The signs of the subjunctive mode are if, though, lest, except, unless, provided, etc.

A verb in the subjunctive is usually preceded by one of the foregoing conjunctions.

The Imperative Mode is used to express a command, an entreaty, a permission, or an exhortation.

Ex.-1. Charge upon the guns!

2. Listen to my statement.

3. Depart in peace.

The subject of the verb in the imperative mode is thou or you, understood.

The Infinitive Mode is used to express an action without asserting or affirming it.

Ex. To sing. To exercise is to invigorate our health.

The infinitive is not limited to a subject. It therefore has neither person nor number.

Remarks on Mode.

1. The Subjunctive mode is so called because it is used in subjoined or subordinate propositions only.

2. The sign of the subjunctive is often omitted; as, "Were I the teacher, I would dismiss him "that is, "If I were," etc.

3. When a verb is limited to a subject it is said to be finite. Finite verbs are found in all the modes except the infinitive. 4. A verb in the infinitive mode is usually known by the sign to prefixed.

5. After the active voice of the verbs bid (to command), dare (to venture), let, see, feel, hear, and a few others, the sign to is usually omitted; as in the sentence, "Let him go."

6. The infinitive depends upon the word which it limits or completes in meaning.

It is often equivalent to a verbal noun, and is then in either

the nominative or the objective case, but it is limited as a verb.

Exercise.

Name the verbs in the following, and give the class, the voice, and the mode of each:

Shall we come? I hope you may improve. Try to do your duty. Temperance and exercise promote health. Run for your life. If we persevere we shall succeed. Were I to tell you all, you would be astonished. Can you read? It is not known that he would come if he were invited. Pupils should be attentive in the class-room. Make hay while the sun shines. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.

Lie not down wearied 'neath Woe's weeping willow!

Work with a stout heart and resolute will.-Mrs. Osgood.

The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,

Had he thy reason, would he skip and play ?-Pope.

Tense.

Tense denotes the time of an action or event.

There are three divisions of Time-the Present, the Past, and the Future. Each division has two tenses, hence there are six tenses, three absolute and three relative.

The Absolute tenses are called respectively, present, past, and future.

The Relative tenses, which denote completed action, are called respectively, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect.

The Indicative Mode is the only one which has six tenses, and in which the tenses indicate time accurately. The Present Tense denotes present time; as, "John sings," "We are reciting."

1. The present tense may express a general truth; as, "Heat expands metals," "Exercise strengthens."

2. It may express a present habit or custom; as, "We recite daily," "The girl is studious."

3. It may also represent the past or the future as present; as, "Cæsar crosses the Rubicon and enters Rome in triumph," "I see the new century as it comes upon us."

The Past Tense denotes past time; as, "John sang,' "We were reciting."

The past tense also expresses what was customary; as, "They attended strictly to business."

The Future Tense denotes future time; as, "We shall go," "I will tell you."

The signs of the future tense in the Indicative mode are shall and will.

In promises, will is used in the first person, and shall in the second and the third; as, "We will help you," "He shall help us."

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To denote futurity, shall is generally used in the first person, and will in the second and the third; as, I shall be there," "Will he come?"

The Present Perfect Tense denotes an action or event as completed or past, but connected with the present time; as, "I have recited to-day."

The sign of the present perfect tense in the Indicative is have.

The Past Perfect Tense denotes an act as completed before some past time; as, "They had gone before we came."

The sign of the past perfect tense in the Indicative is had.

The Future Perfect Tense denotes an act as completed before some future time; as, "The snow will have melted before spring comes."

The sign of the future perfect tense in the Indicative is shall have or will have.

Remarks on Tense.

1. The Indicative mode has six tenses, named, respectively, present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect.

2. The Potential mode has four tenses, named, respectively, present, past, present perfect, and past perfect.

3. The signs of the tenses in the Potential mode are as follows:

Present, may, can, must.

Past, might, could, would, should.

Present Perfect, may have, can have, must have.

Past Perfect, might have, could have, would have, should have.

4. The Subjunctive mode has two tenses, the present and the past.

5. The Imperative mode has but one tense, the present.

6. The Infinitive mode has two tenses, the present and the present perfect.

Number and Person.

Number and Person of verbs are changes of form which they undergo to correspond or agree with their subjects.

Verbs have, therefore, two numbers-the Singular and the Plural; and three persons-the First, the Second, and the Third.

A verb agrees with its subject in number and person. The first person singular of the verb always has the

same form as the plurals, except in the verb to be. Thus, I sing, We sing, You sing, They sing.

as,

Unipersonal Verbs.

A Unipersonal Verb is one that has but one person; "It rains," "methinks."

Methinks and methought are equivalent to "I think," "I thought." Both are used in the first person.

Would, meaning wish, is always used in the first person; as, "Would that he might come!"—that is, "I wish that he might come."

A verb having for its subject the personal pronoun it used indefinitely-as, "It rains," "It blows," "It seems," etc.-is in the third person, singular.

Participles.

A Participle is a word which partakes of the nature of both a verb and an adjective.

Note. The word participle is derived from the Latin particeps, partaker of, or sharing.

A participle has the nature of a verb, because it expresses action, being, or state; it also implies time.

It has the nature of an adjective, because it may limit or describe a noun or a pronoun.

There are three participles-the Present, the Perfect, and the Preperfect.

The Present Participle denotes what is now in progress or unfinished; as, singing, playing, stealing, being, sleeping.

The present participle always ends in -ing.