G have. What do strawberries have now? Press conferences? Because strawberries and seeds are linked for eternity, go for present tense. H were. One particular strawberry had 45 seeds, but another strawberry may have a different number. Because this sentence expresses a changeable and not an eternal truth and because the sentence as a whole is in past tense, past tense is appropriate for the last verb as well. I knew. Marty (contrary to the opinion of every single one of her teachers) can learn, so this statement expresses a fact that may change. The past tense works best here because the sen- tence is talking about a previous time. J does. Vegetarian diets never include meat. The definition is set, so present tense is needed here. K Peering. Here the two actions take place at the same time. The researchers check out the sub- jects’ teeth and check for trouble. The perfect form (with having) is for actions at different times. L hearing. Once again, two actions take place at the same time. Go for the plain form. M Refusing. The “not in this universe will I open my mouth” moment is simultaneous with an “if looks could kill” glare, so the plain form is best. N having been completed. The plain form completed would place two actions (the completing and the tabulating) at the same time. Yet common sense tells you that the tabulating follows the completion of the research. The perfect form (with having) places the completing before the tabulating. O having gone. The decision to stop market research is based on the fact that it’s too late; the tooth whitener, in all its glory, is already being manufactured. Because the timeline matters here, and one action is clearly earlier, the perfect form is needed. P to interview. The have form places the action of interviewing before the action expressed by the main verb in the sentence. But the legal department objected first. Dump the have form. Q getting. Three actions are mentioned in this sentence: scheduling, succeeding, and getting. The first action is placed in the future, so don’t worry about it. The last two actions take place at the same time, because the minute somebody signs a legal paper, the attorneys are success- ful. As it expresses a simultaneous action, the plain form of the verbal (without having) is appropriate. R Sending. The CEO’s statement places two things, sending and being sure, at the same time. Bingo: The plain form is best. S Weeping. The interviewers are all choked up as they clap their hands and hope for a very big raise. Plain form works because the two things happen at the same time. T having been. The celebration and “time to get back to work” movement take place at the same time as the announcement. No perfect tense is needed. 163 Chapter 12: Traveling in Time: Tricky Verb-Tense Situations 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11:27 PM Page 163 164 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use U The proceeding and the noticing took place at roughly the same time, so the plain form is the one you want here. V The noticing and the coming of the smoke were more or less simultaneous, so go for the plain form here. The perfect form would place one action earlier than another, which is contrary to the intended meaning. 74 05 35 45 6 4 84 94 15 25 5 5 GMT Industries Incident Report Date: 8/29/05 Time: 1:10 a.m. Place: Loading dock Guard on duty: P. Samuels Proceeding from the locker room where Grammarian Idol Factor was on television, I noticed smoke coming from a doorway that leads to the loading dock. Knowing that no deliveries were scheduled, I immediately became suspicious and took out my two-way radio. I alerted the other guard on duty, M. Faulkner, that trouble might be brewing. Faulkner, not having turned off the television, couldn’t hear me. Upon screaming into the radio that I needed him right away, I crept up to the door. I noticed that the smoke was not hot. As I waited, touching the door to see whether it was getting hot, I sincerely wished to find Faulkner and to strangle him for not replying when I called. Arriving, Faulkner apologized and explained that the adverb competition was his favorite. He also said that he had a clogged ear that he had not been able to clean out, no matter how many toothpicks he used. “Speaking of heating up,” I remarked, “I don’t sense any heat from this door.” I reminded him that fire is hot, and where there’s smoke there is fire. Then Faulkner and I, hearing a buzz from the other side of the door, ran for shelter. I told Faulkner that the buzz was not from a bomb, but neither of us being in the mood to take chances, we headed for the locker room. We did not put the television on again, Grammarian Idol Factor having been over for more than ten minutes, but we did plug in a CD as we waited for the police to arrive, having called them some time before. Therefore we didn’t hear the director yell, “Cut!” In no way did we intend to disrupt the film crew’s work or to ruin the dry ice that caused the “smoke.” Having respected Hollywood for many years, Faulkner and I wish Mr. Scorsese only the best with his next film. 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11:27 PM Page 164 165 Chapter 12: Traveling in Time: Tricky Verb-Tense Situations W The suspicions arose from the knowledge that no deliveries were scheduled, so the knowing and the act of suspecting are simultaneous, calling for the plain verbal. X This sentence emphasizes the order of events. Because the television was not turned off first, Faulkner couldn’t hear. The perfect form works to show an earlier action (not turning off the television). Y The screaming and the creeping are simultaneous; go for the plain form. z The touching of the door and the waiting are simultaneous, calling for a plain (no sprinkles added) verbal. Z The narrator wished to find Faulkner (everyone’s looking for him, including his bookie), and the wishing and finding are more or less simultaneous. Plain form doesn’t set up any special order of events. 1 The plain infinitive to strangle is appropriate because the narrator wished to find and to strangle Faulkner all at the same time. The actions are presented equally, not in time order. 2 The calling and replying are presented as simultaneous acts, so go for plain, not perfect. 3 The apologizing and the arriving are going on at the same time; a plain form is therefore best. 4 This verb expresses summarized speech, so past tense is what you want. 5 Another speech summary is expressed by this verb, so go for past tense. 6 In summarizing speech, always opt for past tense. 7 All these verbs fall into the category of summarized speech and thus take the past tense. 8 The I in the sentence is speaking now, so the plain form is needed. 