Composition-Rhetoric Part 73

General truths and present facts should be expressed in the present tense, whatever the tense of the princ.i.p.al verb: [He believed that truth _is_ unchangeable. Who did you say _is_ president of your society?].

The _perfect infinitive_ is used to denote action completed at the time of the main verb: [I am sorry _to have wounded_ you].

+63. Mode.+--A statement may be regarded as the expression of a fact, of a doubt or supposition, or of a command. The power of the verb to show how an action should be regarded is called _mode (mood_). In our language there is but a slight change of form for this purpose. The distinction of mode which we must make is a distinction that has regard to the thought or att.i.tude of mind of the speaker rather than to the form of the verb.

The _indicative_ mode is used to state a fact or to ask questions of fact: [I shall write a letter. Shall I write a letter?].

The _subjunctive_ mode indicates uncertainty, unreality, and some forms of condition: [If she were here, I should be glad].

The _imperative_ mode expresses a command or entreaty: [Come here].

+64. The Subjunctive Mode.+--The subjunctive is disappearing from colloquial speech, and the indicative form is used almost entirely.

The verb _to be_ has the following indicative and subjunctive forms in the present and preterite:--

IND. SUBJ. IND. SUBJ.

{ I am I be { I was I were { Thou art Thou be { Thou wast Thou were PRESENT { He is He be PRETERITE { He was He were { We are We be { We were We were { You are You be { You were You were { They are They be { They were They were

In other verbs the indicative and subjunctive forms are the same, except that the second and third persons singular subjunctive have no personal endings.

INDICATIVE Thou learnest He learns SUBJUNCTIVE Thou learn He learn

The subjunctive idea is sometimes expressed by verb phrases, containing the auxiliary verbs _may (might), would_, or _should_. _May, would_, and _should_ are not, however, always subjunctive. In "I _may_ go" (may = am allowed to), _may_ is indicative. In "you _should_ go" (= ought to), _should_ is indicative.

The subjunctive mode is used most frequently to express:--

1. A wish: [The Lord be with you].

2. A condition regarded as doubtful: [If it be true, what shall we think?], or a condition regarded as untrue: [If I were you, I should go].

When condition is expressed by the subjunctive without _if_, the verb precedes the subject: [Were my brother here, he could go with me].

3. A purpose: [He studies that he may learn].

4. Exhortations: [Sing we the song of freedom].

5. A concession,--supposed, not given as a fact: [Though he be my enemy, I shall pity him].

6. A possibility: [We fear lest he be too late].

The tenses of the subjunctive require especial notice. In conditional clauses, the _present_ refers either to present or future time: [Though the earth be removed, we shall not fear].

The _preterite_ refers to present time. It implies that the supposed case is not a fact: [If he were here, I should be much pleased].

The _pluperfect_ subjunctive expresses a false supposition in past time: [If you had been here, this would not have happened].

The phrases with _may, might, can, must, could, would_, and _should_ are sometimes called the _potential mode_, but the constructions all fall within either the indicative or the subjunctive uses, and a fourth mode is only an inc.u.mbrance.

+65. The Imperative Mode.+--The imperative is the mode of command and entreaty. It has but one form for both singular and plural, and but one tense,--the present. It has but one person,--the second. The subject is usually omitted. The case of direct address, frequently used with the imperative, should not be confused with the subject. In, "John, hold my books," the subject is _you_, understood. Were _John_ the subject, the verb must be _holds_. _John_ is, here, a compellative, or vocative.

+66. Voice.+--Verbs are said to be in the _active_ voice when they represent the subject as acting, and in the _pa.s.sive_ voice when they represent the subject as being acted upon. Intransitive verbs, from their very nature, have no pa.s.sive voice. Transitive verbs may have both voices, for they may represent the subject either as acting or as being acted upon.

The direct object in the active voice generally becomes the subject in the pa.s.sive; if the subject of the active appears in the pa.s.sive, it is the object of the preposition _by_: [My dog loves me (active). I am loved by my dog (pa.s.sive)].

Verbs of calling, naming, making, and thinking may take two objects referring to the same person or thing. The first of these is the direct object and the second is called the objective complement: [John called him _a coward_]. The objective complement becomes an attribute complement when the verb is changed from the active to the pa.s.sive voice: [He was called _a coward_ by John].

