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PAST. In the active voice of regular verbs, ed is annexed to the simple form; after thou, edst. In the passive voice, was, wast, and were, with the passive participle.

PAST PERFECT.-Had and hadst.

FUTURE.-Shall, will, shalt, and wilt.

FUTURE PERFECT.-Shall have, will have, shalt have, and wil have.

EXAMPLES.

PRESENT, ACTIVE.—I follow, (infinitive, to follow,) thou followest, he follows, we follow.

PASSIVE.-I am followed, thou art followed, he is followed, we are followed.

PRESENT PERFECT ACTIVE.-I have followed, thou hast followed, he has followed.

PASSIVE.-I have been followed.

PAST, ACTIVE.-I followed, thou followedst, he followed.

PASSIVE.-I was followed, thou wast followed, we were followed.
PAST PERFECT, ACTIVE.-I had followed, thou hadst followed.
PASSIVE.-I had been followed.

FUTURE, ACTIVE.—I shall follow, thou wilt follow, he will follow.
PASSIVE.—I shall be followed, thou wilt be followed.

FUTURE PERFECT, ACTIVE.—I shall have followed, thou wilt have followed.
PASSIVE. I shall have been followed.

Note. The passive voice has not the participle in ing. "I am following," is not passive.

EXERCISES.

1. In what tense is each of the following verbs?

Thomas has read the book.

John rides often. The horse threw his rider. The cow had eaten the corn before the horse came to the stable. The snow will melt soon. The wood will have been cut before that time. Spring will return. Important events have occurred in this century. Bonaparte was sent to Elba. I have seen many things in my life. Darius was defeated by Alexander. The rain falls in torrents. The night is dark. The shoe will soon be mended, George will then go home. Amelia loves study. I had seen it before you saw it. My work will have been completed before the time at which the bell usually rings. The robbers attacked the traveler.

Peace brings happiness. War brings misery. The world has had enough of war. I will assist you.

2. Name three verbs in the present tense-three in the present perfect-three in the past-three in the past perfect-three in the future-three in the future perfect.

REMARKS ON THE TENSES IN THE DIFFERENT MOODS.

1. The indicative has six tenses.

2. The subjunctive, being nothing more than the indicative or potential after certain conjunctions, has also six tenses.

3. In conditions or suppositions, the past form sometimes refers to present time; as, "If I had a pen now, I would write." In this sense the verb implies that the thing supposed does not exist. "I wish that I had wings," implies that I have no wings; "He walks as if he carried a mountain," implies that he does not carry a mountain. "If I have a pen," leaves it uncertain whether I have a pen or not.

4. The past perfect is used in the same way in reference to past time; as, "If I had seen him yesterday, I would have spoken to him." Ilere, had seen does not refer to an action completed yesterday, but merely expresses a supposition with reference to past time.

5. The verb to be has, in the singular number, a separate form in expressions of this kind, when reference is made to present time; thus, "If I were, if thou wert, if he were," instead of "If I was, if thou wast, if he was.' The plural has no separate form.

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6. Were is often used instead of would be, or should be, and had, when employed as an auxiliary, instead of would have, or should have; as, "The city were ruined by such a course;" "James's fortitude had been laudable, had he persisted in his first intention."

7. The past tense of other verbs is sometimes, though not often, used in the same way as were; as, "Such a policy, while it gladdened the hearts of the poor, would in ten years cause a greater advance in the wealth," etc.Princeton Review. Here gladdened is used instead of would gladden.

8. The potential has four tenses, which are usually called the present, the perfect, [present perfect,] the imperfect, [past,] and the pluperfect, [past perfect.]

EXAMPLES.

PRESENT.-I may write, I can write, I must write.

In what does the past form refer to pres- | When used in this way, what does the ent time? verb imply?

*These forms were formerly used promiscuously, at least in the second person; as, "Before the heavens thou wert."-Milton. Eminent grammarians have supposed that the two forms originated from two different dialects of the Anglo-Saxon language.

PRESENT PERFECT.-I may have written, I can have written,* I must have written.

PAST.-I might write, I could write, I would write, I should write.

PAST PERFECT.-I might have written, I could have written, I would have written, I should have written.

9. The present denotes present permission, ability, necessity, or possibility. Thus, "You may write" denotes that you have present permission to write; "I can write," that I have present ability to write; "I must write," that I am under present necessity of writing. "I may write," sometimes expresses present possibility; as, "I may write to-morrow, but I have not determined." May is sometimes used in expressing a wish; as, "May you be happy."

Note. It is the ability, permission, necessity, or possibility that is present; the act of writing itself is future, if any particular time is referred to These forms are easily understood, if may, can, and must are considered as in the present indicative, and write as in the infinitive.

10. May have written, etc., are the present indicative may, etc., and the perfect infinitive to have written. "I may have written," means, "It is possible that I wrote."

11. Might, could, would, and should were originally the past tenses of may, can, will, and shall; could, would, and might are still sometimes used simply as past tenses; as, "I could write yesterday;" that is, was able; "Though I endeavored to dissuade him, he would go;" that is, was determined; "She would go out in the morning to gather flowers;" that is, was accustomed; "Often might she be seen returning in the evening;" that is, it was possible to see her, etc. Should is not now used in this way.

