LECTURE XII.

NOTE. We cannot command, exhort, &c. either inpastorfuturetime; therefore a verb in this mood is always in thepresenttense.

POTENTIAL MOOD.

Present Tense.

Imperfect Tense.

Perfect Tense.

Pluperfect Tense.

By examining carefully the conjugation of the verb through this mood, you will find it very easy; thus, you will notice, that whenever any of the auxiliaries,may, can, ormust, is placed before a verb, that verb is in the potential mood,presenttense;might, could, would, orshould, renders it in the potential mood,imperfecttense;may, can, ormust have, theperfecttense; andmight, could, would, orshould have, thepluperfecttense.

INFINITIVE MOOD.

PARTICIPLES.

NOTE. The perfect participle of a regular verb, corresponds exactly with the imperfect tense; yet the former may, at all times, be distinguished from the latter, by the following rule: In composition, the imperfect tense of a verbalwayshas a nominative, either expressed or implied: the perfect participleneverhas.

For your encouragement, allow me to inform you, that when you shall have learned to conjugate the verbto love, you will be able to conjugate all the regular verbs in the English language, for they are all conjugated precisely in the same manner. By pursuing the following direction, you can, in a very short time, learn to conjugate any verb. Conjugate the verblovethrough all the moods and tenses, in the first person singular, with the pronounIbefore it, and speak the Participles: thus, Indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. Ilove, imperf. tense, Iloved; perf. tense, Ihave loved; and so on, through every mood and tense. Then conjugate it in the second pers. sing, with the pronounthoubefore it, through all the moods and tenses; thus, Indic. mood, pres. tense, second pers. sing, thoulovest; imperf. tense, thoulovedst; and so on, through the whole. After that, conjugate it in the third pers. sing, withhebefore it; and then in the first pers. plural, withwebefore it, in like manner through all the moods and tenses. Although this mode of procedure may, at first, appear to be laborious, yet, as it is necessary, I trust you will not hesitate to adopt it. My confidence in your perseverance, induces me to recommend any course which I know will tend to facilitate your progress.

When you shall have complied with my requisition, you may conjugate the following verbs in the same manner; which will enable you, hereafter, to tell the mood and tense of any verb without hesitation:walk, hate, smile, rule, conquer, reduce, relate, melt, shun, fail.

