How to Speak and Write Correctly

-Arrangement of

eaning, in other words, to express a complete thought or idea. No matter how short, it

h swim;" "Men wal

t. The word or words indicating what is spoken about form what is called the subject an

and men are the subjects, while fl

of sentences, simple

thought and consists of one subject a

expressed or understood, as, "The men work in the fields and the women work in the household," or "The men wo

n the other to complete its meaning; as; "When he returns, I shall go on my vacation." Her

a complex sentence, as "when

two or more words w

ffirm anything or convey an idea,

entence, for it is not a complete action expressed. When we hear such an expression as "A dog running along the street," we wai

here must be a finite ve

e action cannot happen without affecting some

killing affected Abel. In "The cat has caught

OF WORDS I

at has caught a mouse," we cannot reverse it and say "The mouse has caught a cat" without destroying the meaning, and in any other form of arrangement, suc

object, we have greater freedom of arrangement and can so place the words as to give the best effect. The p

"The ploughman homeward plods his weary way." This line can be p

loughman plods

plods his wear

the ploughman

the ploughman

eary way plods

ghman his wear

the ploughman

homeward the p

plods homeward

his weary way

oet. Of course his arrangement was made to comply with the rhythm and rhyme of the verse.

fact that the beginning and end are the important places for catching the atten

according to the arrangement a very slight difference is effected in the idea. Some of the variations

ese positions. Of the two places the end one is the more important, therefore, it really calls for the most important word in the sentence. Never c

ple many sentences are made, if not nonsensical, really ridiculous and ludicrous. For instance: "Ten dollars reward is offered for information of any p

les must be inviolably observed. The laws of concord, t

the verb form, though it is almost obsolete), "He has," show the variation of the verb to agree with the subject. A singula

sing (1) collective and common nouns; (2) foreign and English nouns

inary individual to distinguish the plural from the singular in foreign nouns, therefore, he should be careful in the selection of the verb. He should look up the word and be guided accordingly. "He was an alumnus of Harvard." "They were alumni of Harvard." (3) When a sentence with one verb has two or more subjects denoting different things, connected by and, the verb should

a very common one. At every turn we hear "He done it" for "He did it." "The jar

they are used with the first, second or third person. With the first person shall is used in direct statement to express a simple future action; as, "I shall go to the c

go to the city to-morrow." With the second and third persons will is used to express simple

the uses of shall and will

erson simply s

at or else a p

econd and thir

en foretells t

itive verbs and prepositions. Don't say "The boy who I sent to see you," but "The boy whom I sent to see you." Whom is here the object of the transitive verb sent. Don't say "She bowed to him and I" but "She bowed to him a

; which only to things; as, "The boy who was drowned," "The umbrella which I lost." The relati

rative and superlative; as, "These apples are much more preferable." "The most universal motive to business is gain." (2) Comparing objects which belong to dissimilar classes; as "There is no nicer life than a teach

't say, "He acted nice towards me" but "He acted nicely toward me," and

t modifies. Instead of saying, "He walked to the d

he nominative and objective cases of the pron

ated by Burton in the following story of Billy Williams, a comic actor who t

with Tom Flynn, and told the

om Fl

ter talking with Tom Fly

ounted T

then I shook hands w

with the ho

wery, and who should I meet but Tom Hamblin; so I

Hamblin by

then we went and h

ou and t

fter that I mounted him ag

nted Hambl

e there but Tom Flynn,-he'd taken another horse and rod

om Fly

; and we had a

ou and t

and To

Now, look here, -every time I say horse, you say Hamblin, and every time I

E CLASS

to the general principles upon which they are fou

ry of Robinson Crusoe we read: "I was born in the year 1632 in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull; he got a good estate by merchandise, and leaving off his trade lived afterward at York, from whence he

eries of relative introductions. This kind of sentence is often introduc

such circumstances as to be forced to become a beggar on the streets, soliciting alms

an undesirable form in good composition, but this should not be tak

preferred, inasmuch as when the periodic is employed in discourse the listener

in speaking, the loose, which makes the direct

the test of criticism. The long sentence has its place and a very important one. It is indispensable in argument and often is very necessary to description and also in introducing general principles which require elaboration. In employing the long sentence the inexperienced writer should not strain after the heavy, ponderous type. Johnson and Carlyle used such a type, but remember, an ordinary mortal cannot wield the sledge hammer of a giant. Johnson and Carlyle were intellectual giants and few can hope to stand on the s

d by the noon-day sun in the shining bed of which you can see and count the beaut

od the test of time and there has been no improvement upon them yet, nor is there likel

for the formation of sentences. The best plan is to follow the best au

PARA

o which a composition is divided, but they give a certain spice to the matter like raisins in a plum pudding. A solid page of printed matter is distasteful to the reader; it taxes the eye an

laced too far apart in attempting to span the distance one is liable to miss the mark and fall in the water and flounder about until he is again able to get a foothold. 'Tis the same w

-a sentence dependency. For instance, in the same paragraph we must not speak of a house on fire an

e no connection and therefore should occupy separate and distinct places. But when we say-"The fire raged with fierce intensity consuming the greater part of the large building in a short time and the horse taking fright at the f

ld by virtue of their structure and nervous force, compel the reader's attention. It is usually advisable to make the first sentence short; the last sentence

conclusion of the paragraph a restatement o

raph. Anyone can make a context for every simple sentence by asking himself questions in reference to the sentence. Thus-"The foreman gave the order"- suggests at once several questions; "What was the

each item to the next is easy, natural and obvious; the items seem to come of themselves. If, on the other hand, we detect in a paragraph one or more items which have no direct bearing, or if we are unable

is,-Study closely the paragraph structure of the best writers, for it is only through

l to follow for the oratorical style is Edmund Burke and for description and narration

nown as the indentation of the line, that is,