Chapter VI: Verbs (6)

OBS. 3.--Passive verbs may be easily distinguished from neuter verbs of the same form, by a reference to the agent or instrument, common to the former class, but not to the latter. This frequently is, and always may be, expressed after _passive_ verbs; but never is, and never can be, expressed after _neuter_ verbs: as, "The thief has been caught _by the officer_."-- "Pens are made _with a knife_." Here the verbs are passive; but, "_I am not yet ascended_," (John, xx, 17,) is not passive, because it does not convey the idea of being ascended _by_ some one's agency.

OBS. 4.--Our ancient writers, after the manner of the French, very frequently employed this mode of conjugation in a neuter sense; but, with a very few exceptions, present usage is clearly in favour of the auxiliary _have_ in preference to _be_, whenever the verb formed with the perfect participle is not passive; as, "They _have_ arrived,"--not, "They _are_ arrived." Hence such examples as the following, are not now good English: "All these reasons _are_ now ceased."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 157. Say, "_have now_ ceased." "Whether he _were_ not got beyond the reach of his faculties."--_Ib._, p. 158. Say, "_had_ not got." "Which _is_ now grown wholly obsolete."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 330. Say, "_has_ now grown." "And when he _was_ entered into a ship."--_Bible_. Say, "_had_ entered."-- "What _is_ become of decency and virtue?"--_Murray's Key_, p. 196. Say, "_has_ become."

OBS. 5.--Dr. Priestley says, "It seems _not to have been determined_ by the English grammarians, whether the _passive_ participles of verbs neuter require the auxiliary _am_ or _have_ before them. The French, in this case, confine themselves strictly to the former. 'What _has become_ of national liberty?' Hume's History, Vol. 6. p. 254. The French would say, _what is become_; and, in this instance, perhaps, with more propriety."-- _Priestley's Gram._, p. 128. It is no marvel that those writers who have not rightly made up their minds upon this point of English grammar, should consequently fall into many mistakes. The perfect participle of a neuter verb is not "_passive_," as the doctor seems to suppose it to be; and the mode of conjugation which he here inclines to prefer, is a mere _Gallicism_, which is fast wearing out from our language, and is even now but little countenanced by good writers.

OBS. 6.--There are a few verbs of the passive form which seem to imply that a person's own mind is the agent that actuates him; as, "The editor _is rejoiced_ to think," &c.--_Juvenile Keepsake_. "I _am resolved_ what to do."--_Luke_, xvi, 4. "He _was resolved_ on going to the city to reside."--_Comly's Gram._, p. 114. "James _was resolved_ not to indulge himself."--_Murray's Key_, ii, 220. "He _is inclined_ to go."--"He _is determined_ to go."--"He _is bent_ on going." These are properly passive verbs, notwithstanding there are active forms which are nearly equivalent to most of them; as, "The editor _rejoices_ to think."--"I _know_ what to do."--"He _had resolved_ on going."--"James _resolved_ not to indulge himself." So in the phrase, "I _am ashamed_ to beg," we seem to have a passive verb of this sort; but, the verb _to ashame_ being now obsolete, _ashamed_ is commonly reckoned an _adjective_. Yet we cannot put it before a noun, after the usual manner of adjectives. _To be indebted_, is an other expression of the same kind. In the following example, "_am remember'd_" is used for _do remember_, and, in my opinion, _inaccurately_:

"He said mine eyes were black, and my hair black;
And, now I _am remember'd_, scorn'd at me."--_Shakspeare_.

IV. FORM OF NEGATION.

A verb is conjugated _negatively_, by placing the adverb _not_ after it, or after the first auxiliary; but the infinitive and participles take the negative first: as, Not to love, Not to have loved; Not loving, Not loved, Not having loved.

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. I love not, _or_ I do not love; I loved not, _or_ I did not love; I have not loved; I had not loved; I shall not, _or_ will not, love; I shall not, _or_ will not, have loved. POT. I may, can, _or_ must not love; I might, could, would, _or_ should not love; I may, can, _or_ must not have loved; I might, could, would, _or_ should not have loved, SUBJ. If I love not, If I loved not.

SECOND PERSON SINGULAR.

SOLEMN STYLE:--IND. Thou lovest not, _or_ Thou dost not love; Thou lovedst not, _or_ Thou didst not love; Thou hast not loved; Thou hadst not loved; Thou shalt not, _or_ wilt not, love; Thou shalt not, _or_ wilt not, have loved. POT. Thou mayst, canst, _or_ must not love; Thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst not love; Thou mayst, canst, _or_ must not have loved; Thou mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst not have loved. SUBJ. If thou love not, If thou loved not. IMP. Love [thou] not, _or_ Do thou not love.

FAMILIAR STYLE:--IND. Thou lov'st not, _or_ Thou dost not love; Thou loved not, _or_ Thou did not love; Thou hast not loved; Thou had not loved; Thou shall not, _or_ will not, love; Thou shall not, _or_ will not, have loved. POT. Thou may, can, _or_ must not love; Thou might, could, would, _or_ should not love; Thou may, can, _or_ must not have loved; Thou might, could, would, _or_ should not have loved. SUBJ. If thou love not, If thou loved not. IMP. Love [thou] not, _or_ Do [thou] not love.

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. He loves not, _or_ He does not love; He loved not, _or_ He did not love; He has not loved; He had not loved; He shall not, _or_ will not, love; He shall not, _or_ will not, have loved. POT. He may, can, _or_ must not love; He might, could, would, _or_ should not love; He may, can, _or_ must not have loved; He might, could, would, _or_ should not have loved. SUBJ. If he love not, If he loved not.

V. FORM OF QUESTION.

A verb is conjugated _interrogatively_, in the indicative and potential moods, by placing the nominative after it, or after the first auxiliary: as,

FIRST PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. Love I? _or_ Do I love? Loved I? _or_ Did I love? Have I loved? Had I loved? Shall I love? Shall I have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must I love? Might, could, would, _or_ should I love? May, can, _or_ must I have loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should I have loved?

SECOND PERSON SINGULAR.

