the verb or verb phrase in an interrogative sentence, rewrite the sentence in the a.s.sertive form, and you will find it easier to a.n.a.lyze.

When we rewrite this sentence we have, _Millions of modern men do live more miserably than the cave-man lived_. Now it is evident that the noun _millions_ is the subject of the sentence. We see quickly that _men_ cannot be the subject because it is the object of the preposition _of_, in the phrase, _of modern men_. So we decide that the noun _millions_ is the simple subject.

When we ask the question what millions _do_, our question is answered by the verb phrase, _do live_. So _do live_ is the simple predicate, and the skeleton of our sentence, the simple subject and the simple predicate, is _millions do live_. The subject _millions_ is modified by the adjective phrase _of modern men_.

Then we ask, _how_ do men live? And we find our question answered by _they live miserably_. But we are told _how_ miserably they live by the adverb _more_ and the adverb clause, _than the cave-man lived_, both modifying the adverb _miserably_. So we have our complete predicate, _do live more miserably than the cave-man lived_.

This interrogative sentence is introduced by the interrogative adverb _why_.

Do not drop this subject until you are able to determine readily the _subject_ and _predicate_ in every sentence and properly place all modifying words. There is nothing that will so increase your power of understanding what you read, and your ability to write clearly, as this facility in a.n.a.lyzing sentences.

Exercise 3

The following is Elbert Hubbard's description of the child-laborers of the Southern cotton-mills. Read it carefully. Notice that the sentences are all short sentences, and the c.u.mulative effect of these short sentences is a picture of the condition of these child-workers which one can never forget. The subjects and predicates are in italics. When you have finished your study of this question, rewrite it from memory and then compare your version with the original version.

_I thought_ that _I would lift_ one of the little toilers. _I wanted_ to ascertain his weight. Straightway through his thirty-five pounds of skin and bone there _ran_ a _tremor_ of fear. _He struggled_ forward to tie a broken thread. _I attracted_ his attention by a touch. _I offered_ him a silver dime. _He looked_ at me dumbly from a face _that might have belonged_ to a man of sixty. _It was_ so furrowed, tightly drawn and full of pain. _He did_ not _reach_ for the money. _He did_ not _know_ what _it was_. There _were dozens_ of such children in this particular mill. A _physician who was_ with me _said_ that _they would_ probably all _be_ dead in two years. Their _places would be_ easily _filled_, however, for there _were_ plenty _more_. _Pneumonia carries_ off most of them. Their _systems are_ ripe for disease and when _it comes_ there _is_ no _rebound_. _Medicine_ simply _does_ not _act_. _Nature is whipped, beaten, discouraged._ _The child sinks_ into a stupor and _dies_.

Exercise 4

In the following sentences, mark the simple sentences, the complex sentences and the compound sentences, and a.n.a.lyze these sentences according to the rules given for a.n.a.lyzing simple sentences, complex sentences and compound sentences:

1. Force is no remedy.

2. Law grinds the poor, and the rich men rule the law.

3. Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.

4. Freedom is a new religion, a religion of our time.

5. Desire nothing for yourself which you do not desire for others.

6. An amba.s.sador is a man who goes abroad to lie for the good of his country.

7. A journalist is a man who stays at home to pursue the same vocation.

8. Without free speech no search for truth is possible.

9. Liberty for the few is not liberty.

10. Liberty for me and slavery for you mean slavery for both.

11. No revolution ever rises above the intellectual level of those who make it.

12. Men submit everywhere to oppression when they have only to lift their heads to throw off the yoke.

13. Many politicians of our time are in the habit of saying that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim. If men are to wait for liberty till they become wise and good in slavery they may indeed wait forever.

SUMMARY

+458.+ The following is a summary of that which we have learned in sentence building:

{ { a.s.sertive { Use { Interrogative Sentences are { { Imperative cla.s.sified { { Exclamatory according to { { { Simple { Form { Complex { { Compound

Elements { +Words+, the eight parts of speech.

of { +Phrases+, adjective, adverb and verb phrases.

The Sentence. { +Clauses+, adjective, adverb and noun clauses.

+459.+ ESSENTIALS OF A SIMPLE SENTENCE

+Subject+ +Predicate+

Subject Complete Verb Subject Copulative Verb Predicate Complement Subject Transitive Verb Direct Object Subject Transitive Verb Direct Object Indirect Object

+460.+ THE SUBJECT

{ _Noun_--The _man_ came.

{ _p.r.o.noun_--_He_ came.

+The simple subject+ { _Adjective_--The _poor_ came.

may be { _Infinitive_--_To find_ work is difficult.

{ _Participle_--_Walking_ is good exercise.

{ _Clause_--_What I learn_ cannot be lost.

+Complete subject+--Simple subject and modifiers.

Modifiers of the Subject

{ Word--_Wealthy_ men rule.

+Adjective+ { Phrase--Men _of wealth_ rule.

{ Clause--Men _who are wealthy_ rule.

+Possessive+--The _man's_ energy was great.

{ Word--The poet, _Lowell_, was the author.

+Appositive+ { Clause--The fact, _that you came_, pleases me.

{ The soldiers, _wounded and dying_, were +Participle+ { left on the field

+Infinitive+--A plan _to end the war_ was discussed.

+461.+ THE PREDICATE

+The simple+ { _Verb_--The man _came_.

+predicate+ { _Verb phrase_--The man _has been coming_ daily.

{ +Predicate Complement+--The man was a _hero_.

A COMPLETE { +Direct Object+--The man brought the _book_.

PREDICATE { +The Indirect Object+--The man brought _me_ the book.

_equals a verb { or verb phrase { {_Word_--The man works _rapidly_.

and_ { +Adverb+ { _Phrase_--The man works _in the factory_.

{ +Modifiers+ { _Clause_--The man works _whenever he { can_.