Plain English Part 81

16. Attention is the stuff that memory _is made_ of.

17. A great writer has said that grace _is_ beauty in action; I say that justice _is_ truth in action.

18. If we do not _plant_ knowledge when young it will give us no shade when we _are_ old.

19. You can no more exercise your reason if you _live_ in constant dread of laughter than you _can enjoy_ your life if you _live_ in constant dread and terror of death.

WHICH RELATIVE p.r.o.nOUN TO USE

+373.+ We are sometimes confused as to which relative p.r.o.noun to use in introducing an adjective clause. We hesitate as to whether we should use _that_ or _who_ or _which_. Remember that _who_ always refers to _persons_, _which_ refers to _animals_ or _things_, and _that_ may refer to either _persons_, _animals_ or _things_.

So when referring to a _person_, we may use either _who_ or _that_, and when referring to _animals_ or _things_, we may use either _which_ or _that_. As, for example, we may say, either, _The man who was here yesterday came back today_, or _The man that was here yesterday came back today_. Either is correct, for _who_ and _that_ both refer to persons.

+374.+ We may make a little distinction in the use of _who_ and _that_ when referring to _persons_, however. A clause introduced by _that_ is usually a restrictive clause. It limits or restricts the meaning of the noun which it modifies. When you say, _The man that was here yesterday_, you mean _that_ man and no other, limiting your meaning to that particular man. On the other hand, when you say, _The man who was here yesterday_, there is no restriction or limitation expressed in the use of the clause, but it is merely a descriptive clause, adding a new fact to our knowledge concerning that particular man.

The same is true when we are speaking of _things_ using either _that_ or _which_. The clause introduced by _which_ is presumably a descriptive clause. We do, however, often use _who_ or _which_ when the sense of the clause is restrictive, but we should never use _that_ to introduce an adjective clause, unless the sense is restrictive. When in your sentences you can use, instead of the relative p.r.o.noun _who_ or _which_, the conjunction _and_, you can know that the use of the p.r.o.noun _who_ or _which_ is correct. As, for example:

I have read the book, _which_ I found very interesting.

You could say instead:

I have read the book _and_ I found it very interesting.

This would express the same meaning. But if you say: _I have read the book that I found very interesting_, you mean that you limit your idea to this particular book.

+375.+ We do not always observe these niceties in our spoken and written speech, but it is interesting to know the shades of thought and meaning which you can express by the proper use of the language. The man who runs an engine and learns to know and love his machine almost as though it were a human being, can easily recognize the slightest change in the action of his machine. His ear catches the least difference in the sound of the running of the machine, a difference which we, who do not know and love the machine, would never notice.

So it is in language. Once we have sensed its beauty and its wondrous power of expression, we notice all these slight differences and shades of meaning which may be expressed by the use of words. In just the same manner the musician catches the undertones and overtones of the music, which we, who possess an uneducated ear, cannot know; and the artist also has a wondrous range of color, while we, who are not sensitive to color, know only a few of the primal colors.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH CONJUNCTIONS

+376.+ The adjective clauses which we have been studying so far have been introduced by relative p.r.o.nouns. Adjective clauses may also be introduced by conjunctions, such as, _where_, _when_, _whence_, or _why_. As, for example:

Antwerp is the place where a terrible battle was fought.

No man knows the hour when opportunity will be his.

Each group has a different reason why this world-war was precipitated.

Note in these sentences the clauses, _where a terrible battle was fought_, _when opportunity will be his_, _why this world-war was precipitated_, are all adjective clauses modifying the nouns _place_, _hour_ and _reason_, and are introduced by the conjunctions _where_, _when_, and _why_. These are adjective clauses because they modify, by either limiting or describing, the nouns with which they are used. You will note that we could omit the nouns in the first two of these sentences and these clauses would become noun clauses, for they would be used in the place of a noun. As, for example:

Antwerp is where a terrible battle was fought.

No man knows when opportunity will be his.

+377.+ We determine whether a clause is an adjective or an adverb or a noun clause just as we determine whether a word is an adjective, adverb or noun, by the work which it does in a sentence. Noun clauses are used in the place of a noun; adverb clauses modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; adjective clauses modify nouns and p.r.o.nouns.

THE LITTLE WORD "AS"

+378.+ Adjective clauses may also be introduced by _as_. _As_ is a very convenient word and may be used in several different ways; sometimes as an adverb, sometimes as a conjunction; and it may also be used as a relative p.r.o.noun after _such_, _same_ and _many_. For example:

Such books _as_ you should read are listed here.

No such person _as_ he ever came here.

