FIVE AND FIFTYCharlotte Perkins GilmanIf fifty men did all the workAnd gave the price to five;And let those five make all the rules—You'd say the fifty men were fools,Unfit to be alive.And if you heard complaining criesFrom fifty brawny men,Blaming the five for graft and greed,Injustice, cruelty indeed—What would you call them then?Not by their own superior forceDo five on fifty live,But by election and assent—And privilege of government—Powers that the fifty give.If fifty men are really fools—And five have all the brains—The five must rule as now we find;But if the fifty have the mind—Why don't they take the reins?
FIVE AND FIFTY
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
If fifty men did all the workAnd gave the price to five;And let those five make all the rules—You'd say the fifty men were fools,Unfit to be alive.
If fifty men did all the work
And gave the price to five;
And let those five make all the rules—
You'd say the fifty men were fools,
Unfit to be alive.
And if you heard complaining criesFrom fifty brawny men,Blaming the five for graft and greed,Injustice, cruelty indeed—What would you call them then?
And if you heard complaining cries
From fifty brawny men,
Blaming the five for graft and greed,
Injustice, cruelty indeed—
What would you call them then?
Not by their own superior forceDo five on fifty live,But by election and assent—And privilege of government—Powers that the fifty give.
Not by their own superior force
Do five on fifty live,
But by election and assent—
And privilege of government—
Powers that the fifty give.
If fifty men are really fools—And five have all the brains—The five must rule as now we find;But if the fifty have the mind—Why don't they take the reins?
If fifty men are really fools—
And five have all the brains—
The five must rule as now we find;
But if the fifty have the mind—
Why don't they take the reins?
Select all the nouns in the following. Write their singular, plural and possessive forms. Decide whether they are abstract or concrete, common or proper or collective, masculine, feminine or neuter.
Brother!Whoever you are, wherever you are on all the earth, I greet you.I extend to you my right hand.I make you a pledge.Here is my pledge to you:—I refuse to kill your father. I refuse to slay your mother's son. I refuse to plunge a bayonet into the breast of your sister's brother. I refuse to slaughter your sweetheart's lover. I refuse to murder your wife's husband. I refuse to butcher your little child's father. I refuse to wet the earth with blood and blind kind eyes with tears. I refuse to assassinate you and then hide my stained fists in the folds ofanyflag.Will you thus pledge me and pledge all the members of our working class?—Kirkpatrick.
Brother!
Whoever you are, wherever you are on all the earth, I greet you.
I extend to you my right hand.
I make you a pledge.
Here is my pledge to you:—
I refuse to kill your father. I refuse to slay your mother's son. I refuse to plunge a bayonet into the breast of your sister's brother. I refuse to slaughter your sweetheart's lover. I refuse to murder your wife's husband. I refuse to butcher your little child's father. I refuse to wet the earth with blood and blind kind eyes with tears. I refuse to assassinate you and then hide my stained fists in the folds ofanyflag.
Will you thus pledge me and pledge all the members of our working class?—Kirkpatrick.
Some of our consonants also have more than one sound. We have also certain combinations of consonants which represent one sound. This combination of two letters to represent one sound is called a digraph, asgh, incough,chinchurch. A digraph may either be a combination of two consonants or of two vowels or of a vowel and a consonant. The following table contains the consonants which have more than one sound:
The following table gives the digraphs most commonly used:
The use of these digraphs gives us a number of additional sounds. Notice the use of the consonants which have more than one sound and also the digraphs in the spelling lesson for the week. Mark the consonants and digraphs.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Dear Comrade:
We want to say just a word about the lesson assignment. This has been arranged on a schedule of days merely to assist you in systematizing your time and making the most of the leisure at your disposal. It is not intended that you should slavishly follow it. We thoroughly believe in individuality and all that contributes toward its development. But we are also confident that many foolish things are done in the name of liberty. Whenever we set ourselves to the performance of any task we necessarily limit our activities in some other direction. Power comes by concentration of force. Whenever we combine with others for the accomplishment of any purpose, it becomes necessary to have some plan of action and we give and take for the end which we have in view. The musician because he follows the law of harmony in music has not given up his liberty. He has only found a new freedom which enables him to make glorious music where only discord reigned before. System in our work does not mean loss of liberty or of individuality but only finding a channel through which individuality can flow into the great ocean of real freedom.
