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Sing. 1. I shall.
Plur. 1. We shall.

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2. Ye or you shall. 3. They shall.
Imperfect Tense.

Sing. 1. I should. 2. Thou shouldst. 3. He should.
Plur. 1. We should.2. Yeor you should.3. They should.

Sing. 1. I will.

Plur. 1. We will.

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2. Ye or you will. 3. They will.
Imperfect Tense

Sing. 1. I would. 2. Thou wouldst. 3. He would.
Plur. 1. We would. 2. Ye or you would.3. They would.

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Sing. 1. I may.

MAY.

Present Tense.

2. Thou mayst.

3. He may.

Plur. 1. We may. 2. Ye or you may. 3. They may.

Imperfect Tense.

Sing. 1. I might. 2. Thou mightst. 3. He might.
Plur. 1. We might.2. Ye or you might.3. They might.

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* Shall is here properly used in the present tense, having the same analogy to should that can has to could, may to might, and ayill to would.

Participles.

Present. Doing.

Perfect. Done.

The verbs have, he, will, and do, when they are uncon nected with a principal verb, expressed or understood, are not auxiliaries, but principal verbs: as, "We have enough;" "I am grateful" "He wills it to be so;" They do as they please." In this view, they also have their auxiliaries: as, “I shall have enough;" ‚»'« I will be

grateful," &c.

The peculiar force of the several auxiliaries will appear from the following account of them.

Do and did mark the action itself, or the time of it, with greater energy and positiveness: as, "I do speak truth;" "I did respect him;" "Here am I, for thou didst call me." They are of great use in negative sentences: as, “ I do not fear;" "I did not write." They are almost universally employed in asking questions: as, "Does he learn ""Did he not write?" They sometimes also supply the place of another verb, and make the repetition of it, in the same or a subsequent sentence, unnecessary: as, "You attend not to your studies as he does. ;" (i. e. as he attends, &c.) " I shall come if I can; but if I do not, please to excuse me ;" (i. e. if I come not.)

Let not only expresses permission, but entreating, exhorting, commanding: as, "Let us know the truth;" "Let me die the death of the righteous;" "Let not thy heart be too much elated with success;' ;""Let thy incli, nation submit to thy duty."

May and might express the possibility or liberty of doing athing can and could, the power: as, "It may rain ;' "I may write or read;"" He might have improved more than he has ;""He can write much better than he could last year."

Must is sometimes called in for a helper, and denotes necessity: as, We must speak the truth, whenever we do speak, and we must not prevaricate."

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Will, in the first person singular and plural, intimates resolation and promising; in the second and third person, only foretels: as, I will reward the good, and will punish the wicked;""We will remember benefits, and be grate ful;" "Thou wilt, or he will, repent of that folly " You, or they, will have a pleasant walk."

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Shall, on the contrary, in the first person, simply foretels; in the second and third persons, promises, commands, or threatens: as, "I shall go abroad;" "We shall dine at home;" "Thou shalt, or you shall, inherit the land;" Ye shall do justice, and love mercy;" "They shall account for their misconduct." The following passage is not translated according to the distinct and proper meanings of the words shall and will: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever;" it ought to be, "Will follow me," and "I shall dwell."

These observations respecting the import of the verbs will and shall, must be understood of explicative sentences; for when the sentence is interrogative, just the reverse, for the most part, takes place: thus, "I shall go; you will go;" express event only: but," will you go?" imports intention, and, "shall I go?" refers to the will of another. But, "He shall go," and "shall he go?" both imply will; expressing or referring to a command.

When the verb is put in the subjunctive mood, the meaning of these auxiliaries likewise undergoes some alteration; as the learners will readily perceive by a few examples: "If he shall proceed;"" If he will not desist ;" "Unless he shall acknowledge;" "If you shall consent;""If you will persist."

Would, primarily denotes inclination of will; and should obligation: but they both vary their import, and are often used to express simple event.

SECTION 8.-The Conjugation of regular Verbs.

ACTIVE.

/VERBS Active are called Regular, when they form their imperfect tense of the indicative mood, and their perfect participle, by adding to the verb, ed, or d only when the verb ends in e

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Imperfect.

as,

Present.
I favour.

I favoured.

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Perf. Particip.
Favoured.

Loved.

A Regular Active Verb is conjugated in the following manner.

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The remaining tenses of this mood, are, in every respect, similar to the correspóndent tenses of the indicative mood. See the following notes, and page 78.

Infinitive Mood.

Present. To love.

Perfect. To have loved..

Participles.

Present. Loving.

Perfect. Loved.

Compound Perfect. Having loved.

The active verb may be conjugated differently, by adding its present or active participle to the auxiliary verb to be, through all its moods and tenses: as, instead of, "I teach, thou teachest, he teaches," &c.; we may say, " I am teaching, thou art teaching, he is teaching," &c.; and instead of "I taught," &c. "I was teaching," &c. and so on through all the variations of the auxiliary. This mode of conjugation has, on particular occasions, a peculiar propriety; and contributes to the harmony and precision of the language. These forms of expression are adapted to particular acts, not to general habits, or affections of the mind. They are very frequently applied to neuter verbs ; as "I am musing; he is sleeping."

Some grammarians apply, what is called the conjunctive termination, to the persons of the principal verb, and to its auxiliaries, through all the tenses of the subjunctive mood. But this is certainly contrary to the practice of good writers. Johnson applies this termination to the present and perfect tenses only. Lowth restricts it entirely to the present tense; and Priestly confines it to the present and imperfect tenses. This difference of opinion amongst grammarians of such eminence, may have contributed to that diversity of practice, so observable in the use of the subjunctive mood. Uniformity in this point is highly desirable. It would materially assist both teachers and learn

* As the participle, in this mode of conjugation, performs the office of a verb, through all the moods and tenses; and as it implies the idea of time, and governs the objective case of pronouns in the same manner as verbs do; is it not manifest, that it is a species or form of the verb, and that it cannot properly be considered as a distinct part of speech ?

ers; and would constitute a considerable improvement in our language.

On this subject we adopt the opinion of Dr. Lowth; and conceive we are fully warranted by his authority, and that of the most correct and elegant writers, in limiting the conjunctive termination to the second and third persons -singular of the present tense. But, for the convenience of teachers who think that the persons of all the three tenses, in the subjunctive mood, are entitled to this distinctive termination, and for the inspection of the curious student, we ́shall add here the form of conjugating those three tenses according to the views of such tutors

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Grammarians have not only differed in opinion, respecting the extent and variations of the subjunctive mood; but a few of them have even doubted the existence of such a mood in the English language. These writers assert, that the verb has no variation from the indicative; and that a conjunction added to the verb, gives it no title to become a distinct mood; or, at most, no better than it would have, if any other particle were joined to it. To these obset vations it may be replied; 1st. It is evident, on inspection, that the present tense of the principal verbs, and the present and imperfect tenses of the verb to be, or at least the two latter, admit of a variation from the form of the indicative mood. 2d. There appears to be as much propriety, in giving a conjunction the power of assisting to form the

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