I may be mistaken.
2. The farm was sold.
3. I shall be contented.
4. Has it been decided?
5. You should have been working.
6. The danger might have been avoided.
7. He may have been tired and sleepy.
8. She is singing.
9. I shall be satisfied.
10. The rule has not been observed.
11. Stars have disappeared.
12. Times will surely change.
TENSE FORMS--MEANING.
The +Present Tense+ is used to express (1) what is actually present, (2)
what is true at all times, (3) what frequently or habitually takes place,
(4) what is to take place in the future, and it is used (5) in describing
past or future events as if occurring at the time of the speaking.
+Examples+.--I _hear_ a voice (action as present). The sun _gives_ light
(true at all times). He _writes_ for the newspapers (habitual). Phillips
_speaks_ in Boston to-morrow night (future). He _mounts_ the scaffold; the
executioners _approach_ to bind him; he _struggles, resists_, etc. (past
events pictured to the imagination as present). The clans of Culloden _are_
scattered in fight; they _rally_, they _bleed_, etc. (future events now
seen in vision).
The +Past Tense+ may express (1) simply past action or being, (2) a past
habit or custom, (3) a future event, and (4) it may refer to present time.
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