SOLEMN STYLE:--IND. Lovest thou? _or_ Dost thou love? Lovedst thou? _or_ Didst thou love? Hast thou loved? Hadst thou loved? Wilt thou love? Wilt thou have loved? POT. Mayst, canst, _or_ must thou love? Mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst thou love? Mayst, canst, _or_ must thou have loved? Mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst thou have loved?

FAMILIAR STYLE:--IND. Lov'st thou? _or_ Dost thou love? Loved thou? _or_ Did thou love? Hast thou loved? Had thou loved? Will thou love? Will thou have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must thou love? Might, could, would, _or_ should thou love? May, can, _or_ must thou have loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should thou have loved?

THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.

IND. Loves he? _or_ Does he love? Loved he? _or_ Did he love? Has he loved? Had he loved? Shall _or_ will he love? Will he have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must he love? Might, could, would, _or_ should he love? May, can, _or_ must he have loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should he have loved?

VI. FORM OF QUESTION WITH NEGATION.

A verb is conjugated _interrogatively and negatively_, in the indicative and potential moods, by placing the nominative and the adverb _not_ after the verb, or after the first auxiliary: as,

FIRST PERSON PLURAL.

IND. Love we not? _or_ Do we not love? Loved we not? _or_ Did we not love? Have we not loved? Had we not loved? Shall we not love? Shall we not have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must we not love? Might, could, would, _or_ should we not love? May, can, _or_ must we not have loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should we not have loved?

SECOND PERSON PLURAL.

IND. See ye not? _or_ Do you not see? Saw ye not? _or_ Did you not see? Have you not seen? Had you not seen? Will you not see? Will you not have seen? POT. May, can, _or_ must you not see? Might, could, would, _or_ should you not see? May, can, _or_ must you not have seen? Might, could, would, _or_ should you not have seen?

THIRD PERSON PLURAL.

IND. Are they not loved? Were they not loved? Have they not been loved? Had they not been loved? Shall _or_ will they not be loved? Will they not have been loved? May, can, _or_ must they not be loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should they not be loved? May, can, _or_ must they not have been loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should they not have been loved?

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--In a familiar question or negation, the compound or auxiliary form of the verb is, in general, preferable to the simple: as, "No man lives to purpose, who _does not live_ for posterity."--_Dr. Wayland_. It is indeed so much more common, as to seem the only proper mode of expression: as, "_Do I say_ these things as a man?"--"_Do you think_ that we excuse ourselves?"--"_Do you not know_ that a little leaven _leavens_ the whole lump?"--"_Dost thou revile?_" &c. But in the solemn or the poetic style, though either may be used, the simple form is more dignified, and perhaps more graceful: as, "_Say I_ these things as a man?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 8. "_Think ye_ that we excuse ourselves?"--_2 Cor._, xii, 19. "_Know ye not_ that a little leaven _leaveneth_ the whole lump?"--_1 Cor._, v, 6. "_Revilest thou_ God's high priest?"--_Acts_. "King Agrippa, _believest thou_ the prophets?"--_Ib._ "_Understandest thou_ what thou readest?"--_Ib._ "Of whom _speaketh_ the prophet this?"--_Id._ "And the man of God said, Where _fell it?_"--_2 Kings_, vi, 6.

"What! _heard ye not_ of lowland war?"--_Sir W. Scott, L. L._

"_Seems he not_, Malise, like a ghost?"--_Id., L. of Lake_.

"Where _thinkst thou_ he is now? _Stands he_, or _sits he?_
Or _does he walk?_ or _is he_ on his horse?"--_Shak., Ant. and Cleop._

OBS. 2.--In interrogative sentences, the auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_ are not always capable of being applied to the different persons agreeably to their use in simple declarations: thus, "_Will_ I go?" is a question which there never can be any occasion to ask in its literal sense; because none knows better than I, what my will or wish is. But "_Shall_ I go?" may properly be asked; because _shall_ here refers to _duty_, and asks to know what is agreeable to the will of an other. In questions, the first person generally requires _shall_; the second, _will_; the third admits of both: but, in the second-future, the third, used interrogatively, seems to require _will_ only. Yet, in that figurative kind of interrogation which is sometimes used to declare a negative, there may be occasional exceptions to these principles; as, "_Will I eat_ the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?"--_Psalms_, 1, 13. That is, _I will not eat_, &c.

OBS. 3.--_Cannot_ is not properly one word, but two: in parsing, the adverb must be taken separately, and the auxiliary be explained with its principal. When power is denied, _can_ and _not_ are now _generally united_--perhaps in order to prevent ambiguity; as, "I _cannot_ go." But when the power is affirmed, and something else is denied, the words are written separately; as, "The Christian apologist _can not merely_ expose the utter baseness of the infidel assertion, but he has positive ground for erecting an opposite and confronting assertion in its place."--_Dr. Chalmers._ The junction of these terms, however, is not of much importance to the sense; and, as it is plainly contrary to analogy, some writers,--(as Dr. Webster, in his late or "improved" works; Dr. Bullions, in his; Prof. W. C. Fowler, in his new "English Grammar," 8vo; R. C. Trench, in his "Study of Words;" T. S. Pinneo, in his "revised" grammars; J. R. Chandler, W. S. Cardell, O. B. Peirce,--) always separate them. And, indeed, why should we write, "I _cannot_ go, Thou _canst not_ go, He _cannot_ go?" Apart from the custom, we have just as good reason to join _not_ to _canst_ as to _can_; and sometimes its union with the latter is a gross error: as, "He _cannot only_ make a way to escape, but with the injunction to duty can infuse the power to perform."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 287. The fear of ambiguity never prevents us from disjoining _can_ and _not_ whenever we wish to put a word between them: as, "Though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet _can_ they _not_ prevail; though they roar, yet _can_ they _not_ pass over it."--_Jeremiah_, v, 22. "Which then I _can_ resist _not_."--_Byron's Manfred_, p. 1.

"_Can_ I _not_ mountain maiden spy,
But she must bear the Douglas eye?"--_Scott_.

