Plain English Part 80

We have practically finished the study of the different parts of speech.

We are now in possession of a knowledge of the tools which we need to use in expressing ourselves. We are ready to make practical application of this knowledge in writing and speaking. We will find that with our increasing ability to express ourselves there comes also the power to think clearly. The a.n.a.lysis of language has meant a growing power to _think_ on the part of the people.

We sometimes imagine that simplicity of language was a part of primitive life, but this is not true. Simplicity of language is the product of high civilization. Primitive life was marked, not by simplicity of language, but by the scarcity of language. They made one word stand for an entire sentence, and if they wished to express a little different meaning, an entirely different word had to be used, as for example, in the primitive language: _I said to her_, would be one word, and _I said to him_, would be another, entirely different, word.

But as the power of thought began to develop, we began to a.n.a.lyze our meaning and we found that this thought was identical except the _him_ and the _her_. So as we a.n.a.lyzed our thought our expression of it became more simple. In most languages, the different meaning of the verb, for example, is expressed by an arbitrary change in the verb form. This is called the inflection of the verb. In English we would use several words to express the same thing. For example, the Latin word _Fuissem_ requires four English words to express the same meaning; _I should have been_, we say in English. So instead of having to learn a great number of different changes in the verb form, we, by the use of auxiliary verbs, _have_, _shall_, _do_, _be_, etc., are able to express all these shades of thought much more simply and clearly.

Most other languages also have changes for gender. Every noun has a gender of its own and sometimes this form gives the wrong gender to living beings and attributes s.e.x to s.e.xless objects and the only way to know the gender of the noun is simply by memory. Then the adjectives, possessive p.r.o.nouns and the articles _a_ and _the_ have gender also and have to be changed to suit the gender of the noun; this involves a great effort of memory. So while the English may seem somewhat involved to you, it is, after all, much simpler than other languages. It has been freed from many superfluous endings and unnecessary complications.

Take a little time each day to read something out of the best literature. The quotations given in each of these lessons are from our very best writers. A study of these will be a wonderful help and inspiration to you and bring you in touch with some of the great thinkers of the revolution. They are our comrades and are putting into words the thoughts and hopes and dreams of our lives.

Yours for the Revolution,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

+367.+ In our study of subordinate clauses, we have studied subordinate clauses used as adverbs and as nouns. We have found that adverb clauses can be used in the same way as adverbs, to describe the time, place, manner, cause, condition or purpose of the action expressed in the verb.

We have found, also, that a noun clause may be used in any way in which a noun can be used, as the subject of the sentence, the object of a verb or preposition or as the predicate complement. But these are not the only uses to which the subordinate clause may be put. Note the following sentences:

_Wealthy_ men desire to control the education of the people.

Men _of wealth_ desire to control the education of the people.

Men _who are wealthy_ desire to control the education of the people.

Do you see any difference in the words which are used to modify the noun _men_? In the first sentence, _wealthy_ is an adjective, modifying the noun _men_. In the second sentence, _of wealth_ is a prepositional phrase, used as an adjective modifying the noun _men_. In the last sentence, _who are wealthy_ is a clause used in exactly the same way that the adjective _wealthy_ and the adjective phrase _of wealth_ are used, to modify the noun _men_.

We have expressed practically the same meaning in these three ways: by a word; by a phrase; by a clause.

+368.+ +A word used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective.+

+A phrase used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective phrase.+

+A clause used to describe and modify a noun is an adjective clause.+

Note the difference between a phrase and a clause.

+369.+ A prepositional phrase, used as an adjective, consists of the preposition and the noun which is its object, together with its modifiers. A phrase never has either a subject or a predicate. _Who are wealthy_, is a clause because it does contain a subject and a predicate.

The p.r.o.noun _who_ is the subject in the clause, and the predicate is the copulative verb _are_ with the predicate complement, the adjective _wealthy_.

Exercise 1

In the following sentences change the adjective into a phrase and also into a clause, if possible. For example:

A _fearless_ man always defends his rights.

A man _without fear_ always defends his rights.

A man _who is fearless_ always defends his rights.

1. The _unemployed_ men are becoming desperate.

2. The _uneducated_ ma.s.ses are demanding equal opportunity.

3. The discovery of gold was an _important_ discovery.

4. _Unorganized_ labor is helpless.

5. The revolution needs _intelligent_ rebels.

6. A few _wealthy_ men are striving to control education.

7. This will be a _progressive_ movement.

8. _Labor-saving_ inventions throw men out of employment.

9. _Scientific_ men prophesy a great advance for the ma.s.s.

THE INTRODUCING WORD

+370.+ You will notice that these adjective clauses are introduced by the relative p.r.o.nouns _who_, _which_ and _that_. These relative p.r.o.nouns fulfil something of the office of a conjunction, because they are serving as connecting elements; they join these subordinate clauses to the words which they modify. But you will note, also, that these relative p.r.o.nouns not only serve as connecting elements, but they also play a part in the subordinate clause, as either the subject or object.

For example:

The man who has no education is handicapped in the struggle.

Are these the books that you ordered?

In the first sentence, _who has an education_ is an adjective clause modifying the noun _man_, introduced by the relative p.r.o.noun _who_, which is also the subject of the verb _has_.

In the second sentence, _that you ordered_ is an adjective clause, modifying the noun _books_, introduced by the relative p.r.o.noun _that_, which is also the object of the verb _ordered_.

+371.+ There is no need to be confused in this matter of clauses. If the clause is used as a noun, either as the subject or the object or in any other way in which a noun can be used, it is a noun clause. If it is used as an adverb and will answer any of the questions _why_, _when_, _where_, or _how_, etc., it is an adverb clause. If it is used as an adjective,--if it modifies a noun or p.r.o.noun,--it is an adjective clause.

You will note that the only way in which a noun is used that does not have its corresponding clause is as a possessive. We do not have possessive clauses. The clause used as an adjective always modifies a noun or p.r.o.noun.

+372.+ +An adjective clause is a clause used as an adjective and hence always modifies a noun or p.r.o.noun.+

An adjective clause may be introduced by the relative p.r.o.nouns, _who_, _which_ or _that_. The use of this clause is a great help to us in the expression of our ideas, for it enables us to combine several sentences containing related thoughts into one sentence so we have it all presented to the mind at once.

Exercise 2

In the following sentences, note which are the noun clauses and which are the adjective clauses and which are the adverb clauses. The verb in the subordinate clause is in italics.

1. Life is what we _make_ it.

2. We acquire the strength that we _overcome_.

3. While he _slept_ the enemy came.

4. All that he _does_ is to distribute what others _produce_.

5. When faith _is lost_, when honor _dies_, the man is dead.

6. Thrice is he armed who _hath_ his quarrel just; he is naked though he _be locked_ up in steel whose conscience with injustice is _corrupted_.

7. When strength and justice _are_ true yoke fellows, where can we find a mightier pair than they?

8. You will gain a good reputation if you _endeavor_ to be what you _desire_ to appear.

9. Live as though life _were_ earnest and life will be so.

10. He that _loveth_ makes his own the grandeur that he _loves_.

11. Who _does_ the best his circ.u.mstance _allows_ does well; angels could do no more.

12. He is not worthy of the honeycomb that _shuns_ the hive because the bees _have_ stings.

13. We always may be what we _might have been_.

14. Rich gifts wax poor when givers _prove_ unkind.

15. Let me make the songs of the people and I care not who _makes_ the laws.