Chapter L: The Indicative Mode

=190.= Each of the six verb forms that we have been studying,—I _eat_, I _ate_, I _shall eat_, I _have eaten_, I _had eaten_, I _shall have eaten_,—is used in the statement of a fact, and is said to be in the =indicative mode=.

Mode is that property of a verb which denotes the manner of an assertion.

The indicative mode is used in the statement of a fact.

=191.= In some tenses there is a slight difference between the singular and the plural form of a verb, hence verbs are said to have the property of =number=. We should always use the verb form that agrees with the number of the subject. In the present tense, for example, we say in the singular, “The man _goes_;” and in the plural, “The men _go_.”

=192.= In some tenses there is a slight difference in the form of the verb to denote person, hence verbs are said to have the property of =person=. In the present perfect tense, we say in the first person, “I _have_ gone;” and in the third person, “He _has_ gone.”

=193.= When we give all the forms of a verb in the three persons and the two numbers of each tense, we are said to =conjugate= the verb.

=194.= Conjugation of the verb _be_ in the indicative mode:—

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_ _Singular_ _Plural_

I am we are I was we were
thou art you are thou wast you were
he is they are he was they were

FUTURE TENSE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_ _Singular_ _Plural_

I shall be we shall be I have been we have been
thou wilt be you will be thou hast been you have been
he will be they will be he has been they have been

PAST PERFECT TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_

I had been we had been
thou hadst been you had been
he had been they had been

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_

I shall have been we shall have been
thou wilt have been you will have been
he will have been they will have been

=195.= Conjugation of _see_ in the indicative mode:—

PRESENT TENSE PAST TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_ _Singular_ _Plural_

I see we see I saw we saw
thou seest you see thou sawest you saw
he sees they see he saw they saw

FUTURE TENSE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_ _Singular_ _Plural_

I shall see we shall see I have seen we have seen
thou wilt see you will see thou hast seen you have seen
he will see they will see he has seen they have seen

PAST PERFECT TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_

I had seen we had seen
thou hadst seen you had seen
he had seen they had seen

FUTURE PERFECT TENSE

_Singular_ _Plural_

I shall have seen we shall have seen
thou wilt have seen you will have seen
he will have seen they will have seen

=Exercise.=—Conjugate the verbs in Exercise 2, p. 126, in the six tenses of the Indicative Mode.