PARTICIPLES. 1. The Imperfect. Being. 2. The Perfect. 3. The Preperfect. Having been. II. COMPOUND FORM, ACTIVE OR NEUTER. Active and neuter verbs may also be conju. gated, by adding the Imperfect Participle to the auxiliary verb BE, through all its changes; as, I am writing; He is sitting. This compound form of conjugation denotes a continuance of the action or state of being, and is, on many occasions, preferable to the simple form of the verb. Present Tense. To be reading. Sing. 2. Be [thou] reading, or Do thou be reading. PARTICIPLES. 1. The Imperfect. 2. The Perfect. Being reading. 3. The Preperfect. Having been reading. III. FORM OF PASSIVE VERBS. Passive verbs, in English, are always of a com pound form. They are formed from active-transitive verbs, by adding the Perfect Participle to the auxiliary verb BE, through all its changes: thus, from the active-transitive verb love, is formed the passive verb be loved. Obs. In the compound forms of conjugation, the imperfect par ticiple is sometimes taken in a passive sense: as, "The goods ars selling; The ships are building." and the perfect participle of an active-intransitive verb, may have a neuter signification: as, "I am come; He is risen; They are fallen." The former are passive and the latter, neuter verbs. FIFTH EXAMPLE. Conjugation of the regular passive verb Principal Parts of the active verb. 1. I Plural. 1. We have been loved, 2. You have been loved, 3. They have been loved. Pluperfect Tense. Plural. 1. We had been loved, 2. You had been loved, 3. They had been loved. Singular. had been loved, 2. Thou hadst been loved, 3. He had been loved; First-future Tense. 1. I Singular. Plural. 1. We shall be loved. 2. You will be loved, 3. They will be loved. |