OBS. 4.--In negative questions, the adverb _not_ is sometimes placed before the nominative, and sometimes after it: as, "Told _not I_ thee?"--_Numb._, xxiii, 26. "Spake _I not_ also to thy messengers?"--_Ib._, xxiv, 12. "_Cannot I_ do with you as this potter?"--_Jer._, xviii, 6. "Art _not thou_ a seer?"--_2 Sam._, xv, 27. "Did _not Israel_ know?"--_Rom._, x, 19. "Have _they not_ heard?"--_Ib._, 18. "Do _not they_ blaspheme that worthy name?"--_James_, ii, 7. This adverb, like every other, should be placed where it will sound most agreeably, and best suit the sense. Dr. Priestley imagined that it could not properly come before the nominative. He says, "When the nominative case is put after the verb, on account of _an_ interrogation, _no other word_ should be interposed between them. [EXAMPLES:] 'May _not we_ here say with Lucretius?'--Addison on Medals, p. 29. May _we not_ say? 'Is _not it_ he.' [?] Smollett's Voltaire, Vol 18, p. 152. Is _it not_ he. [?]"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 177.

OBS. 5.--In grave discourse, or in oratory, the adverb _not_ is spoken as distinctly as other words; but, _ordinarily_, when placed before the nominative, it is rapidly slurred over in utterance and the _o_ is not heard. In fact, it is _generally_ (though inelegantly) contracted in familiar conversation, and joined to the auxiliary: as, IND. Don't they do it? Didn't they do it? Haven't they done it? Hadn't they done it? Shan't, _or_ won't they do it? Won't they have done it? POT. Mayn't, can't, _or_ mustn't they do it? Mightn't, couldn't, wouldn't, _or_ shouldn't they do it? Mayn't, can't, _or_ mustn't they have done it? Mightn't, couldn't, wouldn't, _or_ shouldn't they have done it?

OBS. 6.--Well-educated people commonly utter their words with more distinctness and fullness than the vulgar, yet without adopting ordinarily the long-drawn syllables of poets and orators, or the solemn phraseology of preachers and prophets. Whatever may be thought of the grammatical propriety of such contractions as the foregoing, no one who has ever observed how the English language is usually spoken, will doubt their commonness, or their antiquity. And it may be observed, that, in the use of these forms, the distinction of persons and numbers in the verb, is almost, if not entirely, dropped. Thus _don't_ is used for _dost not_ or _does not_, as properly as for _do not_; and, "_Thou can't_ do it, or _shan't_ do it," is as good English as, "_He can't_ do it, or _shan't_ do it." _Will_, according to Webster, was anciently written _woll_: hence _won't_ acquired the _o_, which is long in Walker's orthoëpy. _Haven't_, which cannot be used for _has not_ or _hast not_, is still further contracted by the vulgar, and spoken _ha'nt_, which serves for all three. These forms are sometimes found in books; as, "WONT, a contraction of _woll not_, that is, _will not_."--_Webster's Dict._ "HA'NT, a contraction of _have not_ or _has not_."--_Id._ "WONT, (w=ont _or_ w~unt,) A contraction of _would not_:-- used for _will_ not."--_Worcester's Dict._ "HAN'T, (hänt or h=ant,) A vulgar contraction for _has not_, or _have not_."--_Id._ In the writing of such contractions, the apostrophe is not always used; though some think it necessary for distinction's sake: as, "Which is equivalent, because what _can't_ be done _won't_ be done."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 312.

IRREGULAR VERBS.

An _irregular verb_ is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_; as, _see, saw, seeing, seen_. Of this class of verbs there are about one hundred and ten, beside their several derivatives and compounds.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Regular verbs form their preterits and perfect participles, by adding _d_ to final _e_, and _ed_ to all other terminations; the final consonant of the verb being sometimes doubled, (as in _dropped_,) and final _y_ sometimes changed into _i_, (as in _cried_,) agreeably to the rules for spelling in such cases. The verb _hear, heard, hearing, heard_, adds _d_ to _r_, and is therefore irregular. _Heard_ is pronounced _h~erd_ by all our lexicographers, except _Webster_: who formerly wrote it _heerd_, and still pronounces it so; alleging, in despite of universal usage against him, that it is written "more correctly _heared_."--_Octavo Dict._, 1829. Such pronunciation would doubtless require this last orthography, "_heared_;" but both are, in fact, about as fanciful as his former mode of spelling, which ran thus: "_Az_ I had _heerd_ suggested by _frends_ or indifferent _reeders_."--_Dr. Webster's Essays, Preface_, p. 10.

OBS. 2.--When a verb ends in a sharp consonant, _t_ is sometimes improperly substituted for _ed_, making the preterit and the perfect participle irregular in spelling, when they are not so in sound; as, _distrest_ for _distressed, tost_ for _tossed, mixt_ for _mixed, cract_ for _cracked_. These contractions are now generally treated as _errors_ in writing; and the verbs are accordingly (with a few exceptions) accounted regular. Lord Kames commends Dean Swift for having done "all in his power to restore the syllable _ed_;" says, he "possessed, if any man ever did, the true genius of the English tongue;" and thinks that in rejecting these ugly contractions, "he well deserves to be imitated."--_Elements of Criticism_, Vol. ii, p. 12. The regular orthography is indeed to be preferred in all such cases; but the writing of _ed_ restores no syllable, except in solemn discourse; and, after all, the poems of Swift have so very many of these irregular contractions in _t_, that one can hardly believe his lordship had ever read them. Since the days of these critics still more has been done towards the restoration of the _ed_, in orthography, though not in sound; but, even at this present time, our poets not unfrequently write, _est_ for _essed_ or _ess'd_, in forming the preterits or participles of verbs that end in the syllable _ess_. This is an ill practice, which needlessly multiplies our redundant verbs, and greatly embarrasses what it seems at first to simplify: as,

"O friend! I know not which way I must look
For comfort, being, as I am, _opprest_,
To think that now our life is only _drest_
For show."--_Wordsworth's Poetical Works_, 8vo, p. 119.

