Module 5. Structural and functional grammar

Lesson 27

AGREEMENT OF VERB WITH THE SUBJECT: TENSE, MOOD, VOICE

27.1  Introduction

A  Verb is a word that tells or asserts something about a person or thing.

· A Transitive Verb is a verb that denotes an action which passes over from the doer or subject to an object. e.g.

          The boy kicks the football.

· An Intransitive Verb is a verb that denotes an action which does not pass over to an object or expresses a state or being. e.g.

He ran a long distance. (Action)

The baby sleeps. (State)

There is a flaw in this method. (Being)

27.2  Linking Verbs

Most verbs assert action, but a few express a static condition or state of being (no action). Most of these inactive verbs are called Linking Verbs.

· The most common linking verb is to be, in its various forms of number, person, tense and mood.

· Other common linking verbs are appear, become, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, seem, smell, sound, stand, taste, turn.

· When these verbs are followed by nouns or pronouns as direct objects, they are not linking verbs, but imply or express action. They are linking verbs if you can substitute some form of to be for them.

The sky looks cloudy this morning. (Linking Verb)

Ram looks at Mohan as if he hates him. (Action Verb)

The tea tasted too sweet. (Linking Verb)

The girl cautiously tasted the drink. (Action Verb)

27.3 Auxiliary Verbs

An auxiliary verb helps out a main verb. An auxiliary verb has little meaning of its own; rather it changes the meaning of the main verb.

Ganesh has left the city.

The machine will be sent this afternoon.

As we were leaving, we were stopped by a policeman.

Among all the auxiliary verbs, particular care should be taken to use the following correctly:

shall and will

should and would

27.3.1  Shall and will

Many writers still have strong convictions that the only correct way to express the simple future in formal writing is:

I shall do it.           We shall do it.

You will do it.      You will do it.

He will do it.        They will do it.

a)     and that strong determination can only be expressed through:

I will do it.            We will do it.

You shall do it.    You shall do it.

He shall do it.       They shall do it.

Though this distinction is not strictly observed, it is best to follow it.

b)    should and would:

Should chiefly implies obligation in the sense of ought to; and would expresses a customary action with all three persons:

I should urge you to take action fast. (ought to)

You should do everything to protect your reputation. (ought to)

Everyday he would answer his letters as soon as he finished reading the mail. (habitual action)

          I would always advise a careful revision before signing. (habitual action)

27.4 Verbs: Tense, Mood and Voice

The form of a verb or verb phrase tells us three things about the action or state it names.

· It tells us what time the action occurs (tense)

· What the attitude of speaker or writer is (mood)

· Whether the subject is performing the action or receiving it (voice).

27.5 Tense

Tense is the time of the action or state expressed by the verb. The three divisions of time – past, present, future – are shown in English by six tenses. The three primary or simple tenses are the present tense, the past tense, and the future tense. The three perfect (or secondary) tenses are the present perfect, the past perfect, and the future perfect.

Present       I play (I am playing)

Past I played (was playing)

Future        I shall play (shall be playing)

Present Perfect I have played (have been playing)

Past Perfect I had played (had been playing)

Future Perfect I shall have played (shall have been playing)

a] Present Tense:

It indicates that the action or condition is going on or exists now:

He takes exercise every morning.

The letters are posted.

b] Past Tense

It indicates that an action or condition took place or existed at some definite time in the past.

          Yesterday I attended the meeting.

          They were married on Saturday.

c] Future Tense

It indicates that the action will take place or that a condition will exist in the future.

          We shall move to Bangalore next week.

          The train will leave at midnight.

The future may be stated by present tense accompanied by an adverb (or adverbial phrase) indicating time:

          I am going to stop later on today.

          Our trip begins tomorrow.

d] Present Perfect Tense

It indicates that an action or condition was begun in the past and has just been completed or is still going on. The time is past but it is connected with the present. The present perfect tense presupposes some relationship with the present:

          We have lived in Bombay for fifteen years.

          The water has been too cold for swimming.

e] Past Perfect Tense

It indicates that an action or a condition was completed at a time now past. It indicates action “two steps back”. That is, the past perfect tense presupposes some relationship with an action or a condition expressed in the past tense:

          The college campus was crowded because new students had joined.

