Business English Part 31

In conditional clauses (_if_), use _should_ for all persons.

Insert _should_ or _would_.

1. If I knew his address, I ---- send him a telegram.

2. He promised that he ---- not make the mistake again. (The direct form would read, I will not ---- )

3. I promised that I ---- not make the mistake again.

4. You promised that you ---- not make the mistake again.

5. Do you think that I ---- go?

6. I ---- if I were you.

7. I ---- think he ---- know better than to apply for that position.

8. John said that, no matter what we thought, he ---- not go.

9. If you ---- decide to accept the offer, let me know at once.

10. I am sorry he did that. He ---- not, of course.

11. If I ---- see him, I'd let him know.

12. If he ---- come during my absence, ask him to wait.

13. I ---- think you would be more careful.

14. Let me know if you ---- not be able to come.

=Exercise 106=

Change the italicized verbs to past tense, future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect. Wherever necessary, add sufficient to make the meaning of the tense clear; as,

_Present_: The manager _is now_ in his office.

_Past_: The manager _was_ in his office _a few minutes ago_.

_Future_: The manager _will be_ in his office _to-morrow at ten o'clock_.

_Present Perfect_: The manager _has been_ in his office _all the morning_. (It is still morning.)

_Past Perfect_: The manager _had been_ in his office _only a few moments when the president arrived_.

_Future Perfect_: _In about five minutes_ the manager _will have been_ in the president's office _exactly three hours_.

1. The cashier _opens_ the safe in the morning.

2. The mechanic _earns_ good wages.

3. The buyer _leaves_ to-night.

4. The bookkeeper _makes_ out the statements.

5. The correspondent _writes_ the booklets.

6. The advertising manager _approves_ the copy.

7. The adding machine _is broken_.

8. The chief clerk _attends_ to the incoming mail.

9. The superintendent _visits_ the factory every day.

10. The salesman _is selling_ five thousand dollars'

worth of goods a week.

=Exercise 107=

The present tense is used to indicate general truths--things true in past time and still true. Omit the incorrect form in the following sentences:

1. What did you say _is_--_was_ the meaning of the term _bona fide_?

2. What _was_--_is_ the name of that book that you enjoyed so much?

3. Didn't you know that the lion _is_--_was_ called the king of beasts?

4. They told me that the legal rate of interest at present _is_-_was_ six per cent.

5. Have you ever heard him try to prove that black _is_--_was_ white?

6. What _is_--_was_ the name of the banker who lectured to us yesterday?

7. I never could remember what the important products of my county _are_--_were_.

8. The advocate of Equal Suffrage argued that mothers _need_--_needed_ the ballot to protect their children.

9. She said that a democracy _is_--_was_ a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and that women _are_-_were_ people as well as men.

10. The speaker a.s.serted that this country _needs_--_needed_ a tariff to protect home industries.

=Exercise 108--Princ.i.p.al Parts=

No one can be certain of using the correct form of a verb unless he knows the princ.i.p.al parts. Some verbs are regular; that is, they form their past tense and their perfect participle by adding _ed_ to the present tense; as,