OBS. 3.--When the verb ends with a smooth consonant, the substitution of _t_ for _ed_ produces an irregularity in sound as well as in writing. In some such irregularities, the poets are indulged for the sake of rhyme; but the best speakers and writers of prose prefer the regular form, wherever good use has sanctioned it: thus _learned_ is better than _learnt; burned_, than _burnt; penned_, than _pent; absorbed_, than _absorbt; spelled_, than _spelt; smelled_, than _smelt_. So many of this sort of words as are allowably contracted, belong to the class of redundant verbs, among which they may be seen in a subsequent table.

OBS. 4.--Several of the irregular verbs are variously used by the best authors; redundant forms are occasionally given to some verbs, without sufficient authority; and many preterits and participles which were formerly in good use, are now obsolete, or becoming so. The _simple_ irregular verbs in English are about one hundred and ten, and they are nearly all monosyllables. They are derived from the Saxon, in which language they are also, for the most part, irregular.

OBS. 5.--The following alphabetical list exhibits the simple irregular verbs, as they are _now generally_ used. In this list, those preterits and participles which are supposed to be preferable, and best supported by authorities, are placed first. Nearly all compounds that follow the form of their simple verbs, or derivatives that follow their primitives, are here purposely omitted. _Welcome_ and _behave_ are always regular, and therefore belong not here. Some words which are obsolete, have also been omitted, that the learner might not mistake them for words in present use. Some of those which are placed last, are now little used.

LIST OF THE IRREGULAR VERBS.

_Imperfect Perfect_ _Present. Preterit. Participle. Participle_. Arise, arose, arising, arisen. Be, was, being, been. Bear, bore _or_ bare, bearing, borne _or_ born.[274] Beat, beat, beating, beaten _or_ beat. Begin, began _or_ begun,[275] beginning, begun. Behold, beheld, beholding, beheld. Beset, beset, besetting, beset. Bestead, bestead, besteading, bestead.[276] Bid, bid _or_ bade, bidding, bidden _or_ bid. Bind, bound, bing, bound. Bite, bit, biting, bitten _or_ bit. Bleed, bled, bleeding, bled. Break, broke,[277] breaking, broken. Breed, bred, breeding, bred. Bring, brought, bringing, brought. Buy, bought, buying, bought. Cast, cast, casting, cast. Chide, chid, chiding, chidden _or_ chid. Choose, chose, choosing, chosen. Cleave,[278] cleft _or_ clove, cleaving, cleft _or_ cloven. Cling, clung, clinging, clung. Come, came, coming, come. Cost, cost, costing, cost. Cut, cut, cutting, cut. Do, did, doing, done. Draw, drew, drawing, drawn. Drink, drank, drinking, drunk, _or_ drank.[279] Drive, drove, driving, driven. Eat, ate _or_ ~eat, eating, eaten _or_ eat. Fall, fell, falling, fallen. Feed, fed, feeding, fed. Feel, felt, feeling, felt. Fight, fought, fighting, fought. Find, found, finding, found. Flee, fled, fleeing, fled. Fling, flung, flinging, flung. Fly, flew, flying, flown. Forbear, forbore, forbearing, forborne. Forsake, forsook, forsaking, forsaken. Get, got, getting, got _or_ gotten. Give, gave, giving, given. Go, went, going, gone. Grow, grew, growing, grown. Have, had, having, had. Hear, heard, hearing, heard. Hide, hid, hiding, hidden _or_ hid. Hit, hit, hitting, hit. Hold, held, holding, held _or_ holden.[280] Hurt, hurt, hurting, hurt.[281] Keep, kept,[282] keeping, kept. Know, knew, knowing, known. Lead, led, leading, led. Leave, left, leaving, left. Lend, lent, lending, lent. Let, let, letting, let Lie,[283] lay, lying, lain. Lose, lost, losing, lost. Make, made, making, made. Meet, met, meeting, met. Outdo, outdid, outdoing, outdone. Put, put, putting, put. Read, r~ead, reading, r~ead. Rend, rent, rending, rent.[284] Rid, rid, ridding, rid. Ride, rode, riding, ridden _or_ rode. Ring, rung _or_ rang, ringing, rung. Rise, rose, rising, risen. Run, ran _or_ run, running, run. Say, said, saying, said.[285] See, saw, seeing, seen. Seek, sought, seeking, sought. Sell, sold, selling, sold. Send, sent, sending, sent. Set, set, setting, set. Shed, shed, shedding, shed. Shoe, shod, shoeing, shod.[286] Shoot, shot, shooting, shot. Shut, shut, shutting, shut. Shred, shred, shredding, shred. Shrink, shrunk _or_ shrank, shrinking, shrunk _or_ shrunken. Sing, sung _or_ sang,[287] singing, sung. Sink, sunk _or_ sank, sinking, sunk. Sit, sat, sitting, sat.[288] Slay, slew, slaying, slain. Sling, slung, slinging, slung. Slink, slunk _or_ slank, slinking, slunk. Smite, smote, smiting, smitten _or_ smit. Speak, spoke, speaking, spoken. Spend, spent, spending, spent. Spin, spun, spinning, spun. Spit, spit _or_ spat, spitting, spit _or_ spitten. Spread, spread, spreading, spread. Spring, sprung _or_ sprang, springing, sprung. Stand, stood, standing, stood. Steal, stole, stealing, stolen. Stick, stuck, sticking, stuck. Sting, stung, stinging, stung. Stink, stunk _or_ stank, stinking, stunk. Stride, strode _or_ strid, striding, stridden _or_ strid.[289] Strike, struck, striking, struck _or_ stricken. Swear, swore, swearing, sworn. Swim, swum _or_ swam, swimming, swum. Swing, swung _or_ swang, swinging, swung. Take, took, taking, taken. Teach, taught, teaching, taught. Tear, tore, tearing, torn. Tell, told, telling, told. Think, thought, thinking, thought. Thrust, thrust, thrusting, thrust. Tread, trod, treading, trodden _or_ trod. Wear, wore, wearing, worn. Win, won, winning, won. Write, wrote, writing, written.[290]

REDUNDANT VERBS.

