Chapter X: Part 10

+Remarks+.--The progressive form is sometimes used with a passive meaning; as, The house _is building_. In such cases the word in _ing_ was once a verbal noun preceded by the preposition _a_, a contraction from _on_ or _in_; as, While the ark _was a preparing_; While the flesh _was in seething_. In modern language the preposition is dropped, and the word in _ing_ is treated adjectively.

Another passive progressive form, consisting of the verb _be_ completed by the present passive participle, has recently appeared in our language--The house _is being built_, or _was being built_. Although condemned by many linguists as awkward and otherwise objectionable, it has grown rapidly into good use, especially in England, Such a form seems to be needed when the simpler form would be ambiguous, _i.e._, when its subject might be taken to name either the actor or the receiver; as, The child _is whipping_; The prisoner _is trying_. Introduced only to prevent ambiguity, the so-called neologism has pushed its way, and is found where the old form would not be ambiguous. As now used, the new form stands to the old in about the ratio of three to one.

+Direction+.--_Conjugate the verb choose in the progressive form by filling all the blanks left after the different forms of the verb be, in the preceding Lesson, with the present participle choosing; and then in the passive form by filling these blanks with the past participle chosen_.

Notice that after the past participle of the verb _be_ no blank is left. The past participle of the passive is not formed by the aid of _be_; it is never compound. The past participle of a transitive verb is always passive except in such forms as _have chosen, had chosen_. (See _have written_, Lesson 138.) In the progressive, the past participle is wanting. All the participles of the verb _choose_ are arranged in order below.

_Present. Past. Past Perfect_.

_Simplest form_. Choosing, chosen, having chosen. _Progressive form_. Being choosing,* ------, having been choosing. _Passive form_. Being chosen, chosen, having been chosen.

[Footnote *: This form is not commonly used.]

+Direction+.--_Write and arrange as above all the participles of the verbs break, drive, read, lift_.

TO THE TEACHER.--Select other verbs, and require the pupils to conjugate them in the progressive and in the passive form. Require them to give synopses of all the forms. Require them in some of their synopses to use _it_ or some noun for the subject in the third person.

* * * * *

LESSON 137.

CONJUGATION--CONTINUED.

INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE FORMS.

A verb may be conjugated +interrogatively+ in the indicative and potential modes by placing the subject after the first auxiliary; as, _Does he sing?_

A verb may be conjugated +negatively+ by placing _not_ after the first auxiliary; as, He _does not sing_. _Not_ is placed before the infinitive and the participles; as, _not to sing, not singing_.

A question with negation is expressed in the indicative and potential modes by placing the subject and _not_ after the first auxiliary; as, _Does he not sing?_

+Remark+.--Formerly, it was common to use the simple form of the present and past tenses interrogatively and negatively thus: _Loves he? I know not_. Such forms are still common in poetry, but in prose they are now scarcely used. We say, _Does he love?_ _I do not know_. The verbs _be_ and _have_ are exceptions, as they do not take the auxiliary _do_. We say, _Is it right? Have you another?_

+Direction+.--_Write a synopsis in the third person, singular, of the verb walk conjugated_ (1) _interrogatively_, (2) _negatively, and _(3) _so as to express a question with negation. Remember that the indicative and the potential are the only modes that can be used interrogatively._

To THE TEACHER.--Select other verbs, and require the pupils to conjugate them negatively and interrogatively in the progressive and in the passive form. Require the pupils to give synopses of all the forms.

* * * * *

LESSON 138.

MODE AND TENSE FORMS.

COMPOUND FORMS--ANALYSIS.

The +compound+, or +periphrastic, forms+ of the verb consisting of two words may each be resolved into an +asserting word and a participle+ or an +infinitive+.

If we look at the original meaning of the forms +I do write, I shall write, I will write+, we shall find that the so-called auxiliary is the real verb, and that _write_ is an infinitive used as object complement. +I do write = I do+ or +perform+ the action (_to_) write. +I shall write = I owe+ (_to_) +write. I will write = I determine+ (_to_) +write+.

+May write, can write, must write, might write, could write, would write+, and +should write+ may each be resolved into an asserting word and an infinitive.

The forms +is writing, was written+, etc. consist each of an asserting word (the verb _be_), and a participle used as attribute complement.

The forms +have written+ and +had written+ are so far removed from their original meaning that their analysis cannot be made to correspond with their history. They originated from such expressions as _I have a letter written_, in which _have_ ( = _possess_) is a transitive verb taking _letter_ for its object complement, and _written_ is a passive participle modifying _letter_. The idea of possession has faded out of _have_, and the participle has lost its passive meaning. The use of this form has been extended to intransitive verbs--Spring _has come_, Birds _have flown_, etc. being now regularly used instead of the more logical perfect tense forms, Spring _is come_, Birds _are flown_. (_Is come, are flown_, etc. must not be mistaken for transitive verbs in the passive voice.) [Footnote: A peculiar use of _had_ is found in the expressions _had rather go_ and _had better go_, condemned by many grammarians who suppose _had_ to be here used incorrectly for _would_ or _should_. Of these expressions the "Standard Dictionary," an authority worthy of our attention, says:--

"Forms disputed by certain grammatical critics from the days of Samuel Johnson, the critics insisting upon the substitution of _would_ or _should_, as the case may demand, for _had_; but _had rather_ and _had better_ are thoroughly established English, idioms having the almost universal popular and literary sanction of centuries. 'I _would rather_ not go' is undoubtedly correct when the purpose is to emphasize the element of choice, or will, in the matter; but in all ordinary cases 'I _had rather_ not go' has the merit of being idiomatic and easily and universally understood.

"If for 'You _had better_ stay at home' we substitute 'You _should better_ stay at home,' an entirely different meaning is expressed, the idea of expediency giving place to that of obligation."

