_Plural_.
1. I might have been reading, 1. We might have been reading,
2. Thou mightst have been reading, 2. You might have been reading,
3. He might have been reading; 3. They might have been reading.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

PRESENT TENSE.

_Singular_. _Plural_.
1. If I be reading, 1. If we be reading,
2. If thou be reading, 2. If you be reading,
3. If he be reading; 3. If they be reading.

IMPERFECT TENSE.

_Singular_. _Plural_.
1. If I were reading, 1. If we were reading,
2. If thou were reading, 2. If you were reading,
3. If he were reading; 3. If they were reading.

IMPERATIVE MOOD.

Sing. 2. Be [thou] reading, _or_ Do thou be reading;
Plur. 2. Be [ye or you] reading, _or_ Do you be reading.

PARTICIPLES.

1. _The Imperfect_. 2. _The Perfect_. 3. _The Preperfect_.
Being reading. --------- Having been reading.

FAMILIAR FORM WITH 'THOU.'

NOTE.--In the familiar style, the second person singular of this verb, is
usually and more properly formed thus: IND. Thou art reading, Thou was
reading, Thou hast been reading, Thou had been reading, Thou shall _or_
will be reading, Thou shall _or_ will have been reading. POT. Thou may,
can, _or_ must be reading; Thou might, could, would, _or_ should be
reading; Thou may, can, _or_ must have been reading; Thou might, could,
would, _or_ should have been reading. SUBJ. If thou be reading, If thou
were reading. IMP. Be [thou,] reading, _or_ Do thou be reading.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Those verbs which, in their simple form, imply continuance, do not
admit the compound form: thus we say, "I _respect_ him;" but not, "I _am
respecting_ him." This compound form seems to imply that kind of action,
which is susceptible of intermissions and renewals. Affections of the mind
or heart are supposed to last; or, rather, actions of this kind are
complete as soon as they exist. Hence, _to love, to hate, to desire, to
fear, to forget, to remember_, and many other such verbs, are _incapable_
of this method of conjugation.[265] It is true, we often find in grammars
such models, as, "I _was loving_, Thou _wast loving_, He _was loving_," &c.
But this language, to express what the authors intend by it, is not
English. "He _was loving_," can only mean, "He was _affectionate_:" in
which sense, loving is an adjective, and susce