In strict propriety, we have in English no passive verb; that is, we have no single word which conveys the idea of passion or suffering, in the manner of the Greek or Latin passive verb. It may be useful, in teaching English to youth or foreigners, to exhibit a specimen of the combinations of the verb _be_, with the participles of other verbs in all their varieties; but each word should be parsed as a distinct part of speech; altho two or more may be necessary to convey an idea which is expressed by a single word in another language. TIME. Time is naturally divided into _past_, _present_ and _future_. The English verb has but two variations of ending to express time; the present, as _love_, _write_; and the past, as _loved_, _wrote_. The usual division of tenses, or combinations of words corresponding to the Latin tenses, is not wholly accurate. The definition of the second tense, in the ordinary arrangement of them in Latin grammars, may be correct, as it relates to the Roman tongue; but does not apply to the English tense, which is commonly called by the same name, the _Imperfect_. The Latin words _movebam_, _legebam_, are translated _I moved_, _I read_. Now the English words express actions _perfectly past_, and therefore the time or tense cannot be justly denominated _imperfect_. If the Latin words expressed, in the Roman tongue, actions _imperfectly past_, they should be rendered by us, _I was moving_, _was reading_, which convey ideas of actions, as taking place at some preceding period, but not then past. In this sense, the name of the tense might have been used with propriety. But the English form of expression, _he moved_, conveys the idea of an action completely past, and does not fall within the definition of the Latin _Imperfect_. It is surprizing that the great Lowth should rank this form of the verb, _they moved_, under the head of _indefinite_ or _undetermined_ time; and yet place this form, _have moved_, or what is called the perfect tense, under the head of _definite_ or _determined_ time. The truth is, the first is the most _definite_. _I have loved_, or _moved_, expresses an action performed and completed, generally within a period of time not far distant; but leaves the particular point of time wholly _indefinite_ or _undetermined_. On the other hand, _I loved_ is necessarily employed, when a particular _period_ or _point_ of time is specified. Thus it is correct to say, _I read a book yesterday_, _last week_, _ten years ago_, &c. but it is not grammatical to say, _I have read a book yesterday_, _last week_, &c. so that, directly contrary to Lowth's rule, _I moved_, is the _definite_, and _I have moved_, the _indefinite_ time.