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HOW TO

SPEAK AND WRITE CORRECTLY

By

JOSEPH DEVLIN, M.A.

Edited by

THEODORE WATERS

THE CHRISTIAN HERALD BIBLE HOUSE

NEW YORK

Copyright, 1910, by

THE CHRISTIAN HERALD NEW YORK

CONTENTS CHAPTER I

REQUIREMENTS OF SPEECH Vocabulary. Parts of speech. Requisites

CHAPTER II

ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

Divisions of grammar. Definitions. Etymology.

CHAPTER III THE SENTENCE

Different kinds. Arrangement of words. Paragraph.

CHAPTER IV

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Figures of speech. Definitions and examples. Use of figures.

CHAPTER V PUNCTUATION

Principal points. Illustrations. Capital letters.

CHAPTER VI LETTER WRITING

Principles of letter writing. Forms. Notes.

CHAPTER VII ERRORS

Mistakes. Slips of authors. Examples and corrections.

Errors of redundancy.

CHAPTER VIII PITFALLS TO AVOID

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Common stumbling blocks. Peculiar constructions. Misused forms.

CHAPTER IX STYLE

Diction. Purity. Propriety. Precision.

CHAPTER X SUGGESTIONS

How to write. What to write. Correct speaking and speakers.

CHAPTER XI SLANG

Origin. American slang. Foreign slang.

CHAPTER XII

WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS

Qualification. Appropriate subjects. Directions.

CHAPTER XIII CHOICE OF WORDS

Small words. Their importance. The Anglo-Saxon element.

CHAPTER XIV ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Beginning. Different Sources. The present.

CHAPTER XV

MASTERS AND MASTERPIECES OF LITERATURE

Great authors. Classification. The world's best books.

INTRODUCTION

In the preparation of this little work the writer has kept one end in view, viz.: To make it serviceable for those for whom it is intended, that is, for those who have neither the time nor the opportunity, the learning nor the inclination, to peruse elaborate and abstruse treatises on Rhetoric, Grammar, and Composition. To them such works are as gold enclosed in chests of steel and locked beyond power of opening. This book has no pretension about it whatever,--it is neither a Manual of Rhetoric, expatiating on the dogmas of style, nor a Grammar full of arbitrary rules and exceptions. It is merely an effort to help ordinary, everyday people to express themselves in ordinary, everyday language, in a proper manner. Some broad rules are laid down, the observance of which will enable the reader to keep within the pale of propriety in oral and written language. Many idiomatic words and expressions, peculiar

to the language, have been given, besides which a number of the common mistakes and pitfalls have been placed before the reader so that he may know and avoid them.

The writer has to acknowledge his indebtedness to no one in particular, but to all in general who have ever written on the subject. The little book goes forth--a finger-post on the road of language pointing in the right direction. It is hoped that they who go ac-

cording to its index will arrive at the goal of correct speaking and writing.

CHAPTER I

REQUIREMENTS OF SPEECH Vocabulary--Parts of Speech--Requisites

It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, as for all purposes of ordinary conversation and communication, only about

2,000 different words are required. The mastery of just twenty hundred words, the knowing where to place them, will make us not masters of the English language, but masters of correct speaking and writing. Small number, you will say, compared with what is in the dictionary! But nobody ever uses all the words in the dictionary or could use them did he live to be the age of Methuselah, and there is no necessity for using them.

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There are upwards of 200,000 words in the recent editions of the large dictionaries, but the one-hundredth part of this number will suffice for all your wants. Of course you may think not, and you may not be content to call things by their common names; you may be ambitious to show superiority over others and display your learning or, rather, your pedantry and lack of learning. For instance, you may not want to call a spade a spade. You may prefer to call it a spatulous device for abrading the surface of the soil. Better, however, to stick to the old familiar, simple name that your grandfather called it. It has stood the test of time, and old friends are always good friends.

To use a big word or a foreign word when a small one and a familiar one will answer the same purpose, is a sign of ignorance. Great scholars and writers and polite speakers use simple words.

To go back to the number necessary for all purposes of conversation correspondence and writing, 2,000, we find that a great many people who pass in society as being polished, refined and educated use less, for they know less. The greatest scholar alive hasn't more than four thousand different words at his command, and he never has occasion to use half the number.

In the works of Shakespeare, the most wonderful genius the world has ever known, there is the enormous number of 15,000 different words, but almost 10,000 of them are obsolete or meaningless today.

