I DO NOT OBEY, I THINK."Captain, what do you think," I asked,"Of the part your soldiers play?"The Captain answered, "I do not think—I do not think, I obey.""Do you think your conscience was meant to die,And your brains to rot away?"The Captain answered, "I do not think—I do not think, I obey.""Do you think you should shoot a patriot down,And help a tyrant slay?"The Captain answered, "I do not think—I do not think, I obey.""Then if this is your soldier's code," I cried,"You're a mean, unmanly crew;And with all your feathers and gilt and braid,I am more of a man than you;"For whatever my lot on earth may beAnd whether I swim or sink,I can say with pride, 'I do not obey—I do not obey, I think.'"—Ernest Crosby.
I DO NOT OBEY, I THINK.
"Captain, what do you think," I asked,"Of the part your soldiers play?"The Captain answered, "I do not think—I do not think, I obey."
"Captain, what do you think," I asked,
"Of the part your soldiers play?"
The Captain answered, "I do not think—
I do not think, I obey."
"Do you think your conscience was meant to die,And your brains to rot away?"The Captain answered, "I do not think—I do not think, I obey."
"Do you think your conscience was meant to die,
And your brains to rot away?"
The Captain answered, "I do not think—
I do not think, I obey."
"Do you think you should shoot a patriot down,And help a tyrant slay?"The Captain answered, "I do not think—I do not think, I obey."
"Do you think you should shoot a patriot down,
And help a tyrant slay?"
The Captain answered, "I do not think—
I do not think, I obey."
"Then if this is your soldier's code," I cried,"You're a mean, unmanly crew;And with all your feathers and gilt and braid,I am more of a man than you;
"Then if this is your soldier's code," I cried,
"You're a mean, unmanly crew;
And with all your feathers and gilt and braid,
I am more of a man than you;
"For whatever my lot on earth may beAnd whether I swim or sink,I can say with pride, 'I do not obey—I do not obey, I think.'"
"For whatever my lot on earth may be
And whether I swim or sink,
I can say with pride, 'I do not obey—
I do not obey, I think.'"
The twenty-six letters in the English alphabet are divided into vowels and consonants. A vowel is a letter which represents a sound of the human voice but slightly interrupted by the vocal organs. The vowels area,e,i,oandu. All of the remaining letters of the alphabet are consonants. A consonant is a letter which represents a sound of the human voice greatly obstructed by the vocal organs.
Consonant is from the Latincon, meaningwith, andsono—I sound. So it means literallyI sound with.
The consonants are produced by union of the breath with the vocal organs. The consonant sounds are so called because they are always "sounded with" a vowel; they are used only in combination with vowels in forming words or syllables.
In English a consonant alone never forms a word or a syllable. Sound the different consonantsb,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,q,r,s,t,v,xandz, by themselves and you will see how the sound of the breath is obstructed or changed by the use of the vocal organs—the lips, the tongue, the teeth, etc.—in making these various sounds.
Wandyare sometimes vowels and sometimes consonants.Wandyare vowels when they are used with another vowel representing a vowel sound as inawe,new,joy,eye, etc.Yis sometimes used as a vowel by itself as inby,cry, etc.Wandyare consonants when they are used at the beginning of a syllable or before a vowel in the same syllable as inwine,twine,yieldandyear.
Look up the meaning of the words in this week's lesson. Master the spelling and use them in sentences of your own construction.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Dear Comrade:
In this lesson we are taking up a short study of the different parts of speech. In later lessons we will study each part of speech more thoroughly but this lesson covers the ground quickly and briefly. It is sufficient, however, to form a basis for our understanding of the evolution of language.
You will see, as you study this lesson, how each part of speech has been added to meet a growing need. There are many, many thousand words in the English language, but they can all be grouped under these eight parts of speech, for they all answer in some way to one of these great needs.
