Business English Part 29

32. Neither Tom nor his brother _is_--_are_ studying stenography.

33. Both Tom and his brother _is_--_are_ stenographers.

34. Every one _is_--_are_ interested in the cost of living.

In the last sentence above subst.i.tute one of the following for _every one_, using the correct form of the verb with each:

each of us; everybody; all of us; several people; both of the men; neither of the men; neither Mary nor John; Mary and John; our club; our cla.s.s; the nation; not only Europe but America; Europe as well as America; the nation as well as several of the larger cities

=Exercise 102--Tense=

The tense of the verb indicates the time of the action. There are three primary tenses, indicating action in the _present_, the _past_, and the _future_. Each of these tenses has also a _perfect_ tense, which, represents the action as being perfect or complete in the present, the past, and the future.

The _present_ tense is the simplest form. It denotes that the action takes place now; as,

I write We write You write You write He writes They write

To be more exact, we may indicate that the action is continuing in the present time, and then we say,

I am writing We are writing You are writing You are writing He is writing They are writing

This is called the _present progressive_ tense.

It may be that you wish to be emphatic, and you say,

I do write We do write You do write You do write He does write They do write

This is called the _emphatic present_ tense.

The _past_ tense indicates that the action took place in past time; as,

I wrote We wrote You wrote You wrote He wrote They wrote

or, the _past progressive_; as,

I was writing We were writing You were writing You were writing He was writing They were writing

or, the _past emphatic_; as,

I did write We did write You did write You did write He did write They did write

The emphatic form is used only in the present and the past tenses.

The _future_ tense denotes that the action will take place at some future time. It is formed by using _shall_ or _will_ with the simplest form of the verb; as,

I shall write We shall write You will write You will write He will write They will write

The progressive form is not common. It is

I shall be writing We shall be writing You will be writing You will be writing He will be writing They will be writing

The three perfect tenses are formed by using the verb _have_ with the perfect participle of the verb.

The _present perfect_ tense denotes that the action is complete at the present time. It is formed by the present tense of _have_ and the perfect participle of the verb; as,

I have written We have written You have written You have written He has written They have written

The progressive form is,

I have been writing We have been writing You have been writing You have been writing He has been writing They have been writing

The _past perfect_ denotes that the action was completed in past time.

It is formed by using the past tense of _have_ and the perfect participle of the verb; as,

I had written We had written You had written You had written He had written They had written

The progressive form is,

I had been writing We had been writing You had been writing You had been writing He had been writing They had been writing

The _future perfect_ tense denotes that the action will be completed at some future time. It is formed by the future of _have_ and the perfect participle of the verb; as,

I shall have written We shall have written You will have written You will have written He will have written They will have written

The progressive form is rarely used. It is

I shall have been writing We shall have been writing You will have been writing You will have been writing He will have been writing They will have been writing

Giving all forms singular and plural, first, second, and third persons of each tense const.i.tutes the _conjugation_ of a verb. Giving one person in each tense const.i.tutes the _synopsis_ of the conjugation.

The following is a synopsis of all the tenses of the active voice in the first person singular number of the verb _write_:

ACTIVE VOICE

{ { {I write (simple form) { {_Present_ {I am writing (progressive form) { { {I do write (emphatic form) { { {_Primary_ { {I wrote (simple) { {_Past_ {I was writing (progressive) { { {I did write (emphatic) { { { { {I shall write (simple) { {_Future_ {I shall be writing (progressive) TENSE { { { {I have written (simple) { {_Present Perfect_{I have been writing (progressive) { { {_Perfect_ { {I had written (simple) {_or_ {_Past Perfect_ {I had been writing (progressive) {_Secondary_{ { { { { {I shall have written (simple) { {_Future Perfect_ {I shall have been writing { { { (progressive)

=Exercise 103=

Conjugate the following in the active voice:

1. Simple past tense of _walk_.

2. Present progressive tense of _walk_.

3. Present perfect of _drive_. (See Exercise 108 for the princ.i.p.al parts.)