Einglisc Verb Conjugations
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A comprehensive guide to verb conjugations
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 25 Apr 2021, 03:38.
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Einglisc verbs conjugate similarly to Modern English, with two simple tenses (past and present), two participles (past and present), two infinitives, imperative and subjunctive forms that are identical to the infinitive, and a gerund. Unlike Modern English, Einglisc verbs have retained their distinct 2nd person singular, plural, and past tense conjugations (i.e -dest and -den for the 2nd person singular and plural) and the present participle did not merge with the gerund form (the participle ends in -end as opposed to -ing).
Einglisc verbs can be divided into three categories: weak, strong, and irregular. Within each category are two or more verb classes, which decline differently from each other. Most decline for the following:
The Infinitives | Ðe Infinitives
Einglisc infinitives look and behave almost identically to Modern English ones. They come in two forms: the to infinitive and the bare infinitive. The bare infinitive is primarily used after a modal/auxiliary verb (e.g Ij kan singe = I can/know how to sing). The to infinitive is used:
- After non-modal verbs (Hy likes to singe = He likes to sing)
- After an adjective (We are geræd to singe = We are ready to sing)
- To indicate purpose (Sjy arose to singe = She got up to sing)
- Where a gerund might be used in English (For to singe ðe song halpe him = For singing the song helped him)
The to infinitive also includes a past/perfect form, usually formed by adding to have before the past participle, and a passive form, formed by adding to werðe before the past participle.
The Participles | Ðe Partisipe/Middelword
Einglisc verbs have two participles: the noutid partisipe (present participle) and the foretid partisipe (past participle). The noutid partisipe ends in -end, while the foretid partisipe ends in -ed, -en, -de, or -te. Both participles serve as adjectives and are used to form some periphrastic verb forms.
One thing to note is the use of the noutid partisipe to form the continuous aspect. Like in Modern English, the continuous aspect is formed by using the appropriate conjugation of to be followed by the present participle. But the continuous aspect is not as common in Einglisc. When talking about the present tense, it's sufficient to simply use the present tense conjugations of the verb. The present continuous is only used when it is necessary to specify that the action is currently happening. For example, instead of saying Ij am dansend (I am dancing), it's better to simply say Ij danse (I dance). Ij am dansend is more like saying "I'm dancing right now". Even in this case, one can say Ij danse nou right (nou right = right now) instead.
We'll look at further uses of these participles later in the article.
The Simple Present & Preterite | Ðe Einfald Present & Preterite
The primary verb conjugations in Einglisc are the einfald present (simple present, also known as the einfald noutid) and the preterite (also known as the einfald foretid, simple past). Both forms are the most common way to refer to either tense and both can carry the connotation of the continuous aspect.
The Imperative & Subjunctive | Ðe Gebiedend & Onfejend Modus
In Old English, verbs conjugated for the subjunctive and imperative moods alongside the indicative (represented by the simple present and past tenses). In Einglisc, similar to Modern English, these moods have become identical to the bare infinitive, with the singular-plural distinction being lost. The imperative mood (or gebiedend modus) behaves almost exactly like Modern English with the only difference being word order. When the imperative form is used, the sentence takes a VSO word order (i.e Do je it = You guys do it); although, the subject is usually dropped, so this word order doesn't stand out too much.
The subjunctive mood (or onfejend modus) is mostly similar; however, it's used more frequently than in Modern English. For example, while in Modern English one would say If he goes to the store, the Einglisc equivalent is If hy goa to ðe scjoppe (3rd person singular present would be goas). Essentially, when one is talking about something hypothetical, the subjunctive is generally required.
One exception is verbs that on their own indicate that the action is hypothetical, such as wille (to want). A second is when the if is talking about a current state and not a hypothetical. In the previous example, If hy goa to ðe scjoppe, the subjunctive goa indicates that "he" would be going to the shop at a future time. If hy goas to ðe scjoppe is also correct if it is used to mean If he is going to the store (right now).