The object in studying grammar, as in studying any other science, is not to fill one's mind with a great many unrelated facts—facts which may or may not prove useful to one hereafter. The object of all study is to develop one's power of observation and one's ability to think. Added to this must be the practical ability to make use of this knowledge. Here the study of grammar has an advantage over the study of every other science. It deals with words, something which we use every day.
You do not need any laboratory or expensive apparatus in order to study grammar. All that you need lies ready to your hand. And in addition to this the knowledge which you gain is something which is of practical use to every man and woman no matter what their work, no matter what their place or position in life may be.
Remember that dogmatism has no place in the study of grammar. "Grammarians are the guardians, not the authors, of language." We do not say, "You should say this or that, or you violate a rule of grammar," but we say "The common usage among those who use good English is thus and so." If we do not believe that the common usage is the best usage, then we follow the democratic method of seeking to change the common usage into that which we consider the more sensible way. Thus, those who advocate simplified spelling have not sought to pass a law whereby every one should be compelled to spell words exactly as they sound, but they have striven to influence our writers and people in general to use this more sensible way of spelling words.
Sothinkwhile you study. Do not try to learn rules and formulas. Seewhythe rules and formulas exist. Once having seen this you do not need to learn them—you know them already. The study of any language is an intellectual discipline of the highest order.
So apply yourself diligently to this most interesting study and you will see that the result of this application will affect your daily life in every particular.
Yours for Education,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
33.When man began to invent words to express his ideas of the world in which he lived, we have found that probably the first need was that of names for the things about him. So we have nouns. The second need was of words to tell what these thingsdo, and so we have verbs. But primitive man soon felt the need of other classes of words.
The objects about us are not all alike. For example, we have a word for man, but when we saymanthat is not sufficient to describe the many different kinds of men. There are tall men, short men, white men, black men, strong men, weak men, busy men, lazy men. There are all sorts of men in the world, and we need words by which we can describe these different types and also indicate which man we mean.
34.So we have a class of words which are called adjectives.Adjectiveis a word derived from the Latin. It comes from the Latin wordad, meaningto, and the Latin wordjecto, which meansto throw; hence an adjective is a wordthrown tooradded toa noun.
If you will stop to think for a moment, you will see that it is by their qualities that we know the things about us. Some men are strong, some are weak, some are tall, some are short. These qualities belong to different men. And we separate or group them into classes as they resemble each other or differ from one another in these qualities. Things are alike which have the same qualities; things are unlike whose qualities are different. Apples and oranges are alike in the fact that both are round, both are edible. They are unlike in the fact that one is red and one is yellow; one may be sour and the other sweet. So we separate them in our minds because of their different qualities; and we have a class of words,adjectives, which describe these various qualities.
35.We use adjectives for other purposes also. For example, when we saytrees, we are not speaking of any particular trees, but of trees in general. But we may add certain adjectives which point out particular trees, as for example:thesetrees, orthosetrees, oreighttrees orninetrees. These adjectives limit the trees of which we are speaking to the particular trees pointed out. They do not express any particular qualities of the trees like the adjectivestallorbeautifulexpress, but they limit the use of the wordtreesin its application. So we have our definition of the adjective.
36.An adjective is a word added to a noun to qualify or limit its meaning.
Underscore all of the adjectives in the following quotation. Notice also the nouns and verbs in this quotation.
Yet fearsome and terrible are all the footsteps of men upon the earth, for they either descend or climb.They descend from little mounds and high peaks and lofty altitudes, through wide roads and narrow paths, down noble marble stairs and creaky stairs of wood—and some go down to the cellar, and some to the grave, and some down to the pits of shame and infamy, and still some to the glory of an unfathomable abyss where there is nothing but the staring, white, stony eye-balls of Destiny.They descend and they climb, the fearful footsteps of men, and some limp, some drag, some speed, some trot, some run—they are quiet, slow, noisy, brisk, quick, feverish, mad, and most awful in their cadence to the ears of the one who stands still.But of all the footsteps of men that either descend or climb, no footsteps are so fearsome and terrible as those that go straight on the dead level of a prison floor, from a yellow stone wall to a red iron gate.—FromThe Walker.Giovannitti.
