Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room by Alonzo Reed;Brainerd Kellogg
page 177 of 310 (57%)
page 177 of 310 (57%)
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LESSON 90. MODE, TENSE, NUMBER, AND PERSON. +Hints for Oral Instruction+.--When I say, _James walks_, I assert the walking as a _fact_. When I say, _James may walk_, I do not assert the action as a fact, but as a _possible_ action. When I say, _If James walk out, he will improve_, I assert the action, not as an actual fact, but as a _condition_ of James's, improving. When I say to James, _Walk out_, I do not assert that James actually does the act, I assert the action as a _command_. The action expressed by the verb _walk_ has been asserted in _four_ different _ways_, or +modes+. The first way is called the +Indicative Mode+; the second, the +Potential Mode+; the third, the +Subjunctive Mode+; the fourth, the +Imperative Mode+. Let the teacher give other examples and require the pupils to repeat this instruction. For the two forms of the verb called the +Infinitive+ and the +Participle+, see "Hints," Lessons 48 and 49. _I walk. I walked. I shall walk_. In each of these three sentences, the manner of asserting the action is the same. _I walk_ expresses the action as _present_. _I walked_ expresses the action as _past_, and _I shall walk_ expresses the action as _future_. As +Tense+ means _time_, the first form |
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