UNIT 15
Grammar Review
VERB TENSES, VOICE,
AND
MOOD
The House of the Spirits chronicles the fortunes of a Chilean family from
the turn of the century until the coup of 1973, when Salvador Allende [ä
yen´ dā], Chile’s first socialist president and Isabel Allende’s uncle, was overthrown. The following passage is narrated by Esteban Trueba, the family
patriarch. In it he describes his first encounter with his fiancée, whose long
green hair earned her the name Rosa the Beautiful. The passage has been
annotated to show some of the verb forms covered in this unit.
Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
Literature Model
from The
Present perfect tense
Past tense of a
regular verb
Past progressive form
Present form of an
irregular verb
Past perfect
progressive form
Subjunctive mood
Active voice
Past perfect tense
592
House of the Spirits
by Isabel Allende
translated from the Spanish by Magda Bogin
M
ore than half a century has passed, but I can still remember the exact moment when Rosa the Beautiful entered
my life like a distracted angel who stole my soul as she went by.
She was with her Nana and another child, probably one of her
younger sisters. I think she was wearing a violet dress, but I’m
not sure, because I have no eye for women’s clothes and because
she was so beautiful that even if she had been wearing an
ermine cape all I would have noticed was her face. I don’t generally spend my time thinking about women, but only a fool could
have failed to spot that apparition, who caused a stir wherever
she went, and tied up traffic, with her incredible green hair,
which framed her face like a fantastic hat, her fairy-tale manner,
and her special way of moving as if she were flying. She crossed
right in front of me without seeing me and floated into the pastry shop on the Plaza de Armas. Dumbstruck, I waited in the
street while she bought licorice drops, which she selected one by
one, with that tinkling laugh of hers, tossing some into her
mouth and handing others to her sister. I wasn’t the only one to
stand there hypnotized, for within a few minutes a whole circle
of men had formed, their noses pressed against the window. It
was then that I reacted. It didn’t cross my mind that since I had
Unit 15 Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
Grammar Review
Review: Exercise 1
Passive voice
Indicative mood
Past tense of an
irregular verb
Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
no fortune, was no one’s idea of a proper young man, and faced
a most uncertain future, I was far from being the ideal suitor for
that heavenly girl. I didn’t even know her! But I was bewitched
and I decided then and there that she was the only woman in
the world who was worthy to be my wife, and that if I couldn’t
have her I would remain a bachelor. I followed her all the way
home. I got on the same streetcar and took the seat behind her,
unable to take my eyes off her perfect nape, her round neck, and
her soft shoulders caressed by the green curls that had escaped
from her coiffure. I didn’t feel the motion of the car, because I
was in a dream. Suddenly she swept down the aisle and as she
passed me her astonishing gold eyes rested for a moment on my
own. Part of me must have died. I couldn’t breathe and my pulse
stopped in its tracks. When I recovered my composure, I had to
leap onto the sidewalk at the risk of breaking all my bones, and
run toward the street down which she had already turned.
Identifying Principal Parts
The following sentences are based on the passage from The House of the Spirits. Each
sentence contains a verb in one of four forms: (a) the base form, (b) the past form, (c)
the present participle, or (d) the past participle. At the end of the sentence is a second
verb in parentheses. First, identify the form of the verb in italics. Then rewrite the
sentence, substituting the verb in parentheses for the italicized verb. In the rewritten
sentence, be sure the new verb is in the same form as the original verb.
SAMPLE
ANSWER
Rosa has captured everyone’s interest. (win)
past participle; Rosa has won everyone’s interest.
1. The striking young woman with the incredible green hair had attracted every
bystander’s attention. (catch)
2. Rosa and her sister select licorice drops in the pastry shop on the Plaza de Armas. (choose)
3. Rosa was tossing licorice drops, one by one, into her mouth. (throw)
4. She generously handed some drops to her little sister. (give)
5. Before Rosa left the shop, a circle of admiring men had formed close to the window.
(draw)
6. By that time, Esteban had realized that Rosa was the only woman he could ever love.
(know)
7. He has occupied a seat behind her on the streetcar. (take)
8. When she got up from her seat, she looked at him. (rise)
9. Esteban has jumped to his feet and hurried down the street after Rosa. (spring)
10. Each night, Esteban’s dreams carry images of Rosa the Beautiful and her amazing
green hair. (bring)
Grammar Review
593
Grammar Review
Review: Exercise 2
Using the Perfect Tenses
The following sentences are based on passages from The House of the Spirits that are
not reprinted in this textbook. On your paper, rewrite each sentence, adding the appropriate form of the italicized verb in the place indicated by the caret. Write the verb in
the tense indicated in parentheses, using the past participle of the main verb and the
appropriate form of the helping verb have.