Yet fearsome and terrible are all the footsteps of men upon the earth, for they either descend or climb.
They descend from little mounds and high peaks and lofty altitudes, through wide roads and narrow paths, down noble marble stairs and creaky stairs of wood—and some go down to the cellar, and some to the grave, and some down to the pits of shame and infamy, and still some to the glory of an unfathomable abyss where there is nothing but the staring, white, stony eye-balls of Destiny.
They descend and they climb, the fearful footsteps of men, and some limp, some drag, some speed, some trot, some run—they are quiet, slow, noisy, brisk, quick, feverish, mad, and most awful in their cadence to the ears of the one who stands still.
But of all the footsteps of men that either descend or climb, no footsteps are so fearsome and terrible as those that go straight on the dead level of a prison floor, from a yellow stone wall to a red iron gate.—FromThe Walker.Giovannitti.
37.From our study, you see how our classes of words grew out of man's need of them in expressing his thoughts. And notice also how the many thousands of words in our language can all be grouped under these few classes. Wenamethe things about us; we invent words to tell what these thingsdo; we have another class of words whichdescribethe things which we have named; and now we come to a fourth class of words for which we also find great need.
When we come to tell what thingsdo, we find that we need words which will tell ushoworwhereorwhenthese things are done. Notice the following sentences:
We would have a complete sentence and express a complete thought if we said simply,The men work, but each of these words which we have added, likebusily,hard,late, etc., adds something to the meaning of the verb. These words add something to the action which is asserted by the verb, for they showhowandwhenandwhereandhow muchthe men work.
38.We call this class of wordsadverbs, because they are added to verbs to make the meaning more definite, very much as adjectives are added to nouns. Adverb means literallyto the verb.
An adverb will always answer one of these questions:how?when?how long?how often?how much?how far?orhow late?If you want to find the adverbs in your sentences just ask one of these questions, and the word that answers it will be the adverb.
39.An adverb may be used also with an adjective. Notice the following sentences:
Notice here that the adverbsveryandtoomodify the adjectiveslongandmany.
40.Adverbs may also be used with other adverbs. Notice the following sentences:
Here the adverbsveryandtooare used with the adverbsdistinctlyandslowly, and add to their meaning. We will study more fully in laterlessons concerning both the adjective and the adverb, but we can see by this brief study why adverbs were added as a class of words, a part of speech, for they are absolutely necessary in order to describe the action expressed by verbs, and also to add to the meaning of adjectives and other adverbs. Hence we have our definition of an adverb.
41.An adverb is a word that modifies the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Underscore all adverbs in the following sentences:
42.Now we come to study another class of words which are also very necessary in order to express our ideas. Suppose you had just arrived in a strange town and you wanted to find the way to a friend's house. You inquire of a stranger, "Can you tell me who lives in the house on the corner?"
Notice the wordsyouandmeandwho. You could not call the stranger by name for you do not know his name, and hence you sayyou. And if you used your own name instead ofme, he would not recognize it, and you would both be puzzled to find a substitute for that little wordwho.
If you knew the stranger and he knew your name, you might say, "Can Mr. Smith tell Mr. Jones what person lives in the house on the corner." But this would sound very stilted and unnatural and awkward. So we have these little words likeyouandmeandwho, which we usein place of nouns. These words are called pronouns. This word is taken from the Latin also. In the Latin the wordpromeansin place of. So the word pronoun means literally in place of a noun.
43.A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun.