So use this suggestive lesson assignment to meet your own need and find expression for your real individuality in full freedom.
This is the first of several lessons concerning verbs. The verb is perhaps the most difficult part of speech to thoroughly master, so do not be discouraged if there are some parts of this lesson you do not understand. Succeeding lessons will clear up these difficult points. Keep your eyes open as you read every day, and be careful of your spelling and pronunciation.
Some of us mis-spell the common words which we see and use every day. In a student's letter we recently noted that, with our letter before him in which the word was printed in large type and correctly spelled, he spelled College,Colledge.
Do not be satisfied with half-way things or less than that which is worthy of you. Demand the best for yourself. Read aloud this little verse from the Good Grey Poet, Walt Whitman:
"O, the joy of a manly self-hood;To be servile to none, to defer to none, not to any tyrant known or unknown,To walk with erect carriage, a step springy and elastic,To look with calm gaze or with a flashing eye,To speak with a full and sonorous voice out of a broad chest,To confront with your personality all the other personalities of the earth."
"O, the joy of a manly self-hood;
To be servile to none, to defer to none, not to any tyrant known or unknown,
To walk with erect carriage, a step springy and elastic,
To look with calm gaze or with a flashing eye,
To speak with a full and sonorous voice out of a broad chest,
To confront with your personality all the other personalities of the earth."
Yours for Education,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
93.You remember when we studied sentences we found that we could not have a sentence without a verb or a word that asserts. The life of a sentence is the verb, for without the verb we cannot assert, question or command. It was on account of this importance that the Romans called the verb,verbum, which meant the word. Verbs, like nouns, are divided into classes.
94.In some of our sentences the verb alone is enough to make a complete assertion, but in other sentences we use verbs that need to be followed by one or more words to complete the assertion. Notice the following sentences:
Do you notice any difference in the verbs used in these sentences? Notice that the verbsranandrevolvesmake the complete assertion about their subjects. Notice the verbsfoundandis. These are not complete without the addition of the wordsballandround. If we sayThe boy found,The earth is, you at once ask,The boy found WHAT?The earth is WHAT?The sense is incomplete without the addition of these wordsballandround. A part of the thought is unexpressed; but when we sayThe boy found the ball,The earth is round, the sense is complete.
So we have two classes of verbs,COMPLETE AND INCOMPLETE VERBS.
95.An incomplete verb is one that requires the addition of one or more words to complete its meaning.
The word or words added to an incomplete verb to complete its meaning are called the complement.
A complete verb is one that requires no complement to complete its meaning.
96.You can readily tell when a verb is complete and when it is incomplete by asking the questionWhat?If you put the questionwhatafter the verb, and it makes a sensible question the verb isincomplete. For example:
If the questionwhat?does not make sense after the verb, then the verb iscomplete. For example:
The questionwhatafter these verbs would not make sense, as:
So these verbs arecompleteverbs.
97.The same verb, however, may be complete or incomplete, according to the way in which it is used. For example:
In the sentence,Corn grows,growsis a complete verb. You could not sayThe corn grows—what?for it does not grow anything. It merely grows, and the verbgrowsin this sense is a complete verb. But in the sentence,The farmer grows corn, you are using the verbgrowsin a slightly different sense. It is anincomplete verb, for you do not mean,The farmer grows, but you mean thatthe farmer grows CORN.
In the following sentences, underscore the complete verbs with one line, the incomplete with two lines. Ask the questionwhat?after each verb to determine whether it is complete or incomplete.
Use the following verbs in sentences as both complete and incomplete verbs, as for example,The snow melts.The sun melts the snow.
98.Do you notice any difference in the two verbs in the following sentences:
In the sentence,The boy found the ball, the wordballtellswhatthe boyfound. The verbfoundexpresses action; it tells what the boydoes.Boyis the subject of the action—the one who performs the action. The wordballis theobjectof the action. It shows the receiver of the action. In the sentence,The earth is round,isdoes not express action. The earth is not doing anything, it simplyis. The verbisexpresses a state or condition and is incomplete, for you do not know what state or condition is expressed until we add the other word or words which describe the state or condition.
Notice the following sentences:
The wordsround,sphere,homeandlarge, describe the earth which is the subject of the verbis.