Every person of intelligence should be able to use his mother tongue correctly. It only requires a little pains, a little care, a little study to enable one to do so, and the recompense is great.

Consider the contrast between the well-bred, polite man who knows how to choose and use his words correctly and the under-bred, vulgar boor, whose language grates upon the ear and jars the sensitiveness of the finer feelings. The blunders of the latter, his infringement of all the canons of grammar, his absurdities and monstrosities of language, make his very presence a pain, and one is glad to escape from his company.

The proper grammatical formation of the English language, so that one may acquit himself as a correct conversationalist in the best

society or be able to write and express his thoughts and ideas upon paper in the right manner, may be acquired in a few lessons.

It is the purpose of this book, as briefly and concisely as possible, to direct the reader along a straight course, pointing out the mistakes he must avoid and giving him such assistance as will enable him to reach the goal of a correct knowledge of the English language. It is not a Grammar in any sense, but a guide, a silent signal-post pointing the way in the right direction.

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN A NUTSHELL

All the words in the English language are divided into nine great classes. These classes are called the Parts of Speech. They are Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection. Of these, the Noun is the most important, as all the others are more or less dependent upon it. A Noun signifies the name of any person, place or thing, in fact, anything of which we can have either thought or idea. There are two kinds of Nouns, Proper and Common. Common Nouns are names which belong in common to a race or class, as man, city. Proper Nouns distinguish individual members of a race or class as John, Philadelphia. In the former case man is a name which belongs in common to the whole race of mankind, and city is also a name which is common to all large centres of population, but John signifies a particular individual of the race, while Philadelphia denotes a particular one from among the cities of the world.

Nouns are varied by Person, Number, Gender, and Case. Person is that relation existing between the speaker, those addressed and the subject under consideration, whether by discourse or correspondence. The Persons are First, Second and Third and they represent respectively the speaker, the person addressed and the person or thing mentioned or under consideration.

Number is the distinction of one from more than one. There are two numbers, singular and plural; the singular denotes one, the

plural two or more. The plural is generally formed from the singular by the addition of s or es.