The changes in thetermination of words, in all languages, have been formed by thecoalescenceof words of appropriate meaning. This subject was approached on page 49. It is again taken up for the purpose of showing, that the moods and tenses, as well as the number and person, of English verbs, do not solely depend on inflection.The coalescing syllables which form the number and person of the Hebrew verb, are still considered pronouns; and, by those who have investigated the subject, it is conceded, that the same plan has been adopted in the formation of the Latin and Greek verbs, as in the Hebrew. Some languages have carried this process to a very great extent. Ours is remarkable for the small number of its inflections. But they who reject the passive verb, and those moods and tenses which are formed by employing what are called "auxiliary verbs,"because they are formed of two or more verbs, do not appear to reason soundly. It is inconsistent to admit, that walk-eth, and walk-ed, are tenses, because each is but one word, and to rejecthavewalked, andwillwalk, as tenses, because each is composed of two words.Eth, as previously shown, is a contraction ofdoeth, orhaveth, anded, ofdede, dodo, doed, ordid; and, therefore, walk-eth; i.e. walk-doeth, ordoeth-walk, and walk-ed; i.e. walk-did, ordoedordid-walk, are, when analyzed, as strictly compound, aswillwalk,shallwalk, andhavewalked. The only difference in the formation of these tenses, is, that in the two former, the associated verbs have been contracted and made to coalesce with the main verb, but in the two latter, they still maintain their ground as separate words.If it be said thatwill walkis composed of two words, each of which conveys a distinct idea, and, therefore, should be analyzed by itself, the same argument with all its force, may be applied to walk-eth, walk-ed, walk-did, ordidwalk. The result of all the investigations of this subject, appears to settle down into the hackneyed truism, that the passive verbs, and the moods and tenses, of some languages, are formed by inflections, or terminations either prefixed or postfixed, and of other languages, by the association of auxiliary verbs, which have not yet been contracted and made to coalesce asterminations. The auxiliary, when contracted into aterminating syllable,retains its distinct and intrinsic meaning, as much as when associated with a verb by juxtaposition: consequently, an "auxiliary verb" may form a part of a mood or tense, or passive verb, with as much propriety as aterminatingsyllable. They who contend for the ancient custom of keeping the auxiliaries distinct, and parsing them as primary verbs, are, by the same principle, bound to extend their dissecting-knifeto everycompound word in the language.Having thus attempted briefly to prove the philosophical accuracy of the theory which recognises the tenses, moods, and passive verbs, formed by the aid of auxiliaries, I shall now offer one argument to show that this theory, and thisonly, will subserve the purposes of the practical grammarian.As it is not so much the province of philology to instruct in the exact meaning of single and separate words, as it is to teach the student to combine and employ them properly in framing sentences, and as thosecombinationswhich go by the name of compound tenses and passive verbs, are necessary in writing and discourse, it follows, conclusively, that that theory which does not explain these verbs in theircombinedstate, cannot teach the student the correct use and application of the verbs of our language. By such an arrangement, he cannot learn when it is proper to use the phrases,shall have walked, might have gone, have seen, instead of,shall walk, might go, andsaw; because this theory has nothing to do with the combining of verbs. If it be alleged, that the speaker or writer's own good sense must guide him in combining these verbs, and, therefore, that the directions of the grammarian are unnecessary, it must be recollected, that such an argument would bear, equally, against every principle of grammar whatever. In short, the theory of the compound tenses, and of the passive verb, appears to be so firmly based in the genius of our language, and so practically important to the student, as to defy all the engines of the paralogistic speculator, and the philosophical quibbler, to batter it down.But the most plausible objection to the old theory is, that it is encumbered with much useless technicality and tedious prolixity, which are avoided by thesimpleprocess of exploding the passive verb, and reducing the number of the moods to three, and of the tenses to two. It is certain, however, that if we reject thenamesof the perfect, pluperfect, and future tenses, thenamesof the potential and subjunctive moods, and of the passive verb, in writing and discourse we must still employ thoseverbal combinationswhich form them; and it is equally certain, that the proper mode of employing such combinations, is as easily taught or learned by the old theory, whichnamesthem, as by the new, which gives themno name.On philosophical principles, we might, perhaps, dispense with thefuturetenses of the verb, by analyzing each word separately; but, as illustrated on page 79, the combined words which form our perfect and pluperfect tenses have anassociatedmeaning, which is destroyed by analyzing each word separately. That arrangement, therefore, which rejects these tenses, appears to be, not onlyunphilosophical, but inconsistent and inaccurate.For the satisfaction of those teachers who prefer it, and for their adoption, too, a modernizedphilosophicaltheory of the moods and tenses is here presented. If it is not quite so convenient and useful as the old one, they need not hesitate to adopt it. It has the advantage of beingnew; and, moreover, it soundslarge, and will make thecommonalty stare. Let it be distinctly understood, that you teach"philosophical grammar, founded on reason and commonsense," and you will pass for a very learned man, and make all the good housewives wonder at the rapid march of intellect, and the vast improvements of the age.MOOD.Verbs have three moods, the indicative, (embracing what is commonly included under theindicative, thesubjunctive, and thepotential,) the imperative, and the infinitive.—For definitions, refer to the body of the work.TENSE OR TIME.Verbs have only two tenses, the present and the past. A verb expressing action commenced and not completed, is in the present tense; as, "Religionsoars: ithasgained many victories: itwill[to]carryits votaries to the blissful regions."When a verb expresses finished action, it is in the past tense; as, "This page (the Bible) Godhungout of heaven, andretired."A verb in the imperative and infinitive moods, is always in thepresenttense, high authorities to the contrary notwithstanding. Thecommandmustnecessarilybe given in time present, although itsfulfilmentmust be future. John, what are you doing? Learning my task. Why do you learn it? Because my preceptorcommandedme to do so. Whendidhe command you?Yesterday.—Notnow, of course.That it is inconsistent with the nature of things for a command to be given infuturetime, and that thefulfilmentof the command, though future, has nothing to do with the tense or time of the command itself, are truths so plain as to put to the blush the gross absurdity of those who identify the time of the fulfilment with that of the command.EXERCISES IN PARSING.Youmay readthe book which Ihave printed.May, an irregular active verb, signifying "to have and to exercise might or strength," indic. mood, pres. tense, second pers. plur. agreeing with its nom.you. Read, an irregular verb active, infinitive mood, pres. tense, with the signtounderstood, referring toyouas its agent.Have, an active verb, signifying topossess, indic. present, and having for its object, book understood after "which."Printed, a perf. participle, referring to book understood.Johnson, and Blair, and Lowth,would have been laughed at, hadtheyessayedtothrustany thing like our modernized philosophical grammar down the throats of their contemporaries.Would, an active verb, signifying "to exercise volition," in the past tense of the indicative.Have, a verb, in the infinitive,tounderstood.Been, a perfect part. of tobe, referring to Johnson, Blair, and Lowth.Laughed at, perf. part, of tolaugh at, referring to the same asbeen. Had, active verb, in the past tense of the indicative, agreeing with its nom.they. Essayed, perf. part, referring to they. Call this "philosophicalparsing, on reasoning principles, according to the original laws of nature and of thought," and thepillwill be swallowed, by pedants and their dupes, with the greatest ease imaginable.

