Plain English. Marian Wharton

      The division of words into syllables is quite important as an aid to pronunciation. It is also a very important matter to understand in our written speech for it is often necessary to divide a word at the end of a line. If the word is not properly divided, it is much more difficult to read and understand. The hyphen is used to divide words into syllables when carrying a portion to the next line.

      When you must divide a word at the end of a line divide it only between syllables. Never divide a word of one syllable, no matter how long it may be. If you cannot get all of it on the line, write it all on the next line. Do not divide a short word of two syllables if you can avoid it and never divide such a word when it leaves only one letter on the line or only one letter to be carried over to the next line, as for example: luck-y, a-loud, etc.

      When two or more vowels are used together to make one sound they should never be separated by the hyphen, as for example, joy-ous, anx-ious, trail, dis-course, de-feat, boor-ish.

      When two or more vowels placed together are not used to form one sound then these vowels may be divided, as for example, tri-al, co-or-di-nate, he-ro-ic.

      Look up the words in this week's lesson in the dictionary carefully and divide into syllables. Notice specially the division of words into syllables where the word contains a diphthong and where it contains two vowels written together which are not diphthongs. Notice also the words which have a single vowel as the first or last syllable.

      Monday

      Tuesday

      Wednesday

      Thursday

      Friday

      Saturday

      PLAIN ENGLISH

      LESSON 8

      Dear Comrade:

      You have often read the words organic and inorganic but did you ever stop to think of the meaning of these words? We say a body is organic—a rock is inorganic; one grows from within, the other is built from without. A tree is organic; it grows. A house is inorganic; it is built. The house was never a baby house, growing from a tiny house to a large one. But the tree was once a baby tree, a sapling, and grew branch by branch to its present height. So we have two classes of things—those which grow and those which are made.

      Language belongs to the class of things which grows. It is organic. We have even used the same terms in speaking about language that we use in talking of a tree. We use the words ROOT, STEM and BRANCH to describe its growth.

      Language, too, has its different terms of life like a tree, its youth, its maturity, its old age, its death.

      So we have dead languages like Latin and Greek—languages which are no longer living,—no longer serving mankind. But these dead languages have left living children, languages that have descended from them.

      The Italian language for example is the child, the descendant of the classical Latin. We have many words in our English language from these dead languages. About five-sevenths of the words in our English are from these classical languages. The remaining two-sevenths are from the Anglo-Saxon. We use the Anglo-Saxon words more frequently, however, in our every day speech.

      And it is interesting to note that our best poetry—that which stirs our blood and touches our hearts—is written in the strong forceful Anglo-Saxon words.

      These words we are studying have been through some interesting experiences as they have passed from race to race down to us and the history of life is mirrored in their changes. How much more interesting they seem when we know something of their sources, just as we are more interested in a man when we know something of his boyhood and youth and the experiences through which he has passed.

      You may think that the study of verbs is rather difficult and involved, but it is more simple in English than in any other language. There are fewer changes in the verb form in order to express time and person. Do not rely on the memorizing of the rules. Rules never made one a fluent speaker. Write sentences in which the correct form is used. Read aloud from the best authors until the sound of the words is familiar and they come readily to the tongue. We have used for the exercises in these lessons excerpts from the best authors.

      Study these exercises carefully and note the use of the different verbs especially, this week. Verbs, like all else, are yours to command. Command them.

      PROGRESSIVE VERB PHRASES

      132. We have learned how to form the three principal time forms, present, past and future and the perfect or completed form of each of the three, present perfect, past perfect and future perfect. And still we have such a wonderful language that we can express other shades of meaning in time.

       133. There is still another phase of action which we must have a verb phrase to express. Suppose you want to describe something you are now doing and are continuing to do, something not yet completed. To say, I do it now, is not satisfactory. Instead we say, I am doing it now.

      You have by the verb phrase, am doing, described a progressive action, an action going on in the present. You may also want to describe what you were doing yesterday, an action that continued or progressed in the past. You would not say, I built the house yesterday but, I was building the house yesterday. Again you may want to describe an action which will be progressing or going on in the future. You do not say, I shall build the house next week but, I shall be building the house next week.

      So we have progressive verb phrases.

       134. The present progressive describes an action as continuing or progressing in the present.

      It is formed by using the present time form of the verb be and the present participle.

      You remember that the present participle is formed by adding ing to the simple form of the verb.

       135. The past progressive time form describes an action which was continuing or progressing in the past. It is formed by using the past time form of the verb be and the present participle.

       136. The future progressive describes an action which will be progressing or going on in the future. It is formed by using the future time form of the verb be and the present participle.

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