Chapter 5: Altered States: Verbs 63 Present Tense dive do draw drink drive eat fall fight fly forget forgive freeze get give g° grow hang hang (execute) hide hold hurt kneel know lay lead lie (horizontal) lie (falsehood) lose prove ride ring rise run say Past Tense dived or dove did drew drank drove ate fell fought flew forgot forgave froze got gave went grew hung hanged hid held hurt knelt knew laid led lay lied lost proved rode rang rose ran said Past Participle dived done drawn drunk driven eaten fallen fought flown forgotten forgiven frozen gotten or got given gone grown hung hanged hidden held hurt knelt known laid led lain lied lost proved or proven ridden rung risen run said continues 6*1 Part Z: Under the Grammar tamer continued Present Tense see shake show shrink sing sink speak spring steal strive swear swim take teach tear throw wake wear write Past Tense saw shook showed shrank sang sank spoke sprang stole strove swore swam took taught tore threw r woke or waked wore wrote Past Participle seen shaken showed or shown shrunk sung sunk spoken sprung stolen striven sworn swum taken taught torn thrown woken or waked worn written Now I Uy Ik Lay Me Down to Sleep You can argue whether men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but everyone agrees that lie and lay are definitely from another planet. These two verbs may be the most commonly confused pair of words in English. Here's the problem: They're just plain evil. Seriously, lie is an irregular verb that conjugates lie, lay, lain. Lay, in contrast, is a regular verb that con- jugates lay, laid, laid. Because lay is both the present tense of to lay and the past tense of lie, many speakers and writers use lay when they mean lie. To add to the confusion, lie and lay have different meanings. Lie means "to repose"; lay means "to put." It's enough to make you learn Esperanto. Danger, Will Robinson The verb to be is the most irregular verb in English. Beware of this quick-change artist. Its principal parts are: be, being, was, were, been, am, are, is. Chapter 5: Altered States: Verbs 65 Try these hints to sort out lie/lay: • Lie means "to repose"; lay means "to put." • Lie is an intransitive verb. That means that it never takes a direct object. For example: "If you are tired, you should lie down." • Lay is a transitive verb. That means that lay always takes a direct object. For example: u Lay the book on the table, please." Study the following table to further clarify lie and lay. Or have it tattooed in your palm for ready reference. You Could Look It Up When you conjugate a verb, you list the singular and plural forms of the verb in a spe- cific tense. ^ y Quoth the Maven _ Something must be laid, noth- ng can be lied. The Various Forms of Lie and Lay Verb Meaning Examples lie to repose flat Present tense: Fido lies down. Past tense: Fido lay down. Future tense: Fido will lie down. Perfect tense: Fido has lain down, lay to put down Present tense: Lay your cards down. Past tense: He laid the cards down. Future tense: He will lay his cards down. Perfect tense: He has laid his cards down. Party Pooper: Test Time I know you need this quiz like Sinatra needs singing lessons, but humor me. Circle the correct form of each verb in parentheses. Then identify the verb as regular or irregular. 1. Martin Buser (took/taking/taked) his third Iditarod title in the grueling Alaskan dogsled race. However, the team from Beverly Hills has yet to finish. Apparently, French poodles weren't the way to go. The verb is (regular/irregular). 66 Part Z: Under the Grammar Hammer 2. President Clinton has (proposed/proposing) free TV time for candidates. "Not good," said one commentator. "This could mean Sonny Bono will be back on television." The verb is (regular/irregular). 3. NBA's Dennis Rodman's announcement that he would (choose/chose) profes- sional wrestling has caused a stir. "I hope that sport doesn't turn him into some weird spectacle," said one viewer. The verb is (regular/irregular). 4. When he heard that Tonya Harding described herself as "the Charles Barkley of figure skating," Barkley was (going/went/gone) to sue Tonya Harding for defamation of character. "But then I realized that I had no character," he said. The verb is (regular/irregular). 5. The feud between East Coast and West Coast rappers continues. It all (started/ starting) over the usual: Who controls what, who insulted whom, whether the theories of Kierkegaard still have relevance The verb is (regular/irregular). 6. My karma just (run/ran) over your dogma. The verb is (regular/irregular). Answers 1. took; irregular 2. proposed; regular 3. choose; irregular 4. going; irregular 5. started; regular 6. ran; irregular All Tensed Up: Using Verb Tense Correctly Okay, so now you know that verbs form different tenses to show different times. Now you have to learn how to use the tenses correctly to show the timing of one event in relation to another. And we all know that in life, timing is everything. Chapter 5: Altered States: Verbs 67 Get your bearings with the following table. It shows how the tenses are related. Verb Tense and Time Past Present Future Simple past Present perfect Past perfect Past progressive Present perfect progressive Progressive Past perfect progressive Simple present Present progressive Simple future Future perfect Future progressive Future perfect • Use the two present forms (simple present and present progressive) to show events that take place now. • Use the six past forms (simple past, present perfect, past perfect, past progressive, present perfect progressive, and past perfect progressive) to show events that took place before the present. • Use the four future forms (simple future, future perfect, future progressive, and future perfect progressive) to show events that take place in the future. Get the inside skinny in the following sections. Past Tense What's past may be past, but only if you get your past tenses straight. Use the follow- ing table to leave the past in the past. Past Tenses Tense Use Example Simple past Present perfect Completed action Completed condition Completed action Completed condition Continuing action Continuing condition We finished the tofu. We were sad; no more tofu. We have finished the torn. We have been sad. We have burped for hours. I have been here for days. continues 68 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer Past Tenses (continued) Tense Use Example Past perfect Past progressive Present perfect progressive Past perfect progressive Action completed before another Condition completed before another Continuous completed action Action going into present Continuing