L. THE INDICATIVE MODE
Reading edition
190. Each of the six verb forms that we have been studying,—I eat, I ate, I shall eat, I have eaten, I had eaten, I shall have eaten,—is used in the statement of a fact, and is said to be in the indicative mode.
Mode is that property of a verb which denotes the manner of an assertion.
The indicative mode is used in the statement of a fact.
191. In some tenses there is a slight difference between the singular and the plural form of a verb, hence verbs are said to have the property of number. We should always use the verb form that agrees with the number of the subject. In the present tense, for example, we say in the singular, “The man goes;” and in the plural, “The men go.”
192. In some tenses there is a slight difference in the form of the verb to denote person, hence verbs are said to have the property of person. In the present perfect tense, we say in the first person, “I have gone;” and in the third person, “He has gone.”
193. When we give all the forms of a verb in the three persons and the two numbers of each tense, we are said to conjugate the verb.
194. Conjugation of the verb be in the indicative mode:—
Present Tense Past Tense
Singular Plural Singular Plural
I am we are I was we were
thou art you are thou wast you were
he is they are he was they were
Future Tense Present Perfect Tense
Singular Plural Singular Plural
I shall be we shall be I have been we have been
thou wilt be you will be thou hast been you have been
he will be they will be he has been they have been
Past Perfect Tense
Singular Plural
I had been we had been
thou hadst been you had been
he had been they had been
Future Perfect Tense
Singular Plural
I shall have been we shall have been
thou wilt have been you will have been
he will have been they will have been
195. Conjugation of see in the indicative mode:—
Present Tense Past Tense
Singular Plural Singular Plural
I see we see I saw we saw
thou seest you see thou sawest you saw
he sees they see he saw they saw
Future Tense Present Perfect Tense
Singular Plural Singular Plural
I shall see we shall see I have seen we have seen
thou wilt see you will see thou hast seen you have seen
he will see they will see he has seen they have seen
Past Perfect Tense
Singular Plural
I had seen we had seen
thou hadst seen you had seen
he had seen they had seen
Future Perfect Tense
Singular Plural
I shall have seen we shall have seen
thou wilt have seen you will have seen
he will have seen they will have seen
Exercise.—Conjugate the verbs in Exercise 2, p. 126, in the six tenses of the Indicative Mode.