Gender has the same relation to nouns that sex has to individuals, but while there are only two sexes, there are four genders, viz., masculine, feminine, neuter and common. The masculine gender denotes all those of the male kind, the feminine gender all those of the female kind, the neuter gender denotes inanimate things or whatever is without life, and common gender is applied to animate beings, the sex of which for the time being is indeterminable, such as fish, mouse, bird, etc. Sometimes things which are without life as we conceive it and which, properly speaking, belong to the neuter gender, are, by a figure of speech called Personification, changed into either the masculine or feminine gender, as, for instance, we say of the sun, He is rising; of the moon, She is setting. 3 Case is the relation one noun bears to another or to a verb or to a preposition. There are three cases, the Nominative, the Possessive and the Objective. The nominative is the subject of which we are speaking or the agent which directs the action of the verb; the possessive case denotes possession, while the objective indicates the person or thing which is affected by the action of the verb. An Article is a word placed before a noun to show whether the latter is used in a particular or general sense. There are but two articles, a or an and the. An Adjective is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, which shows some distinguishing mark or characteristic belonging to the noun. DEFINITIONS A Pronoun is a word used for or instead of a noun to keep us from repeating the same noun too often. Pronouns, like nouns, have case, number, gender and person. There are three kinds of pronouns, personal, relative and adjective. A verb is a word which signifies action or the doing of something. A verb is inflected by tense and mood and by number and person, though the latter two belong strictly to the subject of the verb. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an adjective and sometimes another adverb. A preposition serves to connect words and to show the relation between the objects which the words express. A conjunction is a word which joins words, phrases, clauses and sentences together. An interjection is a word which expresses surprise or some sudden emotion of the mind. THREE ESSENTIALS The three essentials of the English language are: Purity, Perspicuity and Precision. By Purity is signified the use of good English. It precludes the use of all slang words, vulgar phrases, obsolete terms, foreign idioms, ambiguous expressions or any ungrammatical language whatsoever. Neither does it sanction the use of any newly coined word until such word is adopted by the best writers and speakers. Perspicuity demands the clearest expression of thought conveyed in unequivocal language, so that there may be no misunderstanding whatever of the thought or idea the speaker or writer wishes to convey. All ambiguous words, words of double meaning and words that might possibly be construed in a sense different from that intended, are strictly forbidden. Perspicuity requires a style at once clear and comprehensive and entirely free from pomp and pedantry and affectation or any straining after effect. Precision requires concise and exact expression, free from redundancy and tautology, a style terse and clear and simple enough to en-able the hearer or reader to comprehend immediately the meaning of the speaker or writer. It forbids, on the one hand, all long and involved sentences, and, on the other, those that are too short and abrupt. Its object is to strike the golden mean in such a way as to rivet the attention of the hearer or reader on the words uttered or written. CHAPTER II ESSENTIALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR Divisions of Grammar--Definitions--Etymology. In order to speak and write the English language correctly, it is imperative that the fundamental principles of the Grammar be mastered, for no matter how much we may read of the best authors, no matter how much we may associate with and imitate the best speakers, if we do not know the underlying principles of the correct formation of sentences and the relation of words to one another, we will be to a great extent like the parrot, that merely repeats what it hears without understanding the import of what is said. Of course the parrot, being a creature without reason, cannot comprehend; it can simply repeat what is said to it, and as it utters phrases and sentences of profanity with as much facility as those of virtue, so by like analogy, when we do not understand the grammar of the language, we may be making egregious blunders while thinking we are speaking with the utmost accuracy. DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR 4 There are four great divisions of Grammar, viz.: Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody. Orthography treats of letters and the mode of combining them into words. Etymology treats of the various classes of words and the changes they undergo. Syntax treats of the connection and arrangement of words in sentences. Prosody treats of the manner of speaking and reading and the different kinds of verse. The three first mentioned concern us most. LETTERS A letter is a mark or character used to represent an articulate sound. Letters are divided into vowels and consonants. A vowel is a let-ter which makes a distinct sound by itself. Consonants cannot be sounded without the aid of vowels. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y when they do not begin a word or syllable. SYLLABLES AND WORDS A syllable is a distinct sound produced by a single effort of [Transcriber's note: 1-2 words illegible] shall, pig, dog. In every syllable there must be at least one vowel. A word consists of one syllable or a combination of syllables. Many rules are given for the dividing of words into syllables, but the best is to follow as closely as possible the divisions made by the organs of speech in properly pronouncing them. THE PARTS OF SPEECH ARTICLE An Article is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun is used in a particular or general sense. There are two articles, a or an and the. A or an is called the indefinite article because it does not point put any particular person or thing but indicates the noun in its widest sense; thus, a man means any man whatsoever of the species or race. The is called the definite article because it points out some particular person or thing; thus, the man means some particular individual. NOUN A noun is the name of any person, place or thing as John, London, book. Nouns are proper and common. Proper nouns are names applied to particular persons or places. Common nouns are names applied to a whole kind or species. Nouns are inflected by number, gender and case. Number is that inflection of the noun by which we indicate whether it represents one or more than one. Gender is that inflection by which we signify whether the noun is the name of a male, a female, of an inanimate object or something which has no distinction of sex. 5 Case is that inflection of the noun which denotes the state of the person, place or thing represented, as the subject of an affirmation or question, the owner or possessor of something mentioned, or the object of an action or of a relation. Thus in the example, "John tore the leaves of Sarah's book," the distinction between book which represents only one object and leaves which represent two or more objects of the same kind is called Number; the distinction of sex between John, a male, and Sarah, a female, and book and leaves, things which are inanimate and neither male nor female, is called Gender; and the distinction of state between John, the person who tore the book, and the subject of the affirmation, Mary, the owner of the book, leaves the objects torn, and book the object related to leaves, as the whole of which they were a part, is called Case. ADJECTIVE An adjective is a word which qualifies a noun, that is, shows or points out some distinguishing mark or feature of the noun; as, A black dog. Adjectives have three forms called degrees of comparison, the positive, the comparative and the superlative. The positive is the simple form of the adjective without expressing increase or diminution of the original quality: nice. The comparative is that form of the adjective which expresses increase or diminution of the quality: nicer. The superlative is that form which expresses the greatest increase or diminution of the quality: nicest. or An adjective is in the positive form when it does not express comparison; as, "A rich man." An adjective is in the comparative form when it expresses comparison between two or between one and a number taken collectively, as, "John is richer than James"; "he is richer than all the men in Boston." An adjective is in the superlative form when it expresses a comparison between one and a number of individuals taken separately; as, "John is the richest man in Boston." Adjectives expressive of properties or circumstances which cannot be increased have only the positive form; as, A circular road; the chief end; an extreme measure. Adjectives are compared in two ways, either by adding er to the positive to form the comparative and est to the positive to form the superlative, or by prefixing more to the positive for the comparative and most to the positive for the superlative; as, handsome, handsomer, handsomest or handsome, more handsome, most handsome. Adjectives of two or more syllables are generally compared by prefixing more and most. Many adjectives are irregular in comparison; as, Bad, worse, worst; Good, better, best. PRONOUN A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun; as, "John gave his pen to James and he lent it to Jane to write her copy with it." Without the pronouns we would have to write this sentence,--"John gave John's pen to James and James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's copy with the pen." There are three kinds of pronouns--Personal, Relative and Adjective Pronouns. Personal Pronouns are so called because they are used instead of the names of persons, places and things. The Personal Pronouns are I, Thou, He, She, and It, with their plurals, We, Ye or You and They. I is the pronoun of the first person because it represents the person speaking. Thou is the pronoun of the second person because it represents the person spoken to. 6 He, She, It are the pronouns of the third person because they represent the persons or things of whom we are speaking. Like nouns, the Personal Pronouns have number, gender and case. The gender of the first and second person is obvious, as they represent the person or persons speaking and those who are addressed. The personal pronouns are thus declined: First Person. M. or F.