99.So we have two classes of incomplete verbs, the verbs that express action and the verbs that express state or condition. The verbswhich express action are calledtransitiveverbs. Transitive is a word derived from the Latin, and means literallypassing over.
100.So a transitive verb describes an action whichpasses overfrom the subject to the object. As for example in the sentence,The player struck the ball,struckis a transitive verb—a verb of action—describing the action of the subject,player, which passes over to the object,ball. Therefore we have our definition of a transitive verb:
A transitive verb is one that has a complement showing who or what receives the action expressed by the verb.
The complement or word that denotes the receiver of the action expressed by a transitive verb is called the object.
When you look up the meaning of verbs in your dictionary, you will find some verbs markedv.i., and some verbs markedv.t.V.t.is the abbreviation forverb transitive. Whenever you find a verb markedv.t., you know that it is a transitive verb, a verb of action, one which requires an object to complete its meaning.V.i.is the abbreviation forverb intransitive. Some grammarians use the termintransitiveto include bothcompleteandcopulativeverbs. We have used the terms complete and incomplete because they are much simpler and clearer in describing the two general classes of verbs, but you will remember that when you find verbs markedv.i.in the dictionary that these includecompleteandcopulativeverbs.
101.Now notice these sentences:
In these sentences the verbisdoes not express action, butconnectsorcouplesthe complementsroundandspherewith the subjectearth. Verbs used in this way are calledcopulativeverbs, from the wordcopula, which means tocompleteor toconnect. The wordsroundandsphereare not the objects of the verb, for they do not describe the receiver of any action. They are the words which describe the state or condition expressed in the verbis, and are called the attribute complement of the verb.
You note that this complement may be either an adjective or a noun. In the sentence,The earth is round, the adjective,round, is used as the complement; in the sentence,The earth is a sphere, the noun,sphere, is used as the complement. So we have our definition of copulative verbs.
102.Verbs that express state or condition are called copulative verbs.
The word or words that complete the meaning of an incomplete verb expressing state or condition, are called the complement, or attribute complement.
There are only a few of these copulative verbs. All forms of the verb,be; likeam,is,are,wasandwere, and the verb phrases likemust be,can be,will be,shall be,have been,had been, etc.; and the verbsseem,appear,become,look,feel,taste,soundandsmell, are the principal copulative verbs.
Study carefully the following sentences. Note whether the complement of the copulative verb is an adjective or a noun. Draw one line under eachadjectiveused as a complement and two lines under eachnounused as a complement.
Complete the following sentences by adding an object or a complement.
103. There are two classes of verbs, complete and incomplete.
A complete verb is one that requires no complement.
An incomplete verb is one that requires a complement to complete its meaning.
Incomplete verbs are of two kinds: 1. Those that express action; 2. Those that express state or condition.
Incomplete verbs that express action are called transitive verbs.
Incomplete verbs that express state or condition are called copulative verbs.
The complement or the word that denotes the receiver of the action expressed in a transitive verb is called the object.
The word or words that complete the meaning of a copulative verb are called the complement, or attribute complement.
The same verb may be complete or incomplete, according to the way in which it is used.
In the following sentences draw a single line under the complete verbs and a double line under the incomplete verbs. Then determine whether the incomplete verbs are transitive or copulative verbs, and draw a line through the object or the complement.
In the following quotation all of the verbs are printed initalics. Determine whether they are complete or incomplete verbs. If incomplete, determine whether they are transitive or copulative verbs. Draw a line under the object of every transitive verb and two lines under the complement of every copulative verb. Remember that sometimes we have several words combined into a verb phrase and used as a single verb. Watch for the verb phrases in the following, as for example:must be, in the sentence,Labor must be free.
The history of manissimply the history of slavery. Slaveryincludesall other crimes. Itdegradeslabor andcorruptsleisure. With the idea that laboristhe basis of progressgoesthe truth that labormust befree. The laborermust bea free man.Thereissomething wrong in a government where honestywearsa rag and rascalitydonsa robe; where the lovingeata crust while the infamoussitat banquets.Talkabout equal opportunity! Capitalismtiesa balloon to the shoulders of the rich child; ittiesa ball and chain to the feet of the poor child; andtellsthem that theyhavean equal opportunity!Once the masterhuntedfor the slaves, now the slavehuntsfor a master.
