The verbs belonging to the Weak Conjugation are generally of more recent origin than the strong verbs, being frequently formed from the roots of strong verbs. The Weak Conjugation was the growing conjugation in O.E. as it is in Mn.E. We instinctively put our newly coined or borrowed words into this conjugation (telegraphed, boycotted); and children, by the analogy of weak verbs, say runned for ran, seed for saw, teared for tore, drawed for drew, and growed for grew. So, for example, when Latin dictāre and breviāre came into O.E., they came as weak verbs, dihtian and brēfian.

The Three Classes of Weak Verbs.

123.

There is no difficulty in telling, from the infinitive alone, to which of the three classes a weak verb belongs. Class III has been so invaded by Class II that but three important verbs remain to it: habban, to have; libban, to live; and sęcgan, to say. Distinction is to be made, therefore, only between Classes II and I. Class II contains the verbs with infinitive in -ian not preceded by r. Class I contains the remaining weak verbs; that is, those with infinitive in -r-ian and those with infinitive in -an (not -ian).

Class I.

124.

The preterit singular and past participle of Class I end in -ede and -ed, or -de and -ed respectively.

Note.—The infinitives of this class ended originally in -jan (= -ian). This accounts for the prevalence of i-umlaut in these verbs, and also for the large number of short-voweled stems ending in a double consonant (§ 115, Note 2). The weak verb is frequently the causative of the corresponding strong verb. In such cases, the root of the weak verb corresponds in form to the preterit singular of the strong verb: Mn.E. drench (= to make drink), lay (= to make lie), rear (= to make rise), and set (= to make sit), are the umlauted forms of drǫnc (preterit singular of drincan), læg (preterit singular of licgan), rās (preterit singular of rīsan), and sæt (preterit singular of sittan).

Preterit and Past Participle in -ede and -ed.

125.

Verbs with infinitive in -an preceded by ri- or the double consonants mm, nn, ss, bb, cg (= gg), add -ede for the preterit, and -ed for the past participle, the double consonant being always made single:

ri: nęri-an, nęr-ede, genęr-ed, to save.

mm: fręmm-an, fręm-ede, gefręm-ed, to perform [frame].

nn: ðęnn-an, ðęn-ede, geðęn-ed, to extend.

ss: cnyss-an, cnys-ede, gecnys-ed, to beat.

bb: swębb-an, swęf-ede, geswęf-ed, to put to sleep.

cg: węcg-an, węg-ede, gewęg-ed, to agitate.

Note.—Lęcgan, to lay, is the only one of these verbs that syncopates the e: lęcgan, lęgde (lēde), gelęgd (gelēd), instead of lęgede, gelęged.

Preterit and Past Participle in -de and -ed.

126.

All the other verbs belonging to Class I. add -de for the preterit and -ed for the past participle. This division includes, therefore, all stems long by nature (§ 10, (3), (a)):

dǣl-an, dǣl-de, gedǣl-ed, to deal out, divide [dǣl].

dēm-an, dēm-de, gedēm-ed, to judge [dōm].

grēt-an, grēt-te, gegrēt-ed, to greet.

hīer-an, hīer-de, gehīer-ed, to hear.

lǣd-an, lǣd-de, gelǣd-ed, to lead.

Note 1.—A preceding voiceless consonant (§ 9, Note) changes -de into -te: *grēt-de > grēt-te; *mēt-de > mēt-te; *īec-de > īec-te. Syncope and contraction are also frequent in the participles: gegrēt-ed > *gegrēt-d > gegrēt(t); gelǣd-ed > gelǣd(d).

Note 2.—Būan, to dwell, cultivate, has an admixture of strong forms in the past participle: būan, būde, gebūd (bȳn, gebūn). The present participle survives in Mn.E. husband = house-dweller.

127.

