How to Speak and Write Correctly by Joseph Devlin (short books for teens txt) 📕

Which

 

Who, which and what when used to ask questions are called Interrogative Pronouns.

Adjective Pronouns partake of the nature of adjectives and pronouns and are subdivided as follows:

Demonstrative Adjective Pronouns which directly point out the person or object. They are this, that with their plurals these, those, and yon, same and selfsame.

Distributive Adjective Pronouns used distributively. They are each, every, either, neither.

Indefinite Adjective Pronouns used more or less indefinitely. They are any, all, few, some, several, one, other, another, none.

Possessive Adjective Pronouns denoting possession. They are my, thy, his, her, its, our, your, their.

N. B.—(The possessive adjective pronouns differ from the possessive case of the personal pronouns in that the latter can stand alone while the former cannot. “Who owns that book?” “It is mine.” You cannot say “it is my,”—the word book must be repeated.)

 

THE VERB

A verb is a word which implies action or the doing of something, or it may be defined as a word which affirms, commands or asks a question.

Thus, the words John the table, contain no assertion, but when the word strikes is introduced, something is affirmed, hence the word strikes is a verb and gives completeness and meaning to the group.

The simple form of the verb without inflection is called the root of the verb; e. g. love is the root of the verb,—“To Love.”

Verbs are regular or irregular, transitive or intransitive.

A verb is said to be regular when it forms the past tense by adding ed to the present or d if the verb ends in e. When its past tense does not end in ed it is said to be irregular.

A transitive verb is one the action of which passes over to or affects some object; as “I struck the table.” Here the action of striking affected the object table, hence struck is a transitive verb.

An intransitive verb is one in which the action remains with the subject; as “I walk,” “I sit,” “I run.”

Many intransitive verbs, however, can be used transitively; thus, “I walk the horse;” walk is here transitive.

Verbs are inflected by number, person, tense and mood.

Number and person as applied to the verb really belong to the subject; they are used with the verb to denote whether the assertion is made regarding one or more than one and whether it is made in reference to the person speaking, the person spoken to or the person or thing spoken about.

 

TENSE

In their tenses verbs follow the divisions of time. They have present tense, past tense and future tense with their variations to express the exact time of action as to an event happening, having happened or yet to happen.

 

MOOD

There are four simple moods,—the Infinitive, the Indicative, the Imperative and the Subjunctive.

The Mood of a verb denotes the mode or manner in which it is used. Thus if it is used in its widest sense without reference to person or number, time or place, it is in the Infinitive Mood; as “To run.” Here we are not told who does the running, when it is done, where it is done or anything about it.

When a verb is used to indicate or declare or ask a simple question or make any direct statement, it is in the Indicative Mood. “The boy loves his book.” Here a direct statement is made concerning the boy. “Have you a pin?” Here a simple question is asked which calls for an answer.

When the verb is used to express a command or entreaty it is in the Imperative Mood as, “Go away.” “Give me a penny.”

When the verb is used to express doubt, supposition or uncertainty or when some future action depends upon a contingency, it is in the subjunctive mood; as, “If I come, he shall remain.”

Many grammarians include a fifth mood called the potential to express power, possibility, liberty, necessity, will or duty. It is formed by means of the auxiliaries may, can, ought and must, but in all cases it can be resolved into the indicative or subjunctive. Thus, in “I may write if I choose,” “may write” is by some classified as in the potential mood, but in reality the phrase I may write is an indicative one while the second clause, if I choose, is the expression of a condition upon which, not my liberty to write, depends, but my actual writing.

Verbs have two participles, the present or imperfect, sometimes called the active ending in ing and the past or perfect, often called the passive, ending in ed or d.

The infinitive expresses the sense of the verb in a substantive form, the participles in an adjective form; as “To rise early is healthful.” “An early rising man.” “The newly risen sun.”

The participle in ing is frequently used as a substantive and consequently is equivalent to an infinitive; thus, “To rise early is healthful” and “Rising early is healthful” are the same.

The principal parts of a verb are the Present Indicative, Past Indicative and Past Participle; as:

Love Loved Loved

Sometimes one or more of these parts are wanting, and then the verb is said to be defective.