A _redundant verb_ is a verb that forms the preterit or the perfect participle in two or more ways, and so as to be both regular and irregular; as, _thrive, thrived_ or _throve, thriving, thrived_ or _thriven_. Of this class of verbs, there are about ninety-five, beside sundry derivatives and compounds.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--Those irregular verbs which have more than one form for the preterit or for the perfect participle, are in some sense redundant; but, as there is no occasion to make a distinct class of such as have double forms that are never regular, these redundancies are either included in the preceding list of the simple irregular verbs, or omitted as being improper to be now recognized for good English. Several examples of the latter kind, including both innovations and archaisms, will appear among the improprieties for correction, at the end of this chapter. A few old preterits or participles may perhaps be accounted good English in the solemn style, which are not so in the familiar: as, "And none _spake_ a word unto him."--_Job_, ii, 13. "When I _brake_ the five loaves."--_Mark_, viii, 19. "And he _drave_ them from the judgement-seat."--_Acts_, xviii, 16. "Serve me till I have eaten and _drunken_."--_Luke_, xvii, 8. "It was not possible that he should be _holden_ of it."--_Acts_, ii, 24. "Thou _castedst_ them down into destruction."--_Psal._, lxxiii, 18. "Behold, I was _shapen_ in iniquity."--_Ib._, li, 5. "A meat-offering _baken_ in the oven."--_Leviticus_, ii, 4.

"With _casted_ slough, and fresh celerity."--SHAK., _Henry V_.

"Thy dreadful vow, _loaden_ with death."--ADDISON: _in Joh. Dict._

OBS. 2.--The verb _bet_ is given in Worcester's Dictionary, as being always regular: "BET, _v. a._ [_i_. BETTED; _pp_. BETTING, BETTED.] To wager; to lay a wager or bet. SHAK."--_Octavo Dict._ In Ainsworth's Grammar, it is given as being always irregular: "_Present_, Bet; _Imperfect_, Bet; _Participle_, Bet."--Page 36. On the authority of these, and of some others cited in OBS. 6th below, I have put it with the redundant verbs. The verb _prove_ is redundant, if _proven_, which is noticed by Webster, Bolles, and Worcester, is an admissible word. "The participle _proven_ is used in Scotland and in some parts of the United States, and sometimes, though rarely, in England.--'There is a mighty difference between _not proven_ and _disproven_.' DR. TH. CHALMERS. 'Not _proven_.' QU. REV."--_Worcester's Universal and Critical Dict._ The verbs _bless_ and _dress_ are to be considered redundant, according to the authority of Worcester, Webster, Bolles, and others. Cobbett will have the verbs, _cast, chide, cling, draw, grow, shred, sling, slink, spring, sting, stride, swim, swing_, and _thrust_, to be always regular; but I find no sufficient authority for allowing to any of them a regular form; and therefore leave them, where they always have been, in the list of simple irregulars. These fourteen verbs are a part of the long list of _seventy_ which this author says, "are, by some persons, _erroneously_ deemed irregular." Of the following _nine_ only, is his assertion true; namely, _dip, help, load, overflow, slip, snow, stamp, strip, whip_. These nine ought always to be formed regularly; for all their irregularities may well be reckoned obsolete. After these deductions from this most erroneous catalogue, there remain forty-five other very common verbs, to be disposed of contrary to this author's instructions. All but two of these I shall place in the list of _redundant_ verbs; though for the use of _throwed_ I find no written authority but his and William B. Fowle's. The two which I do not consider redundant are _spit_ and _strew_, of which it may be proper to take more particular notice.

OBS. 3.--_Spit_, to stab, or to put upon a spit, is regular; as, "I _spitted frogs_, I crushed a heap of emmets."--_Dryden. Spit_, to throw out saliva, is irregular, and most properly formed thus: _spit, spit, spitting, spit. "Spat_ is obsolete."--_Webster's Dict._ It is used in the Bible; as, "He _spat_ on the ground, and made clay of the spittle."--_John_, ix, 6. L. Murray gives this verb thus: "Pres. _Spit_; Imp. _spit, spat_; Perf. Part. _spit, spitten_." NOTE: "_Spitten_ is nearly obsolete."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 106. Sanborn has it thus: "Pres. _Spit_; Imp. _spit_; Pres. Part. _spitting_; Perf. Part. _spit, spat_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 48. Cobbett, at first, taking it in the form, "to _spit_, I _spat, spitten_," placed it among the seventy which he so erroneously thought should be made regular; afterwards he left it only in his list of irregulars, thus: "to _spit_, I _spit, spitten_."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, of 1832, p. 54. Churchill, in 1823, preferring the older forms, gave it thus: "_Spit, spat_ or _spit, spitten_ or _spit_."--_New Gram._, p. 111. NOTE:--"Johnson gives _spat_ as the preterimperfect, and _spit_ or _spitted_ as the participle of this verb, when it means to pierce through with a pointed instrument: but in this sense, I believe, it is always regular; while, on the other hand, the regular form is now never used, when it signifies to eject from the mouth; though we find in _Luke_, xviii, 32, 'He shall be _spitted_ on.'"--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 264. This text ought to have been, "He shall be _spit_ upon."

OBS. 4.--_To strew_ is in fact nothing else than an other mode of spelling the verb _to strow_; as _shew_ is an obsolete form for _show_; but if we pronounce the two forms differently, we make them different words. Walker, and some others, pronounce them alike, _stro_; Sheridan, Jones, Jameson, and Webster, distinguish them in utterance, _stroo_ and _stro_. This is convenient for the sake of rhyme, and perhaps therefore preferable. But _strew_, I incline to think, is properly a regular verb only, though Wells and Worcester give it otherwise: if _strewn_ has ever been proper, it seems now to be obsolete. EXAMPLES: "Others cut down branches from the trees, and _strewed_ them in the way."--_Matt._, xxi, 8. "Gathering where thou hast not _strewed_."--_Matt._, xxv, 24.