We are facing the same crisis _as_ our comrades faced.

This is the same _as_ you gave before.

He has made as many mistakes _as_ you have.

In these sentences _as_ is really used as a relative p.r.o.noun, connecting these adjective clauses to the words which they modify. _As_ may also be used as an adverb. _I am as tall as you are._

Here the first _as_ modifies _tall_ and is used as an adverb; the second _as_ is a conjunction connecting the subordinate clause _you are_, with the princ.i.p.al clause. Note that in making comparisons, _as_ is always used when the comparison is equal, _so_ when it is unequal, thus:

I am _as_ tall as you are.

She is not _so_ tall as you are.

We have found that _as_ is also used as a conjunction to introduce an adverb clause. For example:

She is as beautiful _as_ she is good.

The clause, _as she is good_, is an adverb clause, modifying the adjective _beautiful_. In the sentence, _Do as I say_, _as I say_ is an adverb clause of manner, modifying the verb _do_.

CONNECTIVE WORDS

+379.+ Let us not be confused in this matter of connectives. There are just four cla.s.ses of connective words:

1. +Copulative verbs.+ 2. +Relative p.r.o.nouns.+ 3. +Prepositions.+ 4. +Conjunctions.+

+380.+ The copulative verb is not a pure connective, for it serves another purpose in the sentence. For example, in the sentence, _The book is interesting_, the copulative verb _is_ connects the adjective _interesting_ with the noun _book_, which it modifies; but it also is the a.s.serting word in the sentence. So it fulfils a double function. It is an a.s.serting word and also a connective word.

+381.+ The relative p.r.o.noun also is not a pure connective, for it serves two purposes in the sentence. It not only connects the clause which it introduces, with the word which it modifies, but it also serves as either the subject or object in the clause. For example: _The man who was here has gone_. The clause, _who was here_, is introduced by the relative p.r.o.noun _who_, which connects that clause with the noun _man_, which the clause modifies. _Who_ also serves as the subject of the verb _was_.

In the sentence, _The men whom we seek have gone_, the clause, _whom we seek_, is introduced by the relative p.r.o.noun _whom_, which connects the clause with the word _men_, which it modifies. _Whom_ also serves as the object of the verb in the clause, the verb _seek_.

+382.+ A preposition is not a pure connective, since it serves a double function. It shows the relation of its object to the rest of the sentence and also governs the form of its object. As, for example, in the sentence: _The man before me is not the culprit_, the preposition _before_ connects its object _me_ with the noun _man_, which the prepositional phrase modifies, showing the relation between them; and it governs the form of its object, for the p.r.o.noun following a preposition must be used in the _object_ form.

+383.+ Even co-ordinate conjunctions can scarcely be considered pure connectives unless it be the co-ordinate conjunction _and_. Co-ordinate conjunctions such as _but_, _yet_, _still_, _however_, etc., not only connect words, phrases and clauses of equal rank, but in addition to connecting the words and expressions they also indicate that they are opposite in thought.

+384.+ Co-ordinate conjunctions like _therefore_, _hence_, _then_, etc., connect words, phrases and clauses of equal rank, and also introduce a _reason_ or _cause_. Co-ordinate conjunctions like _or_, _either_, _nor_, _neither_, _whether_, etc., connect words, phrases and clauses of equal rank, and also express the choice of an alternative. Thus these co-ordinate conjunctions can scarcely be considered as pure connectives.

+385.+ Subordinate conjunctions are most frequently used to introduce adverb clauses and have an adverbial meaning. They express, as do adverbs, _place_, _time_, _manner_, _cause_, _reason_, _purpose_, _condition_ or _result_. Some authorities indicate this double function by calling such words as these conjunctive adverbs, because, even when they are used as conjunctions, they retain some of their adverbial force.

But according to our rule that every word in the sentence is cla.s.sified according to the function which it performs in that sentence, all words that perform the function of a conjunction are called conjunctions, although we understand that these conjunctions which introduce dependent clauses do still retain some of their adverbial meaning.

Exercise 3

In the following sentences the connectives are in italics. Determine whether they are copulative verbs, relative p.r.o.nouns, prepositions, co-ordinate conjunctions or subordinate conjunctions.

1. They _are_ slaves _who_ dare not be _in_ the right _with_ two _or_ three.

2. _In_ the twentieth century war _will be_ dead, dogmas _will be_ dead, _but_ man will live.

3. The abuse _of_ free speech dies _in_ a day, _but_ its denial slays the life _of_ the people _and_ entombs the race.

4. Liberty _for_ the few _is_ not liberty.