Plain English

Chapter 48

8. She brought it to me.......

9. If......and I join you, will you go?

10. They must not quarrel over......and me.

Exercise 6

Complete the following sentences using the correct form of _they_, _them_, or _themselves_ in the blank s.p.a.ces:

1. They gave......up.

2. ......and I will finish the work.

3. I found......where......hath thrown......down to rest.

4. I am sure it was......for I saw......plainly.

5. The workers enslave......by their lack of solidarity.

6. ......must learn the lesson.......

Exercise 7

Cross out the wrong word in the following sentences:

1. Everybody do--does as he pleases--they please.

2. No one should waste his--their opportunities.

3. The jury rendered its--their verdict.

4. If anyone wishes war, let him--them do the fighting.

5. The audience displayed its--their approval by its--their applause.

6. The audience remained quietly in its--their seats.

7. The jury adjourned for its--their dinner.

8. n.o.body willingly gives up his--their rights.

9. Each one may express his--their opinion.

10. Every man received his--their wages.

Exercise 8

Complete the following sentences by using the correct form of the p.r.o.nouns _who_, _whose_, or _whom_:

1. ......do you think I am?

2. I am the man......you taught yesterday.

3. With......are you going?

4. The contract was let to a man......we are sure cannot fulfill it.

5. The contractor......wishes to bid will come tomorrow.

6. On......are you depending?

7. The friends......counsel I took, stood by me.

8. He is a man......I am sure will succeed.

9. We tried to talk to those......we thought would understand us.

10. For......did you work?

Exercise 9

Insert _who_, _whose_, _whom_, _which_, _that_ or _what_ in the blanks in the following sentences:

1. Man is the only animal......uses a written speech.

2. Can you save......you earn?

3. Ricardo"s law was that the workers always receive a wage......permits them to produce and reproduce.

4. Have you read the book "War, What For"......Kirkpatrick wrote.

5. Newspapers......distort the news......they print to serve the ruling cla.s.s are dangerous foes to the workers.

6. The ma.s.sacre at Ludlow was an event......aroused the working cla.s.s.

7. They......live by the labor of others are drones in society and should be given the fate......they deserve.

8. The big machine gun......will destroy slavery is the printing press.

9. The man......leadership we should follow is he......preaches social equality.

10. We know......we need and we will demand......is our right.

Exercise 10

In the following quotations note the use of the p.r.o.nouns and mark whether they are _personal_, _relative_ or _interrogative_, whether they are used in the _subject_ form, _possessive_ form or _object_ form:

1. "Camerado, I give you my hand, I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law; Will you give me yourself, will you come travel with me, Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?"

2. "I think I could turn and live with animals they are so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long, they do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to G.o.d; Not one is dis-satisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things.

Not one kneels to another nor to his kind, that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth."

--_Whitman_.

Exercise 11

Note the omission of the antecedent in the first sentence, also the use of the relative _what_ in the last sentence of the first paragraph:

"Whoso would be a man, must be nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of our own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. I remember an answer which, when quite young, I was prompted to make to a valued adviser who was wont to importune me with the dear old doctrines of the church. On my saying, "What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?" my friend suggested--"But these impulses may be from below, not from above." I replied, "They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the devil"s child, I will live then from the devil." No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my const.i.tution; the only wrong what is against it.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Out upon your guarded lips! Sew them up with pack threads, do. Else, if you would be a man, speak what you think today in words as hard as cannon b.a.l.l.s, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though you contradict everything you said today. Ah, then, exclaim the aged ladies, you shall be sure to be misunderstood. Misunderstood! It is a right fool"s word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood."--_Emerson_.

SPELLING

LESSON 13

There are a few more rules governing the spelling of derivative words.

Words ending in silent _e_ keep the _e_ before the suffix beginning with a consonant. Notice the following words:

excite excitement like likeness force forceful shame shameless lone lonesome live lively

Words ending in silent _e_ drop the _e_ before the suffix beginning with a vowel, as:

excite excitable live living grieve grievous force forcible

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