Sing.

Plural.

N.

I

We

P.

Mine

Ours

O.

Me

Us

Second Person.

M. or F.

Sing.

Plural.

N.

Thou

You

P.

Thine

Yours

O.

Thee

You

Third Person.

M.

Sing.

Plural.

N.

He

They

P.

His

Theirs

O.

Him

Them

Third Person.

F.

Sing.

Plural.

N.

She

They

P.

Hers

Theirs

O.

Her

Them

Third Person.

Neuter.

Sing.

Plural.

N.

It

They

P.

Its

Theirs

O.

It

Them

N. B.--In colloquial language and ordinary writing Thou, Thine and Thee are seldom used, except by the Society of Friends. The

Plural form You is used for both the nominative and objective singular in the second person and Yours is generally used in the possessive in place of Thine.

The Relative Pronouns are so called because they relate to some word or phrase going before; as, "The boy who told the truth;" "He has done well, which gives me great pleasure."

Here who and which are not only used in place of other words, but who refers immediately to boy, and which to the circumstance of his having done well.

The word or clause to which a relative pronoun refers is called the Antecedent. The Relative Pronouns are who, which, that and what.

Who is applied to persons only; as, "The man who was here."

Which is applied to the lower animals and things without life; as, "The horse which I sold." "The hat which I bought."

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That is applied to both persons and things; as, "The friend that helps." "The bird that sings." "The knife that cuts."

What is a compound relative, including both the antecedent and the relative and is equivalent to that which; as, "I did what he de-

sired," i. e. "I did that which he desired."

Relative pronouns have the singular and plural alike.

Who is either masculine or feminine; which and that are masculine, feminine or neuter; what as a relative pronoun is always neuter. That and what are not inflected.

Who and which are thus declined:

Sing. and Plural Sing. and Plural N. Who N. Which P. Whose P. Whose O. Whom O. Which

Who, which and what when used to ask questions are called Interrogative Pronouns.

Adjective Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are subdivided as follows:

Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns which directly point out the person or object. They are this, that with their plurals these, those,

and yon, same and selfsame.

Distributive Adjective Pronouns used distributively. They are each, every, either, neither.

Indefinite Adjective Pronouns used more or less indefinitely. They are any, all, few, some, several, one, other, another, none. Possessive Adjective Pronouns denoting possession. They are my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their.

N. B.--(The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand alone while the former cannot. "Who owns that book?" "It is mine." You cannot say "it is my,"--the word book must be repeated.)

THE VERB

A verb is a word which implies action or the doing of something, or it may be defined as a word which affirms, commands or asks a

question.

Thus, the words John the table, contain no assertion, but when the word strikes is introduced, something is affirmed, hence the word

strikes is a verb and gives completeness and meaning to the group.

The simple form of the verb without inflection is called the root of the verb; e. g. love is the root of the verb,--"To Love."

Verbs are regular or irregular, transitive or intransitive.

A verb is said to be regular when it forms the past tense by adding ed to the present or d if the verb ends in e. When its past tense does not end in ed it is said to be irregular.

A transitive verb is one the action of which passes over to or affects some object; as "I struck the table." Here the action of striking affected the object table, hence struck is a transitive verb.

An intransitive verb is one in which the action remains with the subject; as "I walk," "I sit," "I run."