The coalescing syllables which form the number and person of the Hebrew verb, are still considered pronouns; and, by those who have investigated the subject, it is conceded, that the same plan has been adopted in the formation of the Latin and Greek verbs, as in the Hebrew. Some languages have carried this process to a very great extent. Ours is remarkable for the small number of its inflections. But they who reject the passive verb, and those moods and tenses which are formed by employing what are called "auxiliary verbs,"because they are formed of two or more verbs, do not appear to reason soundly. It is inconsistent to admit, that walk-eth, and walk-ed, are tenses, because each is but one word, and to rejecthavewalked, andwillwalk, as tenses, because each is composed of two words.Eth, as previously shown, is a contraction ofdoeth, orhaveth, anded, ofdede, dodo, doed, ordid; and, therefore, walk-eth; i.e. walk-doeth, ordoeth-walk, and walk-ed; i.e. walk-did, ordoedordid-walk, are, when analyzed, as strictly compound, aswillwalk,shallwalk, andhavewalked. The only difference in the formation of these tenses, is, that in the two former, the associated verbs have been contracted and made to coalesce with the main verb, but in the two latter, they still maintain their ground as separate words.

If it be said thatwill walkis composed of two words, each of which conveys a distinct idea, and, therefore, should be analyzed by itself, the same argument with all its force, may be applied to walk-eth, walk-ed, walk-did, ordidwalk. The result of all the investigations of this subject, appears to settle down into the hackneyed truism, that the passive verbs, and the moods and tenses, of some languages, are formed by inflections, or terminations either prefixed or postfixed, and of other languages, by the association of auxiliary verbs, which have not yet been contracted and made to coalesce asterminations. The auxiliary, when contracted into aterminating syllable,retains its distinct and intrinsic meaning, as much as when associated with a verb by juxtaposition: consequently, an "auxiliary verb" may form a part of a mood or tense, or passive verb, with as much propriety as aterminatingsyllable. They who contend for the ancient custom of keeping the auxiliaries distinct, and parsing them as primary verbs, are, by the same principle, bound to extend their dissecting-knifeto everycompound word in the language.

Having thus attempted briefly to prove the philosophical accuracy of the theory which recognises the tenses, moods, and passive verbs, formed by the aid of auxiliaries, I shall now offer one argument to show that this theory, and thisonly, will subserve the purposes of the practical grammarian.

As it is not so much the province of philology to instruct in the exact meaning of single and separate words, as it is to teach the student to combine and employ them properly in framing sentences, and as thosecombinationswhich go by the name of compound tenses and passive verbs, are necessary in writing and discourse, it follows, conclusively, that that theory which does not explain these verbs in theircombinedstate, cannot teach the student the correct use and application of the verbs of our language. By such an arrangement, he cannot learn when it is proper to use the phrases,shall have walked, might have gone, have seen, instead of,shall walk, might go, andsaw; because this theory has nothing to do with the combining of verbs. If it be alleged, that the speaker or writer's own good sense must guide him in combining these verbs, and, therefore, that the directions of the grammarian are unnecessary, it must be recollected, that such an argument would bear, equally, against every principle of grammar whatever. In short, the theory of the compound tenses, and of the passive verb, appears to be so firmly based in the genius of our language, and so practically important to the student, as to defy all the engines of the paralogistic speculator, and the philosophical quibbler, to batter it down.

But the most plausible objection to the old theory is, that it is encumbered with much useless technicality and tedious prolixity, which are avoided by thesimpleprocess of exploding the passive verb, and reducing the number of the moods to three, and of the tenses to two. It is certain, however, that if we reject thenamesof the perfect, pluperfect, and future tenses, thenamesof the potential and subjunctive moods, and of the passive verb, in writing and discourse we must still employ thoseverbal combinationswhich form them; and it is equally certain, that the proper mode of employing such combinations, is as easily taught or learned by the old theory, whichnamesthem, as by the new, which gives themno name.

On philosophical principles, we might, perhaps, dispense with thefuturetenses of the verb, by analyzing each word separately; but, as illustrated on page 79, the combined words which form our perfect and pluperfect tenses have anassociatedmeaning, which is destroyed by analyzing each word separately. That arrangement, therefore, which rejects these tenses, appears to be, not onlyunphilosophical, but inconsistent and inaccurate.