These pronouns are very useful little words. They save us a great deal of tiresome repetition. Notice the awkwardness of the following:
And yet this would be the way we would have to express this idea if we did not have pronouns. Instead we say:
44.We will study the pronoun in detail in later lessons, but we can readily recognize these words which are used in place of nouns. The most common pronouns are:
Underscore the pronouns in the following story:
A man in South Africa picked up a small piece of stone. It was dirty and rough."Make me beautiful," said the stone."I shall have to hurt you," said the man."Well, if it hurts me, I will bear it," said the stone.So the man took it to a clever craftsman, who put it into a tight vise, and cut it with his sharp instrument."Oh!" cried the stone.And he ground it till the dust fell all about it."Oh!" cried the stone.And he polished it very hard."Oh!" cried the stone.And then he set it in a crown and sent it to the Queen. On a sunny day she wore her crown, and the stone—it was a diamond—sparkled in long rays of crimson and green and yellow and silvery white. And all the people greeted their queen. She showed them her crown and they praised the beautiful stone.The training was hard, but the improvement was glorious.
A man in South Africa picked up a small piece of stone. It was dirty and rough.
"Make me beautiful," said the stone.
"I shall have to hurt you," said the man.
"Well, if it hurts me, I will bear it," said the stone.
So the man took it to a clever craftsman, who put it into a tight vise, and cut it with his sharp instrument.
"Oh!" cried the stone.
And he ground it till the dust fell all about it.
"Oh!" cried the stone.
And he polished it very hard.
"Oh!" cried the stone.
And then he set it in a crown and sent it to the Queen. On a sunny day she wore her crown, and the stone—it was a diamond—sparkled in long rays of crimson and green and yellow and silvery white. And all the people greeted their queen. She showed them her crown and they praised the beautiful stone.
The training was hard, but the improvement was glorious.
45.Notice the following sentences:
Do you notice any word in these sentences which does not belong to any of the classes of words which we have studied?Iis a pronoun,wantis a verb,theis an adjective,bookis a noun,theis an adjective,boxis a noun; but the words,on,under,in,beside,behindandbeyondare not nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or pronouns.
Yet would it be possible to express the meaning in these sentences without these words? Read the sentences without them, and you willsee that no one could tell the relation which you wish to express between thebookand thebox. And you will notice too that each word expresses a different relation, for it means one thing to sayon the boxand another thing to sayin the box, and so through the list.
46.The words which are used to show this relation are calledprepositions. The groups of words introduced by the preposition, likeon the boxandin the box, and so on, are called prepositional phrases. The noun which follows a preposition asboxfollows the prepositionsin,on,beside,beyond, etc., is called theobjectof the preposition.
Prepositionis a word which comes into our language from the Latin. It is formed from the Latinpre, which meansbefore, and the Latin verb which meansto place, so preposition means literallyto place before. It is given this name because it is placed before the noun or pronoun which is its object. Therefore our definition of a preposition is as follows:
47.A preposition is a word that shows the relation of its object to some other word.
48.Either a noun or a pronoun may be the object of a preposition. Notice the following sentences:
In these sentences the nountableis the object of the prepositionon; the pronounmeis the object of the prepositionto; and in the last two sentences the pronounyouand the nounmanare the objects of the prepositionto.
49.There are not many prepositions in the language and they are easily learned and easily distinguished. Here is a list of the most common and the most important prepositions. Use each one in a sentence.
Underscore the prepositions in the following sentences:
50.We have found that the preposition is a very important connective word. It connects two words and shows what one of them has to do with the other, but the preposition is not the only connective word which we use in English. We have another part of speech which performs an important function as a connective word. Notice the following sentence:
Can you find a word in this sentence which is a connective word besides the prepositionfor? Did you notice that little wordand? The nounmenand the nounwomenare both subjects of the verbstruggle, and they are joined by this little connective wordand. If we did not have this word we would have to use two sentences to express our thought, thus:
But with the use of this connective wordandwe can combine these two sentences and express it all in one sentence:
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 phraseon the tabledesignates 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 wordandin 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 calledconjunctions. Conjunction is a word which is taken from the Latin, being made up of the Latin wordcon, which meanstogether, and the Latin verbjuncto, which meansto join. So conjunction means literallyto join together.
