Plain English Part 24

Future Perfect

_Singular_ _Plural_

1. I shall have seen. We shall have seen.

2. You will have seen. You will have seen.

3. He will have seen. They will have seen.

Exercise 3

Read carefully the following quotation. All of the verbs and verb phrases are written in _italics_. Study these carefully and decide whether they indicate present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect or future perfect time. The verb phrases--_is seizing_, _is put_, _is praised_, _is defended_, _can see_, _must have_, _are owned_, and _are conducted_, do not belong to any of these six forms. They are verb phrases used in ways which we shall study later. All of the other verbs or verb phrases belong to one of the six time forms which we have studied. Cla.s.sify them.

The Working Cla.s.s Must Strike the Blow

You _remember_ Victor Hugo's story of the devil-fish; how the monster _put_ forth one tentacle after another and _coiled_ it around his victim; how the hero _recalled_ that there _was_ but one vulnerable spot in his brute enemy; how at the strategic moment he _struck_ a blow at that spot, and the terrible demon of the deep _shuddered_, _released_ his grasp and _fell_ dead.

Capitalism _is_ a monster which _is seizing_ the body politic. One tentacle _is put_ forth to grasp the major part of the earnings of the working cla.s.s; another _has seized_ the working-woman; another _reaches_ forth to the child; another _has fastened_ upon government and _has made_ that the instrument of the powerful cla.s.ses; still another _has turned_ the pen of the journalist into a weapon by which the injustice of Capitalism _is praised_ and _is defended_; and still another _has seized_ the pulpit, _has silenced_ those who _profess_ to speak for G.o.d and man, or _has turned_ their phrases into open apology and defense for the crimes of Capitalism!

But there _is_ one vulnerable spot in Capitalism. If the working cla.s.s of the world _can see_ that spot and _will strike_, they _shall be_ free.

The fundamental wrong, the basic injustice of the Capitalist System, _is_ that the resources of land and machinery, to which all the people _must have_ access, in order to live and labor, _are owned_ by the few and _are conducted_ by the few for their private profit.

This _is_ the social tragedy, the monstrous wrong of our time.--_J.

St.i.tt Wilson_.

Exercise 4

Select two verbs out of the following poem and write their six time forms, in the same manner as the time forms of the verb _see_ are given in section 131.

A MAGIC WORD

There's a little word below, with letters three, Which, if you only grasp its potency, Will send you higher Toward the goal where you aspire, Which, without its precious aid, you'll never see-- _NOW!_

Success attends the man who views it right.

Its back and forward meanings differ quite; For this is how it reads To the man of ready deeds, Who spells it backwards from achievement's height-- _WON!_

TENSE

The grammatical term for the time form of the verb is _TENSE_, which is derived from a Latin word meaning _time_. The present time-form of the verb is called the _present tense_; the past time-form, the _past tense_; the future time-form, the _future tense_; the present perfect time-form, the _present perfect tense_, etc.

Exercise 5

Write each of the following four sentences in the six time-forms, or tenses,--present, past, future, present perfect, past perfect and future perfect, as follows:

_Present_--Labor _creates_ all wealth.

_Past_--Labor _created_ all wealth.

_Future_--Labor _will create_ all wealth.

_Present Perfect_--Labor _has created_ all wealth.

_Past Perfect_--Labor _had created_ all wealth.

_Future Perfect_--Labor _will have created_ all wealth.

1. Hope stirs us to action.

2. Human progress is our business.

3. The majority demand justice.

4. The workers fight all the battles.

SPELLING

LESSON 7

The division of words into syllables is quite important as an aid to p.r.o.nunciation. It is also a very important matter to understand in our written speech for it is often necessary to divide a word at the end of a line. If the word is not properly divided, it is much more difficult to read and understand. The hyphen is used to divide words into syllables when carrying a portion to the next line.

When you must divide a word at the end of a line divide it only between syllables. Never divide a word of one syllable, no matter how long it may be. If you cannot get all of it on the line, write it all on the next line. Do not divide a short word of two syllables if you can avoid it and never divide such a word when it leaves only one letter on the line or only one letter to be carried over to the next line, as for example: _luck-y_, _a-loud_, etc.

When two or more vowels are used together to make one sound they should never be separated by the hyphen, as for example, joy-ous, anx-ious, trail, dis-course, de-feat, boor-ish.

When two or more vowels placed together are not used to form one sound then these vowels may be divided, as for example, _tri-al_, _co-or-di-nate_, _he-ro-ic_.

Look up the words in this week's lesson in the dictionary carefully and divide into syllables. Notice specially the division of words into syllables where the word contains a diphthong and where it contains two vowels written together which are not diphthongs. Notice also the words which have a single vowel as the first or last syllable.

+Monday+

Museum Creatures Peaceable Accruing Already

+Tuesday+

Persuade Trivial Plague Alert Inquiry

+Wednesday+

Piteous Patriot Poetry Evil Business

+Thursday+

Obey Breathe Society Ether Sociable

+Friday+