358. Weak Verbs are those which form the Past Tense and the Perfect Participle by the addition of ed or t; as—

The changes of spelling which are made before -ing [see paragraph 329] are also made before -ed.

359. Strong Verbs are sometimes called Irregular, and Weak Verbs Regular, but the terms are not quite satisfactory, for there is some regularity among the Strong Verbs, and some irregularity among the Weak ones.

360.

STRONG VERBS.'

Alphabetically arranged.

[Weak forms are printed in italics; forms not now used are placed in square brackets.]

[beholden] cleave

[clove,clave] cloven

bid

bade, bid

bidden, bidl (split) cleft, cleaved cleft, cleaved

1 See "Notes for Teachers," p. 324, Note 31.

361. Most Weak Verbs are quite regular, but there are a few which may not be at once recognized as Weak. Dr. Morris divides these apparently irregular Verbs into two classes.

Class I. consists of Verbs which do not end in t or d in the Present, and which form the Past Tense and the Perfect Participle by adding t or d, usually with a change of vowel sound.

Class II. consists of Verbs which end in the Present in t or d.1

1

1 These Verbs formerly added de or te to form the Past Tense, but in course of time the Past Tense and the Perfect Participle were shortened; so that fed-de became fed, sende became sent, set-te became set, etc.

Exercise 165.

a. Divide the following Verbs into Weak and Strong.

Beat. Freeze. Tear. Have. Write. Keep. Bleed. Cast. Cut. Clothe. Fly. Flee. Grow. Pay. Let. Set. Shed. Get. Lie. Lay. Sleep. Split. Thrust. Engage. Break. Run. Ride. Learn. Wash. Incline. Repose. Pray. Sing. Think.

b. Make from the table in par. 360 a list of Strong Verbs which have also Weak forms.

c. Pick out other Strong Verbs which form their Past Tense and Perfect Participle like—

Blow. Sing. Speak. Give. Shake. Thrive. Freeze.

PERSON AND NUMBER.

364. The Person and Number of a Verb are the same as the Person and Number of its Subject.

In the sentence

I am writing,

the Subject I is of the First Person and Singular Number; therefore the Verb am writing is also of the First Person and Singular Number. In the sentence

We write,

we is of the First Person and Plural Number; therefore write is also of the First Person and Plural Number.

In the sentence

They wrote,

they is of the Third Person and Plural Number; therefore wrote is also of the Third Person and Plural Number.

In the sentence

They were writing,

they is of the Third Person and Plural Number; therefore were writing is also of the Third Person and Plural Number.