Exercise 102 — Tense
The tense of the verb indicates the time of the action. There are three primary tenses, indicating action in the present, the past, and the future. Each of these tenses has also a perfect tense, which, represents the action as being perfect or complete in the present, the past, and the future.
The present tense is the simplest form. It denotes that the action takes place now; as,
| I write | We write |
| You write | You write |
| He writes | They write |
To be more exact, we may indicate that the action is continuing in the present time, and then we say,
| I am writing | We are writing |
| You are writing | You are writing |
| He is writing | They are writing |
This is called the present progressive tense.
It may be that you wish to be emphatic, and you say,
| I do write | We do write |
| You do write | You do write |
| He does write | They do write |
This is called the emphatic present tense.
The past tense indicates that the action took place in past time; as,
| I wrote | We wrote |
| You wrote | You wrote |
| He wrote | They wrote |
or, the past progressive; as,
| I was writing | We were writing |
| You were writing | You were writing |
| He was writing | They were writing |
or, the past emphatic; as,
| I did write | We did write |
| You did write | You did write |
| He did write | They did write |
The emphatic form is used only in the present and the past tenses.
The future tense denotes that the action will take place at some future time. It is formed by using shall or will with the simplest form of the verb; as,
| I shall write | We shall write |
| You will write | You will write |
| He will write | They will write |
The progressive form is not common. It is
| I shall be writing | We shall be writing |
| You will be writing | You will be writing |
| He will be writing | They will be writing |
The three perfect tenses are formed by using the verb have with the perfect participle of the verb.
The present perfect tense denotes that the action is complete at the present time. It is formed by the present tense of have and the perfect participle of the verb; as,
| I have written | We have written |
| You have written | You have written |
| He has written | They have written |
The progressive form is,
| I have been writing | We have been writing |
| You have been writing | You have been writing |
| He has been writing | They have been writing |
The past perfect denotes that the action was completed in past time. It is formed by using the past tense of have and the perfect participle of the verb; as,
| I had written | We had written |
| You had written | You had written |
| He had written | They had written |
The progressive form is,
| I had been writing | We had been writing |
| You had been writing | You had been writing |
| He had been writing | They had been writing |
The future perfect tense denotes that the action will be completed at some future time. It is formed by the future of have and the perfect participle of the verb; as,
| I shall have written | We shall have written |
| You will have written | You will have written |
| He will have written | They will have written |
The progressive form is rarely used. It is
| I shall have been writing | We shall have been writing |
| You will have been writing | You will have been writing |
| He will have been writing | They will have been writing |
Giving all forms singular and plural, first, second, and third persons of each tense constitutes the conjugation of a verb. Giving one person in each tense constitutes the synopsis of the conjugation.
The following is a synopsis of all the tenses of the active voice in the first person singular number of the verb write:
Active Voice
| Tense | Primary | Present | I write (simple form) | |||
| I am writing (progressive form) | ||||||
| I do write (emphatic form) | ||||||
| Past | I wrote (simple) | |||||
| I was writing (progressive) | ||||||
| I did write (emphatic) | ||||||
| Future | I shall write (simple) | |||||
| I shall be writing (progressive) | ||||||
| Perfect or Secondary | Present Perfect | I have written (simple) | ||||
| I have been writing (progressive) | ||||||
| Past Perfect | I had written (simple) | |||||
| I had been writing (progressive) | ||||||
| Future Perfect | I shall have written (simple) | |||||
| I shall have been writing (progressive) |
Exercise 103
Conjugate the following in the active voice:
1. Simple past tense of walk.
2. Present progressive tense of walk.
3. Present perfect of drive. (See Exercise 108 for the principal parts.)
4. Present perfect progressive of drive.
5. Future progressive of ride.
6. Past of ride.
7. Present progressive of ride.
8. Past emphatic of ride.
9. Past perfect of ride.
10. Present perfect progressive of ride.
Give a synopsis of the progressive tenses of begin, using he as the subject.
Exercise 104—Shall and Will
The auxiliary verbs used to form the future tenses are shall and will. The two must be carefully distinguished because they denote different ideas, according to the person with which they are used. The rule is, to express simple future time, use shall in the first person, will in the second and third persons.
