CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



itself; they are mostly dependent on little word 

 prefixed if, can, /nit/, &c. In some languages 

 Latin and Greek, e.g., they had each an appro 

 priate form of the verb, and were all, therefore 

 real inflections. Compared with these languages 

 or indeed with any language, the modern English 

 verb has few inflections. We shall confine our- 

 selves to exhibiting those moods, tenses, &c. that 

 are marked by different forms. 



To bring together all the forms of a verb is to 

 conjugate it. All verbs do not take the same kind 

 of change. / love becomes in the past tense 

 loved, and in the passive voice, I am loved; while 

 he shakes becomes he shook, and he was shaken. 

 Verbs that, like love, take d (or ed sometimes /) 

 in their past tense and past participle, form one 

 class or conjugation ; and those resembling shake 

 in their changes form another. The former class 

 is by far the most numerous ; but the latter 

 includes the most commonly used and oldest 

 verbs in the language. The mode of change seen 

 in shake, shook, shaken, is believed to be more 

 ancient than the other, and is therefore called the 

 Old Conjugation, and sometimes, the Strong Con- 

 jugation, the other being the New or Weak. The 

 verbs belonging to the old conjugation are all of 

 Teutonic origin, and are primitive or root verbs ; 

 while derivative verbs belong to the other class. 

 We give an example of each conjugation : 



NEW OR WEAK CONJUGATION. 



Present Tense. 

 Love. 



To LOVE. 



Past Tense. 

 Loved. 



Perfect Participle. 

 Loved. 



PRESENT TENSE. 



SINGULAR. 



ut Person, I love 



ad Thou lovest 



yl it He loves. 



PLURAL. 



ist Person, We love 

 vi ii Ye or you love 

 yl They love. 



PAST TENSE. 



SINGULAR. 



i. I loved 



a. Thou lovedst 



3. He loved. 



PLURAL. 



1. We loved 



2. Ye or you loved 



3. They loved. 



Imperative, Love. Infinitive, To love. 



PARTICIPLES. 



Imperfect, Loving. Perfect, Loved. 

 OLD OR STRONG CONJUGATION. 



To WRITE. 



Present Tense. 

 Write. 



Past Tense. 

 Wrote. 



PRESENT TENSE. 



Perfect Participle. 

 Written. 



SINGULAR. 



I. I write 



a. Thou writest 



3. He writes. 



PLURAL. 



1. We write 



2. Ye or you write 



3. They write. 



SINGULAR. 

 i. I wrote 

 a. Thou wrotest 

 3. He wrote. 



PAST TENSE. 



PLURAU 



1. We wrote 



2. Ye or you wrote 



3. They wrote. 

 Imperative, Write. Infinitive, To write. 



PARTICIPLES. 



Imperfect, Writing. Perfect, Written. 



There is a class of verbs joined to other verbs 

 to assist in expressing those relations that are not 

 marked by inflections. As they are of frequent 

 occurrence, and present several irregularities, we 

 exhibit their conjugation. When used with other 

 verbs, they are called Auxiliary Verbs ; but most 

 of them are also used by themselves as principal 

 verbs. 



686 



Present Tense. 

 Am. 



To BE. 



Past Tense. 

 Was. 



PRESENT TENSE. 



Perfect Participle 

 Been. 



SINGULAR. 



i. I am 

 a. Thou art 

 3. He it. 



SINGULAR. 



i. I was 



a. Thou wast 



3. He was. 



PLURAL. 



1. We are 



2. Ye or you are 



3. They are. 



PAST TENSE. 



PLURAL. 



i. We were 



a. Ye or you were 



3. They were. 



Imperative, Be. Infinitive, To be. 



PARTICIPLES. 



Imperfect, Being. Perfect, Been. 



The verb To Be has a peculiar inflection, to* 

 express contingency or conditionally ; it is the 

 only real Conditional Mood in English, and is in 

 the past tense. 



CONDITIONAL MOOD OF THE VERB To BE. 



SINGULAR. 



1. Ifl were 



2. If thou wert 



3. If he were. 



PLURAL. 



1. If we were 



2. If ye were 



3. If they were. 



The Present Conditional, If I be, if thou be, if 

 he be, is often an elliptical form for, If I shall 

 be, &c. So is, If he love, and the like. 



By joining the perfect participle of a verb to the 

 verb to be throughout, we form the Passive Voice ; 

 as, He is loved, we were loved, to be loved, being 

 loved. 



By similarly joining the imperfect participle, 

 there arises another form of the active voice, 

 called the Progressive form ; as, I am writing, he 

 was writing, &c. This is peculiar to the English 

 language. 



To Do. 



Present Tense. 

 Do. 



Past Tense. 

 Did. 



Perfect Participle. 

 Done. 



PRESENT TENSE. 



SINGULAR. 



1. I do 



2. Thou doest or dost 



3. He does or doeth. 



PLURAL. 



1. We do 



2. Ye do 



3. They do. 



PAST TENSE. 



SINGULAR. 



1. I did 



2. Thou didst 



3. He did. 



PLURAL. 



1. We did 



2. Ye did 



3. They did. 



Imperative, Do. Infinitive, To do. 



PARTICIPLES. 

 Imperfect, Doing. Perfect, Done. 



Do makes the Emphatic form of the verb ; as, 

 '. do love, he did love. It is also used in asking 



questions the Interrogative form ; thus we seldom 

 ay, Write you? but, Do you write? In denying 



also the Negative form ; as, You do not write. 

 Do has a use peculiar to itself ; it can be put as 



a substitute for any other verb. Ex., ' He speaks 



as well as you do (= speak).' ' He spoke better 

 han you could have done (= spoken).' When we 



compare this substitution with what takes place in 

 he expression, ' He took the good hat and left me 

 he bad one (= hat) ;' as one is called a pro-noun, 



we might call do a pro-verb. 