In the analysis of "_I had rather go_," _had_ is the predicate verb, the infinitive _go_ is the object complement, and the adjective _rather_ completes _had_ and belongs to _go_, i.e., is objective complement. _Had_ (= _should hold_ or _regard_) is treated as a past subjunctive. _Rather_ is the comparative of the old adjective _rathe_ = _early_, from which comes the idea of preference. The expression means, "I should hold going preferable."

The expressions "You _had better_ stay," "I _had as lief_ not be," are similar in construction to "I _had rather_ go." "I _had sooner_ go" is condemned by grammarians because _sooner_ is never an adjective. If _sooner_ is here allowed as an idiom, it is a modifier of _had_. The expression equals, "I should more willingly have going."]

Compounds of more than two words may be analyzed thus: +May have been written+ is composed of the compound auxiliary +may have been+ and the participle +written; may have been+ is composed of the compound auxiliary +may have+ and the participle +been+; and +may have+ is composed of the auxiliary +may+ and the infinitive +have+. _May_ is the asserting word--the first auxiliary is always the asserting word.

+Direction+.--_Study what has been said above and analyze the following verbal forms, distinguishing carefully between participles that may be considered as part of the verb and words that must be treated as attribute complements_:--

1. I may be mistaken. 2. The farm was sold. 3. I shall be contented. 4. Has it been decided? 5. You should have been working. 6. The danger might have been avoided. 7. He may have been tired and sleepy. 8. She is singing. 9. I shall be satisfied. 10. The rule has not been observed. 11. Stars have disappeared. 12. Times will surely change.

TENSE FORMS--MEANING.

The +Present Tense+ is used to express (1) what is actually present, (2) what is true at all times, (3) what frequently or habitually takes place, (4) what is to take place in the future, and it is used (5) in describing past or future events as if occurring at the time of the speaking.

+Examples+.--I _hear_ a voice (action as present). The sun _gives_ light (true at all times). He _writes_ for the newspapers (habitual). Phillips _speaks_ in Boston to-morrow night (future). He _mounts_ the scaffold; the executioners _approach_ to bind him; he _struggles, resists_, etc. (past events pictured to the imagination as present). The clans of Culloden _are_ scattered in fight; they _rally_, they _bleed_, etc. (future events now seen in vision).

The +Past Tense+ may express (1) simply past action or being, (2) a past habit or custom, (3) a future event, and (4) it may refer to present time.

+Examples+.--The birds _sang_ (simply past action). He _wrote_ for the newspapers (past habit). If I _should go_, you _would miss_ me (future events). If he _were_ here, he _would enjoy_ this (refers to present time).

The +Future Tense+ may express (1) simply future action or being, (2) a habit or custom as future or as indefinite in time.

+Examples+.--I _shall write_ soon (simply future action). He _will sit_ there by the hour (indefinite in time).

The +Present Perfect Tense+ expresses (1) action or being as completed in present time (_i.e._, a period of time--an hour, a year, an age--of which the present forms a part), and (2) action or being to be completed in a future period.

+Examples+.--Homer _has written_ poems (the period of time affected by this completed action embraces the present). When I _have finished_ this, you _shall have_ it (action to be completed in a future period).

The +Past Perfect Tense+ expresses (1) action or being as completed at some specified past time, and (2) in a conditional or hypothetical clause it may express past time.

+Examples+.--I _had seen_ him when I met you (action completed at a specified past time). If I _had had_ time, I _should have written_ (I _had_ not time--I _did_ not _write_.)

The +Future Perfect Tense+ expresses action to be completed at some specified future time.

+Example+.--I _shall have seen_ him by to-morrow noon.

+Direction+.--_Study what has been said above about the meaning of the tense forms, and describe carefully the time expressed by each of the following verbs_:--

1. I go to the city to-morrow. 2. The village master taught his little school. 3. Plato reasons well. 4. A triangle has three sides. 5. To-morrow is the day appointed. 6. Moses has told many important facts. 7. The ship sails next week. 8. She sings well. 9. Cicero has written orations. 10. He would sit for hours and watch the smoke curl from his pipe. 11. You may hear when the next mail arrives, 12. Had I known this before, I could have saved you much trouble. 13. He will occasionally lose his temper. 14. At the end of this week I shall have been in school four years. 15. If I were you, I would try that. 16. He will become discouraged before he has thoroughly tried it. 17. She starts, she moves, she seems to feel the thrill of life along her keel.

+Model for Written Parsing adapted to all Parts of Speech+. _Oh! it has a voice for those who on their sick beds lie and waste away._

[Transcriber's Note: The following two tables have been split to fit within Project Gutenberg line-width requirements. The first column of each table has been repeated for easier reference.]

|CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. ---------|-----------------|---------------------------------------------| Sentence.|Class. |Sub-C. |Voice.|Mode.|Tense.|Num. |Per.| Gen. |Case.| | | | | | | | | | | Oh! |Int. | | | | | | | | | it |Pro. |Per. | | | |Sing.| ad.| Neut. |Nom. | has |Vb. |Ir., Tr. | Act. | Ind.|Pres. | " | " | | | a |Adj. |Def. | | | | | | | | voice |N. |Com. | | | | " | " | " |Obj. | for |Prep. | | | | | | | | | those |Pro. |Adj. | | | |Plu. | " |M. or F.| " | who |Pro. |Rel. | | | | " | " | " |Nom. | on |Prep. | | | | | | | | | their |Pro. |Per. | | | | " | " | " |Pos. | sick |Adj. |Des. | | | | | | | | beds |N. |Com. | | | | " | " | Neut. |Obj. | lie |Vb. |Ir.,Int. | -- | Ind.|Pres. | " | " | | | and |Conj. |Co-or. | | | | | | | | waste |Vb. |Reg.,Int.| -- | " | " | " | " | | | away. |Adv. |Place. | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | SYNTAX. ---------|-------|----------------------------------- Sentence.|Deg. of| | Comp.| Oh! | |Independent. it | |Subject of _has_. has | |Predicate of _it_. a | -- |Modifier of _voice_. voice | |Object comp of _has_. for | |Shows Rel. of _has_ to _those_. those | |Prin. word in Prep. phrase. who | |Subject of _lie_ and _waste_. on | |Shows Rel. of _lie_ to _beds_. their | |Possessive Mod. of _beds_. sick | Pos. |Modifier of _beds_. beds | |Prin. word in Prep. phrase. lie | |Predicate of _who_. and | |Connects _lie_ and _waste_. waste | |Predicate of _who_. away. | -- |Modifier of _waste_. -----------------------------------------------------

