English Grammar in Familiar Lectures Part 32

[8] Ridden is nearly obsolete.

[9] Sang and sank should not be used in familiar style.

[10] Spitten is nearly obsolete.

In familiar writing and discourse, the following, and some other verbs, are often improperly terminated by _t_ instead of _ed_; as, "learnt, spelt, spilt, stopt, latcht." They should be, "learned, spelled, spilled, stopped, latched."

You may now conjugate the following irregular verbs, in a manner similar to the conjugation of regular verbs: _arise, begin, bind, do, go, grow, run, lend, teach, write_. Thus, to _arise_--Indicative mood, pres.

tense, first person, sing. I arise; imperf. tense, I arose; perf. tense, I have arisen, and so on, through all the moods, and all the tenses of each mood; and then speak the participles: thus, pres. arising, perf.

arisen, comp. having arisen. In the next place, conjugate the same verb in the second person sing. through all the moods and tenses; and then in the third person sing. and in the first pers. plural. After that, you may proceed in the same manner with the words _begin, bind_, &c.

Now read the eleventh and twelfth lectures _four_ or _five_ times over, and learn the order of parsing a verb. You will then be prepared to pa.r.s.e the following verbs in full; and I presume, all the other parts of speech. Whenever you pa.r.s.e, you must refer to the Compendium for definitions and rules, if you cannot repeat them without, I will now pa.r.s.e a verb, and describe all its properties by applying the definitions and rules according to the systematic order.

"We _could_ not _accomplish_ the business."

_Could accomplish_ is a verb, a word which signifies to do--active, it expresses action--transitive, the action pa.s.ses over from the nom. "we"

to the object "business"--regular, it will form its imperfect tense of the indic. mood and perf. part, in _ed_--potential mood, it implies possibility or power--imperfect tense, it denotes past time however distant--first pers. plural, because the nom. "we" is with which it agrees, agreeably to RULE 4. _A verb must agree_, &c. Conjugated--Indic.

mood, present tense, first pers. sing. I accomplish; imperfect tense, I accomplished; perfect, I have accomplished; pluperfect, I had accomplished; and so on.--Speak it in the person of each tense through all the moods, and conjugate, in the same manner, every verb you pa.r.s.e.

EXERCISES IN PARSING.

_These exercises contain a complete variety of Moods and Tenses_.

I learn my lesson well. Charles, thou learnest thy lesson badly. John, do you write a good hand? Those ladies wrote a beautiful letter, but they did not despatch it. Have you seen the gentleman to whom I gave the book? He has gone. They had received the news before the messenger arrived. When will those persons return? My friend shall receive his reward. He will have visited me three times, if he come to-morrow.

If Eliza study diligently, she will improve. If Charles studies he does not improve. Unless that man shall have accomplished his work, by midsummer, he will receive no wages. Orlando, obey my precepts, unless you wish to injure yourself. Remember what is told you. The physician may administer the medicine, but Providence only can bless it. I told, him that he might go, but he would not. He might have gone last week, had he conducted himself properly; (that is, _if he had conducted_, &c.) Boys, prepare to recite your lessons. Young ladies, let me hear you repeat what you have learned. Study, diligently, whatever task may be allotted to you. To correct the spirit of discontent, let us consider how little we deserve. To die for one's country, is glorious. How can we become wise? To seek G.o.d is wisdom. What is true greatness? Active benevolence. A good man is a great man.

NOTE 1. _Man_, following _great_, and _what_, in the last two examples, are nom. after _is_: RULE 21. _To seek G.o.d_, and _to die for one's country_, are members of sentences, each put as the nom.

case to _is_ respectively: RULE 24. The verb _to correct_ is the infinitive mood absolute: NOTE under RULE 23. _May be allotted_ is a pa.s.sive verb, agreeing with _which_, the relative part of _whatever.

That_, the first part of whatever, is an adj. p.r.o.noun, agreeing with _task_; and _task_ is governed by _study._ _Hear_, following _let_, and _repeat_, following _hear_, are in the infinitive mood without the sign _to_, according to RULE 25. _To recite_ is governed by _prepare_: RULE 23. _Is told_, is a pa.s.sive verb, agreeing with _which_, the relative part of _whatever_; and _you_, following, is governed by _to_ understood: NOTE 1, under RULE 32.

2. In parsing a p.r.o.noun, if the noun for which it stands is not expressed, you must say it represents some person or thing understood.

LECTURE XIII.

OF THE AUXILIARY, Pa.s.sIVE, AND DEFECTIVE VERBS.

I. AUXILIARY VERBS.

Before you attend to the following additional remarks on the Auxiliary Verbs, you will do well to read again what is said respecting them in Lecture XI. page 140. The short account there given, and their application in conjugating verbs, have already made them quite familiar to you; and you have undoubtedly observed, that, without their help, we cannot conjugate any verb in any of the tenses, except the present and imperfect of the indicative and subjunctive moods, and the present of the imperative and infinitive. In the formation of all the other tenses, they are brought into requisition.

Most of the auxiliary verbs are defective in conjugation; that is, they are used only in some of the moods and tenses; and when unconnected with princ.i.p.al verbs, they are conjugated in the following manner:

MAY.

Pres. Tense _Sing_. I may, thou mayst, he may.

_Plur_. We may, ye _or_ you may, they may.

Imperf. _Sing_. I might, thou mightst, he might.

Tense. _Plur_. We might, ye _or_ you might, they might.

CAN.

Pres. _Sing_. I can, thou canst, he can.

Tense. _Plur_. We can, ye _or_ you can, they can.

Imperf. _Sing_. I could, thou couldst, he could.

Tense. _Plur_. We could, ye _or_ you could, they could.

WILL.

Pres. _Sing_. I will, thou wilt, he will.

Tense. _Plur_. We will, ye _or_ you will, they will.

Imperf. _Sing_. I would, thou wouldst, he would.

Tense. _Plur_. We would, ye _or_ you would, they would.

SHALL.

Pres. _Sing_. I shall, thou shalt, he shall.

Tense. _Plur_. We shall, ye _or_ you shall, they shall.

Imperf. _Sing_. I should, thou shouldst, he should.

Tense. _Plur_. We should, ye _or_ you should, they should.

TO DO.

Pres. _Sing_. I do, thou dost _or_ doest, he doth _or_ does.

Tense. _Plur_. We do, ye _or_ you do, they do.

Imperf. _Sing_. I did, thou didst, he did.

Tense. _Plur_. We did, ye _or_ you did, they did.

_Participles_. Pres. doing. Perf. done.

TO BE.

Pres. _Sing_. I am, thou art, he is.

Tense. _Plur_. We are, ye _or_ you are, they are.

Imperf. _Sing_. I was, thou wast, he was.

Tense. _Plur_. We were, ye _or_ you were, they were.

_Participles_. Pres. being. Perf. been.

TO HAVE.

Pres. _Sing_. I have, thou hast, he hath _or_ has.

Tense. _Plur_. We have, ye _or_ you have, they have.

Imperf. _Sing_. I had, thou hadst, he had.

Tense. _Plur_. We had, ye _or_ you had, they had.

_Participles_. Pres. having. Perf. had.

_Do, be, have_, and _will_, are sometimes used as princ.i.p.al verbs; and when employed as such, _do, be_, and _have_, may be conjugated, by the help of other auxiliaries, through all the moods and tenses.

DO. The different tenses of _do_, in the several moods, are thus formed: Indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I do; imperfect tense, I did; perf. I have done; pluperfect, I had done; first future, I shall or will do; sec. fut. I shall have done. Subjunctive mood, pres. tense, If I do; imperf. if I did; and so on. Imperative mood, do thou. Potential, pres. I may, can, or must do, &c. Infinitive, present, to do; perf. to have done. Participles, pres. doing; perf. done; compound, having done.