Plain English Part 18

SPELLING

LESSON 5

We often have two vowels used in the same syllable as a single sound, as _ou_ in _round_, _oi_ in _oil_, etc.

+A diphthong is a union of two vowels to represent a single sound different from that of either alone.+

Sometimes we have two vowels used together in a combination which is really not a diphthong for they do not unite in a different sound. Only one of the vowels is used and the other is silent as _ai_ in _rain_, _oa_ in _soap_, etc.

The most common diphthongs are:

ou as in _sound_.

ow as in _owl_.

oi as in _oil_.

oy as in _boy_.

In the spelling lesson for this week mark the words in which the combination of vowels forms a diphthong. In some of the words the combination of vowels does not form a diphthong for only one of the vowels is sounded. Draw a line through the silent letter.

+Monday+

Straight Aisle Search Breadth Defeat

+Tuesday+

Exploit Ceiling Height People Feudal

+Wednesday+

Brought Shoulder Group Compound Trouble

+Thursday+

Royal Coa.r.s.e Course Broad Flower

+Friday+

Laughter Haunted Plaid Invoice Chair

+Sat.u.r.day+

Guide Build Grieve Sieve Renown

PLAIN ENGLISH

LESSON 6

Dear Comrade:

We have this week another lesson in verbs. Do not be discouraged if you do not understand it all at once. Little by little, it will grow clearer and you will master this important word.

The verb may seem involved to you, but a little application will soon make it clear. It is the most important word in the language to master.

It almost seems as though the verb were a living, thinking thing. It changes outward form to accommodate itself to its subject in the number form and person form change. If it is entertaining a subject in the singular it adopts one dress; if it is entertaining a plural subject, more than one, the verb wears a different dress.

So also if the subject is the first person, the person speaking, or the second person, the person spoken to, or the third person, the person spoken of, the verb accommodates itself to the subject. The verb is the most agreeable thing for it changes its form to agree with its subject!

So watch your verb and see that it agrees.

Refer constantly to your list of irregular verbs given in this lesson for we so often make mistakes in the use of these verb forms.

Then, too, the verb kindly changes its form to accommodate itself to the time of the action--action in the present, in the past, in the future--action completed before the present time--before some time past--or before some future time--and action progressing and not yet completed in the present, in the past or in the future. Then it can also change to show whether its subject is acting or being acted upon. Isn't the verb a wonderfully accommodating member of the co-operative commonwealth of words?

And can you not see hidden under all this, a marvelous development in the intellectual needs of men from the day of the savage's signs and grunts to the day when we can express such shades of meaning? This tool of expression, language, has had a wonderful evolution side by side with the evolution of the other tools by which man expresses his creative genius; from the forked stick with which man scratched the soil to the great machine-driven plow of today; from the simple threshing flail to the monster threshing machine of modern times.

There is nothing so wonderful as man's ability to express himself. Add a little to your knowledge every day and the sum total will soon surprise you.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

INFLECTION--CHANGES IN FORM

+104.+ You remember that nouns have certain changes in form to indicate changes in use. Verbs also have several changes in form to correspond with changes in their use or meaning. Notice the following sentences:

I think.

I thought.

I work.

I worked.

What is the difference in the meaning of _I think_ and _I thought_? of _I work_ and _I worked_? When we say, _I think_, or _I work_, we mean that the action is now, to-day, in the present; but when we say, _I thought_, or _I worked_, we mean that _now_ is not the time of the action, but that the action was performed sometime in the past. So we have a change in the verb form to denote _time_. The simple form of the verb, like _think_ or _work_, is used to denote _present time_. When we wish to express _past time_ we do it by changing the form of the verb.

Now note the following:

} call I, We, You, They, } send } fall The men } bring } hide

} calls He, She, It, } sends } falls The man } brings } hides

Now let us write this in another way.

+Present Time+

_Singular_ _Plural_