TO THE TEACHER.--For further exercises in parsing the verb and for exercises in general parsing, select from the preceding Lessons on Analysis.

* * * * *

LESSON 139

PARSING.

+Direction+.--_Select and parse, according to the Model below, the verbs in the sentences of Lesson_ 42. _For the agreement of verbs, see Lesson_ 142.

+Model for Written Parsing--_Verbs_+.--_The Yankee, selling his farm, wanders away to seek new lands_.

CLASSIFICATION. | MODIFICATIONS. ---------------------------|------------------------------| Verbs. | Kind. |Voice.|Mode.|Tense.|Num. |Per.| *selling|Pr. Par., Ir., Tr.| Act. | -- | -- | -- | -- | wanders |Reg., Int. | -- |Ind. |Pres. |Sing.| 3d.| *seek |Inf., Ir., Tr. | Act. | -- | " | -- | | | | | | | | |

| SYNTAX --------|--------- Verbs. | selling |Mod. of _Yankee_. wanders |Pred. of _Yankee_. seek |Prin. word in phrase | Mod. of _wanders_.

[Footnote: Participles and infinitives have neither person nor number.]

(See Model for Written Parsing on opposite page.)

* * * * *

LESSON 140.

CONSTRUCTION OF MODE AND TENSE FORMS.

+Caution+.--Be careful to give every verb its proper form and meaning.

+Direction+.--_Correct the following errors, and give your reasons_:--

1. I done it myself. 2. He throwed it into the river, for I seen him when he done it. 3. She sets by the open window enjoying the scene that lays before her.

+Explanation+.--_Lay_ (to place) is transitive, _lie_ (to rest) is intransitive; _set_ (to place) is transitive, _sit_ (to rest) is intransitive. _Set_ in some of its meanings is intransitive.

4. The tide sits in. 5. Go and lay down. 6. The sun sits in the west. 7. I remember when the corner stone was lain. 8. Sit the plates on the table. 9. He sat out for London yesterday. 10. Your dress sets well. 11. The bird is setting on its eggs. 12. I laid there an hour. 13. Set down and talk a little while. 14. He has laid there an hour. 15. I am setting by the river. 16. He has went and done it without my permission. 17. He flew from justice. 18. Some valuable land was overflown. 19. She come just after you left. 20. They sung a new tune which they had not sang before. 21. The water I drunk there was better than any that I had drank before. 22. The leaves had fell. 23. I had rode a short distance when the storm begun to gather. 24. I found the water froze. 25. He raised up. 26. He run till he became so weary that he was forced to lay down. 27. I knowed that it was so, for I seen him when he done it. 28. I had began to think that you had forsook us. 29. I am afraid that I cannot learn him to do it. 30. I guess that I will stop. 31. I expect that he has gone to Boston. 32. There ain't any use of trying. 33. I have got no mother. 34. Can I speak to you? 35. He had ought to see him.

+Explanation+.--As _ought_ is never a participle, it cannot be used after _had_ to form a compound tense.

+Caution+.--A conditional or a concessive clause takes a verb in the indicative mode when the action or being is assumed as a fact, or when the uncertainty lies merely in the speaker's knowledge of the fact. But when the action or being in such a clause is merely thought of as a contingency, or in such a clause the speaker prefers to put hypothetically something of whose truth or untruth he has no doubt, the subjunctive is used. The subjunctive is frequently used in indirect questions, in expressing a wish for that which it is impossible to attain at once or at all, and instead of the potential mode in independent clauses.

+Examples+.--
1. If (= _since_) it rains, why do you go?
2. If it _rains_ (now), I cannot go out.
3. If it _rain_, the work will be delayed.
4. Though it _rain_ to-morrow, we must march.
5. If there _be_ mountains, there must be valleys between.
6. Though honey _be_ sweet, one can't make a meal of it.
7. If my friend _were_ here, he would enjoy this.
8. Though immortality _were_ improbable, we should still believe in it.
9. One may doubt whether the best men _be known_.
10. I wish the lad _were_ taller.
11. Oh! that I _were_ a Samson in strength.
12. It _were_ better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck.

+Explanation+.--In (1) the raining is assumed as a fact. In (2) the speaker is uncertain of the fact. In the conditional clause of (3) and in the concessive clause of (4) the raining is thought of as a mere contingency. The speaker is certain of the truth of what is hypothetically expressed in the conditional clause of (5) and in the concessive clause of (6), and is certain of the untruth of what is hypothetically expressed in the conditional clause of (7) and in the concessive clause of (8). There is an indirect question in (9), a wish in (10) for something not at once attainable and in (11) for something forever unattainable, and in (12) the subjunctive mode is used in place of the potential.

+Remarks+.--When there is doubt as to whether the indicative or the subjunctive mode is required, use the indicative.

The present subjunctive forms may be treated as infinitives used to complete omitted auxiliaries; as, If it (_should_) _rain_, the work will be delayed; Till one greater man (_shall_) _restore_ us, etc. This will often serve as a guide in distinguishing the indicative from the subjunctive mode.