 

Present Past Passive Participle

Can Could (Wanting) May Might ” Shall Should ” Will Would ” Ought Ought “

 

Verbs may also be divided into principal and auxiliary. A principal verb is that without which a sentence or clause can contain no assertion or affirmation. An auxiliary is a verb joined to the root or participles of a principal verb to express time and manner with greater precision than can be done by the tenses and moods in their simple form. Thus, the sentence, “I am writing an exercise; when I shall have finished it I shall read it to the class.” has no meaning without the principal verbs writing, finished read; but the meaning is rendered more definite, especially with regard to time, by the auxiliary verbs am, have, shall.

There are nine auxiliary or helping verbs, viz., Be, have, do, shall, will, may, can, ought, and must. They are called helping verbs, because it is by their aid the compound tenses are formed.

 

TO BE

The verb To Be is the most important of the auxiliary verbs. It has eleven parts, viz., am, art, is, are, was, wast, were, wert; be, being and been.

 

VOICE

The active voice is that form of the verb which shows the Subject not being acted upon but acting; as, “The cat catches mice.” “Charity covers a multitude of sins.”

The passive voice: When the action signified by a transitive verb is thrown back upon the agent, that is to say, when the subject of the verb denotes the recipient of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice. “John was loved by his neighbors.” Here John the subject is also the object affected by the loving, the action of the verb is thrown back on him, hence the compound verb was loved is said to be in the passive voice. The passive voice is formed by putting the perfect participle of any transitive verb with any of the eleven parts of the verb To Be.

 

CONJUGATION

The conjugation of a verb is its orderly arrangement in voices, moods, tenses, persons and numbers.

Here is the complete conjugation of the verb “Love”—_Active Voice_.

 

PRINCIPAL PARTS

Present Past Past Participle Love Loved Loved

 

Infinitive Mood

To Love

 

Indicative Mood PRESENT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I love We love 2nd person You love You love 3rd person He loves They love

 

PAST TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I loved We loved 2nd person You loved You loved 3rd person He loved They loved

 

FUTURE TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I shall love They will love 2nd person You will love You will love 3rd person He will love We shall love

 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I have loved We have loved 2nd person You have loved You have loved 3rd person He has loved They have loved

 

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I had loved We had loved 2nd person You had loved You had loved 3rd person He had loved They had loved

 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I shall have loved We shall have loved 2nd person You will have loved You will have loved 3rd person He will have loved They will have loved

 

Imperative Mood (PRESENT TENSE ONLY)

Sing. Plural 2nd person Love (you) Love (you)

 

Subjunctive Mood PRESENT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person If I love If we love 2nd person If you love If you love 3rd person If he love If they love

 

PAST TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person If I loved If we loved 2nd person If you loved If you loved 3rd person If he loved If they loved

 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person If I have loved If we have loved 2nd person If you have loved If you have loved 3rd person If he has loved If they have loved

 

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person If I had loved If we had loved 2nd person If you had loved If you had loved 3rd person If he had loved If they had loved

 

INFINITIVES

Present Perfect To love To have loved

 

PARTICIPLES

Present Past Perfect Loving Loved Having loved

 

CONJUGATION OF “To Love” Passive Voice Indicative Mood

PRESENT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I am loved We are loved 2nd person You are loved You are loved 3rd person He is loved They are loved

 

PAST TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I was loved We were loved 2nd person You were loved You were loved 3rd person He was loved They were loved

 

FUTURE TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I shall be loved We shall be loved 2nd person You will be loved You will be loved 3rd person He will be loved They will be loved

 

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I have been loved We have been loved 2nd person You have been loved You have been loved 3rd person He has been loved They have been loved

 

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I had been loved We had been loved 2nd person You had been loved You had been loved 3rd person He had been loved They had been loved

 

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person I shall have been loved We shall have been loved 2nd person You will have been loved You will have been loved 3rd person He will have been loved They will have been loved

 

Imperative Mood (PRESENT TENSE ONLY)

Sing. Plural 2nd person Be (you) loved Be (you) loved

 

Subjunctive Mood PRESENT TENSE

Sing. Plural 1st person If I be loved If we be loved 2nd person If you be loved If you be loved 3rd person If he be loved If they be loved

 

PAST TENSE