Higher Lessons in English Part 69

+Remark.+--The following sentences present a peculiar idiomatic construction. A transitive verb which, in the active voice, is followed by an object complement and a prepositional phrase, takes, in the pa.s.sive, the princ.i.p.al word of the phrase for its subject, retaining the complement and the preposition to complete its meaning; as, They _took care of it, It was taken care of._

+Direction.+--_Put the following sentences into several different forms, and determine which is the best:--_

30. His original purpose was lost sight of (forgotten). [Footnote: Some would pa.r.s.e _of_ as an adverb relating to _was lost,_ and _sight_ as a noun used adverbially to modify _was lost;_ others would treat _sight_ as an object [complement] of _was lost;_ others would call _was lost sight of_ a compound verb; and others, believing that the logical relation of these words is not lost by a change of position, a.n.a.lyze the expression as if arranged thus: _Sight of his original purpose was lost._]

31. Such talents should be made much of.

32. He was taken care of by his friends.

33. Some of his characters have been found fault with as insipid.

LESSON 131.

MODIFICATIONS OF THE VERB--CONTINUED.

MODE, TENSE, NUMBER, AND PERSON.

+Introductory Hints.+--_James walks_. Here the walking is a.s.serted as an actual fact. _James may walk._ Here the walking is a.s.serted not as an actual, but as a possible, fact. _If James walk out, he will improve._ Here the walking is a.s.serted only as thought of, without regard to its being or becoming either an actual or a possible fact. _James, walk out._ Here the walking is not a.s.serted as a fact, but as a command--James is ordered to make it a fact. These different uses and forms of the verb const.i.tute the modification which we call +Mode.+ The first verb is in the +Indicative Mode;+ the second in the +Potential Mode;+ the third in the +Subjunctive Mode;+ the fourth in the +Imperative Mode.+

For the two forms of the verb called the +Participle+ and the +Infinitive,+ see Lessons 37 and 40.

_I walk. I walked. I shall walk._ In these three sentences the manner of a.s.serting the action is the same, but the time in which the action takes place is different. _Walk_ a.s.serts the action as going on in present time, and, as +Tense+ means time, is in the +Present Tense.+ _Walked_ a.s.serts the action as past, and is in the +Past Tense.+ _Shall walk_ a.s.serts the action as future, and is in the +Future Tense.+

_I have walked out to-day. I had walked out when he called. I shall have walked out by to-morrow._ Have walked a.s.serts the action as completed at the present, and is in the +Present Perfect Tense.+ _Had walked_ a.s.serts the action as completed in the past, and is in the +Past Perfect Tense.+ _Shall have walked_ a.s.serts action to be completed in the future, and is in the +Future Perfect Tense.+

_I walk. Thou walkest. He walks. They walk._ In the second sentence _walk_ is changed by adding +est+; in the third sentence, by adding +s.+ Verbs are said to agree in +Person+ and +Number+ with their subjects. But this agreement is not generally marked by a change in the form of the verb.

+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Mode_ is that modification of the verb which denotes the manner of a.s.serting the action or being+.

+The _Indicative Mode_ a.s.serts the action or being as a fact+. [Footnote: In "Are you going?" or "You are going?" a fact is referred to the hearer for his admission or denial. In "Who did it?" the fact that some person did it is a.s.serted, and the hearer is requested to name the person. It will be seen that the Indicative Mode may be used in asking a question.]

+The _Potential Mode_ a.s.serts the power, liberty, possibility, or necessity of acting or being+.

+The _Subjunctive Mode_ a.s.serts the action or being as a mere condition, supposition, or wish+.

+The _Imperative Mode_ a.s.serts the action or being as a command or an entreaty+.

+The _Infinitive_ is a form of the verb which names the action or being in a general way, without a.s.serting it of anything+.

+The _Participle_ is a form of the verb partaking of the nature of an adjective or of a noun, and expressing the action or being as a.s.sumed+.

+The _Present Participle_ denotes action or being as continuing at the time indicated by the predicate+.

+The _Past Participle_ denotes action or being as past or completed at the time indicated by the predicate+.

+The _Past Perfect Participle_ denotes action or being as completed at a time previous to that indicated by the predicate+.

+_Tense_ is that modification of the verb which expresses the time of the action or being+.

+The _Present Tense_ expresses action or being as present+.

+The _Past Tense_ expresses action or being as past+.

+The _Future Tense_ expresses action or being as yet to come+.

+The _Present Perfect Tense_ expresses action or being as completed at the present time+.

+The _Past Perfect Tense_ expresses action or being as completed at some past time+.

+The _Future Perfect Tense _expresses action or being to be completed at some future time+.

+_Number _and _Person _of a verb are those modifications that show its agreement with the number and person of its subject+.

LESSON 132.

FORMS OF THE VERB.

CONJUGATION.

+DEFINITIONS+.

+_Conjugation_ is the regular arrangement of all the forms of the verb+.

+_Synopsis _is the regular arrangement of the forms of one number and person in all the modes and tenses+.

+_Auxiliary Verbs _are those that help in the conjugation of other verbs.+

The auxiliaries are _do, did, have, had, shall, should, will, would, may, might, can, could, must,_ and _be_ (with all its variations, see Lesson 135).

+The _Princ.i.p.al Parts_ of a verb, or those from which the other parts are derived, are the present indicative or the present infinitive, the past indicative, and the past participle.+

List of Irregular Verbs. [Footnote: Grammarians have cla.s.sed verbs on the basis of their form or history as Strong (or Old) and Weak (or New).

Strong verbs form their past tense by changing the vowel of the present without adding anything; weak verbs form their past tense by adding _ed, d,_ or _t._ Some weak verbs change the vowel of the present; as, _tell, told; teach, taught._ These are weak because they add _d_ or _t._

Some weak verbs shorten the vowel of the present without adding anything; as, _feed, fed; lead, led;_ and some have the present and the past alike; as, _set, set; rid, rid._ They have dropped the past tense ending.

The past participle of all strong verbs once ended in _en_ or _n,_ but in many verbs this ending is now lost.

Since most verbs form their past tense and past participle by adding _ed,_ we call such Regular, and all others Irregular. Our irregular verbs include all strong verbs and those that may be called "irregular weak" verbs.

Of the _ed_ added to form the past tense of regular verbs, _d_ is what remains of _did;_ _we did love,_ for instance, being written _love-did-we._ This derivation of _d_ in _ed_ is questioned. The _d_ of the participle is not from _did_ but is from an old participle suffix. The _e_ in the _ea_ of both these forms is the old connecting vowel.]