_If, though, lest, unless_, etc. are usually spoken of as signs of the subjunctive mode, but these words are now more frequently followed by the indicative than by the subjunctive.

+Direction+.--_Justify the mode of the italicized verbs in the following sentences_:--

1. If this _were_ so, the difficulty would vanish. 2. If he _was_ there, I did not see him. 3. If to-morrow _be_ fine, I will walk with you. 4. Though this _seems_ improbable, it is true. 5. If my friend _is_ in town, he will call this evening. 6. If he ever _comes_, we shall know it.

+Explanation+.--In (6) and (7) the coming is referred to as a fact to be decided in future time.

7. If he _comes_ by noon, let me know. 8. The ship leaps, as it _were_, from billow to billow. 9. Take heed that thou _speak_ not to Jacob. 10. If a pendulum _is drawn _to one side, it will swing to the other.

+Explanation+.--_Be_ is often employed in making scientific statements like the preceding, and may therefore be allowed, _If a pendulum is drawn = Whenever a pendulum is drawn_.

11. I wish that I _were_ a musician. 12. _Were_ I so disposed, I could not gratify you. 13. This sword shall end thee unless thou _yield_. 14. Govern well thy appetite, lest sin _surprise_ thee. 15. I know not whether it _is_ so or not. 16. Would he _were_ fatter! 17. If there _were_ no light, there would be no colors. 18. Oh, that he _were_ a son of mine! 19. Though it _be_ cloudy to-night, it will be cold. 20. Though the whole _exceed_ a part, we sometimes prefer a part to the whole. 21. Whether he _go_ or not, I must be there. 22. Though an angel from heaven _command_ it, we should not steal. 23. If there _be_ an eye, it was made to see. 24. It _were_ well it _were done_ quickly.

+Direction+.--_Supply in each of the following sentences a verb in the indicative or the subjunctive mode, and give a reason for your choice_:--

1. I wish it ---- in my power to help you. 2. I tremble lest he ----. 3. If he ---- guilty, the evidence does not show it. 4. He deserves our pity, unless his tale ---- a false one. 5. Though he ---- there, I did not see him. 6. If he ---- but discreet, he will succeed. 7. If I ---- he, I would do differently. 8. If ye ---- men, fight.

* * * * *

LESSON 141.

CONSTRUCTION OF MODE AND TENSE FORMS--CONTINUED.

+Caution+.--Be careful to employ the tense forms of the different modes in accordance with their meaning, and in such a way as to preserve the proper order of time.

+Direction+.--_Correct the following errors, and give your reasons_:--

1. That custom has been formerly quite popular. 2. Neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. 3. He that was dead sat up and began to speak. 4. A man bought a horse for one hundred dollars; and, after keeping it three months, at an expense of ten dollars a month, he sells it for two hundred dollars. What per cent does he gain? 5. I should say that it was an hour's ride. 6. If I had have seen him, I should have known him. 7. I wish I was in Dixie. 8. We should be obliged if you will favor us with a song. 9. I intended to have called.

+Explanation+.--This is incorrect; it should be, _I intended to call_. The act of calling was not completed at the time indicated by _intended_.

+Remark+.--Verbs of commanding, desiring, expecting, hoping, intending, permitting, etc. are followed by verbs denoting present or future time. [Footnote: The "Standard Dictionary" makes this restriction: "The doubling of the past tenses in connection with the use of _have_ with a past participle is proper and necessary when the completion of the future act was intended before the occurrence of something else mentioned or thought of. Attention to this qualification, which has been overlooked in the criticism of tense-formation and connection, is especially important and imperative. If one says, 'I meant _to have visited_ Paris and _to have returned_ to London before my father _arrived_ from America,' the past [present perfect] infinitive ... is necessary for the expression of the completion of the acts purposed. 'I meant _to visit_ Paris and _to return_ to London before my father _arrived_ from America,' may convey suggestively the thought intended, but does not express it."]

The present infinitive expresses an action as present or future, and the present perfect expresses it as completed, at the time indicated by the principal verb. I _am glad to have met you_ is correct, because the meeting took place before the time of being glad.

I _ought to have gone_ is exceptional. _Ought_ has no past tense form, and so the present perfect infinitive is used to make the expression refer to past time.

10. We hoped to have seen you often. 11. I should not have let you eaten it. 12. I should have liked to have seen it. 13. He would not have dared done that. 14. You ought to have helped me to have done it. 15. We expected that he would have arrived last night. 16. The experiment proved that air had weight.

+Remark+.--What is true or false at all times is generally expressed in the present tense, whatever tense precedes.

There seems to be danger of applying this rule too rigidly. When a speaker does not wish to vouch for the truth of the general proposition, he may use the past tense, giving it the form of an indirect quotation; as, He said that iron _was_ the most valuable of metals. The tense of the dependent verb is sometimes attracted into that of the principal verb; as, I _knew_ where the place _was_.

17. I had never known before how short life really was. 18. We then fell into a discussion whether there is any beauty independent of utility. The General maintained that there was not; Dr. Johnson maintained that there was. 19. I have already told you that I was a gentleman. 20. Our fathers held that all men were created equal.

+Caution+.--Use _will_ and _would_ to imply that the subject names the one whose will controls the action; use _shall_ and _should_ to imply that the one named by the subject is under the control of external influence.

+Remark+.--The original meaning of _shall_ (to _owe_, to _be obliged_) and _will_ (to _determine_) gives us the real key to their proper use.

The only case in which some trace of the original meaning of these auxiliaries cannot be found is the one in which the subject of _will_ names something incapable of volition; as, The _wind will blow_. Even this may be a kind of personification.