She was employed by Tata Steels Company. She had worked there for five months.

f] Future Perfect Tense

It indicates that an action or a condition will be completed at a future time:

          By the time you arrive, I shall have finished my work.

27.6  Proper Use of Tenses

a] Simple Present Tense

i)       Use the simple present tense to express general truths or accepted facts and to indicate habitual action. Use the present tense in critical writing about literature and the other arts.

GENERAL TRUTHS    All that glitters is not gold.

                                                The sun rises in the east.

HABITUAL ACTION   The old man exercises daily.

                                                The bank closes at four o’clock.

                                                He takes milk every morning.

CRITICAL WRITING   In Dickens’ novel David Copperfield, David’s harsh stepfather sends him to London where every day David works in a warehouse pasting labels on bottles.

Jane Austen’s use of ironic comment is highly effective.

ii)  In exclamatory sentences beginning with here and there to express what is actually taking place in the present.

Here comes the bus!

                   There she goes!

iii) To indicate a future event that is part of a plan or arrangement.

We go to Bombay next week.

                   When does the college reopen?

iv) It is used, instead of the Simple Future Tense, in clauses of time and condition.

I shall wait till you finish your lunch.

If it rains we shall get wet.

b] Present Continuous Tense

Use the present continuous

(i)            For an action happening at the time of speaking.

It is raining.

She is singing (now).

Why are you sitting at my desk?

(ii)          For an action happening about this time, but not necessarily at the time of speaking.

He is teaching French and learning Greek.

I am reading Oliver Twist (but I am not reading at this moment).

(iii) For an action that is planned or arranged to take place in the near future.

I am going to the cinema tonight.

My uncle is arriving tomorrow.

(iv)       With always, continually, constantly for a frequently repeated action or for a particular obstinate habit- something which persists, we use present continuous tense.

He is always losing his keys.

He is continually working.

I am constantly making that mistake.

v) The following verbs, on account of their meaning, are not always used in the continuous form:

                    Verbs of perception: see, hear smell, notice, recognize

                    Verbs of appearing: appear, look, seem

Verbs of emotion: want, wish, desire, feel, like, love, hate, hope, refuse,

prefer

Verbs of thinking: think, suppose, believe, agree, consider, trust, remember, forget, know, understand, imagine, mean, mind

                    Have (possess): own, possess, belong to, contain, consist of

These verbs are used in the simple present. They may, however, be used in the continuous tenses with a change of meaning:

I am thinking of (considering the idea of) going to Canada.

c]  Present Perfect Tense

(i)         Use the Present Perfect Tense to indicate completed activities in the immediate past.

He has just gone out.

                    It has just struck eleven.

(ii)      To express past actions whose time is not given and not definite.

I have never known him to be so foolish.

Have you read Gitanjali by Rabindra Nath Tagore?

(iii)    To describe past events when you think more of their effect in the present than of the action itself.

I have finished my work (now I am free).

I have cut my finger ( and it is bleeding now).

(iv)    To denote an action beginning at some time in the past and continuing up to the present moment.

I have known him for a long time.

She has been ill since last week.

(v)      The following adverbs (or adverb phrases) can be used with the present perfect tense: just, often, never, ever (in questions only), so far, till now, yet (in negatives and questions), already, since-phrases, for-phrases, today, this week, this month, etc.

So far this month I have sold three hundred and fifty books.

The Bombay office has corresponded with him ever since the accident.

We read your comments with great interest, but lack of information has prevented a complete reply until today.

d]  Present Perfect Continuous Tense

(i)         The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used for an action which began at some time in the past and is still continuing.

They have been building the building for several months.

They have been playing since morning.

e]  Simple Past Tense

(i)   The Simple Past Tense is used to indicate an action completed in the past. It often   occurs with adverbs or adverb phrases of past time.

        She attended the meeting yesterday.

        She left the school last year.

(ii)      The Simple Past Tense is also used for past habits.

He always carried an umbrella.

He studied many hours a day.

f]  Past Continuous Tense

(i)         The Past Continuous Tense is used to denote an action going on at some time in the past. The time of action may or may not be indicated.

We were listening to the music all evening.

The light went out while I was reading.

(ii)      The Past Continuous Tense is also used, with always, continually etc., for persistent habits in the past.

He was always grumbling.

g]  Past Perfect Tense

(i)   The Past Perfect Tense is used to express an action completed before a certain moment in the past.

