event; thus, "If he write," is equivalent to, "If he should write," or, "If he shall write."*

437. Uncertainty or contingency respecting a supposed present action or state, is expressed by the present indicative used subjunc tively as If he writes as well as he reads, he will succeed."

438. The Present-perfect subjunctive is only the same tense of the indicative, used subjunctively. Such expressions as 'If she have brought up children, etc. (1 Tim. v. 10), are now obsolete.

439. The Past subjunctive is used in two senses— 1. It is used to express a past action or state as conditional or contingent; as, "If he wrote that letter he deserves credit, and should be rewarded; "If he was at home, I did not know it."

2. It expresses a supposition with respect to something present, and implies a denial of the thing supposed; as, "If I had the money now, I would pay it," implying, I have it not. Used in this way, the verb "to be" (and of course the passive voice of transitive verbs) has a separate form in the singular, but not in the plural, viz., I were, thou wert, he were; for I was, thou wast, he was: thus, "If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight," implying, It is not of this world; "O that thou wert as my brother," implying, "thou art not.”

440. In this way, the Past subjunctive seems to be always used when the conjunctive term is omitted, and the verb or auxiliary is

* From this usage, this may properly be regarded as an elliptical form of the future, or of the past potential, in a future sense, the signs shall or should being omitted. The forms of the present subjunctive were formerly used in the indicative, both in declarative and conditional clauses, where the present usage would require the present indicative; thus, "Though the Lord be [is] high," etc.—Ps. cxxxviii. 6.—" If thou be [art] the Son of God.”—Matth. iv. 3, 6.— "That which thou sowest is not quickened except it die [dies]."1 Cor. xv. 36.-" Whether he be [is] a sinner or not, I know not.”John ix. 25, etc.

placed before its subject (390); as," Hadst thou been here, my brother had not [would not have (358)] died.”

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441. When a supposition, etc., respecting something past, is expressed in this way, the Past-perfect must be used; as, If I had had the money yesterday, I would have paid it," implying, I had it not; “O that thou hadst been as my brother,” implying "thou wast not.”

442. Though the past tense, used in this way, refers to a present act or state, yet, as it has the past form, it should, in parsing, be called the past tense.

TENSE OF THE IMPERATIVE MOOD.

443. The Imperative mood has only the present tense, and that has respect to the time of the command, exhortation, etc.

The doing of the thing commanded, must, of course, 1 subsequent to the command requiring it.

TENSES OF THE INFINITIVE MOOD.

444. The Infinitive mood has two tenses, the Present and the Perfect.*

These do not so properly denote the time of the action, etc., as its state (446 and 449); as, "To write "—“To have written."

445. In the other moods the time expressed by the tenses, is estimated from the time of speaking, which is always regarded as present; as, "I wrote " (that is, in a time now past), "I write" (that is, in time now present), “I shall write" (that is, in time now future). But the infinitive represents the action or state expressed as present, not, however, always at the time of speaking, but at the time indicated by the preceding verb, or some other word in the sentence; as, "He wishes to write "-now-to-morrow-next week, etc.; "He wished

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*The word present is omitted before perfect, in designating this tense in the infinitive and participles, because the reference in these is only to the state of the act, etc., and not particularly to the present time (455).

to write "-then (viz., at the time of wishing, now past)—next daythis day-to-morrow, etc.; "He will wish to write "-then (viz., a the time of wishing, now future)—next day, etc. Hence the following definitions:

446.-1st. The Present infinitive expresses an act or state as incomplete, or indefinite, or as taking place at a time indicated by some other word, or at any time referred to, expressed or implied; as, "I wish to write "_"I wished to go". -"Apt to teach."

447. The sign of the present infinitive is, to (549).

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448. After the verb to be, the present infinitive is sometimes used to express a future action or event; as, "He is to go;" .""If he were to go,” etc. (876–3).

449.-2d. The Perfect infinitive expresses an act or state as perfect or finished, at any time referred to, expressed or implied; as, "He is said to have written". already—yesterday—a year ago, etc.

450. The sign of the perfect infinitíve is, to have.

451. In the use of the infinitive it is necessary to observe, that the Present must never be used in circumstances which imply a finished act; nor the Perfect in circumstances which imply an act not finished. Thus, it is improper to say, " He is said to write yesterday," because the language leads to regard the act as finished, since it took place in past time. It should be, “To have written yesterday" (921). Nor can we say, "I hoped-I desired-I intended, etc.—to have written yesterday," because an act regarded as perfect or finished, the doing of which, of course, is past, can not be the object of hope, desire, intention, etc. We should say, "I hoped to write yesterday" (920).

PARTICIPIAL MOOD OR PARTICIPLES.

452. The Participial mood or participle, expresses the action or state of the verb, not assertively, but attributively. It has also the character of the adjective, and as such qualifies its subject : "The man came seeing"" Having finished our task, we may play." See 494, 507.

453. Participles are so called, because they belong partly to the erb, and partly to the adjective. From the former, they have.signifi cution, voice, and tense; and they perform the office of the latter.

454. Verbs have three participles-the present, the past, and the perfect; as, loving, loved, having loved, in the active voice; and being loved, loved, having been loved, in the passive. See 494, 507.

455. The participles, taken by themselves, like the infinitive, do not so properly denote the time of an action, as its state; while the time of the act, whether progressive or finished, is indicated by the verb with which it is connected, or by some other word; thus, "I saw him writing yesterday;" "I see him writing now;" "I will see him writing to-morrow." In all these examples, writing expresses an act present, and still in progress at the time referred to; but with respect to the time of speaking, the act of writing, expressed in the first example, is past; in the second, it is present; and in the third, it is future, as indicated by the accompanying verbs, saw, see, will see. 456. The Present participle active ends always in ing. In all verbs it has an active signification, and denotes an action or state as continuing and progressive; as, "James is building a house." In some verbs, it has also a passive progressive signification; as, "The house is building." Appendix IX.

457. This passive usage, some suppose, has its origin in the use of the verbal noun after in, to express the same idea; thus, "Forty and six years was this temple in building" "And the house when it was in building was built of stone made ready-so that there was neither hammer nor axe heard in the house, while it was in building." In the absence of emphasis, the in being indistinctly uttered, came to be spoken, and consequently to be written, a; as, “While the ark was a preparing” (1 Pet. iii. 20), and finally to be omitted altogether. Similar changes of prepositions we have in the expressions, a going, a running, a hunting, a fishing, etc. Others, again, suppose that this ought to be regarded as an original idiom of the language,

similar to the passive use of the infinitive active noticed before (396). But whether either of these is the true account of this matter or not, the fact is certain. It is therefore the duty of the grammarian to note the fact, though he may be unable to account for it. The following are examples: "This new tragedy was acting."-E. Everett. "An attempt was making."-D. Webster. "The fortress was building," etc.-Irving.

458. The Present participle passive has always a passive signification, but it has the same difference of meaning with respect to the time or state of the action as the present indicative passive (509).

459. The Past Participle denotes an action or state as completed.

It has the same form in both voices. In the active voice, it belongs equally to transitive and intransitive verbs-has always an active sense-forms, with the auxiliaries, the Present-perfect and Past-perfect tenses-and is never found but thus combined; as, has loved," had loved," etc. In the passive voice it has always a passive sense, and, with the verb to be as an auxiliary forms the passive voice; as, “He is loved," or without it, qualifies a noun or pronoun; as, A man loved by all, hated by none." The difference between the active and the passive participle will be seen in the following examples, viz.: ACTIVE: "He has concealed a dagger under his cloak; PASSIVE: He has a dagger concealed under his cloak.

460. The Perfect participle is always compound (477), and represents an action or state as completed at the time referred to.

It has always an active sense in the active voice, and a passive sense in the passive; as, ACTIVE: Having finished our task, we may play. PASSIVE: Our task having been finished, we may play."

461. The Present participle active, and the past participle passive, when separated from the idea of time, become adjectives, and are usually called participial adjectives; as, "An amusing story”—“ A bound book” (206–iv).