52.A conjunction is a word that connects sentences or parts of sentences.
Notice the following sentence:
Here we have the conjunctionandconnecting the two phraseson thepolitical fieldandon the industrial field. Without the use of this connective word, we would have to use two sentences to express these two thoughts:
53.So a conjunction may be used to connect phrases as well as words.
Now notice the following sentences:
54.Thesesentencesare 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 repetition 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:
The seven classes 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 classes. They are either nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions or conjunctions.
Underscore the conjunctions in the following sentences. Notice whether they connect words or phrases or sentences.
IT CAN BE DONESomebody said that it couldn't be done,But he, with a chuckle, repliedThat "maybe it couldn't," but he would be oneWho wouldn't say so till he tried.So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grinOn his face. If he worried he hid it.He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat 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 thingThat 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 assail 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 thingThat "can not be done,"—and you'll do it.
IT CAN BE DONE
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,But he, with a chuckle, repliedThat "maybe it couldn't," but he would be oneWho wouldn't say so till he tried.So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grinOn his face. If he worried he hid it.He started to sing as he tackled the thingThat couldn't be done—and he did it.
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 thingThat 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 assail 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 thingThat "can not be done,"—and you'll do 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 assail 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.
56.There is another class of words which we usewithsentences, but which are really notpartsof the sentences. They are emotional expressions which seem to belong more to the natural language than to the invented language. For example:
Oh, used in this way, is very apt to sound like a groan, andahalike 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 theseinterjections. Interjection is from the Latin and means literallythrown into the midst of. It comes from the Latin wordinter, which meansbetween, and the Latin verbjecto,to throw, so it literally meansto throw between.
Some of these words imitate sounds, as for example:
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.
Mark the interjections in the following sentences. Notice those which express emotion and those which imitate sound.
Since there are forty-two elementary sounds used in the formation of our words and only twenty-six letters to represent these sounds, some of these letters must necessarily represent more than one sound.
Of the forty-two elementary sounds, eighteen are vowel sounds, but we have only five vowels with which to represent these sounds, so each vowel has several different sounds.
Therefore we must have a key to pronunciation to indicate the various sounds which are represented by these letters used in forming the words. When you look up words in your dictionary you will find the vowels marked by certain signs to indicate the pronunciation. These signs are called diacritical marks.
The following table gives the diacritical marks for the vowels. Study this table and learn to pronounce the words you look up. Whenyou have determined the correct pronunciation of the word, repeat it over to yourself aloud a number of times until you have accustomed your ear to the correct pronunciation.
Different dictionaries use different keys to pronunciation. This table is taken from the dictionary which we are using in connection with this course—Winston's New Universal Self-Pronouncing Dictionary.
Key to Pronunciation
The spelling lesson for this week is composed of words containing the different vowel sounds. Look up in your dictionary and mark all thea'sin Monday's lesson, all thee'sin Tuesday's lesson, all thei'sin Wednesday's lesson, all theo'sin Thursday's lesson, and all theu'sin Friday's lesson. In Saturday's lesson note the use ofwandyas vowels.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Dear Comrade:
We are studying in this lesson a most interesting part of our language, the words that are the names of things. If we could trace these names of things and the order and time of their coming into the language of men we would have a progressive history of mankind. Way back yonder in the dim dawn of history, men lived upon fruit and nuts. They had no knowledge of the use of fire and could not use foods that required cooking. They communicated with one another by signs. Then they discovered fire and invented the bow and arrow. They could now use fish and flesh for food and they commenced to use articulate speech. This stage has been called the Middle Stage of Savagery. With the invention of the bow and arrow, began the third stage of savagery which merged into the first stage of barbarism with the invention of pottery.
There are three stages of barbarism before we come to the beginning of the era of civilization which begins with the use of the phonetic alphabet and the production of literary records. All tribes that have never attained the art of pottery are classed as savages and those who possess this art but have never attained a phonetic alphabet and the use of writing are classed as barbarians. Civilization began with the spoken and written language and it has been well said that all that separates us from savagery is a wall of books. It is upon the accumulated wisdom of the past that we build. Without this we would be helpless.