9 Fire is always hot, so present tense works here. 0 This unchangeable fact (fire is never without smoke) calls for present tense. ! These two cowards took off at exactly the same time they heard a buzz — no time lag here! The perfect form would indicate two consecutive events, but these events were simultaneous and thus need the plain form. @ Summarized speech, indicated by told, calls for past tense. # Being keeps the speakers in the moment. The writer is not placing the mood before another action. Go for plain form. $ The perfect form is appropriate because the speaker is putting events in order. First, the show ends. Second, they put on a CD. % In hopes of saving his job, the writer emphasizes the order of events, using the perfect form to place the calling of the police earlier on the timeline. ^ The intending and the disrupting are simultaneous, so plain form is best. & Plain form works here because the intending and the ruining occur at the same time. * Here the writer is emphasizing a longstanding respect for the film world. The perfect form extends the respectful feeling into the past. 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11:27 PM Page 165 166 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11:27 PM Page 166 Chapter 13 Are You and Your Verbs in the Right Mood? In This Chapter ᮣ Understanding the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods of verbs ᮣ Choosing verbs for statements, commands, and condition-contrary-to-fact sentences N o, they’re not pregnant or in the midst of midlife crises; nevertheless, verbs do have mood swings. One minute they’re indicative, the regular, plain-vanilla, just-the-facts sort of verb. (The dishes are dirty. No one has washed them. Little colonies of mold estab- lished themselves all over the sink a couple of days ago.) Suddenly they’re issuing orders in imperative mood. (Wash the dishes. Stop whining. Don’t think your allowance is off limits!) And when you least expect a change, subjunctive pops up. (If I were rich enough to hire a maid, I wouldn’t ask for your dishwashing help. I’m not a millionaire, so I request that 7 p.m. be the official dishwashing hour.) Got the idea? Of the three verb moods, you’re probably the most familiar with indicative. Every statement of fact is in indicative mood, as are nearly all the sentences in this book. The imperative mood gives commands, usually to an understood you who doesn’t appear in the sentence. The subjunctive, the one designed to give you a headache, shows up in condition- contrary-to-fact and in certain command/wish sentences. In this chapter I take you through all three, with a little extra attention on the hard one, also known as the subjunctive. Stating the Obvious: Indicative Mood Just about everything I say about verbs in this book actually applies to indicative verbs, which, as the name implies, indicate facts. Indicative mood is the one you use automatically, stating action or being in any tense and for any person. Do you want to see some samples of indicative verbs? No problem. Every verb in this paragraph is in indicative mood. I have placed all the verbs in italics so you can locate them easily. Indicative verbs change according to the time period you’re talking about (the tense) and, at times, according to the person doing the action. I cover these issues in Chapters 1 and 2. If you’re in the mood, circle the indicative verb that works best in each of the following sen- tences. The verb choices are in parentheses. Q. Mr. Adams (holds/held) a performance review every June. A. holds. Both choices are indicative, but the present tense works better. The clue is the expression every June. 19_599321 ch13.qxp 4/3/06 11:27 PM Page 167 1. Each employee (is/was) summoned to Adams’ office for what he calls “a little chat.” 2. All the workers (know/will know) that the “chat” is all on Adams’ side. 3. Adams (likes/like) to discuss baseball, the economy, and the reasons no one (will/would) receive a raise. 4. “(Is/Was) business good these days?” he always says. 5. He always (mentions/will mention) that he may have to make personal sacrifices to save the company. 6. Sacrifices! He (means/meant) that he (earns/will earn) only a million instead of two mil- lion next year! 7. Maybe he (replaced/will replace) the linen napkins in the executive dining room with paper. 8. After the chat, the employees always (go/will go) out for some conversation of their own. 9. (Does/Do) they review Adams’ performance in the most candid way? 10. Everyone (believe/believes) that the company needs new leadership. Taking Command: Imperative Mood I studied a couple of foreign languages in college, and I remember a major headache arriv- ing right around the time I tried to learn the imperative mood. Each verb had a bunch of rules on how to form commands — plus irregulars! English is much kinder than those other languages. In English, the command, also known as the imperative mood, is the same whether you’re talking to one person or 20, to a peasant or to a queen. The English com- mand form is the infinitive minus the to. In other words, the unchanged, plain form of the verb. Negative commands are slightly different. They take the infinitive-minus-to and add do not, as in do not snivel, do not blink, and do not blubber. Some examples, with the imperative verb italicized: Stop sniveling, Henry. Pull yourself together and meet your new in-laws. Do not mention our engagement. Prepare to die if they find out we’re getting married! Fill in the blanks with commands for poor Henry, who is meeting his prospective in-laws. The base verb you’re working with appears in parentheses at the end of each sentence. Q. _______________ quietly on the couch, Henry, while I fetch Daddy. (to sit) A. Sit. The command is formed by dropping the to from the infinitive. 11. Henry, _______________ my lead during the conversation. (to follow) 12. If Mom talks about Paris, _______________ your head and _______________ interested. (to nod/to look) 168 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use 19_599321 ch13.qxp 4/3/06 11:27 PM Page 168 . and I wish Mr. Scorsese only the best with his next film. 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11: 27 PM Page 164 165 Chapter 12: Traveling in Time: Tricky Verb-Tense. the past. 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11: 27 PM Page 165 166 Part III: The Pickier Points of Correct Verb and Pronoun Use 18_599321 ch12.qxp 4/3/06 11: 27 PM Page 166 Chapter 13 Are You and Your. tense works better. The clue is the expression every June. 19_599321 ch13.qxp 4/3/06 11: 27 PM Page 1 67 1. Each employee (is/was) summoned to Adams’ office for what he calls “a little chat.” 2.