The Verbal Noun/Gerund | Ðe Verbalsubstantive
A key difference between Modern English and Einglisc that may confuse English speakers is the use of the ending -ing. In Einglisc, there is no gerund form of verbs. However, there is a noun form known as the verbalsubstantive (or simply the substantive), which is used to form nouns that represent either the process of an action or the result of an action. The major difference between this and the English gerund, is that the verbalsubstantive cannot take a direct object nor be modified by an adverb. Compare the following English sentences:
- Eating the last cookie made her angry. (Gerund)
- The eating of the last cookie made her angry. (Verbal Noun)
- I remember seeing her leave. (Gerund)
- I remember that I saw her leave. (Subordinate Clause)
- Because him telling her that would be scandalous. (Gerund)
- Because if he told her that, it would be scandalous. (Subordinate Clause)
- Because his telling of that to her would be scandalous. (very awkward Verbal Noun)
In Einglisc, only the second option of each example would be grammatical. Even though the last example uses a verbal noun, the Einglisc version would have to be ðas telling of ðat to hir from him (from him is the equivalent of English by him) as ðat is treated as the possessor, not him. Of course, this sounds very stilted and such constructions should be avoided at all costs. The role of the gerund is also frequently taken up by the to infinitive. To illustrate, here are a few possible Einglisc translations of the above examples:
- Ðas eating of ðe last koekje makte hir ire.
- Forða ðe last koekje warðe eaten, sjy warðe ire.
- Forða ðat amann hadde eaten ðe last koekje, sjy warðe ire.
- Amann ate ðe last koekje ond ðat makte hir ire.
- Ij gemune ðat ij sau hir gewite.
- Ij gemune ðat ij sau hir gewiting.
- Ij gemune to have sien hir gewite.
- For if hy telle hir ðat, wolle it be skandaleus. (note: telle is in the subjunctive mood here)
- For it wolle be skandaleus if hy telle hir ðat.
Class Ia: Regular -e Verbs
Class I weak verbs make up the largest verb class in Einglisc. They are distinguished from Class II in that they don't end in -je. They can be further divided into two subclasses: Ia Regular Preterite and Ib Close Preterite. Class Ia is the more predictable of the two. They decline thusly:
Conjugation | Person | "to perform" | "to distinguish" | "to dance" |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | fremme | bekenne | danse | |
to fremme | to bekenne | to danse | ||
Noutid Partisipe | fremmend | bekennend | dansend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | frem | beken | danse |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | fremmest | bekennest | danst | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | frems | bekens | danst | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | fremmeð | bekenneð | danseð | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | fremmed | bekenned | dansed |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | fremmedest | bekennedest | dansedest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | fremmed | bekenned | dansed | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | fremmeden | bekenneden | danseden | |
Foretid Partisipe | fremmed | bekenned | dansed | |
Verbalsubstantive | fremming | bekenning | dansing |
A few things to note with the different forms here. In the 1st person singular present forms, if a verb's core vowel is followed by two consonants that end in a stop or nasal or a diphthong followed by a stop, nasal, f, x, or gh, the final e will be dropped. If the core vowel is also followed by a double consonant, the double consonant will be shortened to a single consonant. These rules also hold for the 3rd person present, except that an s is added to the end. Additionally, for verbs whose stem ends in s or x, the 2nd person and 3rd person singular present forms will end in st (double s is shortened to a single s). The only exceptions to this are verbs whose core vowel is a long u or i or whose stem ends in gn.
