Chapter 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. _Sing_. I might, thou mightst, he might. Tense. _Plur_. We might, ye _or_ you might, they might.

CAN. Pres. _Sing_. I can, thou canst, he can. Tense. _Plur_. We can, ye _or_ you can, they can.

Imperf. _Sing_. I could, thou couldst, he could. Tense. _Plur_. We could, ye _or_ you could, they could.

WILL. Pres. _Sing_. I will, thou wilt, he will. Tense. _Plur_. We will, ye _or_ you will, they will.

Imperf. _Sing_. I would, thou wouldst, he would. Tense. _Plur_. We would, ye _or_ you would, they would.

SHALL. Pres. _Sing_. I shall, thou shalt, he shall. Tense. _Plur_. We shall, ye _or_ you shall, they shall.

Imperf. _Sing_. I should, thou shouldst, he should. Tense. _Plur_. We should, ye _or_ you should, they should.

TO DO. Pres. _Sing_. I do, thou dost _or_ doest, he doth _or_ does. Tense. _Plur_. We do, ye _or_ you do, they do.

Imperf. _Sing_. I did, thou didst, he did. Tense. _Plur_. We did, ye _or_ you did, they did. _Participles_. Pres. doing. Perf. done.

TO BE. Pres. _Sing_. I am, thou art, he is. Tense. _Plur_. We are, ye _or_ you are, they are.

Imperf. _Sing_. I was, thou wast, he was. Tense. _Plur_. We were, ye _or_ you were, they were. _Participles_. Pres. being. Perf. been.

TO HAVE. Pres. _Sing_. I have, thou hast, he hath _or_ has. Tense. _Plur_. We have, ye _or_ you have, they have.

Imperf. _Sing_. I had, thou hadst, he had. Tense. _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.

* * * * *