+Examples+.--I _shall go_; You _will go_; He _will go_. These are the proper forms to express mere futurity, but even here we can trace the original meaning of _shall_ and _will_. In the first person the speaker avoids egotism by referring to the act as an obligation or duty rather than as something under the control of his own will. In the second and third persons it is more courteous to refer to the will of others than to their duty.

I _will go_. Here the action is under the control of the speaker's will. He either promises or determines to go.

You _shall go_; He _shall go_. Here the speaker either promises the going or determines to compel these persons to go; in either case the one who goes is under some external influence.

_Shall_ I _go?_ Here the speaker puts himself under the control of some external influence--the will of another.

_Will_ I _go?_--_i. e_., Is it my will to go?--is not used except to repeat another's question. It would be absurd for one to ask what his own will is.

_Shall_ you _go_? Ans. I _shall_. _Will_ you _go_? Ans. I _will_. _Shall_ he _go?_ Ans. He _shall_. _Will_ he _go?_ Ans. He _will_. The same auxiliary is used in the question that is used in the answer.

No difficulty _shall hinder_ me. The difficulty that might do the hindering is not to be left to itself, but is to be kept under the control of the speaker.

He says that he _shall go_; He says that he _will go_. Change the indirect quotations introduced by _that_ to direct quotations, and the application of the Caution will be apparent.

You _will see_ that my horse is at the door by nine o'clock. This is only an apparent exception to the rule. A superior may courteously avoid the appearance of compulsion, and refer to his subordinate's willingness to obey.

They knew that I _should be_ there, and that he _would be_ there. The same principles apply to _should_ and _would_ that apply to _shall_ and _will_. In this example the events are future as to past time; making them future as to present time, we have, They know that I _shall be_ there, and that he _will be_ there.

My friend said that he _should_ not _set_ out to-morrow. Change the indirect to a direct quotation, and the force of _should_ will be seen.

+Direction+.--_Assign a reason for the use of shall or will in each of the following sentences_:--

1. Hear me, for I will speak. 2. If you will call, I shall be happy to accompany you. 3. Shall you be at liberty to-day? 4. I shall never see him again. 5. I will never see him again. 6. I said that he should be rewarded. 7. Thou shalt surely die. 8. Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again. 9. Though I should die, yet will I not deny thee. 10. Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth my hand against the king's son.

+Direction+.--_Fill each of the following blanks with shall, will, should, or would, and give the reasons for your choice_:--

1. He knew who ---- betray him. 2. I ---- be fatigued if I had walked so far. 3. You did better than I ---- have done. 4. If he ---- come by noon, ---- you be ready? 5. They do me wrong, and I ---- not endure it. 6. I ---- be greatly obliged if you ---- do me the favor. 7. If I ---- say so, I ---- be guilty of falsehood. 8. You ---- be disappointed if you ---- see it. 9. ---- he be allowed to go on? 10. ---- you be unhappy, if I do not come?

+Direction+.--_Correct the following errors, and give your reasons_:--

1. Where will I leave you? 2. Will I be in time? 3. It was requested that no person would leave his seat. 4. They requested that the appointment would be given to a man who should be known to his party. 5. When will we get through this tedious controversy? 6. I think we will have rain.

* * * * *

LESSON 142.

CONSTRUCTION OF NUMBER AND PERSON FORMS.

AGREEMENT.--VERBS--PRONOUNS.

+Caution+.--A verb must agree with its subject in number and person.

+Remarks+.--Practically, this rule applies to but few forms. +Are+ and +were+ are the only plural forms retained by the English verb. In the common style, most verbs have one person form, made by adding +s+ or +es+ (_has_, in the present perfect tense, is a contraction of the indicative present--_ha_(_ve_)_s_). The verb _be_ has +am+ (first person) and +is+ (third person).

In the solemn style, the second person singular takes the ending +est+, +st+, or +t+, and, in the indicative present, the third person singular adds +eth+. (See Lessons 134 and 135.)

_Need_ and _dare_, when followed by an infinitive without _to_, are generally used instead of _needs_ and _dares_; as, He _need_ not do it; He _dare_ not do it.

+Caution+.--A collective noun requires a verb in the plural when the individuals in the collection are thought of; but, when the collection as a whole is thought of, the verb should be singular.

+Examples+.--
l. The _multitude were_ of one mind.
2. The _multitude was_ too large to number.
3. A _number were_ inclined to turn back,
4. The _number_ present _was_ not ascertained.

+Caution+.--When a verb has two or more subjects connected by _and_, it must agree with them in the plural.

+Exceptions+.--l. When the connected subjects are different names of the same thing, or when they name several things taken as one whole, the verb must be singular; as, My old _friend and schoolmate is_ in town. _Bread and milk is_ excellent food.

2. When the connected subjects are preceded by _each, every, many a_, or _no_, they are taken separately, and the verb agrees with the nearest; as, _Every man, woman, and child was_ lost.

3. When the subjects are emphatically distinguished, the verb agrees with the first and is understood with the second; as, _Time, and patience also, is_ needed. (The same is true of subjects connected by _as well as_; as, _Time, as well as patience, is_ needed.)

4. When one of the subjects is affirmative and the other negative, the verb agrees with the affirmative; as, _Books, and not pleasure_, occupy his time.

5. When several subjects follow the verb, each subject may be emphasized by making the verb agree with that which stands nearest; as, Thine _is_ the _kingdom and_ the _power_ _and_ the _glory_.

+Remark+.--When one of two or more subjects connected by _and_ is of the first person, the verb is in the first person; when one of the subjects is of the second person, and none of the first, the verb is in the second person. _I, you, and he_ = _we_; _you and he_ = _you_. We say, _Mary and I shall_ (not _will_) be busy to-morrow.

+Caution+.--When two or more subjects are connected by _or_ or _nor_, the verb agrees in person and number with the nearest; as, Neither _poverty nor wealth was_ desired; Neither _he nor they were_ satisfied.