Class Ib: Close Preterite Verbs
Class Ib consists of verbs whose preterite form is formed by placing de or te up against the final consonant of the stem. Because of this, they are known as either the hende preterite (close preterite) or freindlig preterite (friendly preterite) verbs. Their present forms otherwise follow the above rules. They decline thusly:
Conjugation | Person | "to remember" | "to learn" | "to make" |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | gemune | leurne | make | |
to gemune | to leurne | to make | ||
Noutid Partisipe | gemunend | leurnend | makend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | gemune | leurn | make |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | gemunest | leurnest | makest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | gemunes | leurns | makes | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | gemuneð | leurneð | makeð | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | gemunde | leurnde | makte |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | gemundest | leurndest | maktest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | gemunde | leurnde | makte | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | gemunden | leurnden | makten | |
Foretid Partisipe | gemuned | leurned | maked | |
Verbalsubstantive | gemuning | leurning | making |
As a rule, all Class Ib verbs either have a long core vowel followed by a stop, nasal, f, or gh or have a stem that ends in r (on its own or followed by one of the afforementioned consonants). If the final consonant of the stem is voiceless (k,p,gh, or f), it will take the ending te. Else, it takes the ending de. Also note that the past participle still takes the same ed as Class Ia verbs.
Class II: -je Verbs
Class II consists of verbs whose infinitives all end in je. This class is the most regular of all verb classes, so it's declensions are by far the easiest to learn. They decline thusly:
Conjugation | Person | "to like" | "to hope" | "to harm" |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | likje | hopje | derje | |
to likje | to hopje | to derje | ||
Noutid Partisipe | likjend | hopjend | derjend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | likje | hopje | derje |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | likest | hopest | derest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | likes | hopes | deres | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | likjeð | hopjeð | derjeð | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | liked | hoped | dered |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | likedest | hopedest | deredest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | liked | hoped | dered | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | likeden | hopeden | dereden | |
Foretid Partisipe | liked | hoped | dered | |
Verbalsubstantive | liking | hoping | dering |
Note that many of these conjugations drop the -j- before the final e. This is descended from OE and comparable to Western Frisian -je verbs.
Class IIIa: -olde Preterite Verbs
Class III consists of verbs that have more unordinary (but still mostly regular) preterites. Class IIIa verbs all end in elle and take the preterite and past participle ending olde. Very few verbs fall into this subclass, with most being derived from selle or telle. They decline thusly:
Conjugation | Person | "to sell" | "to count" | "to quell" |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | selle | telle | kvelle | |
to selle | to telle | to kvelle | ||
Noutid Partisipe | sellend | tellend | kvellend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | sell | tell | kvell |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | sellest | tellest | kvellest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | sels | tels | kvels | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | selleð | telleð | kvelleð | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | solde | tolde | kvolde |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | soldest | toldest | kvoldest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | solde | tolde | kvolde | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | solden | tolden | kvolden | |
Foretid Partisipe | solde | tolde | kvolde | |
Verbalsubstantive | selling | telling | kvelling |
Class IIIb: -oghte Preterite Verbs
Class IIIb consists of verbs whose preterite and past participle forms end in oghte, with one exception being teice which takes the form taghte. This subclass is fairly complicated, so I'll provide more examples for it:
Conjugation | Person | "to seek" | "to think" | "to bring" | "to point out" | "to work" |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | seke | ðinke | bringe | teice | weurke | |
to seke | to ðinke | to bringe | to teice | to weurke | ||
Noutid Partisipe | sekend | ðinkend | bringend | teicend | weurkend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | seke | ðink | bring | teice | weurk |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | sekest | ðinkest | bringest | teicest | weurkest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | sekes | ðinks | brings | teices | weurks | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | sekeð | ðinkeð | bringeð | teiceð | weurkeð | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | soghte | ðoghte | broghte | taghte | wroghte |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | soghtest | ðoghtest | broghtest | taghtest | wroghtest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | soghte | ðoghte | broghte | taghte | wroghte | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | soghten | ðoghten | broghten | taghten | wroghten | |
Foretid Partisipe | soghte | ðoghte | broghte | taghte | wroghte | |
Verbalsubstantive | seking | ðinking | bringing | teicing | weurking |
The first three examples demonstrate the regular conjugation patterns for Class IIIb. The vast majority of these verbs consist of the front vowels e, i, or y as their core vowel followed by k, nk, or ng. In OE, more verbs fell into this pattern; however, many of those verbs switched to the more regular Class I and II patterns over time. Teice belonged to a similar but slightly different conjugation pattern (taking the core vowel æ or a) and it remains the last vestige of it. Weurke was always irregular. These latter two and the words derived from them constitute the only breaks from the main pattern.
