OF THE AUXILIARY, PASSIVE, AND DEFECTIVE VERBS.
I. AUXILIARY VERBS.
Before you attend to the following additional remarks on the Auxiliary Verbs, you will do well to read again what is said respecting them in Lecture XI. page 140. The short account there given, and their application in conjugating verbs, have already made them quite familiar to you; and you have undoubtedly observed, that, without their help, we cannot conjugate any verb in any of the tenses, except the present and imperfect of the indicative and subjunctive moods, and the present of the imperative and infinitive. In the formation of all the other tenses, they are brought into requisition.
Most of the auxiliary verbs are defective in conjugation; that is, they are used only in some of the moods and tenses; and when unconnected with principal verbs, they are conjugated in the following manner:
MAY.
| Pres. Tense | Sing. | I may, thou mayst, he may. |
| Plur. | We may, ye or you may, they may. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I might, thou mightst, he might. |
| Plur. | We might, ye or you might, they might. |
CAN.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I can, thou canst, he can. |
| Plur. | We can, ye or you can, they can. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I could, thou couldst, he could. |
| Plur. | We could, ye or you could, they could. |
WILL.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I will, thou wilt, he will. |
| Plur. | We will, ye or you will, they will. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I would, thou wouldst, he would. |
| Plur. | We would, ye or you would, they would. |
SHALL.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I shall, thou shalt, he shall. |
| Plur. | We shall, ye or you shall, they shall. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I should, thou shouldst, he should. |
| Plur. | We should, ye or you should, they should. |
TO DO.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I do, thou dost or doest, he doth or does. |
| Plur. | We do, ye or you do, they do. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I did, thou didst, he did. |
| Plur. | We did, ye or you did, they did. |
| Participles. | Pres. doing. | Perf. done. |
TO BE.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I am, thou art, he is. |
| Plur. | We are, ye or you are, they are. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I was, thou wast, he was. |
| Plur. | We were, ye or you were, they were. |
| Participles. | Pres. being. | Perf. been. |
TO HAVE.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I have, thou hast, he hath or has. |
| Plur. | We have, ye or you have, they have. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I had, thou hadst, he had. |
| Plur. | We had, ye or you had, they had. |
| Participles. | Pres. having. | Perf. had. |
Do, be, have, and will, are sometimes used as principal verbs; and when employed as such, do, be, and have, may be conjugated, by the help of other auxiliaries, through all the moods and tenses.
DO. The different tenses of do, in the several moods, are thus formed: Indicative mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I do; imperfect tense, I did; perf. I have done; pluperfect, I had done; first future, I shall or will do; sec. fut. I shall have done. Subjunctive mood, pres. tense, If I do; imperf. if I did; and so on. Imperative mood, do thou. Potential, pres. I may, can, or must do, &c. Infinitive, present, to do; perf. to have done. Participles, pres. doing; perf. done; compound, having done.
HAVE. Have is in great demand. No verb can be conjugated through all the moods and tenses without it. Have, when used as a principal verb, is doubled in some of the past tenses, and becomes an auxiliary to itself; thus, Indic. mood, pres. tense, first pers. sing. I have; imperf. tense, I had; perf. I have had; pluperf. I had had; first fut. I shall or will have; sec. fut. I shall have had. Subjunctive, present, if I have; imperf. if I had; perf. if I have had; pluperf. if I had had; first fut. if I shall or will have; sec. fut. if I shall have had. Imper. mood, have thou. Potential, present, I may, can, or must have; imperf. I might, could, would, or should have; perf. I may, can, or must have had; pluperf. I might, could, would, or should have had. Infinitive, present, to have; perf. to have had. Participles, pres. having; perf. had; compound, having had.
BE. In the next place I will present to you the conjugation of the irregular, neuter verb, Be, which is an auxiliary whenever it is placed before the perfect participle of another verb, but in every other situation, it is a principal verb.
TO BE.—INDICATIVE MOOD.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | I am, thou art, he, she, or it is. |
| Plur. | We are, ye or you are, they are. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I was, thou wast, he was. |
| Plur. | We were, ye or you were, they were. |
| Perf. Tense. | Sing. | I have been, thou hast been, he hath or has been. |
| Plur. | We have been, ye or you have been, they have been. |
| Plup. Tense. | Sing. | I had been, thou hadst been, he had been. |
| Plur. | We had been, ye or you had been, they had been. |
| First Fut. T. | Sing. | I shall or will be, thou shalt or wilt be, he shall or will be. |
| Plur. | We shall or will be, you shall or will be, they shall or will be. |
| Second Fut. T. | Sing. | I shall have been, thou wilt have been, he will have been. |
| Plur. | We shall have been, you will have been, they will have been. |
SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | If I be, if thou be, if he be. |
| Plur. | If we be, if ye or you be, if they be. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | If I were, if thou wert, if he were. |
| Plur. | If we were, if ye or you were, if they were. |
The neuter verb to be, and all passive verbs, have two forms in the imperfect tense of this mood, as well as in the present; therefore, the following rule may serve to direct you in the proper use of each form. When the sentence implies doubt, supposition, &c. and the neuter verb be, or the passive verb, is used with a reference to present or future time, and is either followed or preceded by another verb in the imperfect of the potential mood, the conjunctive form of the imperfect tense must be employed; as, "If he were here, we should rejoice together;" "She might go, were she so disposed." But when there is no reference to present or future time, and the verb is neither followed nor preceded by another in the potential imperfect, the indicative form of the imperfect tense must be used; as, "If he was ill, he did not make it known;" "Whether he was absent or present, is a matter of no consequence." The general rule for using the conjunctive form of the verb, is presented on page 145. See, also, page 135.
The perfect, pluperfect, and first future tenses of the subjunctive mood, are conjugated in a manner similar to the correspondent tenses of the indicative. The second future is conjugated thus:
Second Fut. T.
| Sing. | If I shall have been, if thou shalt have been, if he shall. &c |
| Plur. | If we shall have been, if you shall have been, if they, &c. |
IMPERATIVE MOOD.
| Pres. Tense. | Sing. | Be, or be thou, or do thou be. |
| Plur. | Be, or be ye or you, or do ye or you be. |
POTENTIAL MOOD.
| Pres. Tense | Sing. | I may, can, or must be, thou mayst, canst, or must be, he may, can, or must be. |
| Plur. | We may, can, or must be, ye or you may, can, or must be, they may, can, or must be. |
| Imperf. Tense. | Sing. | I might, could, would, or should be, thou mightest, &c. |
| Plur. | We might, could, would, or should be, you might, &c. |
| Perf. Tense | Sing. | I may, can, or must have been, thou mayst, canst, &c. |
| Plur. | We may, can, or must have been, you may, can, or must be, &c. |
| Pluper. Tense. | Sing. | I might, could, would, or should have been, thou, &c. |
| Plur. | We might, could, would, or should have been, you, &c. |
INFINITIVE MOOD.
| Pres. Tense. | To be. | Perf. Tense. | To have been. |
PARTICIPLES.
| Pres. | Being. | Perf. | Been. | Compound. | Having been. |
This verb to be, though very irregular in its conjugation, is by far the most important verb in our language, for it is more frequently used than any other; many rules of syntax depend on constructions associated with it, and, without its aid, no passive verb can be conjugated. You ought, therefore, to make yourself perfectly familiar with all its changes, before you proceed any farther.