It includes, also, all stems long by position (§ 10, (3), (b)) except those in mm, nn, ss, bb, and cg (§ 125):

sęnd-an, sęnd-e, gesęnd-ed, to send.

sętt-an, sęt-te, gesęt-ed, to set [sittan].

sigl-an, sigl-de, gesigl-ed, to sail.

spęnd-an, spęnd-e, gespęnd-ed, to spend.

trędd-an, tręd-de, getręd-ed, to tread.

Note.—The participles frequently undergo syncope and contraction: gesęnded > gesęnd; gesęted > gesęt(t); gespęnded > gespęnd; getręded > getręd(d).

Irregular Verbs of Class I.

128.

There are about twenty verbs belonging to Class I that are irregular in having no umlaut in the preterit and past participle. The preterit ends in -de, the past participle in -d; but, through the influence of a preceding voiceless consonant (§ 9, Note), -ed is generally unvoiced to -te, and -d to -t. The most important of these verbs are as follows:

bring-an, brōh-te, gebrōh-t, to bring.

byc-gan, boh-te, geboh-t, to buy.

sēc-an, sōh-te, gesōh-t, to seek.

sęll-an, seal-de, geseal-d, to give, sell [hand-sel].

tǣc-an, tǣh-te, getǣh-t, to teach.

tęll-an, teal-de, geteal-d, to count [tell].

ðęnc-an, ðōh-te, geðōh-t, to think.

ðync-an, ðūh-te, geðūh-t, to seem [methinks].

wyrc-an, worh-te, geworh-t, to work.

Note.—Such of these verbs as have stems in c or g are frequently written with an inserted e: bycgean, sēcean, tǣcean, etc. This e indicates that c and g have palatal value; that is, are to be followed with a vanishing y-sound. In such cases, O.E. c usually passes into Mn.E. ch: tǣc(e)an > to teach; rǣc(e)an > to reach; stręcc(e)an > to stretch. Sēc(e)an gives beseech as well as seek. See § 8.

Conjugation of Class I.

129.

Paradigms of nęrian, to save; fręmman, to perform; dǣlan, to divide:

Indicative.

Present.

Sing. 1. Ic nęrie fręmme dǣle

2. ðū nęrest fręmest dǣlst

3. hē nęreð fręmeð dǣlð

Plur. 1. wē nęriað

}

2. gē fręmmað dǣlað

3. hīe

Preterit.

Sing. 1. Ic nęrede fręmede dǣlde

2. ðū nęredest fręmedest dǣldest

3. hē nęrede fręmede dǣlde

Plur. 1. wē nęredon

}

2. gē fręmedon dǣldon

3. hīe

Subjunctive.

Present.

Sing. 1. Ic nęrie

}

2. ðū fręmme dǣle

3. hē

Plur. 1. wē

}

2. gē nęrien fręmmen dǣlen

3. hīe

Preterit.

Sing. 1. Ic nęrede

}

2. ðū fręmede dǣlde

3. hē

Plur. 1. wē nęreden

}

2. gē fręmeden dǣlden

3. hīe

Imperative.

Sing. 2. nęre fręme dǣl

Plur. 1. nęrian fręmman dǣlan

2. nęriað fręmmað dǣlað

Infinitive.

nęrian fręmman dǣlan

Gerund.

tō nęrianne (-enne) tō fręmmanne (-enne) tō dǣlanne (-enne)

Present Participle.

nęriende fręmmende dǣlende

Past Participle.

genęred gefręmed gedǣled

Note.—The endings of the preterit present no difficulties; in the 2d and 3d singular present, however, the student will observe (a) that double consonants in the stem are made single: fręmest, fręmeð (not *freęmmest, *freęmmeð); ðęnest, ðęneð; sętest (sętst), seęteð (sętt); fylst, fylð, from fyllan, to fill; (b) that syncope is the rule in stems long by nature: dǣlst (< dǣlest), dǣlð (< dǣleð); dēmst (< dēmest), dēmð (< dēmeð); hīerst (< hīerest), hīerð (< hīereð). Double consonants are also made single in the imperative 2d singular and in the past participle. Stems long by nature take no final -e in the imperative: dǣl, hīer, dēm.

