+104.+ You remember that nouns have certain changes in form to indicate
changes in use. Verbs also have several changes in form to correspond
with changes in their use or meaning. Notice the following sentences:
I think.
I thought.
I work.
I worked.
What is the difference in the meaning of _I think_ and _I thought_? of
_I work_ and _I worked_? When we say, _I think_, or _I work_, we mean
that the action is now, to-day, in the present; but when we say, _I
thought_, or _I worked_, we mean that _now_ is not the time of the
action, but that the action was performed sometime in the past. So we
have a change in the verb form to denote _time_. The simple form of the
verb, like _think_ or _work_, is used to denote _present time_. When we
wish to express _past time_ we do it by changing the form of the verb.
Now note the following:
} call
I, We, You, They, } send
} fall
The men } bring
} hide
} calls
He, She, It, } sends
} falls
The man } brings
} hides
Now let us write this in another way.
+Present Time+
_Singular_ _Plural_
1st person--I call. We call.
2nd person--You call. You call.
He }
3rd person She } calls. They, or } call.
It } The men }
The man }
+105.+ You notice in this table we use the expressions _first person_,
_second person_, and _third person_. _I_ and _we_ indicate the person or
persons speaking and are called the first person. _You_ indicates the
person or persons spoken to and is called the second person. _He_,
_she_, _it_, _they_, and the person or persons or things spoken of, are
called the third person.
We use the word _you_ when speaking to one or more than one now-a-days.
It used to be that when speaking to a single person, people said _thou_,
and in speaking to two or more they said _you_. But we today have
dropped the old form _thou_, and use _you_ for both singular and plural.
+106.+ Now note, in the above table, that there is only one form change
in the verb, and this is in the _third person singular_. We say _I
call_, _You call_, _We call_, _They_, or _The men call_, but we say
_He_, or _the man calls_, in speaking of one person or thing. So we
change the form of the verb with any subject which denotes the third
person and the singular number. This form is made by adding _s_ to the
simple form of the verb, therefore we may call it the _s-form_ because
it always ends in _s_.
Remember that this _s-form_ is used to express present time with a third
person, singular subject. _BE CAREFUL NOT TO USE THIS FORM WITH ANY
PLURAL SUBJECT._ There is no other change in the verb form in expressing
the present time in any verb, except in the verb _be_.
+107.+ This little verb _be_ is one of the most troublesome verbs in our
language, and since it is used in forming verb phrases, it will be well
to commit the following table to memory. Watch closely your use of this
bothersome little word. Note that it has a change in form for the _first
person singular_, as well as for the third person singular. All other
verbs have just the one change, the _s-form_ for the third person
singular. The verb _be_ has a form also to use with the first person
singular, the pronoun _I_.
+Present Time+ +Past Time+
_Singular_ _Singular_
1. I am. 1. I was.
2. You are. 2. You were.
3. He is. 3. He was.
_Plural_ _Plural_
1. We are. 1. We were.
2. You are. 2. You were.
3. They are. 3. They were.
+108.+ +The present time form is the form which expresses present time.
It is expressed by the simple form of the verb with the exception of the
third person singular, which is expressed by the _s-form_.+