But as the power of thought began to develop, we began to analyze our meaning and we found that this thought was identical except the him and the her. So as we analyzed our thought our expression of it became more simple. In most languages, the different meaning of the verb, for example, is expressed by an arbitrary change in the verb form. This is called the inflection of the verb. In English we would use several words to express the same thing. For example, the Latin word Fuissem requires four English words to express the same meaning; I should have been, we say in English. So instead of having to learn a great number of different changes in the verb form, we, by the use of auxiliary verbs, have, shall, do, be, etc., are able to express all these shades of thought much more simply and clearly.
Most other languages also have changes for gender. Every noun has a gender of its own and sometimes this form gives the wrong gender to living beings and attributes sex to sexless objects and the only way to know the gender of the noun is simply by memory. Then the adjectives, possessive pronouns and the articles a and the have gender also and have to be changed to suit the gender of the noun; this involves a great effort of memory. So while the English may seem somewhat involved to you, it is, after all, much simpler than other languages. It has been freed from many superfluous endings and unnecessary complications.
Take a little time each day to read something out of the best literature. The quotations given in each of these lessons are from our very best writers. A study of these will be a wonderful help and inspiration to you and bring you in touch with some of the great thinkers of the revolution. They are our comrades and are putting into words the thoughts and hopes and dreams of our lives.
Yours for the Revolution,
THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
367. In our study of subordinate clauses, we have studied subordinate clauses used as adverbs and as nouns. We have found that adverb clauses can be used in the same way as adverbs, to describe the time, place, manner, cause, condition or purpose of the action expressed in the verb. We have found, also, that a noun clause may be used in any way in which a noun can be used, as the subject of the sentence, the object of a verb or preposition or as the predicate complement. But these are not the only uses to which the subordinate clause may be put. Note the following sentences:
- Wealthy men desire to control the education of the people.
- Men of wealth desire to control the education of the people.
- Men who are wealthy desire to control the education of the people.
Do you see any difference in the words which are used to modify the noun men? In the first sentence, wealthy is an adjective, modifying the noun men. In the second sentence, of wealth is a prepositional phrase, used as an adjective modifying the noun men. In the last sentence, who are wealthy is a clause used in exactly the same way that the adjective wealthy and the adjective phrase of wealth are used, to modify the noun men.
We have expressed practically the same meaning in these three ways: by a word; by a phrase; by a clause.