12. These words are generally used to express a condition or an affirmation depending on a condition, and refer to present time, or are indefinite with regard to time; as, "I could write now, if you would permit me."

13. They are often employed like the past tense of other verbs, to express a supposition referring to present time, and implying that the thing supposed does not exist; as, "If he would remain a few days, I would accompany him ;" that is, if he were willing.

14. Should often expresses present obligation, duty, etc.; as, "You should be industrious."

15. These words are often used to express a softened assertion; as, "I could wish a change to be made;" "I should be inclined to doubt his candor." In this sense they refer to present time.

16. The forms assigned to the past perfect (pluperfect) are composed of might, could, would, or should, and the perfect infinitive. They seem to be

*Can have written is not used in the affirmative form; but it is used in interrogations and negations; as, "Can he have done this ?" "He cannot have done this." Can have in interrogative and negative sentences corresponds to may have in affirmative sentences.

allied to the past perfect in form, since they are composed of a past form and the perfect infinitive, (though not the perfect participle;) yet they never have the meaning of this tense-they never denote an action completed at some past time referred to. In meaning, this is simply a past (imperfect) tense. Thus, referring to present time, we say, "I would write to-day, if I had a pen;" that is, I am willing to write. Referring to past time we say, "I would have written yesterday, if I had had a pen ;" that is, I was willing to write. Might, could, etc., are not used in a past sense, but they are considered as the present time of verbs which have no past form; and they are made to refer to past time by changing the form of the verb with which they are connected. "I would have written," is used instead of, "I woulded write" "I should have written," instead of, "I shoulded write."

17. This point may be illustrated by a comparison with the manner of using the verb ought. This verb was originally the past tense of owed; thus, "You ought (owed) him a thousand pound."-Shakspeare. It is now used in a present sense, and has no past form. When we wish to express a past duty or obligation, we make a change in the verb with which it is connected. Thus, "You ought to write to-day;" that is, you are under obligation to write; "You ought to have written yesterday;" that is, you were under obligation to write. The perfect infinitive is employed here, not in its usual sense, but merely to give a past meaning to ought.

18. The imperative has but one tense, which is called the present. This term has reference to the time in which the command is given; the action is of course always to be performed after the time of speaking.

19. The infinitive has two tenses, which are called the imperfect, or present, and the perfect.

20. The imperfect, or present, denotes an action or state not completed at the time referred to by the verb with which it is connected. It may be joined with any tense of the verb; as, "I wish to write;" "I wished to write ;" ." "I shall wish to write."

21. The perfect denotes an action as completed in reference to the time of the verb with which it is connected; as, "He is said to have written ;" "He was said to have written;" "He will be said to have written."

22. These forms refer only to the continuance or completion of the action; imperfect and perfect are the appropriate names. See "Participles.”

NUMBER AND PERSON.

The number and person of the verb are the forms appropriated to the different numbers and persons of the subject.

What are the number and person of verbs?

Thus, in the present tense with the first person singular we use love, with the second lovest, and with the third loves; as, "I love, thou lovest, he loves:"

Remarks.-1. Some languages have a peculiar form for every person in both numbers; but in English there are not so many separate forms. The second person singular has a form appropriated to itself in all the tenses, and the third person singular has a distinct form of the verb in the present tense -the present of the verb to have retaining this form when used as an auxiliary in the present perfect. There is no other change in regular verbs on account of the number and person of the subject.

2. The three persons in the plural are always alike, and, with the exception of the verb to be, the same as the first person singular.

3. The imperative mood has usually only the second person.

4. In some languages this mood has the first person plural, and the third person in both numbers. In the English language also these persons are sometimes used; as in the following examples :

"He that hath eeris of herynge, here he."— Wiclif, Matt. xi.
"Geve he to her a lybel."-Id. Matt. v.

"Send he his vassal train-himself advance,

Here will I take my stand-decide our swords the chance."

-Hunt's Tasso.

"Confide we in ourselves alone;""With virtue be we armed;" "Cull we

the rose ;"

"Do we what duty bids."—Id.

"Fall he that must beneath his rival's arm,

And live the rest, secure from future harm."-Pope.

"Laugh those that can, weep those that may."-Scott.

"And rest we here,' Matilda said.”—Ib.

66 My soul, turn from them-turn we to survey."-Goldsmith.

"Commence we now that higher state,

Now do thy will as angels do."-Montgomery.

5. The usual mode of expressing the same idea is by using the infinitive mood, with the second person imperative of the verb let, and the objective case of the noun or pronoun; as, "Let him hear;" "Let us confide." Let is often used in this way, even when there is no command addressed to any one; as, "Let there be light."

6. The verb in such expressions as, "Hallowed be thy name," "Thy kingdom come," ," "Be it enacted," "Be it so," "So help me God," "So do God to Abner," etc., should be considered as belonging to the third person of the imperative.

7. The infinite, as it has no subject, has no number and person.

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