Certain verbs take both a direct and an indirect object in the active: [John paid him nine _dollars_]. If the indirect object becomes the subject in the pa.s.sive voice, the direct object is known as the _retained object:_ [He was paid nine _dollars_ by John].

+67. Infinitives.+--The infinitive form of the verb is often called a verbal noun, because it partakes of the nature both of the verb and of the noun. It is distinguished from the _finite_, or true, verb because it does not make an a.s.sertion, and yet it a.s.sumes one. While it has the modifiers and complements of a verb, it at the same time has the uses of a noun.

There are two infinitives: the _root infinitive_ (commonly preceded by _to_, the so-called _sign_ of the infinitive), and the _gerund_, or _infinitive in -ing_.

1. Root infinitive: [_To write_ a theme requires practice].

2. Gerund: [_Riding_ rapidly is dangerous]. In each of these sentences the infinitive, in its capacity as noun, stands as the subject of the sentence. In 1, _to write_ shows its verb nature by governing the object _theme;_ in 2, _riding_ shows its verb nature by taking as a modifier the adverb _rapidly_.

Each form of the infinitive is found as the subject of a verb, as its object, as an attribute complement, and as the object of a preposition.

The root infinitive, together with its subject in the objective case, is used as the object of verbs of knowing, telling, etc.: [I know _him to be a good boy_]. See also Appendix 85 for adjective and adverbial uses.

The infinitive has two tenses: the _present_ and the _perfect_. The _present_ tense denotes action which is not completed at the time of the princ.i.p.al verb: [He tries _to write_. He tried _to write_. He will try _to write_]. The _perfect_ infinitive denotes action complete with reference to the time of the princ.i.p.al verb: [I am glad _to have known_ her].

+68. Participles.+--Participles are verbal adjectives: [The girl _playing_ the piano is my cousin]. _Playing_, as an _adjective_, modifies the noun _girl_; it shows its _verbal_ nature by taking the object _piano_.

The _present participle_ ends in _-ing_. When the _past participle_ has an ending, it is either _-d, -ed, -t_, or _-en_. The _perfect participle_ is formed by combining _having_ with a past participle; as, _having gone_.

There is danger of confusing the present participle with the gerund, or infinitive in _-ing_, unless the adjective character of the one and the noun character of the other are clearly distinguished: [The boy, _driving_ the cows to pasture, was performing his daily task (participle). _Driving_ the cows to pasture was his daily task (gerund)].

Participles are used to form verb-phrases. The present participle is used for the formation of the progressive conjugation; the past participle, for the formation of the compound or perfect tenses. Participles are also used in all the adjective constructions.

One especial construction requires notice,--the _absolute_ construction, or the _nominative absolute_, as it is called: [_The ceremony having been finished_, the people dispersed]. The construction here is equivalent to a clause denoting _time_ or _cause_ or some _circ.u.mstance_ attendant on the main action of the sentence. The participle is sometimes omitted, but the substantive must not be, lest the participle be left apparently belonging to the nearest substantive; as, Walking home, the rain began to fall. As the sentence stands, _walking_ modifies _rain_.

+69. Conjugation.+--The complete and orderly arrangement of the various forms of a verb is termed its conjugation. Complete conjugations will be found in any text-book on English grammar.

The pa.s.sive voice must not be confused with such a form as the progressive conjugation of the verb. The pa.s.sive consists of a form of _to be_ and a _past participle_: [I am instructed]. The progressive tenses combine some form of _to be_ with a _present_ participle: [I am instructing].

It may be well to distinguish here between the pa.s.sive voice and a past participle used as an attribute complement of the verb _be_. Both have the same form, but there is a difference of meaning. The pa.s.sive voice always shows action received by the subject, while the participle is used only as an adjective denoting condition: [James _was tired_ by his day's work (pa.s.sive voice). James was _tired_ (attribute complement)].

+70. Weak and Strong Conjugations.+--Verbs are divided into two cla.s.ses as regards their conjugations. It has been the custom to call all verbs which form the preterite and past participle by adding _-d_ or _-ed_ to the present, _regular_ verbs [love, loved, loved], and to call all others _irregular_. A better cla.s.sification, based on more careful study of the history of the English verb, divides verbs into those of the _weak_ and those of the _strong_ conjugations.