Practical Exercises in English

by Huber Gray Buehler

1. I —— be drowned; nobody —— help me.
2. You —— have a wet day for your journey.
3. He says he —— not be able to come.
4. We —— not soon forget this picnic.
5. He —— repent of his folly when it is too late.
6. We —— be pleased to have you call.
7. The gathering —— be informal; therefore I —— not need my dress suit
8. We —— have occasion to test the wires to-night.
9. I —— be obliged to you for your autograph.
10. He —— be obliged to you.
11. The managers have agreed that the race —— be rowed again.
12. Do you think we —— have rain?
13. If the fire is not put out soon, we —— have the whole town to rebuild.
14. Do not fear; we —— be all right.
15. A prize is offered to whoever —— guess this conundrum.
16. We —— find ourselves much mistaken.
17. The time is coming when we —— have to go elsewhere for lumber.
18. Are you not afraid that you —— miss the train?
19. Yes, I fear that I —— miss the train.
20. He is afraid that he —— miss the train.
21. They say I —— find picture-galleries in every city.
22. Think what a happy life we —— live.
23. If you will call for me, I —— be glad to go with you.
24. I —— be sixteen in May.
25. John thinks he —— be sick to-morrow.
26. He says James —— be sick to-morrow.
27. Howard thinks he —— probably live to old age.
28. Howard thinks his brother —— probably live to old age.
29. He tells me that he—be ten next month.
30. We —— be all right if Congress will (shall) adjourn without tampering with the tariff.
31. If we examine the falling snow, we —— find that each flake consists of particles of ice.
32. He has resolved that he —— not answer the letter.
33. She has resolved that her daughter —— not answer his letter.
34. I —— feel greatly obliged if you —— tell me.
35. When He—appear, we —— be like Him.
36. I hope we —— be in time to get good seats.
37. When —— I come to get my paper?
38. —— I put more coal on the fire?
39. —— you be sorry to leave Boston?
40. —— you be elected?
41. When —— we three meet again?
42. —— I fetch a chair for you?
43. —— you be surprised to hear it?
44. —— you do me the favor to reply by return mail?
45. —— we have time to get our tickets?
46. —— you have time to get your ticket?
47. —— he have time to get his ticket?
48. —— there be time to get our tickets?
49. —— you be at leisure after dinner?
50. —— I find you at home?
51. When —— we have peace?
52. —— he find gold there? —— we find any?
53. —— we hear a good lecture if we go?
54. If I fail on this examination,—— I be allowed to take it over again?

EXERCISE XLVI.

Insert the proper auxiliary (would, should) in each blank in the following sentences:—

1. I —— like to know who he is.
2. We —— prefer to go by boat from Rhinebeck.
3. He —— prefer to go by boat from Poughkeepsie.
4. He —— be sorry to miss his train.
5. I —— be sorry to lose this umbrella.
6. I —— feel hurt if he —— abuse my hospitality in that way.
7. Were I to go, I —— get tired.
8. He ought to have known that we —— be ruined.
9. I —— think he —— know they are fooling him.
10. The head-master decided that you —— be promoted.
11. Ralph said he —— (volition) not stay at the hotel if it were not better kept.
12. Though I —— die for it, yet —— I do it.
13. I was afraid she —— not come.
14. If I knew where she is, I —— write to her.
15. We —— have been paid, if the treasurer had been at home.
16. They —— have been paid, if the treasurer had been at home.
17. I said nothing lest she —— feel hurt.
18. I asked her whether she —— come again.
19. He promised that it —— not occur again.
20. If it —— rain, we would not start.
21. Queen Isabella offered a reward to the first man who —— discover land.
22. Cornelia was afraid that we —— miss the train.
23. I expected that they —— accept the proposal.
24. He said Miss Anderson —— not return to the stage.
25. Franklin resolved that Collins —— row. Collins said that he —— not row, but that Franklin —— row in his place.
26. At first I did not think I —— enjoy seeing the World's Fair.
27. What —— we do without our friends?
28. If he —— come to-day, would (should) you be ready?

Questions of Tense.[80]—The tense of a verb should correctly express the time referred to. Most errors in the use of tenses are violations of some one of the following principles, which are established by good usage:—

1. Principal verbs referring to the same time should be in the same tense. 2. The perfect indicative >represents something as now completed—as begun in the past but continuing till the present, at least in its consequences: as, "I have lost my book" (so that now I do not have it); "This house has stood for ninety years" (it is still standing); "Bishop Brooks has died, but he has left us his example" (he is not now among us, but we have his example).
3. The tense of the verb in a dependent clause varies with the tense of the principal verb:[81] as,
I know he will come.
I knew he would come.
I have taken the first train, that I may arrive early.
I had taken the first train, that I might arrive early.
Blanche will be frightened if she sees the bat.
Blanche would be frightened if she saw the bat.
Blanche would have been frightened if she had seen the bat.

Present facts and unchangeable truths, however, should be expressed in the present tense, regardless of the tense of the principal verb: as, "What did you say his name is?"
4. The perfect infinitive is properly used to denote action which is completed at the time denoted by the principal verb: as, "I am glad to have seen Niagara Falls;" "He felt sorry to have hurt your feelings."

EXCEPTION.—Ought, must, need, and should (in the sense of "ought") have no distinctive form to denote past time; with these verbs present time is denoted by putting the complementary infinitive in the present tense, past time is denoted by putting the complementary infinitive in the perfect tense: as, "You ought to go," "You ought to have gone;" "He should be careful," "He should have been careful." A similar change from the present to the perfect infinitive is found after could and might in some of their uses: as, "I could go," "I could have gone;" "You might have answered."

[80] "Foundations," pp. 93-98.
[81] This is sometimes called the "Law of the Sequence of Tenses."

EXERCISE XLVII.