The history of manissimply the history of slavery. Slaveryincludesall other crimes. Itdegradeslabor andcorruptsleisure. With the idea that laboristhe basis of progressgoesthe truth that labormust befree. The laborermust bea free man.
Thereissomething wrong in a government where honestywearsa rag and rascalitydonsa robe; where the lovingeata crust while the infamoussitat banquets.
Talkabout equal opportunity! Capitalismtiesa balloon to the shoulders of the rich child; ittiesa ball and chain to the feet of the poor child; andtellsthem that theyhavean equal opportunity!
Once the masterhuntedfor the slaves, now the slavehuntsfor a master.
Mark the verbs in the following poem. Often in poetry words are omitted which in strict grammatical construction should be expressed. As for example in the fourth line of this poemwhich are, is omitted before the wordbought. In prose this would read,The pews which are bought by the profits, etc. So the wordboughtis a part of the verb phrase,are bought. In the last line of the third stanza there is another omission before the wordplanning. The meaning is,while they are planning slaughter.Planningis a part of the verb phraseare planning. And in the last lineisis omitted before the wordbeloved.Is belovedis the verb phrase. Determine whether the verbs in this poem are complete, transitive or copulative, and mark the objects and the complements of the transitive and the copulative verbs.
WHO IS A CHRISTIAN?Ella Wheeler Wilcox"Who is a Christian in this Christian landOf many churches and of lofty spires?Not he who sits in soft, upholstered pewsBought by the profits of unholy greed,And looks devotion while he thinks of gain.Not he who sends petitions from the lipsThat lie to-morrow in the street and mart.Not he who fattens on another's toil,And flings his unearned riches to the poorOr aids the heathen with a lessened wage,And builds cathedrals with an increased rent.Christ, with Thy great, sweet, simple creed of love,How must Thou weary of earth's "Christian" clans,Who preach salvation through Thy saving bloodWhile planning slaughter of their fellow men.Who is a Christian? It is one whose lifeIs built on love, on kindness and on faith;Who holds his brother as his other self;Who toils for justice, equity and peace,And hides no aim or purpose in his heartThat will not chord with universal good.Though he be a pagan, heretic or JewThat man is Christian and beloved of Christ."
WHO IS A CHRISTIAN?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
"Who is a Christian in this Christian landOf many churches and of lofty spires?Not he who sits in soft, upholstered pewsBought by the profits of unholy greed,And looks devotion while he thinks of gain.
"Who is a Christian in this Christian land
Of many churches and of lofty spires?
Not he who sits in soft, upholstered pews
Bought by the profits of unholy greed,
And looks devotion while he thinks of gain.
Not he who sends petitions from the lipsThat lie to-morrow in the street and mart.Not he who fattens on another's toil,And flings his unearned riches to the poorOr aids the heathen with a lessened wage,And builds cathedrals with an increased rent.
Not he who sends petitions from the lips
That lie to-morrow in the street and mart.
Not he who fattens on another's toil,
And flings his unearned riches to the poor
Or aids the heathen with a lessened wage,
And builds cathedrals with an increased rent.
Christ, with Thy great, sweet, simple creed of love,How must Thou weary of earth's "Christian" clans,Who preach salvation through Thy saving bloodWhile planning slaughter of their fellow men.
Christ, with Thy great, sweet, simple creed of love,
How must Thou weary of earth's "Christian" clans,
Who preach salvation through Thy saving blood
While planning slaughter of their fellow men.
Who is a Christian? It is one whose lifeIs built on love, on kindness and on faith;Who holds his brother as his other self;Who toils for justice, equity and peace,And hides no aim or purpose in his heartThat will not chord with universal good.Though he be a pagan, heretic or JewThat man is Christian and beloved of Christ."
Who is a Christian? It is one whose life
Is built on love, on kindness and on faith;
Who holds his brother as his other self;
Who toils for justice, equity and peace,
And hides no aim or purpose in his heart
That will not chord with universal good.
Though he be a pagan, heretic or Jew
That man is Christian and beloved of Christ."
We often have two vowels used in the same syllable as a single sound, asouinround,oiinoil, 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 asaiinrain,oainsoap, etc.
The most common diphthongs are:
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
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
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.