The future tense of the verb walk is conjugated as follows:
| I shall walk | We shall walk |
| You will walk | You will walk |
| He will walk | They will walk |
This is the form to use when you expect the action to take place naturally.
On the other hand, instead of letting things take their natural course as they do in the simple future, you may force them to take place. You may, for example, be determined to walk, or determined to make some one else walk. In that case the use is reversed; as,
| I will walk | We will walk |
| You shall walk | You shall walk |
| He shall walk | They shall walk |
This form is used whenever the speaker has authority to bring about the action indicated by the verb.
In questions of the first person always use shall. In questions of the second and third persons use the same form that you expect in the answer; as,
Shall you be at home to-morrow? I shall.
In the following sentences insert shall or will, giving the reason for your choice:
1. I —— finish the work by three o’clock, I think.
2. To-morrow he —— feel sorry for this; I vow it.
3. I am sorry, but I —— not be able to finish the work before next week.
4. —— you finish your business course in February or in June? I —— finish in June, I think.
5. —— he finish in February? No, he —— finish in June.
6. The foreman declares he —— not have another chance.
7. He —— see his mistake when it is too late.
8. They —— surely be at the station to meet me.
9. I’m afraid you —— be kicked if you go near that horse.
10. If he doesn’t take the examination, he —— fail.
11. I am determined that I —— win.
12. I —— sail probably on the fifteenth.
13. He —— be twenty-one to-morrow.
14. I —— go in spite of him.
15. —— you go by train, do you think?
16. I —— be greatly obliged if you —— send the book at once.
17. I promise you John —— know his lesson to-morrow.
18. —— you be at home this evening?
19. —— the train be on time?
20. —— the store be open this evening?
Conjugate the future and future perfect tenses of the following verbs:
| drive | see | go | run | sweep |
| ride | choose | sing | eat | sell |
Exercise 105—Should and Would
Should and would are the past tenses of shall and will and, in general, express the same ideas as do shall and will, except that should sometimes means ought; as,
You should not speak in that way.
Would, also, sometimes indicates an action that occurs frequently; as,
She would often sit at the window all the morning.
The use of should and would in indirect statements and questions is sometimes puzzling. First of all, decide whether shall or will would be used in the direct form of the sentence. If the direct form uses shall, use should in the indirect; if the direct uses will, use would in the indirect; as,
Direct: The market will improve.
Indirect: He said that the market would improve.
In conditional clauses (if), use should for all persons.
Insert should or would.
1. If I knew his address, I —— send him a telegram.
2. He promised that he —— not make the mistake again. (The direct form would read, I will not —— )
3. I promised that I —— not make the mistake again.
4. You promised that you —— not make the mistake again.
5. Do you think that I —— go?
6. I —— if I were you.
7. I —— think he —— know better than to apply for that position.
8. John said that, no matter what we thought, he —— not go.
9. If you —— decide to accept the offer, let me know at once.
10. I am sorry he did that. He —— not, of course.
11. If I —— see him, I’d let him know.
12. If he —— come during my absence, ask him to wait.
13. I —— think you would be more careful.
14. Let me know if you —— not be able to come.
Exercise 106
Change the italicized verbs to past tense, future, present perfect, past perfect, future perfect. Wherever necessary, add sufficient to make the meaning of the tense clear; as,
Present: The manager is now in his office.
Past: The manager was in his office a few minutes ago.
Future: The manager will be in his office to-morrow at ten o’clock.
Present Perfect: The manager has been in his office all the morning. (It is still morning.)
Past Perfect: The manager had been in his office only a few moments when the president arrived.
Future Perfect: In about five minutes the manager will have been in the president’s office exactly three hours.
1. The cashier opens the safe in the morning.
2. The mechanic earns good wages.
3. The buyer leaves to-night.
4. The bookkeeper makes out the statements.
5. The correspondent writes the booklets.
6. The advertising manager approves the copy.
7. The adding machine is broken.
8. The chief clerk attends to the incoming mail.
9. The superintendent visits the factory every day.
10. The salesman is selling five thousand dollars’ worth of goods a week.