Dear Comrade:

In this lesson we are beginning the study of still another part of speech. You will notice that in words, at least, we give credit and place in society only because of work performed. In the society of men, people are given place and position too often because of outward dress and form or because of some special privilege. They are not given their place in society because of the work which they do or because they perform any useful function. In fact, in our topsy-turvy world, those who perform no work at all, but are simply parasites upon society, have claimed for themselves the best of everything and the highest positions.

Surely some time we shall see a society as successfully organized as our society of words, when men will be received, not because of that which they possess, but because of that which they do and are. Man has really laid the foundation for an ideal commonwealth in his organization of words into a spoken and written language.

When we think back across the centuries and think of the primitive man as he dwelt in trees to protect himself from the wild animals, we wonder what sort of speech he used then. Possibly it was only a little more articulate than the speech of some animals.

But man had within him the instinct to question, and this has been the root of all his progress. We can imagine these primitive men witnessing the wonder of fire, as the terrible unknown god of the lightning set fire to the forest in which they lived; but after the fear had subsided, some adventurous, inquiring forefather of ours ventured near the ashes, and began to investigate concerning this fearful and wonderful thing.

So gradually they discovered the use of fire, and with it a wonderful new future opened before the primitive man. With these great discoveries, he needed a better form of communication with his comrades, so articulate speech developed. But when we go back into the beginning of written speech, it is difficult for us to trace it to its beginning.

The first evidence we find was of man as a sign maker. On the walls of caves in France and Belgium and here in America, we have found rude sketches which the scientists tell us date back to the Ice Age and the Old Stone Age. Here the primitive man has drawn for us crude pictures describing different phases of his life, the animals about him, the hunt and the chase, and in these pictures we find the very beginning of our alphabet of to-day.

How much more wonderful it makes our spoken and written language to know that man has developed it himself. It has not been handed down by some god or powers above; but the spirit of rebellion against the things that be; the great desire to know more and to find out the reason why of all the things around us,—these have been the forces that have led the race from the animal-like beings that lived in trees to the race of today that understands in a large measure the laws that govern life.

It is only as we, through this spirit of rebellion, this same divine discontent with the things that are, seek to do our own thinking that we can add our share to the heritage of the race. Let us have the same courage that must have inspired the heart of that primitive man who dared to venture and inquire concerning the fearful things of nature round about him. Let us think for ourselves. Ask always the question "why" and demand the reason for all things. Thus we shall free ourselves and help to free the race.

Yours for Education,

THE PEOPLE'S COLLEGE.

IN PLACE OF A NOUN

202. You remember in our study of the parts of speech we found that we have one part of speech that can be used in place of a noun. This is a very helpful part of speech for it saves us a great deal of tiresome repetition. Notice the following sentences:

• John Smith is a machinist.
• John Smith works at the machine.
• The machine is John Smith's master.

This is awkward and the repetition is tiresome. So we say instead:

• John Smith is a machinist.
• He works at the machine.
• It is his master.

You readily understand who and what we mean by he and it and his, and we will all agree that the latter is a much better way of making the statements. These words like he and his and it, which we use in place of the noun, we call pronouns. Pro means literally in the Latin, for or in place of; so when we say pronoun we are practically saying, in place of a noun.

A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun.

203. The word for which a pronoun stands or the noun in whose place it is used is called its antecedent. Ante means before and cedent comes from the Latin word meaning go, hence antecedent means literally, going before.

Notice this sentence: The manager spoke to the men before he left and told them to stop at the office. Manager is the antecedent of the pronoun he, and men is the antecedent of the pronoun them.

The word for which a pronoun stands is called its antecedent.

KINDS OF PRONOUNS

204. The Latin language has had a great deal of influence upon English. Many of our words are taken from the Latin. You remember that all of the names of our parts of speech are derived from Latin words. We also feel the influence of the Latin language in the way in which we number our personal pronouns. The Romans naturally thought that one would think of one's self first, and so the pronouns referring to one's self, or the person speaking, are called the first person pronouns. They are, I, my, mine, me and we, our, ours, and us.

Then they naturally thought that one would think second of the person spoken to, so the pronouns referring to the person spoken to are called the second person pronouns. Formerly thou was used in speaking to one person. In German and many other languages this form is still used, but in English we do not today use the singular form thou with its variations, thy, thine, and thee, except in poetry or poetic prose. In every-day speech we use you and its forms, your and yours, for both the singular and the plural.

Then the Romans considered last the person or thing of whom they were speaking; so pronouns referring to the person or thing spoken of are called the third person pronouns. These are he, she, and it, with their other forms, his, him, her, hers, its, in the singular, and they, their, theirs and them in the plural.

A personal pronoun is one that denotes the speaker, the person spoken to, or the person or thing spoken of.