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:
What is the difference in the meaning ofI thinkandI thought? ofI workandI worked? When we say,I think, orI work, we mean that the action is now, to-day, in the present; but when we say,I thought, orI worked, we mean thatnowis 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 denotetime. The simple form of the verb, likethinkorwork, is used to denotepresent time. When we wish to expresspast timewe do it by changing the form of the verb. Now note the following:
Now let us write this in another way.
105.You notice in this table we use the expressionsfirst person,second person, andthird person.Iandweindicate the person or persons speaking and are called the first person.Youindicates the person or persons spoken to and is called the second person.He,she,it,they, and the person or persons or things spoken of, are called the third person.
We use the wordyouwhen speaking to one or more than one now-a-days. It used to be that when speaking to a single person, people saidthou, and in speaking to two or more they saidyou. But we today have dropped the old formthou, and useyoufor both singular and plural.
106.Now note, in the above table, that there is only one form change in the verb, and this is in thethird person singular. We sayI call,You call,We call,They, orThe men call, but we sayHe, orthe man calls, in speaking of one person or thing. So we change the form of the verb with any subject which denotes the third person and the singular number. This form is made by addingsto the simple form of the verb, therefore we may call it thes-formbecause it always ends ins.
Remember that thiss-formis used to express present time with a third person, singular subject.BE CAREFUL NOT TO USE THIS FORM WITH ANY PLURAL SUBJECT.There is no other change in the verb form in expressing the present time in any verb, except in the verbbe.
107.This little verbbeis one of the most troublesome verbs in our language, and since it is used in forming verb phrases, it will be well to commit the following table to memory. Watch closely your use of this bothersome little word. Note that it has a change in form for thefirst person singular, as well as for the third person singular. All other verbs have just the one change, thes-formfor the third person singular. The verbbehas a form also to use with the first person singular, the pronounI.
108.The present time form is the form which expresses present time. It is expressed by the simple form of the verb with the exception of the third person singular, which is expressed by thes-form.
109.To expresspast timewe change the form of the verb. Notice the following:
Notice that these various forms of the verb which express past time are all made by changes from the simple form, which expresses present time. You will also notice that these five verbs used in the above table all form their past time form in different ways. For example,calladdsed;sendchanges the final letter fromdtot;fallchanges the vowel in themiddle of the word fromatoe;bringchanges both the vowel and the final letter frombringtobrought;hidedrops the final lettere.
110.Verbs whose past time forms are made by addingdoredto the simple form are called regular verbs.
Verbs whose past time forms are made in some other way than by addingdoredare called irregular verbs.
111.There are about two hundred of these irregular verbs which form their past time in the following ways:
1. By change in the vowel letter, asfall,fell;write,wrote;see,saw;sing,sang;come,came.
2. By dropping the final vowel; ashide,hid;slide,slid;bite,bit.
3. By dropping a vowel from the middle of the word; asbleed,bled;feed,fed;lead,led.
4. By changing the final letter or letters; assend,sent;lose,lost;spend,spent.
5. By changing the vowel and final letters; asbring,brought;seek,sought;catch,caught.
6. By changing the vowel sound and addingtord; assleep,slept;feel,felt;flee,fled.
There are some irregular forms which we must learn and be exceedingly careful in their use. Study the list in this lesson.
Write thepresentandpasttime forms of the following verbs as the verbthinkis written in the table given below.
112.Be very careful not to use thes-formexcept for the third person singular. Be especially careful in the use of different forms of the verbbe. It is in the use of this verb that we so frequently make mistakes. Watch your own language and the conversation of your friends and note these mistakes and correct them in your own mind. These common blunders in the use of English mark us as careless or uneducated by everyone who hears us speak. We have fallen into bad habits oftentimes and make these mistakes when we know better, andonly constant watchfulness for a time can overcome the habit. After a time we learn to speak correctly without effort, and then these mistakes made by others offend the ear like a false note in music.
Cross out the wrong form in the following:
113.We have found now three forms of the verb, thesimple form, thes-form, and thepast time form, and, in addition, theI-form, or the first person form of the verbbe. There are no other real verb forms, but there are two other changes made in the form of the verb when it ceases to be used as the predicate, the asserting word of the sentence, and becomes, in part, another part of speech.
Notice in the following sentences:
In each of these sentences the wordmaking, from the verbmake, is used as a noun. In the first,Making shoes is his work,makingis used as the subject of the sentence. In the second,He enjoys making shoes,makingis used as the object of the verbenjoys. Butmakingis not like the ordinary noun, for it has an objectmaking—what?—making shoes.Shoesis the object of the action expressed inmaking. A noun never takes an object; so while the wordmakingis used as a noun, it is also partly a verb. It is a form of the verb used as a noun, but keeping in part its verb nature, partaking of the nature of two parts of speech at the same time.
Hence these forms of the verb are calledparticiples. Participle meanspartaker.
The participle may also be used as an adjective. Notice the following:
In these sentencescryingandrescuingare formed from the verbscryandrescue, and are used as adjectives to describe the nounchildand the nounparty. So a participle is a mixed part of speech. It is partially a verb, but is not a true verb. A true verb is always used as the predicate, the asserting word in the sentence andalwayshas a subject. The participleneverhas a subject; it may have an object, but not a subject.
114.There are two forms of the participle. The active form or the present form as it is sometimes called, ends ining, as,waiting,walking,saying. It expresses action, existence, or possession as going on at the time mentioned in the sentence.
115.The other form of the participle is the passive form or the past form of the participle. This ends inedin the regular verbs, and has various forms in the irregular verbs. It is formed in regular verbs by addingdoredto the simple form, hence has the same form as the past time form, as for example, present time form,call—past time form,called—past participle,called. You will find the past participle forms of irregular verbs in the list of irregular verbs given in this lesson, as for example—present time form,go—past time form,went—past participle,gone.
116.You will find as we study the verb phrases in later lessons that these participles are used in forming verb phrases. As for example:
A participle is a word derived from a verb, partaking of the nature of a verb and also of an adjective or a noun.
117.Verbs have five form changes.
Write in columns like the above the five forms of the following verbs:
Study carefully the following quotation. You will find in it all five of the form changes of the verb—the present time form,the s-form,the past time form,the present participleandthe past participle. In the verb phraseshad been filled,has survived,has gone,has provedandbe dismayed, you will find the past participle used in forming the verb phrase. We will study these verb phrases in later lessons.
In the verb phrases,was stumbling,was groping,is conquering,are carrying, the present participle is used in forming the verb phrases.Could reconcileis also a verb phrase. We will study these verb phrases also in later lessons.
The present participles,struggling,perseveringandregainingare used as adjectives. Study them carefully and find the words which they describe. The present participlesimagining,learningandsufferingare used as nouns. Note their use.
The past participlesrebuffed,self-reproached,discouragedandpromisedare used as adjectives. Find the words which they modify. There are severalpresent time forms, severalpast time forms, and severals-forms. Find them and study carefully their usage.
OUT OF THE DARK
By Helen Keller
America's famous blind girl, who has come to see more than most people with normal eyes.
Step by step my investigation of blindnessledme into the industrial world. And what a world itis. Ifacedunflinchingly a world of facts—a world of misery and degradation, of blindness, crookedness, and sin, a worldstrugglingagainst the elements, against the unknown, against itself. HowcouldIreconcilethis world of fact with the bright world of myimagining? My darknesshad been filledwith the light of intelligence, and,behold, the outer day-lit worldwas stumbling,was gropingin social blindness. At first, Iwasmost unhappy, but deeper studyrestoredmy confidence. Bylearningthesufferingand burdens of men, Ibecameaware as never before of the life-power whichhas survivedthe forces of darkness—the power which, though never completely victorious,iscontinuouslyconquering. The very fact that wearestill carrying on the contest against the hosts of annihilationprovesthat on the whole the battlehas gonefor humanity. The world's great hearthas provedequal to the prodigious undertaking which Godsetit.Rebuffed, but alwayspersevering;self-reproached, but everregainingfaith; undaunted, tenacious, the heart of manlaborstowards immeasurably distant goals.Discouragednot by difficulties without, or the anguish of ages within, the heartlistensto a secret voice thatwhispers: "Benotdismayed; in the futureliesthePromisedLand."