SAMPLE
ANSWER
Because of Rosa’s flawless beauty, some people ^ her an angel. (present perfect tense of think)
Because of Rosa’s flawless beauty, some people have thought her an angel.
Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
1. Rosa’s little sister Clara ^ fame to her family through her gifts of prophecy. (present
perfect tense of bring)
2. In the past Clara ^ earthquakes before they occurred. (past perfect tense of foretell)
3. After tiny Clara ^ aloud rudely in church, the priest called her bewitched. (past perfect
tense of speak)
4. Old Nana ^ the nurse of these unusual children for many years. (present perfect tense
of be)
5. By a certain point in the novel, the strange Clara ^ Esteban’s bride. (future perfect tense
of become)
Review: Exercise 3
Using the Progressive and Emphatic Forms
The following sentences are based on the passage from The House of the Spirits. On
your paper, rewrite each sentence, adding the appropriate form of the italicized verb in
the place indicated by the caret. Write the verb in the form indicated in parentheses.
Use the present participle of the main verb with the appropriate form of the auxiliary
verb be or the base form of the main verb with the appropriate form of do.
SAMPLE
ANSWER
Unaware of the crowd outside, Rosa ^ candy in a pastry shop. (past progressive form of buy)
Unaware of the crowd outside, Rosa was buying candy in a pastry shop.
1. On the day of her first meeting with Esteban, Rosa ^ a violet dress. (past emphatic
form of wear)
2. Masses of greenish curls ^ Rosa’s delicate face and soft shoulders. (past progressive
form of frame)
3. In a moment, the worshipful Esteban ^ upon Rosa’s flawless neck. (future progressive
form of gaze)
4. Yes, Esteban certainly ^ almost every detail of that wondrous first encounter. (past
emphatic form of remember)
5. In spite of his unworthiness as a suitor of the wealthy girl, the impoverished Esteban ^
an intense courtship. (past progressive form of begin)
594
Unit 15 Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
Grammar Review
Review: Exercise 4
Voice of Verbs
The following sentences are about The House of the Spirits. First, identify each sentence
as being in either the passive voice or the active voice. Then rewrite each sentence,
changing the active voice to the passive or the passive voice to the active.
SAMPLE
ANSWER
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Clara was fed licorice drops by Rosa.
passive voice; Rosa fed Clara licorice drops.
Rosa and Clara are chaperoned by Nana.
Esteban sends love letters to Rosa.
Rosa is courted seriously by no other young men.
Many are daunted by her beauty.
Rosa’s parents will accept Esteban’s marriage proposal.
Review: Exercise 5
Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
Proofreading
The passage below describes Dora Ramirez, whose painting appears on this
page. Rewrite the passage, correcting the errors in spelling, grammar, and
usage. Add any missing punctuation. There are ten errors.
Dora Ramirez
1
Dora Ramirez is born in
1923 in Medellín, Colombia.
2
She studied painting in her
native city—first at its university
and later at it’s Institute
of Plastic Arts.
3
The painting shown here
captures a personal moment in
the artists’ life. 4The feeling that
she expresses is one of exultation
and exuberant self-possession,
and she appeared to embrace
life. 5The outward-reaching gaze
in her eyes are echoed in the
winglike billowing of her dress.
6
Ramirez’s style has a
graphic simplicity charaterized
by bold geometric patches of
Dora Ramirez, Self-portrait at an Open Window, 1977
(continued)
Grammar Review
595
Grammar Review
color. 7The woman’s face is having an unaffected directness; indeed, it is the force
of her gesture as she opens the window that establishes the exultant mood.
