Note that the only change in the verb form in the present ACTIVE is the _s-form_ for the third person singular. In the present pa.s.sive the only change is the special form of the verb _be_ for the first and third persons, singular.
When we want to tell what occurred yesterday or some time in the past, stated in the active and pa.s.sive form, we say:
+PAST TIME+
+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+
_Singular_ _Singular_
I saw. I was seen.
You saw. You were seen.
He saw. He was seen.
_Plural_ _Plural_
We saw. We were seen.
You saw. You were seen.
They saw. They were seen.
We have one other division of time which we must express--the future.
Primitive man doubtless lived princ.i.p.ally in the present, but with the development of memory and the means of recording events by a written language, he was able to make the deeds and achievements of the past a vital part of his life. But not until the faculty of thinking developed was the mind able to project itself into the future and make tomorrow the hope of today. Future time expresses hope, desire, growth.
+FUTURE TIME+
+Active+ +Pa.s.sive+
_Singular_ _Singular_
I shall see. I shall be seen.
You will see. You will be seen.
He will see. He will be seen.
_Plural_ _Plural_
We shall see. We shall be seen.
You will see. You will be seen.
They will see. They will be seen.
Then you remember we had to devise a way of describing an action perfected or completed at the present or at some time in the past or at some time in the future--so we have present perfect, past perfect and future perfect.
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