us, appears to confirm and establish our position. See pages 78-80. 102-104. 108-111. 201-203. We shall close these remarks on the tenses, with a few observations extracted from the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. They are worth the student's attention, as a part of them applies, not only to our views of the tenses, but to many other parts of the work." Harris (by way of hypothesis] has enumerated no fewer than twelve tenses. Of this enumeration we can by no means approve: for, without entering into a minute examination of it, nothing can be more obvious, than that his inceptive present, "I am going to write," is a future tense; and his completive present, "I have written," a past tense. But, as was before observed of the classification of words, we cannot help being of opinion, that, to take the tenses as they are commonly received, and endeavour to ascertain their nature and their differences, is a much more useful exercise, as well as more proper for a work of this kind, than to raise, as might easily be raised, new theories on the subject." * SECTION 6. The Conjugation of the auxiliary verbs TO HAVE and TO BE. THE Conjugation of a verb, is the regular combination and arrangement of its several numbers, persons, moods, and tenses. The Conjugation of an active verb is styled the ACTIVE VOICE; and that of a passive verb, the PASSIVE VOICE. The auxiliary and active verb TO HAVE, is conjugated in the following manner. The following criticism affords an additional support to the author's system of the tenses, &c. "Under the head of Etymology, the author of this grammar judiciously adheres to the natural simplicity of the English language, without embarrassing the learner with distinctions peculiar to the Latin tongue. The difficult subject of the Tenses, is clearly explained; and with less encumbrance of technical phraseology, than in most other grammars." Analytical Review, The terms which we have adopted, to designate the three past tenses, may not be exactly significant of their nature and distinctions. But as they are used by grammarians in general, and have an established authority; and, especially, as the meaning attached to each of them, and their different significations, have been carefully explained; we presume that no solid objection can be made to the use of terms so generally approved, and so explicitly defined. See pages 86 and 88. We are supported in these sentiments, by the authority of Dr. Johnson, See the first note in his "Grammar of the English Tongue," prefixed to his dictionary.-If, however, any teachers should think it warrantable to change the established names, they cannot perhaps find any more appropriate, than the terms first preterit, second preterit, and third preterit. See the Octavo Grammar, pages 65, 66, 121, 122, 124, of the third edition. 2. Have, or have thou, or 2. Have, or have ye, or do do thou have. 3. Let him have. ye or you have. 3. Let them have*. The imperative mood is not strictly entitled to three persons. The command is always addressed to the second person, not to the first or third. For when we say, " Let me have," "Let him, or let them have," the meaning and construction are, do thou, or do ye, let me, him, or them have. In philosophical strictness, both number and person might be entirely excluded from every verb. They are, in fact, the properties of substantives, not a part of the essence of a verb. Even the name of the imperative mood, does not always correspond to its nature: for it sometimes petitions as well as commands. But, with respect to all these points, the practice of our grammarians is so uniformly fixed, and so analogous to the languages, ancient and modern, which our youth have to study, that it would be an unwarrantable degree of innovation, to deviate from the established terms and arrangements. See the advertisement at the end of the Introduction, page 8; and the quotation from the Encyclop. Britannica, page 86. Potential Mood. SINGULAR. PRESENT TENSE. 1. I may or can have. PLURAL. 1. We may or can have. * If such sentences should be rigorously examined, the Imperative will appear to consist merely in the word let. See Parsing, p. 223. *Shall and will, when they denote inclination, resolution, promise, may be considered, as well as their relations should and would, as belonging to the potential mood. But as they generally signify futurity, they have been apprepriated, as helping verbs, to the formation of the future tenses of the indicative and subjunctive mbods. + Grammarians, in general, conjugate the present of the auxiliary, in this manner. But we presume that this is the form of the verb, considered as a principal, not as an auxiliary verb. See page 200. Note 5. The remaining tenses of the subjunctive mood, are, in every respect, similar to the correspondent tenses of the indicative mood *; with the addition to the verb, of a conjunction, expressed or implied, denoting a condition, motive, wish, supposition, &c. It will be proper to direct the learner to repeat all the tenses of this mood, with a conjunction prefixed to each of them. See, on this subject, the observations at page 103; and the notes on the nineteenth rule of syntax. COMPOUND PERFECT. Having had As the subjunctive mood, in English, has no variation, in the form of the verb, from the indicative, (except in the present tense, and the second future tense, of verbs generally, and the present and imperfect tenses of the verb to be,) it would be superfluous to conjugate it in this work, through every tense. But all the other moods and tenses of the verbs, both in the active and passive voices, are conjugated at large, that the learners may have no doubts or misapprehensions respecting their particular forms. They to whom the subject of grammar is entirely new, and young persons especially, are much more readily and effectually instructed, by seeing the parts of a subject so essential as the verb, unfolded and spread before them, in all their varieties, than by being generally and cursorily informed of the manner in which they may be exhibited. The time employed by the scholars, in consequence of this display of the verbs, is of small moment, compared with the advantages which they will probably derive from the plan. It may not, however, be generally proper for young * Except that the second and third persons, singular and plural, of the second future tense, require the auxiliary shalt, shall, instead of wilt, will. Thus, "He will have completed the work by midsummer," is the indicative form: but the subjunctive is, "If he shall have completed the work by midsummer." |