Class II.

130.

The infinitive of verbs belonging to this class ends in -ian (not -r-ian), the preterit singular in -ode, the past participle in -od. The preterit plural usually has -edon, however, instead of -odon:

eard-ian, eard-ode, geeard-od, to dwell [eorðe].

luf-ian, luf-ode, geluf-od, to love [lufu].

rīcs-ian, rīcs-ode, gerīcs-od, to rule [rīce].

sealf-ian, sealf-ode, gesealf-od, to anoint [salve].

segl-ian, segl-ode, gesegl-od, to sail [segel].

Note.—These verbs have no trace of original umlaut, since their -ian was once -ōjan. Hence, the vowel of the stem was shielded from the influence of the j (= i) by the interposition of ō.

Conjugation of Class II.

131.

Paradigm of lufian, to love:

Indicative. Subjunctive.

Present. Present.

Sing. 1. Ic lufie Sing. 1. Ic lufie

}

2. ðu lufast 2. ðū

3. hē lufað 3. hē

Plur. 1. wē lufiað Plur. 1. wē lufien

}

2. gē 2. gē

3. hīe 3. hīe

Preterit. Preterit.

Sing. 1. Ic lufode Sing. 1. Ic lufode

}

2. ðū lufodest 2. ðū

3. hē lufode 3. hē

Plur. 1. wē lufedon (-odon) Plur. 1. wē lufeden (-oden)

}

2. gē 2. gē

3. hīe 3. hīe

Imperative. Infinitive. Present Participle.

Sing. 2. lufa lufian lufiende

Plur. 1. lufian

2. lufiað Gerund. Past Participle.

tō lufianne (-enne) gelufod

Note 1.—The -ie (-ien) occurring in the present must be pronounced as a dissyllable. The y-sound thus interposed between the i and e is frequently indicated by the letter g: lufie, or lufige; lufien, or lufigen. So also for ia: lufiað, or lufigað; lufian, or lufig(e)an.

Note 2.—In the preterit singular, -ade, -ude, and -ede are not infrequent for -ode.

Class III.

132.

The few verbs belonging here show a blending of Classes I and II. Like certain verbs of Class I (§ 128), the preterit and past participle are formed by adding -de and -d; like Class II, the 2d and 3d present indicative singular end in -ast and -að, the imperative 2d singular in -a:

habb-an, hæf-de, gehæf-d, to have.

libb-an, lif-de, gelif-d, to live.

sęcg-an, sǣd-e (sæg-de), gesǣd (gesæg-d), to say.

Conjugation of Class III.

133.

Paradigms of habban, to have; libban, to live; sęcgan, to say.

Indicative.

Present.

Sing. 1. Ic hæbbe libbe sęcge

2. ðū hæfst (hafast) lifast sægst (sagast)

3. hē hæfð (hafað) lifað sægð (sagað)

Plur. 1. wē habbað

}

2. gē libbað sęcgað

3. hīe

Preterit.

Sing. 1. Ic hæfde lifde sǣde

2. ðū hæfdest lifdest sǣdest

3. hē hæfde lifde sǣde

Plur. 1. wē hæfdon

}

2. gē lifdon sǣdon

3. hīe

Subjunctive.

Present.

Sing. 1. Ic hæbbe

}

2. ðū libbe sęcge

3. hē

Plur. 1. wē hæbben

}

2. gē libben sęcgen

3. hīe

Preterit.

Sing. 1. Ic hæfde

}

2. ðū lifde sǣde

3. hē

Plur. 1. wē hæfden

}

2. gē lifden sǣden

3. hīe

Imperative.

Sing. 2. hafa lifa saga

Plur. 1. habban libban sęcgan

2. habbað libbað sęcgað

Infinitive.

habban libban sęcgan

Gerund.

tō habbanne (-enne) tō libbanne (-enne) tō sęcganne (-enne)

Present Participle.

hæbbende libbende sęcgende

Past Participle.

gehæfd gelifd gesǣd