"Their name, their years, _spelt_ by th' unletter'd _muse_,
The place of fame and elegy supply;
And many _a holy text_ around she _strews_,
_That teach_ the rustic moralist to die."--_Gray_.

OBS. 5.--The list which I give below, prepared with great care, exhibits the redundant verbs, as they are now generally used, or as they may be used without grammatical impropriety.[291] Those forms which are supposed to be preferable, and best supported by authorities, are placed first. No words are inserted here, but such as some modern authors countenance. L. Murray recognizes _bereaved, catched, dealed, digged, dwelled, hanged, knitted, shined, spilled_; and, in his early editions, he approved of _bended, builded, creeped, weaved, worked, wringed_. His two larger books now tell us, "The Compiler _has not inserted_ such verbs as _learnt, spelt, spilt_, &c. which are improperly terminated by _t_, instead of _ed_."--_Octavo Gram._, p. 107; _Duodecimo_, p. 97. But if he did not, in all his grammars, insert, "_Spill, spilt_, R. _spilt_, R.," (pp. 106, 96,) preferring the irregular form to the regular, somebody else has done it for him. And, what is remarkable, many of his _amenders_, as if misled by some evil genius, have contradicted themselves in precisely the same way! Ingersoll, Fisk, Merchant, and Hart, republish exactly the foregoing words, and severally become "_The Compiler_" of the same erroneous catalogue! Kirkham prefers _spilt_ to _spilled_, and then declares the word to be "_improperly_ terminated by _t_ instead of _ed_."--_Gram._, p. 151. Greenleaf, who condemns _learnt_ and _spelt_, thinks _dwelt_ and _spilt_ are "the _only established_ forms;" yet he will have _dwell_ and _spill_ to be "_regular_" verbs, as well as "_irregular!_"--_Gram. Simp._, p. 29. Webber prefers _spilled_ to _spilt_; but Picket admits only the latter. Cobbett and Sanborn prefer _bereaved, builded, dealed, digged, dreamed, hanged_, and _knitted_, to _bereft, built, dealt, dug, dreamt, hung_, and _knit_. The former prefers _creeped_ to _crept_, and _freezed_ to _froze_; the latter, _slitted_ to _slit, wringed_ to _wrung_; and both consider, "_I bended_," "_I bursted_" and "_I blowed_," to be good modern English. W. Allen acknowledges _freezed_ and _slided_; and, like Webster, prefers _hove_ to _hoven_: but the latter justly prefers _heaved_ to both. EXAMP.: "The supple kinsman _slided_ to the helm."--_New Timon_. "The rogues _slided_ me into the river."--_Shak_. "And the sand _slided_ from beneath my feet."-- DR. JOHNSON: _in Murray's Sequel_, p. 179. "Wherewith she _freez'd_ her foes to congeal'd stone."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 449. "It _freezed_ hard last night. Now, what was it that _freezed_ so hard?"--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 25. "Far hence lies, ever _freez'd_, the northern main."--_Savage's Wanderer_, l. 57. "Has he not taught, _beseeched_, and shed abroad the Spirit unconfined?"--_Pollok's Course of Time_, B. x, l. 275.

OBS. 6.--D. Blair supposes _catched_ to be an "erroneous" word and unauthorized: "I _catch'd_ it," for "I _caught_ it," he sets down for a "_vulgarism_."--_E. Gram._, p. 111. But _catched_ is used by some of the most celebrated authors. Dearborn prefers the regular form of _creep_: "creep, creeped _or_ crept, creeped _or_ crept."--_Columbian Gram._, p. 38. I adopt no man's opinions implicitly; copy nothing without examination; but, _to prove all my decisions to be right_, would be an endless task. I shall do as much as ought to be expected, toward showing that they are so. It is to be remembered, that the _poets_, as well as the _vulgar_, use some forms which a _gentleman_ would be likely to avoid, unless he meant to quote or imitate; as,

"So _clomb_ the first grand thief into God's fold;
So since into his church lewd hirelings climb."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 192.

"He _shore_ his sheep, and, having packed the wool,
Sent them unguarded to the hill of wolves."
--_Pollok, C. of T._, B. vi, l. 306.

------"The King of heav'n
Bar'd his red arm, and launching from the sky
His _writhen_ bolt, not shaking empty smoke,
Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon _strook_."
--_Dryden_.

OBS. 7.--The following are examples in proof of some of the forms acknowledged below: "Where etiquette and precedence _abided_ far away."--_Paulding's Westward-Ho!_ p. 6. "But there were no secrets where Mrs. Judith Paddock _abided_."--_Ib._, p. 8. "They _abided_ by the forms of government established by the charters."--_John Quincy Adams, Oration_, 1831. "I have _abode_ consequences often enough in the course of my life."--_Id., Speech_, 1839. "Present, _bide_, or _abide_; Past, _bode, or abode_."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 104. "I _awaked_ up last of all."--_Ecclus._, xxxiii, 16. "For this are my knees _bended_ before the God of the spirits of all flesh."--_Wm. Penn_. "There was never a prince _bereaved_ of his dependencies," &c.--_Bacon_. "Madam, you have _bereft_ me of all words."--_Shakspeare_. "Reave, _reaved or reft_, reaving, _reaved or reft_. _Bereave_ is similar."--_Ward's Practical Gram._, p. 65. "And let them tell their tales of woful ages, long ago _betid_."--_Shak_. "Of every nation _blent_, and every age."--_Pollok, C. of T._, B vii, p. 153. "Rider and horse,--friend, foe,--in one red burial _blent!_"--_Byron, Harold_, C. iii, st. 28. "I _builded_ me houses."--_Ecclesiastes_, ii, 4. "For every house is _builded_ by some man; but he that _built_ all things is God."--_Heb_. iii, 4. "What thy hands _builded_ not, thy wisdom gained."--_Milton's P. L._, X, 373. "Present, _bet_; Past, _bet_; Participle, _bet_."-- _Mackintosh's Gram._, p. 197; _Alexander's_, 38. "John of Gaunt loved him well, and _betted_ much upon his head."--SHAKSPEARE: _Joh. Dict, w. Bet_. "He lost every earthly thing he _betted_."--PRIOR: _ib._ "A seraph _kneeled_."--_Pollok, C. T._, p. 95.

