Page images
PDF
EPUB

It will be noticed that the Verbs to which it is joined as an Auxiliary of Tense are Verbs of motion, denoting going, coming, &c.; and it is with this class of Verbs alone that it is used as such. A list of these Verbs is given below :Rise, fall, go, come, pass, arrive, return, ascend, descend, flee, escape, enter, depart.

It would be quite correct to say,—

"He has gone home;"

"John has returned from Rome;"

"The sun has risen."

There is, however, a slight difference of meaning between the Perfect Tense formed by means of the Verb to be, and the Perfect formed by means of the Verb have.

Take, for instance, as an example,—

"He is gone home," and "He has gone home."

In the sentence "He has gone home," the leading idea is the completion of the action: in the sentence "He is gone home," there is of course the idea of the completion of the action; but the participle gone when used with the Verb to be as an Auxiliary of Tense, describes at the same time the state of the subject with greater force, much in the same way as the participle does in the passive voice.

Care must be taken to distinguish between the Perfect Tense, of which the Verb to be forms a part, and the Passive Voice. All the above Verbs are strictly intransitive; and none but Transitive Verbs can be in the passive voice.

V.-Remarks on Participles.

§ (37) A Participle is a word which is partly a Verb and partly an Adjective.

Taking run and kill as examples of Intransitive and Transitive Verbs respectively, the Participles in the following sentences formed from them include every form of the Participle which can possibly occur.

I. INTRANSITIVE.

"John running away, was caught in a trap."
"John having run away, escaped the danger."

II. TRANSITIVE.

"John killing the ox, perspired very much."
"John having killed the ox, went home."
"The ox being killed, was in great pain."

"The ox having been killed, was cut up for food."

From these sentences we see that an Intransitive Verb like run has two Participles, an Imperfect, "running," ending in ing, and a Perfect, "having run," formed by means of the Imperfect Participle of have, and what is generally, though not correctly, called the Past Participle

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

§ (38) These different forms of the Participle may be arranged as follows,

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

It will have been noticed that all the Participles given above are formed from Verbs, and partake of the nature of a Verb, and also that, like Adjectives, they qualify the Noun with which they are connected. It is on account of this double work which they perform that they are called Participles.

$(39) A Participle formed from a Transitive Verb may be followed by a Noun or Pronoun in the objective case, just as the Transitive Verb itself from which it is formed may.

In the sentence given above,

"John killing the ox, perspired very much,"

or is in the objective case, governed by killing.

§(40) Sometimes the Participle is placed before a Noun just like an Adjective, and is then said to qualify the Noun attributively; e. g.,—

"A running stream," i. e., "A stream that runs.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]
[ocr errors]

As has already been said, care must be taken to distinguish between Participles and words which happen to have the form of Participles, as, for instance, the Verbal Nouns and some Adjectives.

In the phrase,

"A walking-stick,"

the word walking is simply an Adjective, qualifying stick; it does not denote a stick that walks; and in this respect, although it has the participle form, differs in its nature from the words running, singing, and barking, given above, and is not a Participle.

§ (41) Participles, like Verbs in the infinitive mood, are unlimited by any considerations of tense, number, or person. It is therefore, strictly speaking, not correct to make use of words relating to tense in designating them. We ought not to speak of Present Participles and Past Participles. The terms Imperfect and Perfect should be used, for the same reason as they are used with the infinitive (see § 28).

§ (42) The Participles ending in ed, as killed, and the corresponding Participles formed from Strong Verbs, as drawn from draw, are frequently spoken of as Perfect or

Passive Participles. Now we know that into every Passive Participle must enter a part of the Verb to be, and that into every Perfect Participle must enter a part of the Verb have. When, therefore, it is said that a Participle like the above is the Perfect or Passive Participle, it must be borne in mind that it is meant that it simply enters into the forms for the passive voice, or that it forms part of the perfect participle, as the case may be.

VI.-Remarks on Conjugation.

§(43) Voice, mood, and tense have now been considered. Number and person will be dealt with under the head of Syntax.

A Verb may appear in a great variety of forms when considered in connection with each of the above relations.

In order to obtain every possible form of a Verb, we must express all the forms it assumes for voice, mood, tense, number, and person.

This joining of the Simple Verb to its various relations of voice, mood, &c., is called Conjugation.

§(44) Principal Verbs may be conjugated in four different ways; so that there are four Conjugations.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

(4) The Paulo-Post: I am about to strike.

Thou art about to strike.

&c., &c.

The above examples will serve to show the nature of

each conjugation.

Conjugation in English differs, in one respect, from conjugation in other languages. Take, for instance, the Latin. In Latin there are four conjugations, but a Verb belongs to only one of these conjugations; whereas, in English a Verb may be conjugated in four different ways.

VII.

Remarks on Individual Verbs.

S (45) Ought.-This Verb, which is always followed by the supine or gerund, that is, the infinitive with to, is properly a past tense of the Verb owe, which in former times meant to own or possess. Morris says, "That owe itself is the past of an infinitive eigan, to labour, work; whence owe originally signified I have worked, I have earned; hence (a)" I possess,-have;" (b) "I have it as a duty,— I ought." The word ought has now lost its original meaning of to own, to possess, and has become established in our language as a separate Verb denoting moral obligation. "What one ought to do" is "What is due from one," or "What one should do." It must be borne in mind that the regular past-imperfect of owe, with its present meaning (to owe money, for instance) is owed; and this Verb can be conjugated fully in all the moods and tenses.

Went. The past-imperfect of the Verb to go, is derived from wend, in to wend one's way.

Do.-This Verb is used in two ways, as a Principal Verb and as an Auxiliary. As an Auxiliary, it is generally called the Auxiliary of Emphasis, and is followed by the infinitive without to, being mostly used in negative and interrogative sentences, as, "I do not know what you want;""Do you hear what I say?" As a Principal Verb, it has two significations,-(1) to act; (2) to thrive, avail, as in the sentences,-(1) "I do my work well;' (2) "How do you do?" "That will do ;" "This will do very well." With this latter meaning the Verb is derived from the Anglo-Saxon dugan, to fare, to prosper.

[ocr errors]

Shall-Originally meant to owe. Should is the past tense of this Verb, and thus is accounted for the connection in meaning between should and ought.

« PreviousContinue »