Interrogatively respecting the future.

342. Shall is used interrogatively in the first and the second person, and will in the third; as," Shall I arrive in time ?"-" Shall you be at home to-morrow?""Will your brother be there?"

343. Shall is used, instead of will, after the conjunctions if, provided, though, unless. &c.—the adverbs when, while, until, after, before, &c.—and also after whosoever, or a relative pronoun in a restrictive clause (267–2); as, If they shall enter into my rest"-" When he shall appear"-" There is nothing covered which shall not be revealed"-"Whoever shall put away his wife."

344. Should, the past tense of shall, and would, the past tense of will, are auxiliaries of the past potential; and in dependent clauses are used in the same manner after a past tense, that shall and will are used after the present or future. Hence, in the preceding examples (336 to 338), if the verb in the preceding clause is put in past time, should will take the place of shall, and would the place of will, in the dependent clause; thus

FIRST FORM.-It was my purpose that I would write-you should write-he should write.

So also in the other forms: and when there is no dependence on a preceding clause, these words will be used as in the first form.

May, can, must-might, could-to be.

345. May denotes present liberty or permission; can, present ability; and must, present obligation or necessity. They are used as auxiliaries in the present poten tial, to express these ideas.

346. May sometimes denotes mere possibility; as, "He may write, perhaps❞— "It may rain to-morrow."

347. May, before the subject of the verb, is used to express a wish or prayer; as, "May you be happy!"

348. Can, in poetry, is sometimes used by euphony for canst; as, “Thou trees and stones can teach."-Davies.

349. Might and could express, in past time, the same ideas generally that are expressed by may and can in the present. They are used as auxiliaries in the past potential.

350. Might, before the subject, is also used to express a wish; as, "Might it but turn out to be no worse than this!"

351. Sometimes, in the English Bible, might is used for may; as, things I say, that ye might be saved.”—John v. 34.

"These

352. Combined with have, these form a new series of compound auxiliaries; thus, shall have and will have are auxiliaries of the future-perfect indicative; may nave, can have, and must have, of the present-perfect potential; and might have, &c., of the past-perfect potential.

353. But though may denotes present liberty, may have does not denote past liberty, but only the present possibility; thus, "He may have written," means, It is possible that he has written. So also, must have does not denote past necessity, but present certainty; thus, "He must have written," means, There is no doubt he has written; it can not be otherwise.

354. The verb "to be," in all its moods and tenses, is used as an auxiliary in forming the passive voice; as, "I am loved;" "He was loved," &c. (507). Also in

the progressive form of the active voice; as, "I am writing;" "He was writing," &c. (506).

355. All these auxiliaries are sometimes used, without their verb, to express, by ellipsis, the same thing as the full form of the verb, together with its adjuncts, when that is used immediately before, either in the same or in a different tense; thus, "He writes poetry as well as I do;" "I can write as well as he can;" If you can not write, I will;" "He will do that as well as I can ;" "James can get his lesson as well as ever I could;""He envies me as much as I do him."

356. The verb do (not auxiliary) is sometimes used as the substitute of another verb or phrase previously used; as, "We have not yet found them all, nor ever shall do.-Milton.-"Lucretius wrote on the nature of things in Latin, as Empedocles had already done in Greek."—Acton.

EXERCISES.

1. Correct the errors in the following sentences, and give a reason for the correction :

I will be a loser by that bargain. I will be drowned and nobody shall help me. I will be punished if I do wrong. You shall be punished if you do not reform. It shall probably rain to-morrow. If you shall come I shall come also. I will be compelled to go home. I am resolved that I shall do my duty. I purposed that if you would come home I should pay you a visit. I hope that I will see him. I hoped that I would see him. You promised that you should write me soon. He was of opinion that we should hear a good lecHe shall come of his own accord, if encouragement will be given.

ture.

2. In the following, tell which expressions are right, and which are wrong, and why:

It is thought he shall come. It will be impossible to get ready in time. Ye will not come to me. Ye shall have your reward. They should not do as they ought. We are resolved that we will do our duty. They are resolved that they shall do their duty. I am determined that you will do your duty. I am sure you will do your duty.

ANOMALOUS USAGE.

357. Several of these auxiliaries are sometimes used in a way which it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to explain in a satisfactory manner, and which may justly be regarded as anomalous. The following are a few of these:

358. Had is sometimes used in poetry for would; as, "I had rather," "I had as lief," for, "I would rather," "I would as lief." Sometimes it is used for would have; as, "My fortune had [would have] been his."Dryden. Sometimes for might; as, "Some men had [might] as well be schoolboys, as schoolmasters."

359. Will is sometimes used to express what is customary at the present time; as, "He will sometimes sit whole hours in the shade," "He will read from morning till night."

360. Would, in like manner, is sometimes used to express what was customary in past time; as, "The old man would shake his years away;" "He'd sit him down."

361. Would is sometimes used as a principal verb, equivalent to the present of wish or desire; as, "When I make a feast, I would my guests should praise it--not the cooks."-" When I would [when I wish to] do good, evil is present with me." Thus used, the subject in the first person is sometimes omitted; as, Would God it were even," "I pray God;" "Would to God," "I pray to God."

362. Would, with a negative, used in this way, is not merely negative of a wish or desire, but implies strong opposition or refusal; as, "How often would I have gathered thy children-but ye would not;" Ye would none of my reproof."

363. Should is used in all persons to denote present duty, and should have, to denote past duty; as, "You should write ;" "I should have written;""The rich should remember the poor."

It often denotes merely a supposed future event; as, "If he should promise, he will perform."

It is sometimes used in an indefinite sense after that; as, "It is say so."

surprising that you should

364. Should and would are sometimes used to express an assertion in a softened manner; thus, instead of saying, "I think him insane"- It seems to be improper," it is milder to say, "I should think him insane"-" It would seem to be improper."

INFLECTION OF VERBS.

365. To the inflection of verbs belong, Voices, Moods, Tenses, Numbers, and Persons.

OF VOICE.

366. VOICE is a particular form of the verb, which shows the relation of the subject or thing spoken of, to the action expressed by the verb.

367. Transitive verbs have two voices, called the Active and the Passive.

368. The ACTIVE VOICE represents the subject of the verb as acting, as, "JAMES strikes the table."

369. The PASSIVE VOICE represents the subject of the verb as acted upon; as, The TABLE is struck by James."

In other words, the verb, in the active voice, expresses the act of its subject—in the passive, it expresses the state of its subject, as affected by the act. In the active voice, the subject of the verb acts—in the passive, it is acted upon.

370. It is manifest from these examples, that whether we use the active, or the passive voice, the meaning is the same, except in some cases in the present tense (509). There is the same act, the same actor, and the same object acted upon. The difference is only in the form of expression. By the active voice, we represent the subject as acting; by the passive, as acted upon. In the active voice, the actor in the nominative case is the subject of the verb (760); in the passive, the actor is in the objective case after a preposition (818). In the active voice, the object acted upon is in the objective case, governed by the verb (801); in the pas sive, the object is in the nominative case, as the subject of the verb.

371. It is manifest, also, that when we know the act done, the person or thing doing it, and that to which it is done, we can always, by means of the two voices, express the fact in two different ways; thus, "God created the world;" or, "The world was created by God." Also

372. When the active voice is used, we may sometimes omit the object; thus, we can say, "John reads," without saying what he reads (323); and when the passive is used, we may omit the agent or actor; thus, we can say, “The letter is written." without stating by whom.

373. Hence arise the following advantages from these two forms of expres sion:

1. We can, by the form alone, direct attention, chiefly, either to the actor, or to that which is acted upon-to the former, by using the active voice—“GOD created the world"-to the latter, by using the passive--" The WORLD was created by God."

2. By means of the passive voice, we are able to state a fact, when we either do not know, or, for some reason, may not wish to state, by whom the act was done. Thus we can say, "The glass is broken," though we do not know who broke it, or if we know, do not wish to tell.

3. By this means, also, we have a variety, and of course, a choice of expression, and may, at pleasure, use that which to us appears the most perspicuous, conve nient, or elegant.

374. Intransitive verbs can have no distinction of voice, because they have no object which can be used as the subject in the passive. Their form is generally active; as, "I stand;" "I run." A few are used also in the passive form, but with the same sense as in the active; as, "He is come;" "They are gone;" equivalent to, "He has come ;” “They have gone."

375. Intransitive verbs are sometimes rendered transitive, and so capable of a passive form

1. By the addition of another word: thus, "I laugh," is intransi

tive; “I laugh at (him)" is transitive; passive, "He is laughed at (by me)."

In parsing such examples, however, it is generally better in the active voice, to parse the words separately-laugh, as an intransitive verb, and at as a preposition, followed by its object; but, in the passive voice, they must be parsed together as one word-a transitive verb, in the passive voice.

2. Intransitive verbs are transitive, when followed by a noun of similar signification as an object; as, intransitive, “I run;” transitive, "I run a race;" passive, "A race is run by me.”

3. Intransitive verbs become transitive, when used in a causative sense; that is, when they denote the causing of that act or state which the verb properly expresses; as, "Walk your horse round the yard."

"The proprietors run a stage-coach daily." Passively, "Your horse was walked [made to walk] round the yard"-"A stage-coach is run [made to run] daily by the proprietors." Intransitive verbs, used in this way, are called CAUSATIVES.

4. Many verbs in the active voice, by an idiom peculiar to the English, are used in a sense nearly allied to the passive, but for which the passive will not always be a proper substitute. Thus, we say, "This field ploughs well"—" These lines read smoothly"-" This fruit tastes bitter"-"Linen wears better than cotton.' The idea here expressed is quite different from that expressed by the passive form: "This field is well ploughed"—" These lines are smoothly read." Sometimes, however, the same idea is expressed by both forms; thus, "Wheat sells readily," or "is sold readily at an advanced price." (Expressions of this kind are usually made in French by the reflected verb; thus, "Ce champ se laboure bien," "Ces lignes se lisent aisément.") When used in this sense, they may properly be ranked with intransitive verbs, as they are never followed by an objective case

MOODS.

376. Mood is the mode or manner of expressing the signification of the verb.

377. The moods in English are five; namely, the Indicative, Potential, Subjunctive, Imperative, and Infinitive. 378. The INDICATIVE mood declares the fact expressed by the verb, simply and without limitation; as, "He is,” "He loves". "He is loved."

379. In other words, the indicative mood attributes to its subject the act, being, or state, expressed by the verb, simply and without limitation.