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Год написания книги
2018
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30. ......it on the table.
31. He......in the shade and watched her......the plants.
COMMON ERRORS
194. Remember that in the present time form the third person singular takes the s-form, but the s-form is never used except with the third person singular. We often make the mistake of using the s-form with a plural subject. Notice carefully the following sentences, and correct the errors. All of the sentences are wrong.
1. The days is getting shorter.
2. The men has struck.
3. The trains was late.
4. These papers is written for you.
5. You was disappointed, wasn't you?
6. There is several coming.
7. The nights was dark and cloudy.
8. The clouds has gathered.
9. They was anxious to come.
195.When two subjects are connected byand, the s-form of the verb must not be used, unless both subjects refer to one person; as:
The president and the secretary (two persons) were late.
The president and secretary (one person) was elected.
196.But when the two subjects are connected byorornorthen use the s-form of the verb; as:
Neither Germany nor Russia admits a war of offense.
Either the House or the Senate rejects the bill.
197.Never use the infinitive signtoby itself; as:
I have not written and do not expect to.
He has not gone nor does he intend to.
198.Never use don't for doesn't. The use of don't for doesn't is a very common mistake. Don't is a contraction of do not and doesn't of does not. When you are in doubt as to which to use, think or speak the two words in full and see if the verb agrees with the subject. Do not is used with a plural subject, and does not with a singular subject. For example: He don't believe me. This sentence in full would be, He do not believe me, which is incorrect. He does not (doesn't) believe me is correct. Or, They doesn't believe me. This sentence in full would read, They does not believe me, which is incorrect. They do not (don't) believe me is correct.
199.Do not usehas got, orhave gotformust. For example, do not say, We have got to go. Say, We must go. Not, He has got to do what I say; but, He must do as I say.
200.Do not sayhad ought. For example: You had ought to know better. Omit the had; it is unnecessary and incorrect. Say, You ought to know better.
201.Do not saysays Iorthinks I.
Says I, "Will you go?"
Says he, "That's what will happen."
Thinks I to myself, "I'll show you."
These are incorrect. Say instead:
I said, "Will you go?"
He said, "That's what will happen."
I thought, "I'll show you."
Exercise 5
Mark all the verbs in the following quotations and note carefully their use.
1. Speak properly and in as few words as you can but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation but to be understood.—Penn.
2. "Freedom's battle, once begun,
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son,
Though baffled oft, is ever won."
Note the use of may and can in this quotation:
3. Knowledge cannot be stolen from us. It cannot be bought or sold. We may be poor, and the sheriff may come and sell our furniture, or drive away our cow, or take our pet lamb and leave us homeless and penniless; but he cannot lay the law's hand upon the jewelry of our minds.—E. Burritt.
Note the use of shall and will and would and should in the following. Richard Grant White says: "I do not know in English literature another passage in which the distinction between shall and will and would and should is at once so elegantly, so variously, so precisely, and so compactly illustrated."
4. "How long I shall love him I can no more tell,
Than, had I a fever, when I should be well.
My passion shall kill me before I will show it,
And yet I would give all the world he did know it;
But oh how I sigh, when I think, should he woo me,
I cannot refuse what I know would undo me."
5. I want it said of me by those who know me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.—Abraham Lincoln.
Exercise 6
Note the nouns as well as the verbs in the following quotation. Note also the use of infinitives and participles. Mark every verb and use it in a sentence of your own.
Faith and Truth
You say "Believe;" I say "Trust."
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