Plain English Part 98

The men supported the party _which fought for their rights_.

Here the clause, _which fought for their rights_, is an adjective clause introduced by the p.r.o.noun _which_, and it modifies the noun _party_, which is the object of the verb _supported_.

3. +An adjective clause may also be used to modify the noun which is used in the predicate complement+, as:

That was the book _which I enjoyed_.

In this sentence the clause, _which I enjoyed_, is an adjective clause modifying the noun _book_, which is used as the predicate complement with the copulative verb _was_.

4. +An adjective clause may also be used to modify the noun which is used as the object of a preposition+, as:

He arrived on the train _which was late_.

Here the adjective clause, _which was late_, modifies the noun _train_, which is the object of the preposition _on_.

Sometimes it is a little difficult to discover these adjective clauses, for frequently the connecting word is omitted, as for example:

I could not find the man _I wanted_.

In this sentence, the p.r.o.noun _whom_ is omitted; the complete sentence would read:

I could not find the man _whom I wanted_.

_Whom I wanted_ is an adjective clause modifying the noun _man_.

Exercise 4

In the following sentences the relative p.r.o.nouns and the conjunctions introducing adjective clauses are omitted. Rewrite the sentences using the proper relative p.r.o.nouns and conjunctions. The adjective clauses are in italics.

1. The people _you are seeking_ are not here.

2. I have read the book _you brought_.

3. The articles _you mentioned_ are not listed.

4. I will go to the place _you say_.

5. This is a book _you should read_.

6. Those are ideals _the people will readily grasp_.

7. We make G.o.ds of the things _we fear_.

8. I listened to every word _he said_.

9. I should love the cause _you love_.

10. The things _the people demand_ are just and right.

Exercise 5

In the following sentences the adjective clauses are all printed in italics. Determine whether they modify the subject or the object, the predicate complement or the object of the preposition.

1. In that moment _when he saw the light_ he joined our cause.

2. Other men are lenses _through which we read our own minds_.

3. This is perhaps the reason _why we are unable to agree_.

4. He _that loveth_ maketh his own the grandeur _that he loves_.

5. The other terror _that scares us from self-trust_ is our consistency.

6. There is a popular fable of a sot _who was picked up dead drunk in the street, carried to the Duke's house, washed and dressed and laid in the Duke's bed, and, on his waking, treated with all ceremony like a duke and a.s.sured that he had been insane_.

7. He _who would gather immortal palms_ must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness.

8. Superst.i.tion, _who is the mother of fear and faith_, still rules many people.

9. We are looking for the time _when the useful shall be the honorable_.

10. He _who enslaves another_ cannot be free.

11. He _who attacks the right_ a.s.saults himself.

12. The force _that is in every atom and every star, in everything that grows and thinks, that hopes and suffers_, is the only possible G.o.d.

13. He _who adds to the sum of human misery_ is a blasphemer.

14. The grandest ambition _that can enter the soul_ is the desire to know the truth.

ADVERB CLAUSES

+447.+ The third kind of clause which we may use in a complex sentence is the adverb clause.

+An adverb clause is a clause which takes the place of an adverb.+ It may modify a _verb_, an _adjective_, or an _adverb_. We studied adverb clauses in lesson 21 and we found eight cla.s.ses of adverb clauses, expressing _time_, _place_, _cause_ or _reason_, _manner_, _comparison_, _condition_, _purpose_ and _result_. For example:

1. +Adverb clause of time:+ No man is truly free _until all are free_.

2. +Adverb clause of place:+ We must live _where we can find work_.

3. +Adverb clause expressing cause or reason:+ We lost the strike _because the men were not cla.s.s-conscious_.

4. +Adverb clause of manner:+ We must work _as if the result depended entirely upon us_.

5. +Adverb clause of comparison:+ The working cla.s.s must become more cla.s.s-conscious _than it is today_.

6. +Adverb clause of condition:+ We will continue to be exploited _if we do not demand our rights_.

7. +Adverb clause expressing purpose:+ We must read the labor press _in order that we may know the truth concerning conditions_.

8. +Adverb clause expressing result:+ The battle raged so furiously _that thousands were slain_.

a.n.a.lYZING COMPLEX SENTENCES

+448.+ To a.n.a.lyze a complex sentence; that is, to break it up into its different parts--treat the sentence first as a whole, then find the simple subject and the simple predicate. If a noun clause is the subject, treat it first as a noun. Treat adjective clauses as adjectives modifying certain words and the adverb clauses as adverbs modifying certain words.

In other words, a.n.a.lyze the sentence first as a simple sentence with dependent clauses considered as modifying words; then a.n.a.lyze each dependent clause as though it were a simple sentence. Make an outline like the following and use it in your a.n.a.lysis of the sentence. Let us take this sentence and a.n.a.lyze it:

Conscious solidarity in the ranks would give the working cla.s.s of the world, now, in our day, the freedom which they seek.

+Simple subject+, _solidarity_.

+Simple predicate+, _would give_.

Modifiers of the subject: