Higher Lessons in English Part 73

are exceptional. It is true that other forms, as, If he _had known, Had_ he _been_, _Should_ he _fall_, may be used in a true subjunctive sense, to a.s.sert what is a mere conception of the mind, i. e., what is merely thought of, without regard to its being or becoming a fact; but in these cases it is not the form of the verb but the connective or something in the construction of the sentence that determines the manner of a.s.sertion. In parsing, the verbs in such constructions may be treated as indicative or potential, with a subjunctive meaning.

The offices of the different mode and tense forms are constantly interchanging; a cla.s.sification based strictly on meaning would be very difficult, and would confuse the learner.]

IMPERATIVE MODE.[4]

PRESENT TENSE.

Singular. Plural.

2. /Pres./ (you or thou); 2. /Pres./ (you or ye).

[Footnote 4: From such forms as _Let us sing, Let them talk_, some grammarians make a first and a third person imperative. But _us_ is not the subject of the verb-phrase _let-sing_, and _let_ is not of the first person. _Us_ is the object complement of _let_, and the infinitive _sing_ is the objective complement, having us for its a.s.sumed subject.

Some would find a first and a third person imperative in such sentences as "Now tread _we_ a measure"; "_Perish_ the _thought_." But these verbs express strong wish or desire and by some grammarians are called "optative subjunctives." "Perish the thought" = "May the thought perish," or "I desire that the thought may perish," or "Let the thought perish."]

INFINITIVES.

PRESENT TENSE. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

(To)[5] /Pres./ (To) have /Past Par./

[Footnote 5: _To_, as indicated by the (), is not treated as a part of the verb. Writers on language are generally agreed that when _to_ introduces an infinitive phrase used as an adjective or an adverb, it performs its proper function as a preposition, meaning _toward_, _for_, etc.; as, I am inclined _to_ believe; I came _to_ hear. When the infinitive phrase is used as a noun, the _to_ expresses no relation; it seems merely to introduce the phrase. When a word loses its proper function without taking on the function of some other part of speech, we do not see why it should change its name. In the expressions, _For_ me to do this would be wrong; _Over_ the fence is out of danger, few grammarians would hesitate to call _for_ and _over_ prepositions, though they have no antecedent term of relation.

We cannot see that _to_ is a part of the verb, for it in no way affects the meaning, as does an auxiliary, or as does the to in He was spoken to. Those who call it a part of the verb confuse the learner by speaking of it as the "preposition _to_" (which, as they have said, is not a preposition) "placed before the infinitive," _i.e._, placed before that of which it forms a part --placed before itself.

In the Anglo-Saxon, _to_ was used with the infinitive only in the dative case, where it had its proper function as a preposition; as, nominative _etan_ (to eat); dative _to etanne_; accusative _e:tan_. When the dative ending _ne_ was dropped, making the three forms alike, the _to_ came to be used before the nominative and the accusative, but without expressing relation.

This dative of the infinitive, with _to_, was used mainly to indicate purpose. When, after the dropping of the _ne_ ending, the idea of purpose had to be conveyed by the infinitive, it became usual in Elizabethan literature to place _for_ before the _to_, "And _for to_ deck heaven's battlements."-_Greene_. "What went ye out _for to_ see?"-_Bible_. "Shut the gates _for to_ preserve the town."--_K. Hen. VI., Part III_.]

PARTICIPLES

PRESENT PAST PAST PERFECT.

/Pres./+ing+. /Past Par./ Having /Past Par./

+May+, +can+, and +must+ are potential auxiliaries in the present and the present perfect tense; +might+, +could+, +would+, and +should+, in the past and the past perfect.

The +emphatic+ form of the present and the past tense indicative is made by prefixing +do+ and +did+ to the present. _Do_ is prefixed to the imperative also.

TO THE TEACHES.--Require the pupils to fill out these forma with other verbs, regular and irregular, using the auxiliaries named above.

LESSON 135.

FORMS OF THE VERB-CONTINUED.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB +BE+.

[Footnote: The conjugation of _be_ contains three distinct roots--_as, be, was_. _Am, art, is, are_ are from _as_. _Am_ = _as-m_ (_m_ is the _m_ in _me_). _Art_ = _as-t_ (_t_ is the _th_ in _thou_).

Be was formerly conjugated, I _be_, Thou _beest_, He _beth_ or _bes_; _We be_, _Ye be_, _They be_.]

+Direction+.--Learn the following forms, paying no attention to the line at the right of each verb:--

INDICATIVE MODE.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular. Plural._

1. (I) am ----, 1. (We) are ----, 2. (You) are ---- _or_ 2. (You) are ----, (Thou) art ----, 3. (He) is ----; 3. (They) are ----.

PAST TENSE.

1. (I) was ----, 1. (We) were ----, 2. (You) were ---- _or_ 2. (You) were ----, (Thou) wast ----, 3. (He) was ----; 3. (They) were ----.

FUTURE TENSE.

1. (I) shall be ----, 1. (We) shall be ----, 2. (You) will be ---- _or_ 2. (You) will be ----, (Thou) wilt be ----, 3. (He) will be ----; 3. (They) will be ----.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) have been ----, 1. (We) have been ----, 2. (You) have been ---- _or_ 2. (You) have been ----, (Thou) hast been ----, 3. (He) has been ----; 3. (They) have been ----.

PAST PERFECT

1. (I) had been ----, 1. (We) had been ----, 2. (You) had been ---- _or_ 2. (You) had been ----, (Thou) hadst been ----, 3. (He) had been ----; 3. (They) had been ----.

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) shall have been ----, 1. (We) shall have been ----, 2. (You) will have been ---- _or_ 2. (You) will have been ----, (Thou) wilt have been ----, 3. (He) will have been ----; 3. (They) will have been ----.

POTENTIAL MODE.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular. Plural._ 1. (I) may be ----, 1. (We) may be ----, 2. (You) may be ---- _or_ 2. (You) may be ----, (Thou) mayst be ----, 3. (He) may be ----; 3. (They) may be ----.

PAST TENSE.

1. (I) might be ----, 1. (We) might be ----, 2. (You) might be ---- _or_ 2. (You) might be ----, (Thou) mightst be ----, 3. (He) might be ----; 3. (They) might be ----.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE.

1. (I) may have been ----, 1. (We) may have been ----, 2. (You) may have been ---- _or_ 2. (You) may have been ----, (Thou) mayst have been ----, 3. (He) may have been ----; 3. (They) may have been ----.

PAST PERFECT TENSE,

1. (I) might have been ----, 1. (We) might have been ----, 2. (You) might have been ---- _or_ 2. (You) might have been ----, (Thou) mightst have been ----, 3. (He) might have been ----; 3. (They) might have been ----.