INFINITIVE MOOD. PRESENT. This tense denotes an action as present, without any distinction of persons, and at an indefinite time, which time is defined by the verb that generally governs this mood; as, le oí cantar; le oygo cantar; le oiré cantar, I heard him sing; I hear him sing; I shall hear him sing. PERFECT. This tense denotes an action as past, without distinction of persons, and indefinitely in regard to time; as, me acordé de haber cuntado, me acuerdo de haber cantado, me acordaré siempre de haber cantado, I remembered to have sung; I remember to have sung; I shall always remember to have sung. Observation. The infinitive partakes so much of the nature of a verbal noun in Spanish, that it admits even to be declined with the definite article; as, á veces es fortuna el ser pobre, sometimes it is lucky to be poor; al volver de Londres me encontré con tus dos cartas, on my return from London I found your two letters. The infinitive is also used in an absolute manner, (chiefly at the beginning of a sentence,) and then it is equivalent to some tense of the verb with the conjunction si; as, á saber yo que no hubiera venido, had I known that he would not have come; which is the same as, si yo hubiera sabido que, &c., if I had known that, &c. GERUND. The gerund describes an action in a state of progression at a certain time, defined either by some verb which governs the gerund, or by some circumstances expressed in the sentence; as, iba, va, or irá cantando por las calles, he went, goes, or will go, singing through the streets; temiendo que se lo rehusen, no se atreverá á pedirlo, fearing that they will refuse it to him, he will not dare to ask for it. COMPOUND OF THE GERUND. The compound of the gerund denotes the action as perfected; as, habiendo escrito la carta, la embie, having written the letter, I sent it; habiendo leido el libro, se le volví, having read the book, I returned it to him. PASSIVE PARTICIPLE. This participle when joined to the verb haber denotes time past; as, habiamos escrito, we had written :* when joined to the verb ser, in order to form what is called the passive voice, it denotes the time represented by the tense of the verb: as, era, es, or será amada, she was, is, or will be, loved; but in all cases it denotes the action as perfected. AGREEMENT OF THE VERB WITH ITS SUBJECT.. RULE 109. The verb and its subject agree in number and person; as El maestro enseña, Nosotros obedecemos, Los soldados pelearon, The master teaches. The soldiers fought. RULE 110. If the subject of the verb be a collective noun, the verb may be put in the plural; as * See what has been said on the Use of the Compound Tenses, page 195. Una multitud entráron, A multitude entered. Una tropa saliéron, A crowd went out. Note a.-It is to be observed that all collective nouns do not admit the verb in the plural; regard must be had to the nature of their signification, concerning which the Spanish Academy has given the following directions. Collectives Definite,* or nouns which denote a number of determinate persons or things, must have the verb in the singular; as, el exercito venció, the army conquered; el rebaño perecerá, the flock will perish; la arboleda nos abrigó, the grove sheltered us. Collectives Indefinite, or nouns which signify a number of indeterminate persons or things, may have the verb in the plural, as may be seen in the foregoing examples. RULE 111. A verb having different persons for its subjects, agrees with the pronoun understood; RULE 112. If a verb has several subjects not connected by a conjunction, it agrees generally with the last; as Esquadras, exércitos, dinero, todo se sacrificó, Humillaciones, condescendencias, todo sufrió, se Fleets, armies, money, all was sacrificed. Humiliations, submissions, every thing was endured. * See page 30. . Note a. If a verb has two or more subjects, and the said subjects be connected by any other conjunctive conjunction than y, the verb generally agrees in number with the last; as, no solamente la madre y las hijas, sino tambien el padre habia muerto entonces, not only the mother and daughters, but the father also was then dead; no solamente el padre y la madre, sino tambien las hijas habian muerto, not only the father and mother, but also the daughters were dead. Note b.-If a verb has two subjects, joined by the conjunction y, and postponed, it is commonly put in the singular; as, Nunca me ha sido mas necesario tu auxílio y tu asistencia, Never have your assistance and help been more necessary to me. If the subjects are in different numbers, the verb agrees with the one which is nearest to it; as, la entrada solo la conozco yo y mis camaradas, only I and my comrades are acquainted with the entrance. Note c.-Verbs agree with the first person plural when their subject is a common noun in which the speaker is included; as, los Romanos amamos la libertad, we Romans love liberty. Observation. When the verb to like is rendered by gustar, or to want by faltar, the objective case of the verb in English becomes the subject of it in Spanish, and the subject of the English verb is changed into the first objective case of the corresponding personal pronoun, according to Rules 49 and 51; as, The congregation did not like the preacher, no le gustó al auditorio el predicador: they do not like his style, no les gusta su estilo: children like better to play than to study, mas les gusta á los niños jugar que estudiar: she will never like novels, nunca le gustarán á ella las novelas: the poor always want riches, and the rich often want charity, á los pobres les faltan siempre riquezas, y á los ricos les falta amenudo caridad.-N. B. The verb gustar may be made to retain sometimes the same subject, as in English, but then the regimen must be preceded by the preposition de; as, los niños gustan mas de jugar que de estudiar. See also Observation after Caber, page 164; and to fancy, Colloquial Idioms, Exercises, page 109. GOVERNMENT OF VERBS. RULE 113. An active transitive verb governs the noun to which its energy passes, in the objec tive case, as El la mató, He killed her. L Escribirémos cartas, We shall write letters. Ella desprecia las riquezas, She despises riches. Observation. The foregoing rule is given here as it is stated by the Spanish Academy, and as it has been copied by all the writers on Spanish grammar with whom I am acquainted. It seems to me, nevertheless, that the preposition á is not introduced, because the objective case does represent a person; but in order to point out the objective case of the verb, because it cannot in general be discovered in Spanish by its place in the sentence; thus, Hercules killed Anteus, may correctly be expressed in the six following ways; (1st) Hércules mató á Anteon; (2d) Mató á Anteon Hércules; (3d) á Anteon Hércules mató; (4th) Mató Hércules á Anteon; (5th) Hércules á Anteon mató; (6th) á Anteon mató Hércules. It is evident that in this sentence, were it not for the preposition á, the objective case of matar could not possibly be discovered. This being, in my opinion, the only reason for introducing the said preposition, it necessarily follows; First, that the preposition á may be dispensed with before. persons whenever the objective case of the verb is sufficiently conspicuous without it; as, Acabó disciendome que si queria vender mi mula, él conocia un mulatero que acaso la compraria, He concluded, saying, that if I wished to sell my mule, he knew a jockey who perhaps would buy it. (Gil Blas, ch. 2.) Secondly, That the preposition á ought to be used when the subject and objective case represent inanimate substances, and both are in the same number; as, la preposicion rige al nombre, the preposition governs the noun; los verbos rigen |