▼ Class III in Einglisc vs Old English
The Germanic strong verb is a category of verbs that form the preterite by changing their core vowels. They fall into seven major classes, a few with two or more subclasses. In OE, the 2nd person singular and plural preterites sometimes took a different core vowels than the other indicative preterites. These have been combined/simplified in Einglisc, so the only vowel changes that need to be memorised are for: the present/infinitive forms, the preterite, and the past participle. Here is a breakdown of their ablauts (represented by their bare infinitives, singular preterites, and past participles in that order):
Class | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|
I | ride | rode | ridden | "to ride" |
IIa | friese | frose | frosen | "to freeze" |
IIb | luke | loke | loken | "to lock" |
IIIa | binde | bunde | bunden | "to bind" |
IIIb | werðe | warðe | worðen | "to become" |
IV | beare | bare | born | "to bear" |
V | leise | lase | leisen | "to read" |
VI | take | toke | taken | "to take" |
VIIa | hoate | hett | hoaten | "to be named" |
halde | held | halden | "to hold" | |
VIIb | beate | batt | beaten | "to beat" |
VIId | ðrawe | ðreiu | ðrawen | "to turn" |
growe | greiu | growen | "to grow" |
Note how Class VIIa and VIId both have two examples. This is because Class VIIa absorbed Class VIIc and Class VIId absorbed Class VIIe. Which words belong to which class is mostly decided by certain phonological/orthographical features:
Class I
Class I consists of verbs with a long i as their core vowel. This changes to long o in the preterite forms. To form the past participle, the i is usually shortened by doubling the following consonant. Only the consonants b, d, f, g, k, l, m, n, p, t, and ð are doubled. Any other consonants remain single.
Class II
Class IIa consists of verbs with a long ie as their core vowel. These verbs are descended from OE verbs whose core vowel was a long eo. Class IIb consists of verbs with a long u as their core vowel. Both change to long o in both their preterites and past participles.
Class III
Class III is a bit of a weird case. In OE, it technically had five subclasses (although, one could make the arguement that they should be seen as three) and all had a different singular and plural preterite form. In Einglisc, this condensed into two subclasses, with IIIa taking the former plural preterite forms and IIIb taking the former singular preterite form of class IIIe (IIIa by three-subclass reckoning).
Class IIIa mostly consists of verbs with a short i or a semi-long i followed by a nasal as their core vowel. This changes to a short u to form both the preterite and the past participle.
Class IIIb mostly consists of verbs with a short e as their core vowel. This changes to a short a to form the preterite and to a short o to form the past participle.
Class IV
Class IV mostly consists of verbs with e or ea as their core vowel followed by a lone sonorant (m, n, l, r). This changes to a to form the preterite and to o to form the past participle.
Class V
Class V consists of verbs with e, i, ei, or ie as their core vowel and not followed by a sonorant. This changes to a to form the preterite.
Class VI
Class VI consists of verbs with a as their core vowel. This changes to o to form the preterite.
Class VI is heavily reduced from OE, with most of its verbs switching to weak declensions over time.
Class VII
Class VII is descended from verbs that exhibited reduplication in Proto-Germanic. This class has experienced significant reduction and many of its distinct subclasses have coalesced into just three. OE Class VIIc was absorbed into Class VIIa, while Class VIIe was absorbed into Class VIId.
VIIa includes verbs whose core vowel is a, o, or oa. This changes to e to form the preterite.
VIIb includes verbs whose core vowel is e or ea. This changes to a to form the preterite.
VIId includes verbs that end in owe or awe. This changes to eiu to form the preterite and owen to form the past participle.
In VIIa and VIIb, stems that end with a single t end with tt in their preterite forms. Stems ending in d do not undergo this change.