Many intransitive verbs, however, can be used transitively; thus, "I walk the horse;" walk is here transitive. Verbs are inflected by number, person, tense and mood.

Number and person as applied to the verb really belong to the subject; they are used with the verb to denote whether the assertion

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is made regarding one or more than one and whether it is made in reference to the person speaking, the person spoken to or the person or thing spoken about.

TENSE

In their tenses verbs follow the divisions of time. They have present tense, past tense and future tense with their variations to express the exact time of action as to an event happening, having happened or yet to happen.

MOOD

There are four simple moods,--the Infinitive, the Indicative, the Imperative and the Subjunctive.

The Mood of a verb denotes the mode or manner in which it is used. Thus if it is used in its widest sense without reference to per-son or number, time or place, it is in the Infinitive Mood; as "To run." Here we are not told who does the running, when it is done, where it is done or anything about it.

When a verb is used to indicate or declare or ask a simple question or make any direct statement, it is in the Indicative Mood. "The boy loves his book." Here a direct statement is made concerning the boy. "Have you a pin?" Here a simple question is asked which calls for an answer.

When the verb is used to express a command or entreaty it is in the Imperative Mood as, "Go away." "Give me a penny."

When the verb is used to express doubt, supposition or uncertainty or when some future action depends upon a contingency, it is in the subjunctive mood; as, "If I come, he shall remain."

Many grammarians include a fifth mood called the potential to express power, possibility, liberty, necessity, will or duty. It is formed by means of the auxiliaries may, can, ought and must, but in all cases it can be resolved into the indicative or subjunctive. Thus, in "I may write if I choose," "may write" is by some classified as in the potential mood, but in reality the phrase I may write is an indicative one while the second clause, if I choose, is the expression of a condition upon which, not my liberty to write, depends, but my actual writing.

Verbs have two participles, the present or imperfect, sometimes called the active ending in ing and the past or perfect, often called the passive, ending in ed or d.

The infinitive expresses the sense of the verb in a substantive form, the participles in an adjective form; as "To rise early is health-

ful." "An early rising man." "The newly risen sun."

The participle in ing is frequently used as a substantive and consequently is equivalent to an infinitive; thus, "To rise early is health-

ful" and "Rising early is healthful" are the same.

The principal parts of a verb are the Present Indicative, Past Indicative and Past Participle; as:

Love Loved Loved

Sometimes one or more of these parts are wanting, and then the verb is said to be defective.

Present

Past

Passive Participle

Can

Could

(Wanting)

May

Might

"

Shall

Should

"

Will

Would

"

Ought

Ought

"

Verbs may also be divided into principal and auxiliary. A principal verb is that without which a sentence or clause can contain no

assertion or affirmation. An auxiliary is a verb joined to the root or participles of a principal verb to express time and manner with greater precision than can be done by the tenses and moods in their simple form. Thus, the sentence, "I am writing an exercise; when I shall have finished it I shall read it to the class." has no meaning without the principal verbs writing, finished read; but the meaning is rendered more definite, especially with regard to time, by the auxiliary verbs am, have, shall.

There are nine auxiliary or helping verbs, viz., Be, have, do, shall, will, may, can, ought, and must. They are called helping verbs,

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because it is by their aid the compound tenses are formed. TO BE

The verb To Be is the most important of the auxiliary verbs. It has eleven parts, viz., am, art, is, are, was, wast, were, wert; be, being

and been. VOICE

The active voice is that form of the verb which shows the Subject not being acted upon but acting; as, "The cat catches mice." "Charity covers a multitude of sins."

The passive voice: When the action signified by a transitive verb is thrown back upon the agent, that is to say, when the subject of

the verb denotes the recipient of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice. "John was loved by his neighbors." Here John the subject is also the object affected by the loving, the action of the verb is thrown back on him, hence the compound verb was loved is said to be in the passive voice. The passive voice is formed by putting the perfect participle of any transitive verb with any

of the eleven parts of the verb To Be. CONJUGATION

The conjugation of a verb is its orderly arrangement in voices, moods, tenses, persons and numbers. Here is the complete conjugation of the verb "Love"--Active Voice.

PRINCIPAL PARTS

Present Past Past Participle Love Loved Loved Infinitive Mood

To Love

Indicative Mood

PRESENT TENSE Sing. Plural

1st person I love We love

2nd person You love You love

3rd person He loves They love

PAST TENSE

Sing. Plural

1st person I loved We loved

2nd person You loved You loved

3rd person He loved They loved

FUTURE TENSE

Sing. Plural