Verbs
+51. Uses of Verbs.+—A verb is the word or word-group that makes an assertion or statement, and it is therefore the most important part of the whole sentence. It has been already shown that such a verb as speaks serves the double purpose of suggesting an activity and showing relation. The most purely relational verb is the verb to be, which is called the copula or linking verb, for the very reason that it joins predicate words to the subject: [The lake is beautiful]. To be, however, is not always a pure copula. In such a sentence as, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is,” the word is means exists.Verbs that are like the copula, such as, appear, become, seem, etc., are called copulative verbs. Verbs that not only are relational but have descriptive power, such as sings, plays, runs, etc., are called attributive verbs. They attribute some quality or characteristic to the subject.
+52. Classes of Verbs.+—According to their uses in a sentence verbs are divided into two classes: transitive and intransitive.
A transitive verb is one that takes a following substantive, expressed or implied, called the object, to designate the receiver or the product of the action: [They seized the city. They built a city]. The transitive verb may sometimes be used absolutely:[The horse eats]. Here the object is implied.
An intransitive verb is one that does not take an object to complete its meaning; or, in other words, an intransitive verb is one that denotes an action, state, or feeling that involves the subject only: [He ran away. They were standing at the water’s edge].
A few verbs in our language are always transitive, and a few others are always intransitive. The verbs lie and lay, rise and raise, sit and set, are so frequently misused that attention is here called to them. The verbs lie, rise, and sit (usually) are intransitive in meaning, while the verbs lay, raise, and set are transitive. The word sit may sometimes take a reflexive object: [They sat themselves down to rest].
The majority of verbs in our language are either transitive or intransitive, according to the sense in which they are used.
[The fire burns merrily (intransitive).
The fire burned the building (transitive).
The bird flew swiftly (intransitive).
The boy flew his kite (transitive).]
Some intransitive verbs take what is known as a cognate object: [He died a noble death.] Here the object repeats the meaning of the verb.
+53. Complete and Incomplete Verbs.+—Some intransitive verbs make a complete assertion or statement without the aid of any other words. Such verbs are said to be of complete predication: [The snow melts].
All transitive verbs and some intransitive verbs require one or more words to complete the meaning of the predicate. Such verbs are said to be incomplete. Whatever is added to complete the meaning of the predicate is termed a complement. The complement of a transitive verb is called the object complement, or simply the object: [She found the book]. Some transitive verbs, from the nature of their meaning, take also an indirect object: [I gave her the book]. When a word belonging to the subject is added to an intransitive verb in order to complete the predicate, it is termed an attribute complement. This complement may be either a noun or an adjective: [He is our treasurer (noun). This rose is fragrant (adjective)]. Among the incomplete intransitive verbs the most conspicuous are the copula and the copulative verbs.
+54. Auxiliary Verbs.+—English verbs have so few changes of form to express differences in meaning that it is often necessary to use the so-called auxiliary verbs. The most common are: do, be, have, may, must, might, can, shall, will, should, would, could, and ought. Some of these may be used as principal verbs. A few notes and cautions are added.
Can is used to denote the ability of the subject.
May is used to denote permission, possibility, purpose, or desire. Thus the request for permission should be, “May I?” not “Can I?”
Must indicates necessity.
Ought expresses obligation.
Had should never be used with ought. To express a moral obligation in past time, combine ought with the perfect infinitive: [I ought to have done it].
Should sometimes expresses duty: [You should not go].
Would sometimes denotes a custom: [He would sit there for hours]. Sometimes it expresses a wish: [Would he were here!]. For other uses of should and would, see Appendix 60.
+55. Principal Parts.+—The main forms of the verb—so important as to be called the principal parts because the other parts are formed from them— are the root infinitive, the preterite (past) indicative, and the past participle [move, moved, moved; sing, sang, sung; be, was, been]. The present participle is sometimes given with the principal parts.
+56. Inflection.+—As is evident from the preceding paragraph, verbs have certain changes of form to indicate change of meaning. Such a change or inflection, in the case of the noun, is called declension; in the case of the verb it is called conjugation. Nouns are declined; verbs are conjugated.
+57. Person and Number.+—In Latin, or any other highly inflected language, there are many terminations to indicate differences in person and number, but in English there is but one in common use, s in the third person singular: [He runs], St or est is used after thou in the second person singular: [Thou lovest].
+58. Agreement.+—Verbs must agree with their subjects in person and number. The following suggestions concerning agreement may be helpful:—
1. A compound subject that expresses a single idea takes a singular verb: [Bread and milk is wholesome food].
2. When the members of a compound subject, connected by neither … nor, differ as regards person and number, the verb should agree with the nearer of the two: [Neither they nor I am to blame].
3. When the subject consists of singular nouns or pronouns connected by or, either … or, neither … nor, the verb is singular: [Either this book or that is mine].
4. Words joined to the subject by with, together with, as well as, etc., do not affect the number of the verb. The same is true of any modifier of the subject: [John, as well as the girls, is playing house. One of my books is lying on the table. Neither of us is to blame].
5. When the article the precedes the word number, used as a subject, the verb should be in the singular; otherwise the verb is plural: [The number of pupils in our schools is on the increase. A number of children have been playing in the sand pile].
6. The pronoun you always takes a plural verb, even if its meaning is singular: [You were here yesterday].
7. A collective noun takes a singular or plural verb, according as the collection is thought of as a whole or as composed of individuals.
+59. Tense.+—The power of the verb to show differences of time is called tense. Tense shows also the completeness or incompleteness of an act or condition at the time of speaking. There are three primary tenses: present, preterite (past), and future; and three secondary tenses for completed action:present perfect, past perfect (pluperfect), and future perfect.
English has only two simple tenses, the present and the preterite: I love, I loved. All other tenses are formed by the use of the auxiliary verbs. By combining the present and past tenses of will, shall, have, be, or do with those parts of the verb known as infinitives and participles, the various tenses of the complete conjugation of the verb are built up. The formation of the preterite tense, and the consequent division of verbs into strong and weak, will be discussed later.
+60. The Future Tense.+—The future tense is formed by combining shall or will with the root infinitive, without to.
The correct form of the future tense in assertions is here given:—