So these various names of things have come to us with developing evolving life. As the men of the past gained a knowledge of the use of fire, as they learned to bake the clay and make various utensils; to heat and forge the iron into weapons; to conquer nature in all her phases, to feed the race, to clothe the race, to shelter the race more adequately, our language has grown in volume, strength and beauty.
The study of words and their uses is of great importance to you. Master the few rules necessary and watch your words daily. We are living in an age full of wondrous things and yet many of us have almost as limited avocabularyas the men of those bygone days, who had never dreamed of the marvels that are commonplace to us.
As you use your dictionary watch closely the meaning of the words and choose the words that most aptly express your ideas. Listen to good English spoken as often as you can.Readgood English. Mark the difference between good and bad English and gradually you will find yourself using good English naturally and continually.
Yours for Education,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE
59.We have learned that the words in a sentence are classified according to the work which each word does. The words which assert are called verbs; the words which are the names of things are called nouns. But now we shall see that these words are again divided into classes according to thespecialwork which they perform. Just as we may gather the people of the world into one great class, the working class, then classify them according to the industry in which they work, thus some are farmers, some teachers, some factory workers; then each class may be subdivided according to the special work which they perform, as truck farmers, high school teachers, machinists, etc.
So we find that nouns are divided into classes according to their meaning in the sentence.
In the sentence,Lincoln was a man of the people, we have two nouns referring to the same person,Lincolnandman, but they are different kinds of names. The wordmanis a name that may apply to any one of a million persons but the nameLincolnapplies to one person only. Some nouns, then, represent a thing as being of a certain kind or class, without showing which particular one is meant. Other nouns are names given to designate a particular individual. These are calledcommonandpropernouns.
60.A proper noun is a special name meant for only one person, place or thing.
All other nouns are common nouns.
A common noun is a name which belongs to all things of a class of objects.
Every proper noun should begin with a capital letter.
Indicate the proper nouns in the following list by drawing a line under the letters that ought to be capitals:
Write the special orpropernames of several individuals in each of the following classes:—as city,—Chicago, New York, etc.
River, king, author, country, state, inventor, martyr, month, book, college.
61.Some nouns are the names of groups or collections of things and are called collective nouns.
Many soldiers taken together form collectively anarmy—a number of sheep form adrove. Many of these group or collective nouns will readily occur to your mind.
A collective noun is one that in the singular form, denotes a number of separate persons or things.
Opposite each of the following collective nouns, write the name of the individuals represented by the collection; as an army ofsoldiers; a swarm ofbees; a flock ofbirds.
Fill the following blanks with appropriate collective nouns.
62.When primitive man began to name the objects about him, doubtless he first named the things which he could see, hear, taste, smell and touch,—the objects which he could perceive by the five senses. Then gradually he came to understand that these objects had certain qualities which he could consider apart from the object itself.
He hunted among the stones to find those which were suitable for making his arrow-heads. For this purpose he needed the hardest stone which he could find, sohardnessbecame something which he could think of as something apart from the object itself.
He saw the men about him and found a name for them. Then he knew that some men were stronger than others, sostrengthwas a quality which he could consider apart from the man himself.
These men performed certain actions; they ran, they climbed,—sorunningandclimbingbecame actions which he could think of as something apart from any individual.
He noted too that men lived in certain conditions; for example, some men were free, some were slaves, so he came to think ofslaveryandfreedomas conditions which could be thought of as something apart from the individual.
So we draw away, or separate certain ideas; thequalityfrom the thing which has it and theactionfrom the thing which does it and theconditionfrom the thing which is in it. These nouns which are used to describe these qualities, actions or conditions are calledabstractnouns. Abstract is a word derived from the Latinabs,away from, andtractus,drawn, so it literally meansdrawn away from.