For the satisfaction of those teachers who prefer it, and for their adoption, too, a modernizedphilosophicaltheory of the moods and tenses is here presented. If it is not quite so convenient and useful as the old one, they need not hesitate to adopt it. It has the advantage of beingnew; and, moreover, it soundslarge, and will make thecommonalty stare. Let it be distinctly understood, that you teach"philosophical grammar, founded on reason and commonsense," and you will pass for a very learned man, and make all the good housewives wonder at the rapid march of intellect, and the vast improvements of the age.

Verbs have three moods, the indicative, (embracing what is commonly included under theindicative, thesubjunctive, and thepotential,) the imperative, and the infinitive.—For definitions, refer to the body of the work.

Verbs have only two tenses, the present and the past. A verb expressing action commenced and not completed, is in the present tense; as, "Religionsoars: ithasgained many victories: itwill[to]carryits votaries to the blissful regions."

When a verb expresses finished action, it is in the past tense; as, "This page (the Bible) Godhungout of heaven, andretired."

A verb in the imperative and infinitive moods, is always in thepresenttense, high authorities to the contrary notwithstanding. Thecommandmustnecessarilybe given in time present, although itsfulfilmentmust be future. John, what are you doing? Learning my task. Why do you learn it? Because my preceptorcommandedme to do so. Whendidhe command you?Yesterday.—Notnow, of course.

That it is inconsistent with the nature of things for a command to be given infuturetime, and that thefulfilmentof the command, though future, has nothing to do with the tense or time of the command itself, are truths so plain as to put to the blush the gross absurdity of those who identify the time of the fulfilment with that of the command.

Youmay readthe book which Ihave printed.

May, an irregular active verb, signifying "to have and to exercise might or strength," indic. mood, pres. tense, second pers. plur. agreeing with its nom.you. Read, an irregular verb active, infinitive mood, pres. tense, with the signtounderstood, referring toyouas its agent.Have, an active verb, signifying topossess, indic. present, and having for its object, book understood after "which."Printed, a perf. participle, referring to book understood.

Johnson, and Blair, and Lowth,would have been laughed at, hadtheyessayedtothrustany thing like our modernized philosophical grammar down the throats of their contemporaries.

Would, an active verb, signifying "to exercise volition," in the past tense of the indicative.Have, a verb, in the infinitive,tounderstood.Been, a perfect part. of tobe, referring to Johnson, Blair, and Lowth.Laughed at, perf. part, of tolaugh at, referring to the same asbeen. Had, active verb, in the past tense of the indicative, agreeing with its nom.they. Essayed, perf. part, referring to they. Call this "philosophicalparsing, on reasoning principles, according to the original laws of nature and of thought," and thepillwill be swallowed, by pedants and their dupes, with the greatest ease imaginable.

Irregular verbs are those that do not form their imperfect tense and perfect participle by the addition ofdoredto the present tense; as,

The following is a list of theirregularverbs. Those marked with an R are sometimes conjugatedregularly.

In familiar writing and discourse, the following, and some other verbs, are often improperly terminated bytinstead ofed; as, "learnt, spelt, spilt, stopt, latcht." They should be, "learned, spelled, spilled, stopped, latched."

You may now conjugate the following irregular verbs, in a manner similar to the conjugation of regular verbs:arise, begin, bind, do, go, grow, run, lend, teach, write. Thus, toarise—Indicative mood, pres. tense, first person, sing. I arise; imperf. tense, I arose; perf. tense, I have arisen, and so on, through all the moods, and all the tenses of each mood; and then speak the participles: thus, pres. arising, perf. arisen, comp. having arisen. In the next place, conjugate the same verb in the second person sing. through all the moods and tenses; and then in the third person sing. and in the first pers. plural. After that, you may proceed in the same manner with the wordsbegin, bind, &c.

Now read the eleventh and twelfth lecturesfourorfivetimes over, and learn the order of parsing a verb. You will then be prepared to parse the following verbs in full; and I presume, all the other parts of speech. Whenever you parse, you must refer to the Compendium for definitions and rules, if you cannot repeat them without, I will now parse a verb, and describe all its properties by applying the definitions and rules according to the systematic order.

"Wecouldnotaccomplishthe business."

Could accomplishis a verb, a word which signifies to do—active, it expresses action—transitive, the action passes over from the nom. "we" to the object "business"—regular, it will form its imperfect tense of the indic. mood and perf. part, ined—potential mood, it implies possibility or power—imperfect tense, it denotes past time however distant—first pers. plural, because the nom. "we" is with which it agrees, agreeably to RULE 4.A verb must agree, &c. Conjugated—Indic. mood, present tense, first pers. sing. I accomplish; imperfect tense, I accomplished; perfect, I have accomplished; pluperfect, I had accomplished; and so on.—Speak it in the person of each tense through all the moods, and conjugate, in the same manner, every verb you parse.

