Plain English Part 9

Can you find a word in this sentence which is a connective word besides the preposition _for_? Did you notice that little word _and_? The noun _men_ and the noun _women_ are both subjects of the verb _struggle_, and they are joined by this little connective word _and_. If we did not have this word we would have to use two sentences to express our thought, thus:

Men struggle for their rights.

Women struggle for their rights.

But with the use of this connective word _and_ we can combine these two sentences and express it all in one sentence:

Men _and_ women struggle for their rights.

This word is used in a different manner from the preposition. The preposition connects two words and makes one modify the other. When we say, _Get the book on the table_, the phrase _on the table_ designates the book just as much as if we had said, _Get the green book_. So the use of the preposition enables us to show the relation between two words and to make one word describe or modify the other.

+51.+ This little word _and_ in the sentence, _Men and women struggle for their rights_, is a connective word also, but it connects two words that are used in the same way, so it is a different sort of connective word from the preposition. Words used in this way are called _conjunctions_. Conjunction is a word which is taken from the Latin, being made up of the Latin word _con_, which means _together_, and the Latin verb _juncto_, which means _to join_. So conjunction means literally _to join together_.

+52.+ +A conjunction is a word that connects sentences or parts of sentences.+

Notice the following sentence:

The cla.s.s struggle is waged on the political field and on the industrial field.

Here we have the conjunction _and_ connecting the two phrases _on the_ _political field_ and _on the industrial field_. Without the use of this connective word, we would have to use two sentences to express these two thoughts:

The cla.s.s struggle is waged on the political field.

The cla.s.s struggle is waged on the industrial field.

+53.+ So a conjunction may be used to connect phrases as well as words.

Now notice the following sentences:

He will speak. I will listen.

He will speak, _and_ I will listen.

He will speak, _but_ I will listen.

He will speak, _if_ I will listen.

He will speak, _therefore_ I will listen.

He will speak, _because_ I will listen.

He will speak, _until_ I will listen.

+54.+ These _sentences_ are joined by different conjunctions, and the conjunction used alters the meaning of the sentence.

The conjunction is a very useful part of speech. Without it we would have many disconnected sentences requiring tiresome repet.i.tion of the same words. Like prepositions, there are not many conjunctions in English and they are readily recognized.

+55.+ We will study about these conjunctions at length in later lessons.

If you consult the following list of those most commonly used, you can easily pick out the conjunctions in your reading:

and as as if after although as soon as because besides before but either for hence in order that lest neither nor or since still so then though that than therefore till until unless while whether yet

The seven cla.s.ses of words which we have studied make up all of our sentences. The hundreds of words which we use in forming our sentences and expressing our thoughts belong to these seven cla.s.ses. They are either nouns, p.r.o.nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions or conjunctions.

Exercise 5

Underscore the conjunctions in the following sentences. Notice whether they connect words or phrases or sentences.

1. We cannot win unless we are organized.

2. Books and music are true friends.

3. Men, women and children work under conditions neither proper nor just.

4. We must educate and organize.

5. The workers on the farms and in the factories must be united.

6. Winter has come and the birds are going South.

7. We have been ignorant, therefore we have been exploited.

8. We must learn before we can teach.

9. We do not understand the situation, because we do not know the facts.

10. Do you know whether these statements are true or false?

IT CAN BE DONE

Somebody said that it couldn't be done, But he, with a chuckle, replied That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one Who wouldn't say so till he tried.

So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grin On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done--and he did it.

Somebody scoffed, "Oh, you'll never do that; At least no one ever has done it."

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat, And the first thing we knew he'd begun it; With the lift of his chin, and a bit of a grin, Without any doubting or quiddit, He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done--and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it can not be done; There are thousands to prophesy failure; There are thousands to point out to you, one by one, The dangers that wait to a.s.sail you.

But buckle right in, with a lift of your chin, Then take off your coat and go to it; Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing That "can not be done,"--and you'll do it.

INTERJECTIONS

+56.+ There is another cla.s.s of words which we use _with_ sentences, but which are really not _parts_ of the sentences. They are emotional expressions which seem to belong more to the natural language than to the invented language. For example:

Oh! You hurt me!

Aha! Now I have you.

_Oh_, used in this way, is very apt to sound like a groan, and _aha_ like a shout of triumph. These words do not really belong in the construction of the sentence. The sentence would be complete without them, but they are thrown in to express the emotion which accompanies the thought. We call expressions such as these _interjections_.

Interjection is from the Latin and means literally _thrown into the midst of_. It comes from the Latin word _inter_, which means _between_, and the Latin verb _jecto_, _to throw_, so it literally means _to throw between_.

Some of these words imitate sounds, as for example:

Bang! There goes another shot.

Ding-dong! There goes the first bell.

We do not use interjections very frequently in writing on scientific subjects that express deep thought, but you will find them often used in poetry, fiction, oratory or any emotional writing. Therefore we have our definition of an interjection:

+57.+ +An interjection is an exclamatory word or phrase used to express feeling or to imitate some sound.+

+58.+ Following is a list of commonly used interjections. Use them in sentences of your own.

oh h.e.l.lo bravo ahoy aha hurrah bow wow ssh alas hist whirr pshaw fie whoa ding-dong rub-a-dub