action interrupted by another I had eaten all the torn before you returned. I had been sad before the new torn arrived. I was snoring that week. I have been snoring all week. I had been snoring when the house collapsed. Back to the Future This table explains the future tenses. Future Tenses Tense Use Example Simple future Future action Future condition Future perfect Future action done before another Future condition done before another Future progressive Continuing future action Future perfect progressive Continuing future action done before another The sponge will dry. I will be happy when it does. By the time you read this, the sponge will be dry. The sponge will have been on the window for a week. They will be buying sponges this week. When we lunch next week, I will have been pumping iron for at least a week. A Note on Verbs for Non-Native Speakers Verbs present special problems for people whose first language is not English. Here are some guidelines to make your life easier (at least as it relates to verbs). Chapter S: Altered States: Verbs 69 1. Use the correct form of verbs. The following chart can help you remember how to use verbs correctly. Nonstandard and Standard English Nonstandard English Present Tense Standard English I I you we walk? they he, she, it walk you we walk they he, she, it walk? Past Tense I you we walk they he, she, it walk you we walked they he, she, it walked 2. When used as a helping verb, be, do, and have change form to agree with a third- person singular subject. The main verb does not add -s. Incorrect: Does the store opens at 10? Correct: Does the store open at 10? 3. Can and could • Can means am/is/are able. It may be used to show the present tense. Today, I can sleep late. I can clean the house—but I won't. • Could means was/were able when used to show the past tense of can. Could also means "might be able, a possibility or wish." In the past, I could touch my toes. I wish I could touch my toes now. Can and could (along with might, must, shall, should, will, would) never change form. 70 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer 4. Idiomatic expressions with can, could, might, must, shall, should, will, would These words are called "modals." Here's a list of the most common expressions. Idiomatic Expressions with Modals Example Meaning I would rather walk than ride. I would sleep during foreign films. Shall we meet again? Would you mind turning off the radio? Do you mind turning it off? I prefer to walk. I always sleep in foreign movies. I'm inviting you to meet again. Would you be against doing this? Please turn it off. 5. Invert the subject and all or part of the verb to form questions. The subject and verb change places to form questions. The following examples show this. Question Forms Statements Questions He is absent today. Mara can help us. They are working here. It has made this noise before. Is he absent today? Can Mara help us? Are they working here? Has it made this sound before? It's All in the Timing Here's the rule: Pick a tense and stick with it. Avoid shifting tenses in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. This confuses readers and makes them battier than they are already. Study this example: Wrong: I was walking to lunch when a huge dog jumps up and attacks me. Right: I was walking to lunch when a huge dog jumped up and attacked me. The following recipe for chocolate cake (1040 version) contains many errors in tense. Rewrite the paragraph to correct the tenses. Don't make the cake. Chapter S: Altered States: Verbs 71 Chocolate Cake 1040 Line 1 : Butter, a minimum of half a pound, but not to be exceeding 1 cup (see Line 4). Line 2 : Sugar, light brown or white, unless you or your spouse will be having a financial account in a foreign account in 2004, in which case do not substitute molasses or honey. Line 3 : Eggs, six or a half-dozen, whichever was greater. Line 4: Semisweet chocolate. Nonfarm families may chosen the optional method of using cocoa powder. Multiplying by .9897 per ounce of substitution. For additional details on cocoa conversion, seen Form 234a. Line 5: Salt, l A teaspoon (optional). If you was a head of household with depend- ents and be born during a leap year, you must add salt. Now cream the mixture. Line 6: Incorporate eggs, one at a time, into creamed mixture. If the eggs will be from a farm of which you are the sole owner, you may have been eligible for a Fowl Credit. See Form 9871m, "For the Birds." Note: If you weighed 20 percent more (or higher) than your ideal weight (see chart on page 56), ignore this recipe and complete Schedule F, "Fresh Fruit Desserts." Answers Line 1 : to exceed Line 2: had Line 3: is Line 4: choose, multiply, add, see Line 5: were, were Line 6: are from a farm, be eligible Note: weigh Person, Number, and Mood Verbs do it all. Well, not everything. They can't do the laundry, sing on key, or draw a straight line. I lied; so sue me. Actually, verbs can do a whole lot. Here are three things they show: 72 Part 2: Under the Grammar Hammer • They show person. • They show number. • They show mood. In detail, maestro Person Remember that, concerning verbs, person is who or what experiences the action. Here's the crowd: • First person: the person speaking (I, me) • Second person: the one being spoken to (you) • Third person: the person being spoken about (he, she, they) Number Number shows how many subjects act or receive the action. • One subject: singular verb • More than one subject: plural verb Mood Mood shows the attitude expressed toward the action. It refers to the ability of verbs to convey a writer's attitude toward a subject. English has three moods: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive. 1. Indicative: used for statements and questions of You Could Look It Up _, fact For example: • Ohio rejected this license plate motto: Don't judge us by Cleveland. Mood shows the attitude expressed toward the action. It refers to the ability of verbs to convey a writer's attitude toward a subject. Kentucky did not like this motto: Tobacco is a vegetable. . Completed action Completed condition Completed action Completed condition Continuing action Continuing condition We finished the tofu. We were sad; no more tofu. We have finished the . completed before another Condition completed before another Continuous completed action Action going into present Continuing action interrupted by another I had eaten all the torn before. continues. It all (started/ starting) over the usual: Who controls what, who insulted whom, whether the theories of Kierkegaard still have relevance The verb is (regular/irregular). 6. My