Plain English Part 19

1st person--I call. We call.

2nd person--You call. You call.

He } 3rd person She } calls. They, or } call.

It } The men } The man }

+105.+ You notice in this table we use the expressions _first person_, _second person_, and _third person_. _I_ and _we_ indicate the person or persons speaking and are called the first person. _You_ indicates the person or persons spoken to and is called the second person. _He_, _she_, _it_, _they_, and the person or persons or things spoken of, are called the third person.

We use the word _you_ when speaking to one or more than one now-a-days.

It used to be that when speaking to a single person, people said _thou_, and in speaking to two or more they said _you_. But we today have dropped the old form _thou_, and use _you_ for both singular and plural.

+106.+ Now note, in the above table, that there is only one form change in the verb, and this is in the _third person singular_. We say _I call_, _You call_, _We call_, _They_, or _The men call_, but we say _He_, or _the man calls_, in speaking of one person or thing. So we change the form of the verb with any subject which denotes the third person and the singular number. This form is made by adding _s_ to the simple form of the verb, therefore we may call it the _s-form_ because it always ends in _s_.

Remember that this _s-form_ is used to express present time with a third person, singular subject. _BE CAREFUL NOT TO USE THIS FORM WITH ANY PLURAL SUBJECT._ There is no other change in the verb form in expressing the present time in any verb, except in the verb _be_.

+107.+ This little verb _be_ is one of the most troublesome verbs in our language, and since it is used in forming verb phrases, it will be well to commit the following table to memory. Watch closely your use of this bothersome little word. Note that it has a change in form for the _first person singular_, as well as for the third person singular. All other verbs have just the one change, the _s-form_ for the third person singular. The verb _be_ has a form also to use with the first person singular, the p.r.o.noun _I_.

+Present Time+ +Past Time+

_Singular_ _Singular_

1. I am. 1. I was.

2. You are. 2. You were.

3. He is. 3. He was.

_Plural_ _Plural_

1. We are. 1. We were.

2. You are. 2. You were.

3. They are. 3. They were.

+108.+ +The present time form is the form which expresses present time.

It is expressed by the simple form of the verb with the exception of the third person singular, which is expressed by the _s-form_.+

PAST TIME

+109.+ To express _past time_ we change the form of the verb. Notice the following:

I } called We } called She } sent You } sent He } fell They } fell It } brought The men } brought The man } hid } hid

Notice that these various forms of the verb which express past time are all made by changes from the simple form, which expresses present time.

You will also notice that these five verbs used in the above table all form their past time form in different ways. For example, _call_ adds _ed_; _send_ changes the final letter from _d_ to _t_; _fall_ changes the vowel in the middle of the word from _a_ to _e_; _bring_ changes both the vowel and the final letter from _bring_ to _brought_; _hide_ drops the final letter _e_.

+110.+ +Verbs whose past time forms are made by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the simple form are called regular verbs.+

+Verbs whose past time forms are made in some other way than by adding _d_ or _ed_ are called irregular verbs.+

+111.+ There are about two hundred of these irregular verbs which form their past time in the following ways:

1. By change in the vowel letter, as _fall_, _fell_; _write_, _wrote_; _see_, _saw_; _sing_, _sang_; _come_, _came_.

2. By dropping the final vowel; as _hide_, _hid_; _slide_, _slid_; _bite_, _bit_.

3. By dropping a vowel from the middle of the word; as _bleed_, _bled_; _feed_, _fed_; _lead_, _led_.

4. By changing the final letter or letters; as _send_, _sent_; _lose_, _lost_; _spend_, _spent_.

5. By changing the vowel and final letters; as _bring_, _brought_; _seek_, _sought_; _catch_, _caught_.

6. By changing the vowel sound and adding _t_ or _d_; as _sleep_, _slept_; _feel_, _felt_; _flee_, _fled_.

There are some irregular forms which we must learn and be exceedingly careful in their use. Study the list in this lesson.

Exercise 1

Write the _present_ and _past_ time forms of the following verbs as the verb _think_ is written in the table given below.

think ride have give write ask make try speak run see do

+Present Time+ +Past Time+

_Singular_ _Singular_

1. I think 1. I thought 2. You think 2. You thought 3. He thinks 3. He thought

_Plural_ _Plural_

1. We think 1. We thought 2. You think 2. You thought 3. They think 3. They thought

+112.+ Be very careful not to use the _s-form_ except for the third person singular. Be especially careful in the use of different forms of the verb _be_. It is in the use of this verb that we so frequently make mistakes. Watch your own language and the conversation of your friends and note these mistakes and correct them in your own mind. These common blunders in the use of English mark us as careless or uneducated by everyone who hears us speak. We have fallen into bad habits oftentimes and make these mistakes when we know better, and only constant watchfulness for a time can overcome the habit. After a time we learn to speak correctly without effort, and then these mistakes made by others offend the ear like a false note in music.

Exercise 2

Cross out the wrong form in the following:

They _was_--_were_ not here.

The clouds _has_--_have_ gathered.

People _is_--_are_ indifferent.

The train _was_--_were_ on time.

The men _was_--_were_ armed.

Our school building _is_--_are_ inadequate.

The workers _earn_--_earns_ their wages.

The voters _elect_--_elects_ the President.

They _do_--_does_ as they please.

We _was_--_were_ there on time.