"At first, he declared he himself would be _blowed_,
Ere his conscience with such a foul crime he would load."
--_J. R. Lowell_.

"They are _catched_ without art or industry."--_Robertson's Amer._,-Vol. i, p. 302. "Apt to be _catched_ and dazzled."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 26. "The lion being _catched_ in a net."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 232. "In their self-will they _digged_ down a wall."--_Gen._, xlix, 6. "The royal mother instantly _dove_ to the bottom and brought up her babe unharmed."-- _Trumbull's America_, i, 144. "The learned have _diven_ into the secrets of nature."--CARNOT: _Columbian Orator_, p. 82. "They have _awoke_ from that ignorance in which they had slept."--_London Encyclopedia_. "And he _slept_ and _dreamed_ the second time."--_Gen._, xli, 5. "So I _awoke_."--_Ib._, 21. "But he _hanged_ the chief baker."--_Gen._, xl, 22. "Make as if you _hanged_ yourself."--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict._ "_Graven_ by art and man's device."--_Acts_, xvii, 29. "_Grav'd_ on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."--_Gray_. "That the tooth of usury may be _grinded_."--_Lord Bacon_. "MILN-EE, The hole from which the _grinded_ corn falls into the chest below."--_Glossary of Craven_, London, 1828. "UNGRUND, Not _grinded_."-- _Ibid._ "And he _built_ the inner court with three rows of _hewed_ stone."--_1 Kings_, vi, 36. "A thing by which matter is _hewed_."--_Dr. Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, Vol. i, p. 378. "SCAGD or SCAD _meaned_ distinction, dividing."--_Ib._, i, 114. "He only _meaned_ to acknowledge him to be an extraordinary person."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 12. "_The_ determines what particular thing is _meaned_."--_Ib._, p. 11. "If Hermia _mean'd_ to say Lysander lied."--_Shak_. "As if I _meaned_ not the first but the second creation."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 289. "From some stones have rivers _bursted_ forth."--_Sale's Koran_, Vol. i, p. 14.

"So move we on; I only _meant_
To show the reed on which you _leant_."--_Scott, L. L._, C. v, st. 11.

OBS. 8.--_Layed, payed_, and _stayed_, are now less common than _laid, paid_, and _staid_; but perhaps not less correct, since they are the same words in a more regular and not uncommon orthography: "Thou takest up that [which] thou _layedst_ not down."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, SMITH'S, BRUCE'S: _Luke_, xix, 21. Scott's Bible, in this place, has "_layest_," which is wrong in tense. "Thou _layedst_ affliction upon our loins."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Psalms_, lxvi, 11. "Thou _laidest_ affliction upon our loins."--SCOTT'S BIBLE, _and_ BRUCE'S. "Thou _laidst_ affliction upon our loins."--SMITH'S BIBLE, Stereotyped by J. Howe. "Which gently _lay'd_ my knighthood on my shoulder."--SINGER'S SHAKSPEARE: _Richard II_, Act i, Sc. 1. "But no regard was _payed_ to his remonstrance."--_Smollett's England_, Vol. iii, p. 212. "Therefore the heaven over you is _stayed_ from dew, and the earth is _stayed_ from her fruit."--_Haggai_, i, 10. "STAY, _i_. STAYED _or_ STAID; _pp_. STAYING, STAYED _or_ STAID."--_Worcester's Univ. and Crit. Dict._ "Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz _stayed_ by En-rogel."--_2 Sam._, xvii, 17. "This day have I _payed_ my vows."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Prov_, vii, 14. Scott's Bible has "_paid_." "They not only _stayed_ for their resort, but discharged divers."--HAYWARD: _in Joh. Dict._ "I _stayed_ till the latest grapes were ripe."--_Waller's Dedication_. "_To lay_ is regular, and has in the past time and participle _layed_ or _laid_."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 54. "To the flood, that _stay'd_ her flight."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 832. "All rude, all waste, and desolate is _lay'd_."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ix, l. 1636. "And he smote thrice, and _stayed_."--_2 Kings_, xiii, 18.

"When Cobham, generous as the noble peer
That wears his honours, _pay'd_ the fatal price
Of virtue blooming, ere the storms were _laid_."--_Shenstone_, p. 167.

OBS. 9.--By the foregoing citations, _lay, pay_, and _stay_, are clearly proved to be redundant. But, in nearly all our English grammars, _lay_ and _pay_ are represented as being always irregular; and _stay_ is as often, and as improperly, supposed to be always regular. Other examples in proof of the list: "I _lit_ my pipe with the paper."--_Addison_.

"While he whom learning, habits, all prevent,
Is largely _mulct_ for each impediment."--_Crabbe, Bor._, p. 102.
"And then the chapel--night and morn to pray,
Or _mulct_ and threaten'd if he kept away."--_Ib._, p. 162.