When the subjects require different forms of the verb, it is generally better to express the verb with each subject or to recast the sentence.

+Remarks+.--When a singular and a plural subject are used, the plural subject is generally placed next to the verb.

In using pronouns of different persons, it is generally more polite for the speaker to mention the one addressed first, and himself last, except when he confesses a fault.

+Caution+.--A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and person; as, _Thou who writest_; _He who writes_; _They who write_, etc.

The three special Cautions given above for the agreement of the verb will also aid in determining the agreement of the pronoun with its antecedent.

+Remarks+.--The pronoun and the verb of an adjective clause relating to the indefinite subject _it_ take, by attraction, the person and number of the complement when this complement immediately precedes the adjective clause; as, It is I _that am_ in the wrong; It is thou _that liftest_ me up; It is the dews and showers _that make_ the grass grow.

The pronoun _you_, even when singular, requires a plural verb.

+Direction+.--_Justify the use of the following italicized verbs and pronouns_:--

1. _Books is_ a noun. 2. The good _are_ great. 3. The committee _were_ unable to agree, and _they_ asked to be discharged. 4. The House _has_ decided not to allow _its_ members the privilege. 5. Three times four _is_ twelve. [Footnote: "Three times four _is_ twelve" and "Three times four _are_ twelve" are both used, and both are defended. The question is (see Caution for collective nouns), Is the number four thought of as a whole, or are the individual units composing it thought of? The expression = Four taken three times is twelve. _Times_ is a noun used adverbially.] 6. Five dollars _is_ not too much. 7. Twice as much _is_ too much. 8. Two hours _is_ a long time to wait. 9. To relieve the wretched _was_ his pride. 10. To profess and to possess _are_ two different things. 11. Talking and eloquence _are_ not the same. 12. The tongs _are_ not in _their_ place. 13. Every one _is_ accountable for _his_ own acts. 14. Every book and every paper _was_ found in _its_ place. 15. Not a loud voice, but strong proofs _bring_ conviction. 16. This orator and statesman _has_ gone to _his_ rest. 17. Young's "Night Thoughts" _is his_ most celebrated poetical work. 18. Flesh and blood _hath_ not revealed it. 19. The hue and cry of the country _pursues_ him. 20. The second and the third Epistle of John _contain_ each a single chapter. 21. _Man is_ masculine because _it_ denotes a male. 22. Therein _consists_ the force and use and nature of language. 23. Neither wealth nor wisdom _is_ the chief thing. 24. Either you or I _am_ right. 25. Neither you nor he _is_ to blame. 26. John, and his sister also, _is_ going. 27. The lowest mechanic, as well as the richest citizen, _is_ here protected in _his_ right. 28. There _are_ one or two reasons. [Footnote: When two adjectives differing in number are connected without a repetition of the noun, the tendency is to make the verb agree with the noun expressed.] 29. Nine o'clock and forty-five minutes _is_ fifteen minutes of ten. 30. Mexican figures, or picture-writing, _represent_ things, not words. [Footnote: The verb here agrees with _figures_, as _picture-writing_ is logically explanatory of _figures_.] 31. Many a kind word and many a kind act _has_ been put to his credit.

+Direction+.--_Correct the following errors, and give your reasons_:--

1. _Victuals_ are always plural. 2. Plutarch's "Parallel Lives" are his great work. 3. What sounds have each of the vowels? 4. "No, no," says I. 5. "We agree," says they. 6. Where was you? 7. Every one of these are good in their place. 8. Neither of them have recited their lesson. 9. There comes the boys. 10. Each of these expressions denote action. 11. One of you are mistaken. 12. There is several reasons for this. 13. The assembly was divided in its opinion. 14. The public is invited to attend. 15. The committee were full when this point was decided. 16. The nation are prosperous. 17. Money, as well as men, were needed. 18. Now, boys, I want every one of you to decide for themselves. 19. Neither the intellect nor the heart are capable of being driven. 20. She fell to laughing like one out of their right mind. 21. Five years' interest are due. 22. Three quarters of the men was discharged. 23. Nine-tenths of every man's happiness depend upon this. 24. No time, no money, no labor, were spared. 25. One or the other have erred in their statement. 26. Why are dust and ashes proud? 27. Either the master or his servants is to blame. 28. Neither the servants nor their master are to blame. 29. Our welfare and security consists in unity. 30. The mind, and not the body, sin. 31. He don't like it. 32. Many a heart and home have been desolated by drink.

GENERAL REVIEW.

TO THE TEACHER.--See suggestions to the teacher, page 255*.

+Scheme for the Verb.+

(_The numbers refer to Lessons_.)

VERB.
Uses.
To assert action, being, or state.--Predicate (4, 11)
To assume action, being, or state.
Participles (37)
Infinitives (40)
Classes.
Form.
Regular (92).
Irregular (92, 132, 133).
(Redundant and Defective)
Meaning.
Transitive (92).
Intransitive (92).
Modifications.
Voice.
Active (129, 130).
Passive (129, 130).
Mode.
Indicative (131, 134-137).
Potential (131, 134-137).
Subjunctive (131, 134-137, 140).
Imperative (131, 134-137).
Tense.
Present. |
Past. |
Future. + 131, 134-138,
Present Perfect.| 140, 141.
Past Perfect. |
Future Perfect. |
Number.
Singular. + 131, 134, 135.
Plural. |
Person.
First. |
Second. + 131, 134, 135.
Third. |
Participles.--Classes.
Present. |
Past. + 131, 134, 136.
Past Perfect. |
Infinitives.--
Present. |
Present Perfect.| 131, 134, 135.

+Questions on the Verb+.