Step by step my investigation of blindnessledme into the industrial world. And what a world itis. Ifacedunflinchingly a world of facts—a world of misery and degradation, of blindness, crookedness, and sin, a worldstrugglingagainst the elements, against the unknown, against itself. HowcouldIreconcilethis world of fact with the bright world of myimagining? My darknesshad been filledwith the light of intelligence, and,behold, the outer day-lit worldwas stumbling,was gropingin social blindness. At first, Iwasmost unhappy, but deeper studyrestoredmy confidence. Bylearningthesufferingand burdens of men, Ibecameaware as never before of the life-power whichhas survivedthe forces of darkness—the power which, though never completely victorious,iscontinuouslyconquering. The very fact that wearestill carrying on the contest against the hosts of annihilationprovesthat on the whole the battlehas gonefor humanity. The world's great hearthas provedequal to the prodigious undertaking which Godsetit.Rebuffed, but alwayspersevering;self-reproached, but everregainingfaith; undaunted, tenacious, the heart of manlaborstowards immeasurably distant goals.Discouragednot by difficulties without, or the anguish of ages within, the heartlistensto a secret voice thatwhispers: "Benotdismayed; in the futureliesthePromisedLand."
Here is a list of the principal irregular verbs—the present and past time forms and the past participle are called the principal parts of a verb.
(Those marked with anrhave also the regular form.)
Every vowel or every vowel combination pronounced as one vowel sound indicates a syllable (excepting finalein such words asfate,late,rode, etc.) Take the wordcombination, for example. In this word we have four syllables, thus:Com-bi-na-tion.
A syllable is that part of a word which can be uttered distinctly by a single effort of the voice.Remember that each syllable must contain a vowel or a vowel combination likeoiorou, which is pronounced as one vowel. Sometimes the vowel alone makes the syllable as ina-lone,e-qual, etc. The finalein words likelate, andfateis not sounded. It is silent, we say.
All words ending in silentehave the long vowel sound, with a very few exceptions. Words without the finalehave the short vowel sound as for example:fate,fat;mate,mat;hide,hid;rode,rod.
In dividing words into syllables the consonant is written with the preceding vowel when that vowel is short. If the vowel is long the consonant is written with the next syllable, as for example, de-fine and def-i-ni-tion. In de-fine theeis long thereforef, the consonant following, is written with the next syllable,fine. In def-i-ni-tion theehas the short sound, therefore thefis written with theein the syllable,def.
When there are two consonants following the vowel, divide between the consonants, as for example,in-ven-tion,foun-da-tion, etc. Never divide a digraph, that is, two consonants which are sounded together as one sound, as for example,moth-er,catch-er,te-leg-ra-pher, etc.
In writing words containing double consonants likedd,ll,ss, divide the word into syllables between the double consonants, as for example,per-mit-ted,ad-mis-sion,sad-dest, etc.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Dear Comrade:
I wonder if you have ever thought as to how our language grew.
We get the words in our language from many sources. The English language today is a development of the early Anglo-Saxon. England was called originally Angle-land which was gradually shortened into England. So we have in our language what are called pure English or Anglo-Saxon words. These words form the bulk of our every day vocabulary, being simple, strong, forceful words. Then we have in our English many foreign words which we have adopted from other languages. There are many Latin and Greek words; these we use in our more elegant speech or writing.
There is an interesting bit written by Sir Walter Scott in his novel of early England, "Ivanhoe," which illustrates the manner in which words have come into our language and also the difference in speech which marks the working class and the exploiting class. As those who do the work of the world rid themselves of the parasites who have appropriated the produce of their labor, through the ages, they will demand that which belongs to them—the best—the best in language as in everything else.
"'... I advise thee to call off Fangs and leave the herd to their destiny, which, whether they meet with bands of traveling soldiers, or of outlaws, or of wandering pilgrims, can be little else than to be converted into Normans before morning, to thy no small ease and comfort.'"'The swine turned into Normans to my comfort!' quoth Gurth. 'Expound that to me, Wamba, for my brain is too dull and my mind too vexed to read riddles.'"'Why, how call you these grunting brutes running about on their four legs?' demanded Wamba."'Swine, fool, swine,' said the herd; 'every fool knows that.'"'And swine is good Saxon,' said the jester; 'but how call you the sow when she is flayed, and drawn, and quartered, and hung by the heels like a traitor?'"'Pork,' answered the swineherd."'I am glad every fool knows that too,' said Wamba; 'and pork, I think, is good Norman-French, and so when the brute lives and is in charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a Norman and is called pork when she is carried to the castle-hall to feast among the nobles. What dost thou think of that, friend Gurth, ha?' ... "
"'... I advise thee to call off Fangs and leave the herd to their destiny, which, whether they meet with bands of traveling soldiers, or of outlaws, or of wandering pilgrims, can be little else than to be converted into Normans before morning, to thy no small ease and comfort.'