These exercises contain a complete variety of Moods and Tenses.

I learn my lesson well. Charles, thou learnest thy lesson badly. John, do you write a good hand? Those ladies wrote a beautiful letter, but they did not despatch it. Have you seen the gentleman to whom I gave the book? He has gone. They had received the news before the messenger arrived. When will those persons return? My friend shall receive his reward. He will have visited me three times, if he come to-morrow.

If Eliza study diligently, she will improve. If Charles studies he does not improve. Unless that man shall have accomplished his work, by midsummer, he will receive no wages. Orlando, obey my precepts, unless you wish to injure yourself. Remember what is told you. The physician may administer the medicine, but Providence only can bless it. I told, him that he might go, but he would not. He might have gone last week, had he conducted himself properly; (that is,if he had conducted, &c.) Boys, prepare to recite your lessons. Young ladies, let me hear you repeat what you have learned. Study, diligently, whatever task may be allotted to you. To correct the spirit of discontent, let us consider how little we deserve. To die for one's country, is glorious. How can we become wise? To seek God is wisdom. What is true greatness? Active benevolence. A good man is a great man.

NOTE 1.Man, followinggreat, andwhat, in the last two examples, are nom. afteris: RULE 21.To seek God, andto die for one's country, are members of sentences, each put as the nom. case toisrespectively: RULE 24. The verbto correctis the infinitive mood absolute: NOTE under RULE 23.May be allottedis a passive verb, agreeing withwhich, the relative part ofwhatever.That, the first part of whatever, is an adj. pronoun, agreeing withtask; andtaskis governed bystudy.Hear, followinglet, andrepeat, followinghear, are in the infinitive mood without the signto, according to RULE 25.To reciteis governed byprepare: RULE 23.Is told, is a passive verb, agreeing withwhich, the relative part ofwhatever; andyou, following, is governed bytounderstood: NOTE 1, under RULE 32.2. In parsing a pronoun, if the noun for which it stands is not expressed, you must say it represents some person or thing understood.

2. In parsing a pronoun, if the noun for which it stands is not expressed, you must say it represents some person or thing understood.

Before you attend to the following additional remarks on the Auxiliary Verbs, you will do well to read again what is said respecting them in Lecture XI. page 140. The short account there given, and their application in conjugating verbs, have already made them quite familiar to you; and you have undoubtedly observed, that, without their help, we cannot conjugate any verb in any of the tenses, except the present and imperfect of the indicative and subjunctive moods, and the present of the imperative and infinitive. In the formation of all the other tenses, they are brought into requisition.

Most of theauxiliary verbs are defective in conjugation; that is, they are used only in some of the moods and tenses; and when unconnected with principal verbs, they are conjugated in the following manner:

Do, be, have, andwill, are sometimes used as principal verbs; and when employed as such,do, be, andhave, may be conjugated, by the help of other auxiliaries, through all the moods and tenses.

DO. The different tenses ofdo, in the several moods, are thus formed: Indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I do; imperfect tense, I did; perf. I have done; pluperfect, I had done; first future, I shall or will do; sec. fut. I shall have done. Subjunctive mood, pres. tense, If I do; imperf. if I did; and so on. Imperative mood, do thou. Potential, pres. I may, can, or must do, &c. Infinitive, present, to do; perf. to have done. Participles, pres. doing; perf. done; compound, having done.

HAVE.Haveis in great demand. No verb can be conjugated through all the moods and tenses without it.Have, when used as a principal verb, is doubled in some of the past tenses, and becomes an auxiliary to itself; thus, Indic. mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I have; imperf. tense, I had; perf. I have had; pluperf. I had had; first fut. I shall or will have; sec. fut. I shall have had. Subjunctive, present, if I have; imperf. if I had; perf. if I have had; pluperf. if I had had; first fut. if I shall or will have; sec. fut. if I shall have had. Imper. mood, have thou. Potential, present, I may, can, or must have; imperf. I might, could, would, or should have; perf. I may, can, or must have had; pluperf. I might, could, would, or should have had. Infinitive, present, to have; perf. to have had. Participles, pres. having; perf. had; compound, having had.

BE. In the next place I will present to you the conjugation of the irregular, neuter verb,Be, which is an auxiliary whenever it is placed before the perfect participle of another verb, but in every other situation, it is aprincipalverb.

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