8
Isabel Allende has wrote about a beautiful girl who moved as if she were
floating or flying. 9The girl sweeped down the aisle as she passed the narrator.
10
Awed by her beauty the narrator watched her and dreamed.
Exercise 6
Mixed Review
The following sentences describe the life of the author Isabel Allende. Rewrite each sentence,
following the instructions in parentheses.
SAMPLE
Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
ANSWER
The daughter of a Chilean diplomat, Isabel Allende lives all over the world
during her childhood. (Change the verb to the simple past tense.)
The daughter of a Chilean diplomat, Isabel Allende lived all over the world
during her childhood.
Isabel Allende
1. Until 1973 Allende worked in Chile as a journalist. (Change the verb to the past progressive
form.)
2. Isabel’s uncle, Salvador Allende, becomes the president of Chile, but he died in 1973 during
a coup d’état. (Change the first verb to make the tenses compatible.)
3. In 1974 Isabel fled to Venezuela because her opposition to the new regime in Chile jeopardized her safety. (Change the second verb to the past progressive form.)
4. Until the political climate changes in Chile, Allende will write from her current home in
California. (Change the second verb to the future progressive form.)
5. Allende started The House of the Spirits (1982) as a letter to her sick grandfather. (Rewrite
the sentence in the passive voice.)
6. Allende based many of her characters on her family. (Change the verb to the present perfect
tense.)
7. When she is a child, the love and violence in Shakespeare’s plots fired her vivid imagination. (Correct the error caused by the use of the present tense.)
8. These passions also dominate her novels. (Rewrite the sentence in the passive voice.)
9. Allende’s novels combine fantasy with realism. (Change the verb to the present emphatic
form.)
10. Journalistic techniques are also employed in her fiction. (Rewrite the sentence in the active
voice.)
596
Unit 15 Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
Writing Application
Active Voice in Writing
Techniques with Active Voice
Junius Edwards uses verbs in the active
voice in this passage from his short story
“Liars Don’t Qualify” to create a feeling of
movement and suspense. Examine the
passage, focusing especially on the italicized verbs.
Try to apply some of Junius Edward’s writing techniques when you write and revise
your own work.
Note how the active voice gives the writing
a note of liveliness. Although the verbs are
in the past tense, they convey a sense of
“happening right before your eyes” that
helps draw the reader into the story.
Whenever possible, use the active
rather than the passive voice in your
writing to create a feeling of movement. Compare the following:
His chair was swung around by
the fat man.
EDWARD’S VERSION The fat man swung
his chair around.
PASSIVE
2
Verb Tenses, Voice, and Mood
The fat man swung his chair around.
. . . He raised his left arm and mopped
his face with the handkerchief, his eyes
still on Will. The odor from under his
sweat-soaked arm made Will step back.
Will held his breath until the fat man
finished mopping his face. The fat man
put his handkerchief away. He pulled a
desk drawer open, and then he took his
eyes off Will.
1
For more about
the writing
process, see TIME
Facing the Blank
Page, pp.
109–119.
Use the active rather than the passive
voice in order to avoid long, awkward,
or unclear sentences. Compare the
following:
His left arm was raised and his
face was mopped with the handkerchief,
his eyes still on Will.
EDWARD’S VERSION He raised his left arm
and mopped his face with the handkerchief, his eyes still on Will.
PASSIVE
Practice
Practice these techniques by revising the following passage, using a separate sheet of
paper. Pay particular attention to the underlined words.
The track portion of the track-and-field events at the Olympics comprises foot races of various distances. The different races are performed by individuals or national teams before cheering crowds.
Naturally, the most emotional response from the crowd is usually prompted by an unexpected outcome. Emotions ran especially high in 1964, when the ten-thousand-meter race was won by America’s
Billy Mills. Mills’s victory was anticipated by few onlookers, for an Australian runner had been deemed
the likely winner by most experts. As the long race progressed, Mills’s unexpected performance
was noted with increasing wonder by sportscasters. When the others were outdistanced by Mills and
the finish line was crossed, Mills’s victory was thunderously applauded by everyone. His brilliant upset
is still viewed by sports historians as one of the most exciting events in Olympic history.
Writing Application
597