Read a clause: what does it say in plain words?

Example 1

1. Step 1, find the who. The clause is about money in the Treasury, the national government’s money, and whoever wants to spend it.
2. Step 2, find the action word. “No Money shall be drawn” means money is forbidden to be taken out. (Drawn here means taken out.)
3. Step 3, find the limits. The limit word is but, and here it means “except”: except “in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” An appropriation is money set aside by law for one purpose. In consequence of means as a result of.
4. Step 4, say it back in one plain sentence. Put the who, the action, and the limit together.

Answer: No money may be taken out of the national treasury unless a law sets it aside for that use.

Example 2

1. Step 1, find the who: soldiers, and the owners of houses.
2. Step 2, find the action word: “No Soldier shall … be quartered,” which forbids. (To quarter soldiers is to give them a place to live.)
3. Step 3, find the limits. There are two, one for peace and one for war. In peace: “without the consent of the Owner.” With the owner’s consent, it would be allowed. In war: “but in a manner to be prescribed by law,” only in the way a law sets out. (Prescribed means set down.)
4. Step 4, say it back. The colonists had complained that British soldiers were kept among them; this amendment answers that complaint.

Answer: In peacetime, soldiers may not be housed in a home without the owner’s permission; in wartime, only in the way a law sets out.