Part 36 (1/2)

+Hints for Oral Instruction+.--_I picked the rose_. I will tell the same thing in another way. _The rose was picked by me_. The first verb _picked_ shows that the subject _I_ represents the actor, and the second form of the verb, _was picked_, shows that the subject names the thing acted upon. This change in the form of the verb is called +Voice+. The first form is called the +Active Voice+; and the second, the +Pa.s.sive Voice+.

The _pa.s.sive_ form is very convenient when we wish to a.s.sert an action without naming any actor. _Money is coined_ is better than _somebody coins money_.

DEFINITIONS.

+_Voice_ is that modification of the transitive verb which shows whether the subject names the _actor_ or the _thing acted upon_+.

+The _Active Voice_ shows that the subject names the actor+.

+The _Pa.s.sive Voice_ shows that the subject names the thing acted upon+.

In each of the following sentences, change the _voice_ of the verb without changing the meaning of the sentence. Note the other changes that occur in the sentence.

The industrious bees gather honey from the flowers.

The storm drove the vessel against the rock.

Our words should be carefully chosen.

Death separates the dearest friends.

His vices have weakened his mind and destroyed his health.

True valor protects the feeble and humbles the oppressor.

The Duke of Wellington, who commanded the English armies in the Peninsula, never lost a battle.

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt.

Dr. Livingstone explored a large part of Africa.

The English were conquered by the Normans.

Name all the transitive verbs in Lessons 20 and 22, and give, their _voice_.

LESSON 90.

MODE, TENSE, NUMBER, AND PERSON.

+Hints for Oral Instruction+.--When I say, _James walks_, I a.s.sert the walking as a _fact_. When I say, _James may walk_, I do not a.s.sert the action as a fact, but as a _possible_ action. When I say, _If James walk out, he will improve_, I a.s.sert 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 a.s.sert that James actually does the act, I a.s.sert the action as a _command_.

The action expressed by the verb _walk_ has been a.s.serted 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 a.s.serting 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 is called the +Present Tense+; the second, the +Past Tense+; and the third, the +Future Tense+.

We have three other forms of the verb, expressing the action as _completed_ in the _present_, the _past_, or the _future_.