COMPOUND PERSONAL PRONOUNS

205. All of these forms of pronouns which we have named are simple forms; but we have several personal pronouns which have a compound form; that is, a form made by the addition of self or selves to the simple forms.

These are called compound personal pronouns. They are, in the singular, myself, thyself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, and in the plural, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.

The compound personal pronouns have two uses, reflexive and emphatic.

Reflexive

206. A compound personal pronoun has a reflexive use when the actor becomes the object of its own action or in other words when the subject and the object refer to the same thing; as in this sentence, He has hurt himself, himself is the object of the incomplete verb has hurt, but it refers to the subject he. Reflexive is from the Latin re meaning back and from the Latin verb meaning throw, so reflexive means literally thrown back. These pronouns throw their meaning back to the subject.

Emphatic

207. A compound personal pronoun has also an emphatic use when it directs especial attention to the noun or pronoun to which it refers. For example in the sentence, He did the work himself, or, He, himself, did the work, himself gives emphasis or intensifies the meaning of the pronoun he.

Remember a compound personal pronoun is correctly used only in these two ways, reflexive and emphatic. For example, the following sentences are incorrect:

• This is for yourself and your comrade.
• Ourselves will find out the reason.

The correct form would be:

• This is for you and your comrade.
• We, ourselves, will find out the reason.

208. You can readily distinguish between the reflexive and the emphatic use. In the reflexive, the compound personal pronoun is always the object of a verb or preposition, and the subject of the sentence is its antecedent. The subject and the object always refer to the same thing.

In the emphatic use, the compound personal pronoun is neither the subject nor the object, but is thrown into the sentence simply to render it emphatic, and to call special attention to its antecedent.

Exercise 1

Supply the compound personal pronoun in the following blanks and tell whether the use is reflexive or emphatic.

1. He discovered the truth.......
2. The workers have robbed......by their ignorance.
3. You must educate.......
4. You must do the work.......
5. He must defend.......
6. Capitalism overreaches.......
7. The people will rule.......
8. We will settle the question.......

Write six sentences in which the compound personal pronouns are correctly used.

SINGULAR AND PLURAL

209. Personal pronouns, like nouns, have number form. Nouns simply add s to the singular form to denote the plural, but in personal pronouns we have different words which we use to express one or more than one person or thing. In the first, second, and third person forms, personal pronouns also have different forms for the object form, the possessive and the subject form. The following table gives the singular and plural of the subject form,—that is the form which is used as the subject of the sentence.

Subject Form
Singular		Plural
First person.	I	We
Second person.	You	You
Third person.	He, she, it.	They

Compound Personal Pronouns
Singular		Plural
First.	Myself	Ourselves
Second.	Yourself	Yourselves
Third.	Himself, herself, itself.	Themselves

210. Remember that the first person refers to the person speaking, the second to the person spoken to, and the third person to the person or things spoken of. When we speak of things, we never use the first or second person, unless we are speaking of them in a personified form. So in the third person singular, we have the pronoun it which refers to one thing. In the plural, we have no special pronoun referring to things, but the pronoun they is used to refer both to persons and things.

Which of the following pronouns refer to the person speaking, which to the person spoken to, and which to the person or thing spoken of? Which are singular, which plural?

• I will defend my principles.
• Give them to me for they are mine.
• Do you believe him to be your friend?
• We saw their mistake at once.
• They acknowledged it was their fault.
• Success will be your portion if you persevere.
• He struggles for his rights; she does not understand her rights.
• It forces us to struggle for our education.
• Woman craves her freedom.
• Workers of the world, unite; you have a world to gain and nothing to lose but your chains.

Form sentences of your own containing all these pronouns.

POSSESSIVE FORM

211. You will note in these sentences above that we have used the pronoun my and your and his and her as my principles, your friend, his rights, her freedom. This is the possessive form of these personal pronouns, the form that denotes ownership or possession. You remember that nouns had a possessive form, a form to denote possession or ownership, as, The man's book. The boy's school. The worker's college. So pronouns also have a possessive form which we use to show that an object belongs to such and such a person or thing. If I want to tell you that I own or possess a home, I say, I own my home. Each personal pronoun has its possessive form, thus:

Singular
Subject Form		Possessive
First person.	I	My, mine
Second person.	You	Your, yours
Third person.	He, she, it.	His, her, hers, its

Plural
Subject Form		Possessive
First person.	We	Our, ours
Second person.	You	Your, yours
Third person.	They	Their, theirs

POSSESSIVE FORM

212. You will notice that the possessive forms, my, our, her, your, its, his and their, are always used with the name of the object possessed. As for example; my work, our library, her delight, your task, its purpose, his home, their mistake.