1. Define the verb and its classes.--Lessons 92, 132.

2. Define the modifications of the verb.--Lessons 129, 131.

3. Define the several voices, modes, and tenses.--Lessons 129, 131.

4. Define the participle and its classes.--Lesson 131.

5. Define the infinitive.--Lesson 131.

6. Give a synopsis of a regular and of an irregular verb in all the
different forms.--Lessons 134, 135, 136, 137.

7. Analyze the different mode and tense forms, and give the functions of
the different tenses.--Lesson 138.

8. Give and illustrate the principles which guide in the use of the mode
and tense forms, and of the person and number forms.--Lessons 140, 141,
142.

* * * * *

LESSON 143.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

_Lesson_ 112.--What are Modifications? Have English words many inflections? Have they lost any? What is Number? Define the singular and the plural number. How is the plural of nouns regularly formed? In what ways may the plural be formed irregularly? Illustrate.

_Lesson_ 113.--Give the plural of some nouns adopted from other languages. How do compounds form the plural? Illustrate the several ways. How do letters, figures, etc. form the plural? Illustrate.

_Lesson_ 114.--Give examples of nouns having each two plurals differing in meaning. Some which have the same form in both numbers. Some which have no plural. Some which are always plural. What is said of the number of collective nouns?

_Lesson_ 116.--In what four ways may the number of nouns be determined? Illustrate.

_Lesson_ 117.--What is Gender? Define the different genders. What is the difference between sex and gender? The gender of English nouns follows what? Have English nouns a neuter form? Have all English nouns a masculine and a feminine form? In what three ways may the masculine of nouns be distinguished from the feminine? Illustrate. Give the three gender forms of the pronoun.

_Lesson_ 118.--How is gender in grammar important? When is the pronoun of the masculine gender used? When is the neuter pronoun _it_ used? By the aid of what pronouns are inanimate things personified? In personification, when is the masculine pronoun used, and when is the feminine? Illustrate. What is the Caution relating to gender?

_Lesson_ 119.--What is Person? Is the person of nouns marked by form? Define the three persons. When is a noun in the first person? In the second person? What classes of words have distinctive person forms? Why is person regarded in grammar? What is Case? Define the three cases. What is the case of a noun used independently? Of an explanatory modifier? Of an objective complement? Of a noun or pronoun used as attribute complement? Illustrate all these.

_Lesson_ 121.--What is Parsing? Illustrate the parsing of nouns.

* * * * *

LESSON 144.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

_Lesson_ 122.--How many case forms have nouns, and what are they? How is the possessive of nouns in the singular formed? Of nouns in the plural? Illustrate. What is the possessive sign? To which word of compound names or of groups of words treated as such is the sign added? Illustrate. Instead of the possessive form, what may be used? Illustrate.

_Lesson_ 123.--In what case alone can mistakes in the construction of nouns occur? Illustrate the Cautions relating to possessive forms.

_Lesson_ 124.--What is Declension? Decline _girl_ and _tooth_. Decline the several personal pronouns, the relative and the interrogative. What adjective pronouns are declined wholly or in part? Illustrate.

_Lesson_ 125.--What words in the language have each three different case forms? What are the nominative, and what the objective, forms of the pronouns?

_Lesson_ 127.--What one modification have adjectives? What is Comparison? Define the three degrees. How are adjectives regularly compared? What are the Rules for Spelling? Illustrate them. How are adjectives of more than one syllable generally compared? How are degrees of diminution expressed? Can all adjectives be compared? Illustrate. How are some adverbs compared? Illustrate the irregular comparison of adjectives and adverbs.

_Lesson_ 128.--To how many things does the comparative degree refer? What does it imply? Explain the office of the superlative. What word usually follows the comparative, and what the superlative? Give the Cautions relating to the use of comparatives and superlatives, and illustrate them fully.

_Lesson_ 129.--What is Voice? Of what class of verbs is it a modification? Name and define the two voices. When is the one voice used, and when the other? Into what may the passive form be resolved? Illustrate. What may be mistaken for a verb in the passive voice? Illustrate.

_Lesson_ 130.--In changing a verb from the active to the passive, what does the object complement become? How may an intransitive verb sometimes be made transitive? Illustrate.

* * * * *

LESSON 145.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.

_Lesson_ 131.--What is Mode? Define the four modes. What is Tense? Define the six tenses. Define the infinitive. Define the participle. Define the classes of participles. What are the number and person of a verb?

_Lesson_ 132.--What is Conjugation? Synopsis? What are auxiliary verbs? Name them. What are the principal parts of a verb? What are redundant and what are defective verbs?

_Lesson_ 134.--How many inflectional forms may irregular verbs have? How many have regular verbs? What is said of the subjunctive mode? Of _to_ with the infinitive? How is a verb conjugated in the emphatic form?

_Lesson_ 136.--How is a verb conjugated in the progressive form? How is a transitive verb conjugated in the passive voice? Give an example of a verb in the progressive form with a passive meaning. What does the progressive form denote? Can all verbs be conjugated in this form? Why? Give all the participles of the verbs _choose_, _break_, _drive_, _read_, _lift_.

_Lesson_ 137.--How may a verb be conjugated interrogatively? Negatively? Illustrate. How may a question with negation be expressed in the indicative and potential modes?

_Lesson_ 138.--Into what may the compound, or periphrastic, forms of the verb be resolved? Illustrate fully. What is said of the participle in _have written_, _had written_, etc.? Give and illustrate the several uses of the six tenses.

_Lesson_ 140.--Show how the general Caution for the use of the verb is frequently violated. When does a conditional or a concessive clause require the verb to be in the indicative? Illustrate. When is the subjunctive used? Illustrate the many uses of the subjunctive.

_Lesson_ 141.--Give and illustrate the general Caution relating to mode and tense forms. Give and illustrate the Caution in regard to _will_ and _would_, _shall_ and _should_.

