Plain English. Marian Wharton
order that
lest
neither
nor
or
since
still
so
then
though
that
than
therefore
till
until
unless
while
whether
yet
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.
Exercise 5
Underscore the conjunctions in the following sentences. Notice whether they connect words or phrases or sentences.
1. We cannot win unless we are organized.
2. Books and music are true friends.
3. Men, women and children work under conditions neither proper nor just.
4. We must educate and organize.
5. The workers on the farms and in the factories must be united.
6. Winter has come and the birds are going South.
7. We have been ignorant, therefore we have been exploited.
8. We must learn before we can teach.
9. We do not understand the situation, because we do not know the facts.
10. Do you know whether these statements are true or false?
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he, with a chuckle, replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he tried.
So he buckled right in, with a trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done—and he did it.
Somebody scoffed, "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it."
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it;
With the lift of his chin, and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done—and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it can not be done;
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to 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.
INTERJECTIONS
56. There is another class of words which we use with sentences, but which are really not parts of the sentences. They are emotional expressions which seem to belong more to the natural language than to the invented language. For example:
Oh! You hurt me!
Aha! Now I have you.
Oh, used in this way, is very apt to sound like a groan, and aha like a shout of triumph. These words do not really belong in the construction of the sentence. The sentence would be complete without them, but they are thrown in to express the emotion which accompanies the thought. We call expressions such as these interjections. Interjection is from the Latin and means literally thrown into the midst of. It comes from the Latin word inter, which means between, and the Latin verb jecto, to throw, so it literally means to throw between.
Some of these words imitate sounds, as for example:
Bang! There goes another shot.
Ding-dong! There goes the first bell.
We do not use interjections very frequently in writing on scientific subjects that express deep thought, but you will find them often used in poetry, fiction, oratory or any emotional writing. Therefore we have our definition of an interjection:
57. An interjection is an exclamatory word or phrase used to express feeling or to imitate some sound.
58. Following is a list of commonly used interjections. Use them in sentences of your own.
oh
hello
bravo
ahoy
aha
hurrah
bow wow
ssh
alas
hist
whirr
pshaw
fie
whoa
ding-dong
rub-a-dub
Exercise 6
Mark the interjections in the following sentences. Notice those which express emotion and those which imitate sound.
1. Oh! Is it possible.
2. Hurrah! We have good news at last.
3. Whirr! Whirr! goes the giant machine.
4. Come! Keep up your courage.
5. What! I cannot believe it.
6. Courage! We shall yet win.
7. Bravo! Let those words ring down the centuries.
8. Ding-dong! the bells ring out the hour!
SPELLING
LESSON 3
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. When you 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