I.KSSOXS IN ENGLISH. 



391 



Would sometimes denotes a wish; as, "Would that the 



play were '-mid sometimes expresses a condition : 



aid the French invado England, they will be 



Mly boaton." Would may signify a habit; a*, " ho 



.vander abroad like a distracted pornon." 



i should may exist in an indicative (or independent) 

 and iu a dependent form $ a* 



I should like some milk. I If I should like some milk. 



It in impossible to find any ono word which comprises all tho 



compass of moaning involved in will and shall or in would 



and / however, will and shall invariably denote 



\, whatever else they denote, they may be taken as 



signs of tho future tense in English ; and as mould and should 



a condition, they may be considered as forming 



a conditional tense or form. Thus arise these forms : 



THE FUTURE TENSE OF THE VERB "TO TEACH." 



I shall, thou wilt, he will, we shall, you will, they will teach. 



Shall and will combine with have and been, making other 

 forms of tho verb with correspondent modifications of import: 

 as, I shall havo taught ; I shall bo taught ; they will havo been 

 taught. There are yet two forms of will and shall which must 

 bo distinctly presented, thus : 



ABSOLUTE FOEM. 



1. I will, I shall. We will, we shall. 



2. Thou wilt, thou shalt. You will, you shall. 



3. Ho will, he shall. They will, they shall. 



CONDITIONAL FORM. 



1. I would, I should. We would, we should. 



2. Thou wouldst, thou shouldst. You would, you should. 



3. He would, he should. They would, they should. 



Will has a participial form used as an adjective, namely, 

 willing; as 



A willing mind learns with ease and makes rapid progress. 



The infinitive to will is sometimes used ; as 



"Simply to will anything is of nature; but to will what hi good, is 

 of graoe." Cruden. 



Shall is without participle and without infinitive. 



The verb may, from tho German mogcn, indicates permission 

 and ability, and is used in the expression of a wish; as 



Permission. Having done your work, you may leave the room. 



Ability. In tho docks at Liverpool you may see ships of all nations. 



Wish. May a thousand blessings come on your family. 



Tho past tense of may is might, in German mochte. The 

 idea of permission more nearly disappears in might than iii 

 may. I subjoin some exemplifications of its use : 



Yon might aid me if you would. 



A visit to Madeira might restore his health. 



They wished I might succeed. 



It is hardly correct to describe may as a present and migh 

 as a post tense. " I might go if ho came," " I may go i 

 he comes." Here might implies tho present as much as may 

 Both, indeed, denote a present possibility, but a future and 

 contingent act. " I may go " and " I will go ' ' are forms pretty 

 nearly free from conditions of time or manner, that is, thej 

 approach to absolute forms. The other epithet namely, con 

 ditional is more suitable than the term past. 



Absolute. I may, etc. Conditional. I might, etc. 



In what are called " the auxiliary verbs " namely, shall, will, 

 may, can, etc. the third person singular has no specific ter- 

 mination; as 



He shall, he will, he may, ho can love. 



May and might enter into combination with parts of be and 



Still farther is the idea carried so as to embrace ability 01 

 any kind ; as 



I can shoot that dew t tb* child esa walk aloe*. 



Of even inanimate objects may the term can be used, though 

 >y no means generally ; as 



It eanaot be that jou have eossaittod a Ihsft. Cam gold he melted I 



Tho absolute form can becomes in the conditional form could/ 

 as is exemplified in the following remark : 



lie could, if be would, disclose the whole nutter. 



Can and could unite with be, have, etc. ; as 



I can be, I can have beta ; I could bs, I could have beta j I ear 

 relate, I could relate. 



Could is sometimes employed in the way of entreaty, so as t- 

 soften the force of a request; as 



Could you let me see the uews|iyr f 



These verbs, namely, be, have, eon, may, ihall, trill, are com- 

 monly called auxiliary verlt, since by their aid (in Latin 

 auxtttunt) the ordinary verbs are formed or conjugated. 



If you will look a little more closely into the import of these 

 that are called auxiliary verbs, yon will find that, like mutt and 

 let, they do not express an act of their own, so much an qualify 

 tho act expressed in another verb ; as, I may lore, I can lore, I 

 must love. As, then, their function is to qualify the verbs with 

 which they are connected, they may receive the name of 

 qualifiers, or qualifying verbi; they might be called modal 

 verbs, since they express tho mode or manner of an action. 



The verb must has but this one form. Coming from the 

 German mussen, mutt denotes necessity ; as 



"Can you sing?" "Yes; but I miut not: my medical man has 

 forbidden me to sing." 



Must combines with parts of be and have; as 



The child must bo well educated. The man who did that most have 

 been mad. The ship must be put about. 



Let, from the German lasscn, to allow or permit, presents it 4 

 primitive and independent force in the phrase to let ; as " this 

 house (is) to let." 



Let, signifying to allow, or expressing request or command; is 

 illustrated in the following examples : 



Permission. " Pharaoh said, I will let you go." (Exod. viiL) 

 Rviuest. " Lot me not wander from thy commandments." (Ps. 

 cxix. 10.) 



Command. " Let that bird alone." 



Thus let comes to aid in forming what is commonly called 

 "the imperative mood," or the mood of command; as 

 " Let him go " that is, " allow him to go." 

 The imperative mood is commonly given thus 



Singular. 1. Let mo speak. Plural. Let us speak. 



2. Speak thou. Speak ye. 



3. Let him speak. Let them speak. 



Ought is a post form of the verb to owe. 



To owe formerly signified to be under an obligation ; as 



" A son owes help and honour to his father." Holy Day. 



In its original meaning owe (tho same as own) meant to have, 

 to possess. What a man has or possesses is his own, hence to 

 owe came to signify what is now signified by our verb to own. 

 A general sense of obligation is now expressed by ought, as 

 "you ought to go," the present form in this acceptation having 

 become obsolete. 



Dare, connected with the German diirfcn, has for its past 

 form durst ; also dared. 



have, as well as with parts of ordinary verbs ; as 



I may have, I might have ; I may be, I might be ; I may love ; I 

 may have taught ; I might have sung ; I might read. 



Can, from the German kunnen, to "know, to be able, and con- 

 nected with our cunning, that is, skill, and our king that is, 

 the man who has power in virtue of his knowledge signifies 

 inherent power, especially arising from knowledge. 



The idea is generalised ; any internal power or faculty, and 

 BO instinctive faculties, are expressed by can ; as 



The bird can fly ; the dog can bark ; the fish can swim. 



Dare qualifies the verb before which it stands no lew than 



may; 



I may say. 

 I dare say. 



I can say. 

 I must say. 



Nor does I will say essentially differ from tho otherforms. 

 Indeed, the forms may be arranged in a rising scale, extendirg 

 from ability to determination : thus 



I can say ; I may say ; I dart say } I wut say } I mH s*y. 



Can, may, dare, must, will, are independent verbs in each 

 case governing the infinitive ay. 