Strong Verb Conjugations
Aside from changing their core vowels, most strong verb declensions are comparable to those of weak verbs with two key differences. First, the singular preterite declensions are all identical to eachother, with only the plural declensions differing. Second, the past participle take the ending en. Otherwise, many of the simple present conjugations hold. Here are a few examples:
Conjugation | Person | "to ride" | "to bind" | "to become" | "to beat" | "to turn" |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | ride | binde | werðe | beate | ðrawe | |
to ride | to binde | to werðe | to beate | to ðrawe | ||
Noutid Partisipe | ridend | bindend | werðend | beatend | ðrawend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | ride | bind | werðe | beat | ðrawe |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | ridest | bindest | werðest | beatest | ðrawest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | rides | binds | werðes | beats | ðrawes | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | rideð | bindeð | werðeð | beateð | ðraweð | |
Preterite | SGSingular (number) one countable entity | rode | bunde | warðe | batt | ðreiu |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | roden | bunden | warðen | batten | ðreiwen | |
Foretid Partisipe | ridden | bunden | worðen | beaten | ðrowen | |
Verbalsubstantive | riding | binding | werðing | beating | ðrawing |
The one thing to note here is the reappearance of w in the plural preterite of ðrawe. For aesthetic reasons, words in Einglisc rarely end in w, so it converts to a u when at the end. When a suffix is added, it converts back to a w. See the Weak Verbs section above for why the simple present behaves as it does.
Preterite-Present Verbs
Preterite-present verbs are those whose simple present declensions descend from the preterite forms of older verbs. In OE, there were twelve base verbs (not counting verbs derived from them). In Einglisc, some of these have become defective and one (mune) has become weak. Here are the eight remaining non-defective ones:
Conjugation | Person | "to own" | "to be able" | "to be useful" | "to dare" | "to suffice" | "to grant" | "to know" | "to need" |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | ogne | kunne | genoegge | durre | deugge | unne | wite | ðurve | |
to ogne | to kunne | to genoegge | to durre | to deugge | to unne | to wite | to ðurve | ||
Noutid Partisipe | ognend | kunnend | genoeggend | durrend | deuggend | unnend | witend | ðurvend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | oan | kan | genagh | dare | dagh | ann | woat | ðarf |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | oast | kanst | genaght | darst | daght | anst | woast | ðarft | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | oan | kan | genagh | dare | dagh | ann | woat | ðarf | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | onnen | kunnen | genoeggen | durren | deuggen | unnen | witen | ðurven | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | oghte | kouðe | genoghte | dirste | doghte | uðe | wiste | ðurfte |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | oghtest | kouðest | genoghtest | dirstest | doghtest | uðest | wistest | ðurftest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | oghte | kouðe | genoghte | dirste | doghte | uðe | wiste | ðurfte | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | oghten | kouðen | genoghten | dirsten | doghten | uðen | wisten | ðurften | |
Foretid Partisipe | onnen | kunnen | genoeggen | durren | deuggen | unnen | wisten | ðurven | |
Verbalsubstantive | ogning | kunning | genoegging | durring | deugging | unning | witing | ðurving |
Note that the simple present 1st and 3rd person singular is identical for each of these and the plural takes the ending en, with the latter also resembling the past participle. This is one of the defining features of this verb category. Yet, not all preterite-present verbs have a past or even present participle. There are four defective verbs that fall into this category:
Conjugation | Person | "to may" | "to might" | "to be allowed" | "to must" |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | maje | mighte | moate | muste | |
to maje | to mighte | to moate | to muste | ||
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | maj | mighte | moat | must |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | mæght | mighte(st) | moast | must | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | maj | mighte | moat | must | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | majen | mighten | moaten | musten |
Note that none of these verbs have a preterite form. This is because mighte used to be the preterite of maje and muste used to be the preterite of moate. Of the four, mighte preserves the most qualities of its original preterite form; however, the distinct 2nd person singular form has begun to fall out of favour for the more general mighte. Although it's not included in the chart, moate is the only one of the four to have a present participle, moatend. It is exclusively used as an adjective meaning "permitted". There is also a substantive form, moating, but its usage has been almost entirely displaced by unning (see the previous chart).
