The Relative Pronouns (d7da0737-0a6d-41b0-8a5e-a219a72da8ac)

- Organization:
- The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers
- Pages:
- 34
- File Size:
- 1034 KB
- Publication Date:
- Jan 1, 1931
Abstract
An educated man is distinguished neither by his clothes nor by his knowledge; he is replarkable not for the things he says, but for the way he says them. You cannot even stand with him under an archway in the rain without finding him out. He may talk only of the weather. His words and his phrases alike may be simple. -at distinguishes him is the arrange- ment of his words; however desultory his talk, it will be method- ical; he has habituated himself to foreseeing the part to be played by each word he uses and the place to be taken by each sentence he utters. On the other hand, the uneducated man, though shrewd and well-informed, will relate facts and events as they recur to him, generally in disorder; in his effort to recollect and in his attempt to rectify forgetfulness he will pause irregularly, filling the intervals with meaningless phrases, such as "and then ", "and: so ", or 'said he to me", "said I to him"; and even the contipuous parts of his story will be told confusedly-because he has not learned the proper use of words.* My own experience as an editor of technical manuscripts has taught me that the misuse of 'that' and 'which' is a fruitful cause of obscurity and confusion. The relative pronouns have distinct functions, and no writer can express himself clearly until he has learned to discriminate between these I functions. For example:
Citation
APA:
(1931) The Relative Pronouns (d7da0737-0a6d-41b0-8a5e-a219a72da8ac)MLA: The Relative Pronouns (d7da0737-0a6d-41b0-8a5e-a219a72da8ac). The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, 1931.