d added: will, woul-d; shall, shoul-d; sleep, slep-t; tell, tol-d, &c.

(d) In some the root-vowel and the final consonant

are modified and the suffix t is added: seek, sough-t; beseech, besough-t; teach, taugh-t; catch, caugh-t; bring, brought; buy, bough-t; work, wrough-t; owe, ough-t; may, migh-t.

These verbs originally ended in a guttural, which is represented by the gh.

233. The following are irregular forms of the Past Indefinite :

can, could (A.-S. cu-the, O. E. cou-d). The l was in

serted from a false idea that could resembled the words would and should in its formation. In these last is part of the root.

make, made (A.-S. mac-ode, O. E. mak-ed). The final guttural is lost.

have, had (A.-S. hæf-de, O. E. ha-dde). The final aspe

234. In the modern English verb there is no distinction of number.

In old English the plural suffix was -en (A.-S. -on), as, we tell-en, they sing-en.

The e in ar-e and wer-e (indic.) is probably a trace of this suffix.

Another Anglo-Saxon suffix of the plural was -ath, -e,

still seen in the old English be-th (are) and do-th (do). It is also found in the pres. imperative: “Honour-eth hir and lov-eth hir” (Chau.). “Go-th now and do-th my lordes hest" (Id.). It appears also in the modified form -s: "Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath give-s" (Shakspere).

Person.

235. The suffix of the first person singular was once -om or -am. This still survives in am (A.-S. e-om, Lat. s-um).

236. The suffix of the second person singular is -est, -st, or -t (A.-S. -ast, -st, -t); bring-est, can-st, wil-t. Ha-st (A.-S. hæf-st, O. E. hav-est) has lost the asperate. In ar-t, wer-t, shal-t, wil-t, the s is lost after the liquid. In the present imperative the suffix is lost bring. The second person-ending was originally the second personal pronoun.

237. The suffix of the third person singular was in Anglo-Saxon -ath or -th; in old English -eth or -th: bring-eth, do-th, and in modern English is -8, -2, or -ez (written -s, -es).

238. As these suffixes are identical in form with those of the ordinary plural and the genitive of nouns, the same principles regulate their application (§§ 97, 126).

1. When the word ends in a sharp mute, the suffix is -8: stop-s, beat-s, seek-s, puff-s.

2. When the word ends in a flat mute, a liquid, or a

vowel, the suffix is -z (written -s): bid-z, fall-z,

show-z.

3. When the word ends in a sibilant, the suffix is -ez

(written -es): toss-ez, freez-ez, search-ez.

239. A simple y at the end of a word becomes ie; try, trie-s. With the verbs goe-s, doe-s, compare the nouns cargoe-s, echoe-s, &c.; and observe the modified vowel in doe-s.

Ha-th (A.-S. hav-ath, O. E. hav-eth) has lost the asperate. These person-endings are confined to the singular number.

Participles.

240. A Participle is a verbal adjective, differing from an ordinary adjective in the following particulars:

(a) It expresses the condition of a noun at a particular point of time, whereas an ordinary adjective indicates some permanent quality in the noun. Thus, 'a white horse' marks a permanent quality in the horse; 'a trotting horse' shows the state of the horse at a particular time.

(b) If derived from a transitive verb, it sometimes takes an object expressing the quarter to which the action is directed:

The very clock in the hall had a dismal sound, gasping and catching its breath at times, and striking the hour with a violent determined blow, reminding one of Jael driving the nail into the head of Sisera.-Longfellow.

(c) It expresses the same modifications of the action as the Infinitive (§ 226), and, being an adjective, has no distinctions of time. The student should therefore be careful not to speak of a present, a past, or a future participle.

6. Intent.-Contin. having been going to write.

241. There are two participles formed by inflection, the Imperfect and the Perfect.

242. The Imperfect Participle is formed by the suffix -ing; sing-ing, read-ing.

In A.-S. the suffix was -ende, in O. E. -and :

Giv-and and tak-and woundes wide.-Barbour.

Compare the Latin -ent and the Greek -ont. The d was dropped, and the nasal liquid ng substituted for n.

This participle must not be confounded with the gerund, or with nouns formed by the suffix -ing.

243. The Perfect Participle is formed,

(1.) By the suffix -en, with or without a modification of the root-vowel; beat, beat-en; speak, spok-en. The following irregularities are found :

(a) Sometimes -en is lost; drink, drunk.

(b) Occasionally e is lost; forlor-n, show-n, go-ne, do-ne, &c.

244. In A.-S. this participle had a prefix ge-, which appears in O. E. as y- or i-; y-clad (clothed), y-do or i-do (done).

245. All verbs that form the perfect participle in this manner belong to the strong class and to the Gothic stock.

246. (11.) By the suffix -t, -d, -ed, with or without a modification of the root-vowel: spill, spil-t; feel, fel-t; free, free-d; sell, sol-d; mend, mend-ed.

247. As these suffixes are identical in form with those of the past indefinite, the same principles regulate the formation of the perfect participle. (See § 231.)

This identity of form is accidental. In AngloSaxon the suffix of the past indefinite was -ode, -de; the suffix of the perfect participle was -od, -ed, -d. In modern English each has been reduced to -t, -d, -ed.

248. A few verbs have two forms of this participle; one with -en, the other with -t or -d: clov-en or clef-t, grav-en or grav-d, swoll-en or swell-d, &c.

249. All verbs of the weak class, and verbs of foreign origin, form the perfect participle by -t, -d, or -ed.

Gerund.

250. The Gerund is a verbal noun.

In Anglo-Saxon it was expressed by the word to

and the suffix -anne; to tell-anne (telling).

In modern English this has taken two forms: