Plain English Part 27

_Singular_ _Singular_

I see. I am seen.

You see. You are seen.

He sees. He is seen.

_Plural_ _Plural_

We see. We are seen.

You see. You are seen.

They see. They are seen.

Note that the only change in the verb form in the present ACTIVE is the _s-form_ for the third person singular. In the present pa.s.sive the only change is the special form of the verb _be_ for the first and third persons, singular.

When we want to tell what occurred yesterday or some time in the past, stated in the active and pa.s.sive form, we say:

+PAST TIME+

+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+

_Singular_ _Singular_

I saw. I was seen.

You saw. You were seen.

He saw. He was seen.

_Plural_ _Plural_

We saw. We were seen.

You saw. You were seen.

They saw. They were seen.

We have one other division of time which we must express--the future.

Primitive man doubtless lived princ.i.p.ally in the present, but with the development of memory and the means of recording events by a written language, he was able to make the deeds and achievements of the past a vital part of his life. But not until the faculty of thinking developed was the mind able to project itself into the future and make tomorrow the hope of today. Future time expresses hope, desire, growth.

+FUTURE TIME+

+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+

_Singular_ _Singular_

I shall see. I shall be seen.

You will see. You will be seen.

He will see. He will be seen.

_Plural_ _Plural_

We shall see. We shall be seen.

You will see. You will be seen.

They will see. They will be seen.

Then you remember we had to devise a way of describing an action perfected or completed at the present or at some time in the past or at some time in the future--so we have present perfect, past perfect and future perfect.

+PRESENT PERFECT+

+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+

_Singular_ _Singular_

I have seen. I have been seen.

You have seen. You have been seen.

He has seen. He has been seen.

_Plural_ _Plural_

We have seen. We have been seen.

You have seen. You have been seen.

They have seen. They have been seen.

+PAST PERFECT+

+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+

_Singular_ _Singular_

I had seen. I had been seen.

You had seen. You had been seen.

He had seen. He had been seen.

_Plural_ _Plural_

We had seen. We had been seen.

You had seen. You had been seen.

They had seen. They had been seen.

+FUTURE PERFECT+

+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+

_Singular_ _Singular_

I shall have seen. I shall have been seen.

You will have seen. You will have been seen.

He will have seen. He will have been seen.

_Plural_ _Plural_

We shall have seen. We shall have been seen.

You will have seen. You will have been seen.