"'The swine turned into Normans to my comfort!' quoth Gurth. 'Expound that to me, Wamba, for my brain is too dull and my mind too vexed to read riddles.'
"'Why, how call you these grunting brutes running about on their four legs?' demanded Wamba.
"'Swine, fool, swine,' said the herd; 'every fool knows that.'
"'And swine is good Saxon,' said the jester; 'but how call you the sow when she is flayed, and drawn, and quartered, and hung by the heels like a traitor?'
"'Pork,' answered the swineherd.
"'I am glad every fool knows that too,' said Wamba; 'and pork, I think, is good Norman-French, and so when the brute lives and is in charge of a Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but becomes a Norman and is called pork when she is carried to the castle-hall to feast among the nobles. What dost thou think of that, friend Gurth, ha?' ... "
So you see even in words the distinction is made between those who produce and those who possess.
But the day is at hand when those who work shall also enjoy. We have fought for religious and political freedom. Today we are waging the battle for industrial freedom. It isyourstruggle. Study—prepare yourself to do battle for your rights.
Yours for Freedom,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
118.We have learned how to express present time and past time, by changes in the form of the verb. But we very often desire to make a statement in which we do not express either present or past time, thus we may say:
We do not mean to say that we do enjoy our rights now, in the present, or that we did in the past, but that weshallenjoy our rights some time in the future. In the second sentence,will joinexpresses the same idea of future time. To indicate future time, we do not make a change in the verb form, but we useshallandwillwith the simple form of the verb.
119.We denote future time by use of a verb phrase made by placingshallorwillbefore the simple form of the verb.
120.The rule of some grammarians is to useshallalways in the first person, the person speaking, to denote future time, andwillwith the second person, the person spoken to, and with the third person, the person spoken of, to denote future time. But common usage does not always follow the rules of the grammarians, and, in the course of time, affects and changes these rules. So our common usage of today useswillin the first person to express future time, as well asshall.
This rule of grammarians marks a nicety of speech and conveys a distinction of meaning which it really seems worth while to retain. The idea of the grammarians is that when we usewillwith the first person andshallwith the second or third person, we express apromiseordetermination. Thus if I say,I shall go, I simply mean that my going will be in the future. But if I say,I will go, I either mean that I am promising to go or that I am expressing my determination to go. So also if we useshallin the second and third persons. If we say,You will goorHe will go, we are simply stating that the going will be in the future, but if we say,You shall go, orHe shall go, we mean that we promise or are determined that you or he shall go.
To be technically correct this distinction should be observed.Shallin the first person, andwillin the second and third express simple futurity.Willin the first person andshallin the second and third express promise or determination. But in every day conversation this distinction is not observed, and many of our best writers do not follow this rule.
Mark the future time forms in the following sentences:
121.Past, present and future, being the three divisions of time, one would naturally expect that when we had found how to express these three forms, we would be through, but if you stop to think, you will find that there are other verb phrases of which we have need.
When we wish to speak of action as completed at the present time, we do not say:
Can you not readily see the difference in the meaning expressed inI work every day, andI have worked every day? In the first sentence you express a general truth,I work every day, a truth which has been true in the past, is true in the present, and the implication is that it will continue to be true in the future. But when you say,I have worked every day, you are saying nothing as to the future, but you are describing an action which is completed at the present time. This is called thepresent completeorpresent perfecttime.
122.Perfect means complete, and present perfect describes an action perfected or completed at the present time. So it is possible for us to express a necessary shade of meaning by the present perfect time form.
123.The present perfect time form describes an action completed at the present time, and is formed by using the present time form ofhaveand thepastparticiple of the verb.
124.Review in the last lesson how to form the past participle. Remember that it is one of the principal parts of the verb. In regular verbs the past participle is the same form as the past time form. In irregular verbs the past participle is quite often different from the past time form, as for example:go,went,gone;do,did,done, etc.
Watch closely your irregular verbs and see that you always use the pastparticiplewithhaveorhad; never use the pasttimeform withhaveorhad.