The nouns which are names of things which we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch or perceive by any of the five senses are calledconcretenouns.
63.A concrete noun is the name of an object which may be perceived by one or more of the five senses.
An abstract noun is the name of a quality, a condition or an action.
64.You remember we found in the study of adjectives that we have a class of adjectives which are used to describe the qualities of objects, as for example—good,noble,honest,true,wise, etc. Since abstract nouns are the names of qualities, many of our abstract nouns are formed from adjectives. Study carefully the following list of adjectives and nouns. Note that the word is anadjectivewhen it is used with a noun todescribecertain qualities. It is anounwhen it is used by itself tonamethat quality.
65.You will notice that another use of abstract nouns is to name actions. The verb is the part of speech which expresses action, therefore many abstract nouns are formed from verbs. Notice the following list:
66.An abstract noun is also the name of a condition. These nouns are derived from the concrete noun which is the nameof the personor thing which isinthe condition.
Form abstract nouns from the following adjectives, verbs and nouns.
67.So we find that we classify our nouns according to the special work which they do. Now sometimes we find it necessary to change the form of the noun to make it express our thought. Thus we say,book,man,boy,knife, when we wish to express the idea of only one of each object mentioned. But when we wish to express the idea of more than one of them, we say,books,men,boys,knives.
We say,The boy calls;the boys call. The form of the nounboyis changed by adding ansto it. The meaning has also changed.Boydenotes one lad;boysdenotes two or more lads. Any change in form and meaning of words is calledinflection. The change to denote more than one object is callednumber. The wordboy, denotingoneis in thesingular number; the wordboys, denotingmore than oneis in theplural number.
68.Inflection is a change in the form of a word to denote a different application or use.
Number is the form of a noun which shows whether it denotes one or more than one.
The singular number denotes one thing.
The plural number denotes more than one thing.
There are a few rules governing the formation of plurals which we must know, and these rules are of great assistance in correct spelling.
69.Most nouns form their plural by addings—thus:
Long ago in early English all plurals were formed by addinges, and you will read in the first translation of the Bible, for instance, such words asbird-es,cloud-es. Later theewas dropped andsadded to the singular without an increase of syllables. But when the singular ends in anssound, the original syllableesis retained, for two hissing sounds will not unite.
70.So nouns ending ins,x,z,shor softch, form the plural by addingesto the singular. These words end with a sound so much like that ofsthat we cannot pronounce the plural easily without making another syllable. Thus:
71.In words ending with thessound but with a finale, onlysis added to form the plural, but in pronouncing the word we then have two syllables, thus:
72.Letters, figures, signs, etc., are made plural by adding an apostrophe and the letters('s), thus:
While most of our nouns form their plural in this regular way by addingsores, there are some nouns that form their plural by some other change in the form of the word.
73.Notice the following list of words and their plurals:
These nouns all end iny, yet they form the plural differently. Some simply addsand the rest change theytoiand addes. Can you discover the reason?
Wherever theyis preceded by a vowel, aseinkey,aintray,oinboy, the plural is formed by addings. But when theyis preceded by a consonant, aslinfly,rinstory,tincity, andminenemy, theyis changed toiandesadded in forming the plural.
If the singular ends inyafter a consonant, changeytoiand addesin the plural.
74.There are thirteen nouns ending infand three infewhich form the plural inves. They are:
All other nouns inforfeare regular; adding onlys, to form the plural.
75.About forty nouns ending inoafter a consonant form the plural ines. The most common ones are:
Most nouns ending inoform the plural regularly, adding onlys, aspianos,banjos,cameos, etc.
76.A few words form their plurals by a change in the word and without addingsores.
The most common of these words are:
77.Proper nouns, when made plural, generally follow the same rule as common nouns. Thus we write:
But to prevent the confusion and misunderstanding which might arise in changing the form of a proper noun, we do not change its form in writing the plurals; for example:
It would be confusing to sayeight Henries, thetwo Maries.
The title is made plural when several are referred to, thus:
78.The title is made plural when used with several names, thus:
79.In the case of nouns formed of two or more words, when the compound word is so familiar that the parts are not thought of separately thesis added to the whole compound word, asfour-in-hands;forget-me-nots;court-yards;spoonfuls;green-houses; etc. But when one of the parts is more important than the others, thesis added to the more important part, thus:
80.We have many words in our language taken from other languages. They do not form the plural in these languages as we do, and some of these words retain their foreign plurals. Some of the most commonly used of these nouns are the following:
81.The following nouns are treated as singular:news,pains(meaning care),acoustics,mathematics,economics,ethics,molasses,physics,politics, and other nouns ending inicsexceptathletics. With these always use the s-form of the verb. For example:
82.The following nouns are always plural:
With all these nouns always use the form of the verb which is used with the plural subject. Thus:
83.The following nouns have the same form for both plural and singular,corps,cannon,deer,grouse,heathen,hose,means,odds,series,sheep,species,swine,vermin,wages. You can tell whether the singular or plural is meant by the meaning of the sentence. For example:
The cannon is loaded.Here we are speaking ofonecannon.
The cannon used in the war are of tremendous size.Here we know are meant all the big guns used in the war.
When you say,The sheep is lost, we know you meanonesheep, but when you say,The sheep are in the pasture, we know you mean the entire drove.
84.When preceded by a numeral, the following nouns have the same form for both singular and plural. Without the numerals, the plural is formed by the adding ofs;brace,couple,dozen,hundred,pair,score,thousand,yoke. For example:
85.All of the changes we have studied so far have been for the purpose of indicating number; but among the nouns that name living beings, many change to show to which sex the object named belongs. These nouns change in form to distinguish between the masculine and the feminine. This is calledgender.
Gender is the distinction in words that denotes sex.
The nouns that denote females are called feminine nouns.
The nouns that denote males are called masculine nouns.
86.The feminine form is generally made by the addition ofessto the masculine form. Thus:
87.Names of things without sex are, of course, of neither gender, and are calledneuter nouns. Neuter means literallyneither. Such nouns asmountain,iron,river,chair, are neuter.
Sometimes the feminine is an entirely different word from the masculine. Thus:
88.Many nouns that denote living beings apply alike to male and female, and are said to be ofcommon gender. As woman enters more and more into the business world and pursues the same occupations as man, the change in form to denote the feminine is used less frequently, and what we have called the masculine form is used for both sexes, thus:
Poet,waiter,doctor,editor—these nouns are used for both men and women.
89.There is just one more change made in the form of a noun, and that is when we wish to show who or what owns or possesses a thing. Thus we write:
And since this form of the noun denotes possession, it is called thepossessive form. Some grammarians call this the possessive case.
The possessive form of nouns is made by adding an apostrophe ands, ('s); thus,day's,lady's,girl's,clerk's.
To plural nouns ending insadd only an apostrophe; thus,days',ladies',girls',clerks'.
When plural nouns do not end ins, their possessive forms are made by adding the apostrophe ands, the same as singular nouns, thus:
90.In words which end with a sound that resembles that ofs, the apostrophe withsforms an additional syllable. Thus:
The only exception to the rule occurs when the addition of anotherswould make too many hissing sounds, then we add the apostrophe alone. Thus:
91.In forming the possessive of compound nouns, the possessive sign is always placed at the end, thus:
92.When we wish to show that a thing belongs to two or more persons who are joint owners of it, we add the possessive sign to the last word only, thus:
If it is a separate ownership that we wish to denote, we place the possessive sign after each name, thus:
Remember that the noun has justthreechanges in form, one for the plural number, one to denote gender and one for the possessive form. Watch carefully your own language and that of your friends and note if these changes are correctly made.
Write the plural form of each of the following:
Underscore the nouns in the following:
How many abstract nouns?
How many concrete?
How many singular?
How many plural?