4. The men who live for others are the true lords or kings of the earth.

5. But I have no words for the wonder with which I hear kinghood still spoken of.

6. How few kings have ever laid up treasures that needed no

guarding!

7. They guide us by the path which no fowl knoweth and which the vulture's eye hath not seen.

8. Suppose kings should ever arise who heard and believed this word.

9. Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.

10. What you say is perfectly true.

11. The men who do the work of the world seldom have time to

backbite their neighbors.

12. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

EXERCISE II

Combine the following groups of sentences into complex sentences by making the less important sentence a subordinate clause introduced by a relative pronoun:

1. My mother is at home. She is not well.

2. The peasants of Europe fight. They receive very little pay.

3. I love my country. I hear her voice with reverence.

4. Charles is my brother. He is away at school.

5. She is a good cook. She prepared the supper.

6. This is Albert. He drives the car.

7. A beautiful path leads through the woods. It has no beginning and no end.

8. The child went to find the end of the rainbow. A pot of gold is

there.

9. This is my mother's picture. It was taken when she was first

married.

10. All was at the mercy of the north wind. Only the sun could tame it.

II. I met a number of people on the street. I knew none of them. 12. All Americans love and honor the memory of George Washington. He was our first President.

13. We stood in front of the old house. It had been the home of

Longfellow.

14. We have a new preacher. Many people think he is a good

speaker.

15. The little girl lives with her sister. The sister is married and has a family of her own.

16. I gave the book to Carrie. I think she will take good care of it.

CORRECT USAGE

Care in the Use of Relative

Pronouns

1. Distinguish between a relative that is the subject of a clause and a relative in the

accusative case.

In the sentence "I asked who was invited," who is the subject of was invited. The whole clause who was invited is the object of asked. In the sentence "I asked whom she invited," she is the subject of invited, and whom is the object of invited. Whom must therefore take the accusative case form.

EXERCISE

Fill each blank in the following sentences with who or whom and give the reason for the one you use:

1. Is she the one you mentioned in your letter?

2. The men

were instrumental in securing a new park for the

city worked hard for it.

3. I don't know

I shall ask to help me.

4. The man is always ready to attend to other people's busi

ness seldom has time to take care of his own.

5. Is that the one to

you referred?

2. A relative must agree with its antecedent in number. In "The men who are at work on the subway are Italians,” who is plural because its antecedent, men, is plural. It must take a plural verb, are. In "Nobody who is in need must be neglected," who is singular, to agree with its antecedent, nobody. It must take a singular verb, is.

EXERCISE

Fill each blank in the following sentences with a singular or a plural verb, as the sense demands:

3. The relative pronoun must be definite in its reference; that is, there should be no doubt in the reader's mind as to what is the antecedent of the relative. In the sentence "I met him on the street, which pleased me," the reference of the relative is not definite. It may be the street which pleased me, or it may be the meeting which pleased me. But met cannot be the antecedent of a relative, for it is a verb. It is therefore necessary to recast the sentence to make

its meaning clear. "I was pleased to meet him on the street" is better, because it does away with the relative of indefinite reference.

This indefinite reference of the relative pronoun is a very common fault of school compositions, and one against which you should be on your guard. When you have written a sentence containing a relative, look for its antecedent. If you cannot point to it readily, recast your sentence so that its meaning may be unmistakable.

EXERCISE

Rewrite the following sentences, so that the meaning of each shall be clear:

1. I have to give up my trip, which I don't like.

2. There was a large party of men which caused a great deal of confusion.

3. The new governor is a man of fine qualities and who will undoubtedly do his duty.

4. They gave Frank the prize, which displeased his brother.

5. The soldier worked very hard, which caused his captain to praise him and who said he would be promoted.

6. He was elected with ease which turned his head and made him proud and distant.

7. He is the oldest man in the city and who has lived here all his

life.

Determinative and Descriptive Clauses. -Notice that in the three sentences below the relative clause limits or determines the meaning of the word it modifies.

John is the boy who wears the green sweater.
The prize will go to the one that deserves it.
I waved at the child who carried the flag.

Who wears the green sweater limits the word boy to that particular boy; that deserves it limits the one, so that

DESCRIPTIVE CLAUSES

271

It

it means just that one; who carried the flag limits the meaning to the particular child. These clauses could not be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence. means nothing to say, "John is the boy," but when we say, "John is the boy who wears the green sweater," the relative clause identifies John. These clauses that identify their antecedents and mark them off from all others of their class are called determinative clauses. That is always determinative; who and which may be either determinative or descriptive.

EXERCISE

In the following sentences select the determinative clauses: 1. She is a girl whom everybody admires.

2. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.

3. The dog which I found on the street has run away from me. 4. This is the book that I thought was lost.

5. The professor whom I like the best has gone to Europe.

6. This is the house that Jack built.

7. The man who hath no music in his soul is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.

8. The pupil who always does his best is sure to succeed.

Descriptive Clauses.

contain relative clauses

sentence by commas:

Notice that the four sentences below

separated from the rest of the

Franklin's History, which we studied last year, is interesting.
The poor old man, whom I had not seen for several weeks, had been ill.
Latin, which was the language of the Romans, is no longer spoken.
This street, which has just been paved, is very smooth.

These clauses are not strictly necessary to the meaning of the sentence. They could be omitted without affecting the meaning. Their value to the sentence consists in their describing some part of the sentence, so that it has an added