213. The possessive forms, mine, thine, hers, ours, yours and theirs, are always used by themselves and are used either as subject, object or complement. As for example:

• That letter is mine.
• The work is hers.
• Thine is the glory.
• Is that yours?
• Theirs not to reason why; theirs but to do and die.

The possessive form his may be used either in connection with the name of the object possessed or by itself. For example:

• This is his home.
• This home is his.

OBJECT FORM

214. Pronouns have one form which nouns do not have. We use the same form for the noun no matter whether it is the subject or the object. For example:

• The man saw me.
• I saw the man.

In the first sentence man is the subject of the verb saw, and in the second sentence man is the object of the verb saw. The same word is used; but you will notice that in the first sentence me is the object of the verb saw, and in the second I is the subject; yetboth refer to the same person, the first person, the person speaking.

So we have a different form of the pronoun for the object, for example: I saw him. He saw me. She watched us. We watched her. You found them. Him, me, us, her, and them in these sentences are used as the objects of the verbs, see, watch and found, and are called the object forms of the pronouns. You and it have the same form for both the subject and object; as, You did it. It frightens you. Her is used as both the possessive form and the object form, as, Her work tires her. 215. The following table gives the subject and the object forms of the personal pronouns, and these should never be confused in their usage. We must not use the object form as the subject of the verb, nor the subject form as the object of the verb.

Singular
Subject	Object
First. I	Me
Second. You	You
Third. He, she, it.	Him, her, it

Plural
Subject	Object
First. We	Us
Second. You	You
Third. They	Them

GENDER

216. You notice in all of these tables that there are three forms given for the third person singular, he, she, and it. These are the only forms in which pronouns express gender. In all other forms the gender can be determined only by the gender of the antecedent.

He, representing a male, is masculine.

She, representing a female, is the feminine.

It represents a sexless thing, and hence is said to be of the neuter gender.

THE LITTLE VERB BE

217. You remember when we studied verbs, we had the incomplete verb that took an object; the complete verb that needed no object, since it was complete in itself; and one other kind of a verb. Do you remember this third kind of verb? This third kind is the copulative verb, and the copulative verb which we use most frequently is the one in the use of which we make the most mistakes.

It is that troublesome, bothersome, little verb be, which is so difficult to master. You remember it is an incomplete verb, but instead of taking an object, it takes a complement or completing word. So when you see a pronoun with any form of this verb be, you must use the subject form and not the object form. This copulative verb be is simply a connecting word, not a verb that asserts action or takes an object.

218. Here is where we make so many mistakes. We say, It was me, It was them, It was him, It wasn't her; instead of, It was I, It was they, It was he, It wasn't she. We have used the incorrect form in this particular so often that the correct form has a strange sound to our ears.

The only way to remedy this is to repeat over and over aloud the correct form until it has a familiar sound. Don't think this is putting on airs. It is not. It is simply demanding the best for yourself in words, as you should do in everything. We of the working class have built the world in its beauty. Why should we live in shacks, dress in shoddy, talk in slang? There is no reason except that we endure it. When the united working class demands its own, it will receive it. Demand yours and arouse the stupid from their sleep as rapidly as you can.

Repeat the following sentences aloud ten times every day this week and see if the correct form does not come to your lips more readily. We can learn the rule, but only continued practice and watchfulness can break us of our old habits.

• It is I who seek my own.
• It shall be they who are defeated.
• It was I who was ignorant.
• It is they who cause all wars.
• It is he who must be aroused.
• It is we who strive for freedom.
• It shall be I who shall win.
• It was she who was enslaved.
• It shall be we who shall demand equality.
• It shall be they who shall conquer.

Agreement

219. Pronouns are very agreeable members of the co-operative commonwealth of words. They strive to agree with their antecedents. Sometimes we do not allow the pronoun to agree, and then our sentence is incorrect.

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender and person.

For example, if you are referring to one man, you must use a masculine pronoun, singular, third person form, as I saw the man but he did not see me. Man is the antecedent. It is singular, masculine, third person and so we use the pronoun he.

The girl came, but she could not stay. In this sentence girl is the antecedent; it is singular, feminine, third person, and so we use the pronoun she.

The boys did not come when the teacher called them. In this sentence boys is the antecedent; it is plural, masculine, third person, and so we use the pronoun them.

220. Sometimes there are two words used as the antecedent, joined by and. We use a singular pronoun in referring to them if they denote the same person or thing; as:

• The secretary and treasurer (one person) resigned his position.
• My comrade and friend (one person) gave me his help.

221. But two nouns joined by and, that mean different persons or things, must be represented by a plural pronoun, thus:

• Marx and Engels (two persons) wrote their call to liberty, the Communist-Manifesto.
• Men and women will struggle for their freedom.
• Childhood and youth should have their rightful joys.

222. Use the singular pronoun when the nouns are kept separate by the use of each, every, many a, or no.

• Each man and boy must do his part. (Not their part.)
• Every soldier and every officer must do his duty.
• Many a city and many a village gave its best to the army.
• No comrade and no Socialist will give his consent to war.

223. If you have two singular nouns as antecedents, joined by or, or nor, use the singular pronoun, thus:

• Either Germany or France must abandon its position.
• Neither Wilson nor Bryan kept his promise to the people.

224. When you use a collective noun and are speaking of the collection as a whole, use a singular pronoun, as:

• The committee will make its report.
• The audience was hearty in its appreciation.
• The jury has returned its verdict.

225. But if you are referring to the individuals of the collection separately, use a plural pronoun; as:

• The committee adjourned for their dinner.
• The audience kept their seats until the close.
• The jury argued until their nerves were on edge.

PERSONIFICATION

226. We sometimes speak of things as if they were persons, and so use either masculine or feminine pronouns in referring to them. Such objects are said to be personified. Thus, we say:

• The sun his ceaseless course doth run.
• The moon sheds her silvery ray.
• Nature dons her robes of green.

Here we speak of the sun as though it were a man or possessing the qualities of a man and use the pronoun his. Then we speak of the moon and nature as though they were women and use the pronoun in the feminine form.

REMEMBER

227. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent.

Use the subject form of the pronoun if the pronoun is the subject of the sentence.

Use the object form when the pronoun is the object of a verb or a preposition.

Use the compound personal pronouns only in their reflexive or emphatic use.

With all forms of the verb be, use the subject form of the pronouns.

SUMMARY

SUBJECT			POSSESSIVE	OBJECT
First person	(Singular	I	my (mine)	me
	(Plural	we	our (ours)	us
Second person	(Singular	you	your (yours)	you
	(Plural
Third person	(Sing. Masc.	he	his	him
	(Sing. Fem.	she	her (hers)	her
	(Sing. Neut.	it	its	it
	(Plural	they	their (theirs)	them

Exercise 3

Read carefully the following beautiful dream of Olive Schreiner's. Mark all of the personal pronouns and note carefully their use and by referring to the table above decide just what form each pronoun is. Watch carefully too for the antecedents of the pronouns and note the agreement of the pronoun with its antecedent.

"I THOUGHT I STOOD"

I.

I thought I stood in Heaven before God's throne, and God asked me what I had come for. I said I had come to arraign my brother, Man.

God said, "What has he done?"

I said, "He has taken my sister, Woman, and has stricken her and wounded her and thrust her out into the streets; she lies there prostrate. His hands are red with blood. I am here to arraign him; that the kingdom be taken from him, because he is not worthy, and given unto me. My hands are pure."

I showed them.

God said, "Thy hands are pure. Lift up thy robe."

I raised it; my feet were red, blood-red, as if I had trodden in wine.

God said, "How is this?"

I said, "Dear Lord, the streets on earth are full of mire. If I should walk straight on in them my outer robe might be bespotted, you see how white it is! Therefore I pick my way."

God said, "On what?"

I was silent, and let my robe fall. I wrapped my mantle about my head. I went out softly. I was afraid that the angels would see me.

II.

Once more I stood at the gate of Heaven, I and another. We held fast by one another; We were very tired. We looked up at the great gates; angels opened them, and we went in. The mud was on our garments. We walked across the marble floor, and up to the great throne. Then the angels divided us. Her, they set upon the top step, but me, upon the bottom; for, they said, "Last time this woman came here she left red foot-marks on the floor; we had to wash them out with our tears. Let her not go up."

Then she with whom I came, looked back and stretched out her hands to me; and I went and stood beside her. And the angels, they, the shining ones who never sinned and never suffered, walked by us, to and fro, up and down; I think we should have felt a little lonely there if it had not been for one another, the angels were so bright.

God asked me what I had come for; and I drew my sister forward a little that He might see her.

God said, "How is it you are here together today?"

I said, "She was upon the ground in the street, and they passed over her; I lay down by her, and she put her arms around my neck, and so I lifted her, and we two rose together."

God said, "Whom are you now come to accuse before Me?"

I said, "We are come to accuse no man."

And God bent and said, "My children—what is it that you seek?"

And she beside me drew my hand that I should speak for both.

I said, "We have come to ask that Thou shouldst speak to Man, our brother, and give us a message for him that he might understand, and that he might——"

God said, "Go, take the message down to him!"

I said, "But what is the message?"

God said, "Upon your hearts it is written; take it down to him."

And we turned to go; the angels went with us to the door. They looked at us.

And one said, "Ah! but their dresses are beautiful!"

And the other said, "I thought it was mire when they came in, but see, it is all golden!"

But another said, "Hush, it is the light from their faces!"

And we went down to him.—Olive Schreiner.