_Lesson_ 142.--Give and illustrate the Cautions relating to the agreement of verbs and pronouns. Illustrate the exceptions and the Remarks.

* * * * *

ADDITIONAL EXAMPLES FOR ANALYSIS.

+Suggestions for the Study of the following Selections.+

+TO THE TEACHER+.--The pupil has now reached a point where he can afford to drop the diagram--its mission for him is fulfilled. For him to continue its use with these "Additional Examples," unless it be to outline the relations of clauses or illustrate peculiar constructions, is needless; he will merely be repeating that with which he is already familiar.

These extracts are not given for full analysis or parsing. This, also, the pupil would find profitless, and for the same reason. One gains nothing in doing what he already does well enough--progress is not made in climbing the wheel of a treadmill. But the pupil may here review what has been taught him of the uses of adjective pronouns, of the relatives in restrictive and in unrestrictive clauses, of certain idioms, of double negatives, of the split infinitive, of the subjunctive mode, of the distinctions in meaning between allied verbs, as _lie_ and _lay_, of certain prepositions, of punctuation, etc. He should study the general character of each sentence, its divisions and subdivisions, the relations of the independent and the dependent parts, and their connection, order, etc. He should note the +periodic structure+ of some of these sentences--of (4) or (19), for instance--the meaning of which remains in suspense till near or at the close. He should note in contrast the +loose structure+ of others--for example, the last sentence in (20)--a sentence that has several points at any one of which a complete thought has been expressed, but the part of the sentence following does not, by itself, make complete sense. Let him try to see which structure is the more natural, and which is the more forcible, and why; and what style gains by a judicious blending of the two.

Especially should the pupil look at the thought in these prose extracts and at the manner in which it is expressed. This will lead him to take a step or two over into the field of literature. If the attempt is made, one condition seems imperative--the pupil should thoroughly understand what the author says. We know no better way to secure this than to exact of him a careful reproduction in his own words of the author's thought. This will reveal to him the differences between his work and the original; and bring into relief the peculiarity of each author's style--the stateliness of De Quincey's, for instance, the vividness of Webster's, the oratorical character of Macaulay's, the ruggedness of Carlyle's, the poetical beauty of Emerson's, the humor of Irving's, and the brilliancy of Holmes's--the last lines from whom are purposely stilted, as we learn from the context.

The pupil may see how ellipses and transpositions and imagery abound in poetry, and how, in the use of these particulars, poets differ from each other. He may note that poems are not pitched in the same key--that the extracts from Wordsworth and Goldsmith and Cowper, for example, deal with common facts and in a homely way, that the one from Lowell is in a higher key, while that from Shelley is all imagination, and is crowded with audacious imagery, all exquisite except in the first line, where the moon, converted by metaphor into a maiden, has that said of her that is inconsistent with her in her new character.

1. It is thought by some people that all those stars which you see
glittering so restlessly on a keen, frosty night in a high latitude, and
which seem to have been sown broadcast with as much carelessness as
grain lies on a threshing-floor, here showing vast zaarahs of desert
blue sky, there again lying close, and to some eyes presenting

"The beauteous semblance of a flock at rest,"

are, in fact, gathered into zones or _strata_; that our own wicked
little earth, with the whole of our peculiar solar system, is a part of
such a zone; and that all this perfect geometry of the heavens, these
_radii_ in the mighty wheel, would become apparent, if we, the
spectators, could but survey it from the true center; which center may
be far too distant for any vision of man, naked or armed, to reach.--_De
Quincey_

2. On this question of principle, while actual suffering was yet afar off,
they [our fathers] raised their flag against a power to which, for
purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her
glory, is not to be compared--a power which has dotted over the surface
of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts; whose
morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the hours,
circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial
airs of England.--_Webster_.

3. In some far-away and yet undreamt-of hour, I can even imagine that
England may cast all thoughts of possessive wealth back to the barbaric
nations among whom they first arose; and that, while the sands of the
Indus and adamant of Golconda may yet stiffen the housings of the
charger and flash from the turban of the slave, she, as a Christian
mother, may at last attain to the virtues and the treasures of a Heathen
one, and be able to lead forth her Sons, saying, "These are my
Jewels."--_Ruskin_.

4. And, when those who have rivaled her [Athens's] greatness shall have
shared her fate; when civilization and knowledge shall have fixed their
abode in distant continents; when the scepter shall have passed away
from England; when, perhaps, travelers from distant regions shall in
vain labor to decipher on some moldering pedestal the name of our
proudest chief, shall hear savage hymns chanted to some misshapen idol
over the ruined dome of our proudest temple, and shall see a single
naked fisherman wash his nets in the river of the ten thousand
masts,--her influence and her glory will still survive, fresh in eternal
youth, exempt from mutability and decay, immortal as the intellectual
principle from which they derived their origin, and over which they
exercise their control.--_Macaulay_.

5. To him who in the love of Nature holds
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks
A various language; for his gayer hours
She has a voice of gladness and a smile
And eloquence of beauty, and she glides
Into his darker musings with a mild
And healing sympathy, that steals away
Their sharpness ere he is aware. When thoughts
Of the last, bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony and shroud and pall
And breathless darkness and the narrow house
Make thee to shudder and grow sick at heart,--
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around--
Earth and her waters and the depths of air--
Comes a still voice.--_Bryant_.

6. Pleasant it was, when woods were green,
And winds were soft and low,
To lie amid some sylvan scene,
Where, the long drooping boughs between,
Shadows dark and sunlight sheen
Alternate come and go;
Or where the denser grove receives
No sunlight from above,
But the dark foliage interweaves
In one unbroken roof of leaves,
Underneath whose sloping eaves
The shadows hardly move.--_Longfellow_.