To Be
Like in Modern English, the verb to be is highly irregular in Einglisc. It is descended from two OE verbs which shared the same preterite forms: wesan and beon. In Einglisc, it has two groups of simple present declensions. The first descends from wesan and is the most standard/general purpose form of the verb. The second descends from beon and is used in academic writing, old proverbs/sayings, older literature, and other such works to describe universal truths. It's rarely used in everyday speech.
Conjugation | Person | Standard | Gnomic |
---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | be | ||
to be | |||
Noutid Partisipe | biend | ||
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | am | be |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | art | bist | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | is | bieð | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | are | beððe | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | was | |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | were | ||
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | was | ||
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | weren | ||
Foretid Partisipe | been | ||
Verbalsubstantive | being |
The substantive, being, is primarily used to refer to the act of existing or an existence. For "a being", as in a creature or essence, the word wesen is used. Wesen descends from the same OE wesan that many declensions for to be; however, this usage entered Einglisc through its Dutch and German cognates, wezen and Wesen. Thus, min being specifically means "my existing/existence" while min wesen means "my creature/entity/essence".
To Wille & To Scoulle
To wille and to scoulle are the two verbs used to form the future tense. Their preterites are also frequently used to form subjunctive phrases. Although scoulle can technically be considered a preterite-present verb while wille can't, the similarities between the two verbs and their influence on each other has led to them commonly being grouped together. Their declensions are:
Conjugation | Person | "to will" | "to shall" |
---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | wille | scoulle | |
to wille | to scoulle | ||
Noutid Partisipe | willend | - | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | will | scall |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | wilt | scalt | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | will | scall | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | willeð | scallen | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | wolle | scoulle |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | wollest | scoullest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | wolle | scoulle | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | wollen | scoullen | |
Verbalsubstantive | willing | - |
Note that both verbs lack a past participle. Also note that scoulle also lacks a present participle and substantive form, its infinitive reflects its preterites rather than its present forms, and that its plural present takes the ending en in contrast to wille's eð. As stated earlier, this is because of it technically being a preterite-present verb. Otherwise, these verbs both decline very similarly. This is a consequence of them having two key similarities in usage:
- Forming the future tense: Both verbs are placed before the infinitive form of the main verb to indicate the future tense, similar to Modern English will and shall. The main difference being that wille is used to indicate that the event is desired but not planned or definite, while scoulle is used for more general purposes. For example, Ij will goa can mean "I want to go" or "I will go someday but I haven't planned on it" while Ij scall goa means "I'm going to go" or "I will go". When using scoulle in this way, the present tense conjugations are always used, never the infinitives. Because . . .
- Preterites used like present tense verbs: The preterites of both verbs hold separate meanings than their present tense conjugations, including scoulle's infinitives (since they resemble the preterites). Both are similar to Modern English would and should respectively. Wolle is frequently used to form the subjunctive or indicate intent. Scoulle is also used in a subjunctive way, but is more frequently used to indicate obligation or what ought to be. Remember: both wolle and scoulle decline for person, unlike Modern English would and should.
To Do, To Goa, & To Segje
The last three irregular verbs are to do, to goa, and to segje. These decline somewhat like irregular weak verbs. Their declensions are:
Conjugation | Person | "to do" | "to go" | "to say" |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infinitives | do | goa | segje | |
to do | to goa | to segje | ||
Noutid Partisipe | doend | goend | segjend | |
Einfald Present | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | do | goa | sej |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | dest | goast | sejest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | des | goas | seis | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | doeð | goeð | segjeð | |
Preterite | 1SFirst person singular (person) speaker, signer, etc.; I | dyde | jode | saide |
2SSecond person singular (person) addressee (you) | dydest | jodest | saidest | |
3SThird person singular (person) neither speaker nor addressee | dyde | jode | saide | |
PLPlural (number) more than one/few | dyden | joden | saiden | |
Foretid Partisipe | don | gon | saide | |
Verbalsubstantive | doing | going | segjing |
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