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He shook his head. My father and mother are dead. Ive two sisters, one married, an the otherll get married soon, I suppose. Then Ive a string of brothers, Im the youngest, but they never helped nobody. Theyve just knocked around over the world, lookin out for number one. The oldest died in India. Two are in South Africa now, an anothers on a whaling voyage, an ones travellin with a circus he does trapeze work. An I guess Im just like them. Ive taken care of myself since I was eleven thats when my mother died. Ive got to study by myself, I guess, an what I want to know is where to begin. I should say the first thing of all would be to get a grammar. Your grammar is She had intended saying awful, but she amended it to is not particularly good. He flushed and sweated. I know I must talk a lot of slang an words you dont understand. But then theyre the only words I know how to speak. Ive got other words in my mind, picked em up from books, but I cant pronounce em, so I dont use em. It isnt what you say, so much as how you say it. You dont mind my being frank, do you? I dont want to hurt you. No, no, he cried, while he secretly blessed her for her kindness. Fire away. Ive got to know, an Id sooner know from you than anybody else. Well, then, you say, You was; it should be, You were. You say I seen for I saw. You use the double negative Whats the double negative? he demanded; then added humbly, You see, I dont even understand your explanations. Im afraid I didnt explain that, she smiled. A double negative is let me see well, you say, never helped nobody. Never is a negative. Nobody is another negative. It is a rule that two negatives make a positive. Never helped nobody means that, not helping nobody, they must have helped somebody. Thats pretty clear, he said. I never thought of it before. But it dont mean they must have helped somebody, does it? Seems to me that never helped nobody just naturally fails to say whether or not they helped somebody. I never thought of it before, and Ill never say it again. She was pleased and surprised with the quickness and surety of his mind. As soon as he had got the clew he not only understood but corrected her error. Youll find it all in the grammar, she went on. Theres something else I noticed in your speech. You say dont when you shouldnt. Dont is a contraction and stands for two words. Do you know them? He thought a moment, then answered, Do not. She nodded her head, and said, And you use dont when you mean does not. He was puzzled over this, and did not get it so quickly. Give me an illustration, he asked. Well She puckered her brows and pursed up her mouth as she thought, while he looked on and decided that her expression was most adorable. It dont do to be hasty. Change dont to do not, and it reads, It do not do to be hasty, which is perfectly absurd. |
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