At 9 pm, I had finished my home work.

I had already known the result when he rang me up.

(ii)  The Past Perfect Tense is used to express an action in the past which was completed before another action, also in the past.

                    The doctor had left when I reached there.

                    The thieves had escaped by the time the police arrived.

(iii) When two Simple Past Tenses might give the impression that the two actions happened simultaneously, the Past Perfect Tense is used after ‘when’.

When she had recited her poem, she sat down.

(iv)  The Past Perfect Tense is used to express unfulfilled desires of the past.

I wish he hadn’t gone.   (but he went)

I would rather you had come alone.  (but you did not)

(v) The Past Perfect Tense is used to express impossible (unfulfilled) condition.

If you had worked hard, you would have passed.

h]  Past Perfect Continuous Tense

(i)   The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used for an action that began before a certain point in the past and continued up to that time or stopped just before it.

At that time he had been writing a novel for two months.

(ii)  The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used to express a single action which occupied a period of time in the past.

He had been washing his car for the last fifteen minutes.

i]  Simple Future Tense

(i)   The Simple Future Tense is used to express an action that is still to take place, with or without expression of time.

I shall see you tomorrow.

                    They will help us.

          Note:  The simple future Tense generally expresses pure or colorless future. When the future is coloured with intention, going to + infinitive construction is preferred, e.g. He is going to build a new house.

j]  Future Continuous Tense

(i)   The Future Continuous Tense represents an action as going on at some time in future time.

I shall be reading the paper then.

(ii)  The Future Continuous Tense is also used for future events that are planned.

I shall be staying here till Wednesday.

                    He will be meeting us next week.

k]  Future Perfect Tense

(i)   The Future Perfect Tense is used to indicate the completion of an action by certain future time.

I shall have written the project by that time.

L]  Future Perfect Continuous Tense

(i)   The Future Perfect Continuous Tense indicates an action represented as being in progress over a period of time that will end in the future.

                    By next December we shall have been living here for eight years.

27.7  Mood

Verbs appear in three moods: Indicative, Imperative and Subjunctive.

· Indicative is the mood of actuality. We use this about ninety-nine percent of the time. It is used for ordinary statements and questions (He is happy, Is he happy?)

· Imperative mood is the mood of making commands or requests. (Be happy.)

· This subjunctive is the mood of unreality and is used to expresses conditions contrary to fact and high desirability (If he were happy). Subjunctive mood needs to be carefully handled.

a]  Use the subjunctive to express conditions contrary to fact.

Reeta could settle the argument if she were here. [But she isn’t here.]

If the rose bush were healthy, it would have more buds. [The bush is not healthy.]

Last year, the bush looked as though it were going to die. [But it didn’t die.]

Note that all clauses beginning with if automatically express a condition contrary to fact.

If I were you, I’d refuse to let him use my office.

          If I were you, I would call on him again.

b]  Use the subjunctive were after as though, as if and even if to express doubt or uncertainty:

          He talks as if he were the only intelligent person in the group.

          She looked as though she were completely exhausted.

          Even if that were to happen, we have substantial reserves to draw upon.

c]  As an auxiliary form (that is, part of other verbs), be is used after verbs like ask, urge, insist, require, vote, move etc.

          He moved that the meeting be adjourned.

          I, therefore, urge that this be reconsidered.

          We must insist that this payment be made in three days.

          He insisted that he be given one more chance.

27.8  Voice

Voice refers to the ability of transitive verbs to show whether the subject performs or receives the action named by the verb.

When the subject performs the action, the verb is in the active voice. When it receives the action, the verb is in the passive voice.

ACTIVE               Mohan wrote a letter.

The poison drove its victim mad.

PASSIVE             A letter was written by Mohan

The victim was driven mad by the poison.

Only transitive verbs, that is, verbs that can take an object, can show both active and passive voices. We can say: The student wrote the paper or The paper was written by the student, but only He talked, not He was talked.

Most sentences in writing use verbs in the active voice, which is almost always more direct, more economical, and more forceful than the passive.

1      Use the passive when the actor is not known. Consider the following:

His proposal was rejected.

The play was first performed in sixteen century.

2      Use the passive when the receiver of the action is more important than the actor. Consider the following:

The new bridge was completed in April.

A new video film was prepared.