"A small space is formed, in which the breath is _pent_ up."--_Gardiner's Music of Nature_, p. 493. "_Pen_, when it means to write, is always regular. Boyle has _penned_ in the sense of confined."--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 261. "So far as it was now _pled_."--ANDERSON: _Annals of the Bible_, p. 25. "_Rapped_ with admiration."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict._ "And being _rapt_ with the love of his beauty."--_Id., ib._ "And _rapt_ in secret studies."--SHAK.: _ib._ "I'm _rapt_ with joy."--ADDISON: _ib._ "_Roast_ with fire."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Exod._, xii, 8 and 9. "_Roasted_ with fire."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Exod._, xii, 8 and 9. "Upon them hath the light _shined_."--_Isaiah_, ix, 2. "The earth _shined_ with his glory."--_Ezekiel_, xliii, 2. "After that he had _showed_ wonders."--_Acts_, vii, 36. "Those things which God before had _showed_."--_Acts_, iii, 18. "As shall be _shewed_ in Syntax."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 28. "I have _shown_ you, that the _two first_ may be dismissed."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 10. "And in this struggle were _sowed_ the seeds of the revolution."--_Everett's Address_, p. 16. "Your favour _showed_ to the performance, has given me boldness."--_Jenks's Prayers, Ded_. "Yea, so have I _strived_ to preach the gospel."--_Rom._, xv, 20. "Art thou, like the adder, _waxen_ deaf?"--_Shakspeare. "Hamstring'd_ behind, unhappy Gyges died."--_Dryden_. "In Syracusa was I born and _wed_."--_Shakspeare_. "And thou art _wedded_ to calamity."--_Id._ "I saw thee first, and _wedded_ thee."--_Milton_. "Sprung the rank weed, and _thrived_ with large increase."--_Pope_. "Some errors never would have _thriven_, had it not been for learned refutation."--_Book of Thoughts_, p. 34. "Under your care they have _thriven_."--_Junius_, p. 5. "Fixed by being rolled closely, compacted, _knitted_."--_Dr. Murray's Hist._, Vol. i, p. 374. "With kind converse and skill has _weaved_."--_Prior_. "Though I shall be _wetted_ to the skin."--_Sandford and Merton_, p. 64. "I _speeded_ hither with the very extremest inch of possibility."--_Shakspeare_. "And pure grief _shore_ his old thread in twain."--_Id._ "And must I ravel out my _weaved-up_ follies?"--_Id., Rich. II_. "Tells how the drudging Goblin _swet_."--_Milton's L'Allegro_. "Weave, wove or _weaved_, weaving, wove, _weaved_, or woven."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 67.

"Thou who beneath the frown of fate hast stood,
And in thy dreadful agony _sweat_ blood."--_Young_, p. 238.

OBS. 10.--The verb to _shake_ is now seldom used in any other than the irregular form, _shake, shook, shaking, shaken_; and, in this form only, is it recognized by our principal grammarians and lexicographers, except that Johnson improperly acknowledges _shook_ as well as _shaken_ for the perfect participle: as, "I've _shook_ it off."--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict._ But the regular form, _shake, shaked, shaking, shaked_, appears to have been used by some writers of high reputation; and, if the verb is not now properly redundant, it formerly was so. Examples regular: "The frame and huge foundation of the earth _shak'd_ like a coward."--SHAKSPEARE: _Hen. IV_. "I am he that is so _love-shaked_."--ID.: _As You Like it_. "A sly and constant knave, not to be _shak'd_."--ID.: _Cymbeline: Joh. Dict._ "I thought he would have _shaked_ it off."--TATTLER: _ib._ "To the very point I _shaked_ my head at."--_Spectator_, No. 4. "From the ruin'd roof of _shak'd_ Olympus."--_Milton's Poems_. "None hath _shak'd_ it off."--_Walker's English Particles_, p. 89. "They _shaked_ their heads."--_Psalms_, cix, 25. Dr. Crombie says, "Story, in his Grammar, has, _most unwarrantably_, asserted, that the Participle of this Verb should be _shaked_."--ON ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX, p. 198. Fowle, on the contrary, pronounces _shaked_ to be right. See _True English Gram._, p. 46.

OBS. 11.--All former lists of our irregular and redundant verbs are, in many respects, defective and erroneous; nor is it claimed for those which are here presented, that they are absolutely perfect. I trust, however, they are much nearer to perfection, than are any earlier ones. Among the many individuals who have published schemes of these verbs, none have been more respected and followed than Lowth, Murray, and Crombie; yet are these authors' lists severally faulty in respect to as many as sixty or seventy of the words in question, though the whole number but little exceeds two hundred, and is commonly reckoned less than one hundred and eighty. By Lowth, eight verbs are made redundant, which I think are now regular only: namely, _bake, climb, fold, help, load, owe, wash_. By Crombie, as many: to wit, _bake, climb, freight, help, lift, load, shape, writhe_. By Murray, two: _load_ and _shape_. With Crombie, and in general with the others too, twenty-seven verbs are always irregular, which I think are sometimes regular, and therefore redundant: _abide, beseech, blow, burst, creep, freeze, grind, lade, lay, pay, rive, seethe, shake, show, sleep, slide, speed, string, strive, strow, sweat, thrive, throw, weave, weep, wind, wring_. Again, there are, I think, more than twenty redundant verbs which are treated by Crombie,--and, with one or two exceptions, by Lowth and Murray also,--as if they were always regular: namely, _betide, blend, bless, burn, dive, dream, dress, geld, kneel, lean, leap, learn, mean, mulct, pass, pen, plead, prove, reave, smell, spell, stave, stay, sweep, wake, whet, wont_. Crombie's list contains the auxiliaries, which properly belong to a different table. Erroneous as it is, in all these things, and more, it is introduced by the author with the following praise, in bad English: "_Verbs, which_ depart from this rule, are called Irregular, _of which_ I believe the subsequent enumeration to be _nearly complete_."--TREATISE ON ETYM. AND SYNT., p. 192.

OBS. 12.--Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar of the English Tongue, recognizes two forms which would make _teach_ and _reach_ redundant. But _teached_ is now "obsolete," and _rought_ is "old," according to his own Dictionary. Of _loaded_ and _loaden_, which he gives as participles of _load_, the regular form only appears to be now in good use. For the redundant forms of many words in the foregoing list, as of _abode_ or _abided, awaked_ or _awoke, besought_ or _beseeched, caught_ or _catched, hewed_ or _hewn, mowed_ or _mown, laded_ or _laden, seethed_ or _sod, sheared_ or _shore, sowed_ or _sown, waked_ or _woke, wove_ or _weaved_, his authority may be added to that of others already cited. In Dearborn's Columbian Grammar, published in Boston in 1795, the year in which Lindley Murray's Grammar first appeared in York, no fewer than thirty verbs are made redundant, which are not so represented by Murray. Of these I have retained nineteen in the following list, and left the other eleven to be now considered always regular. The thirty are these: "bake, _bend, build, burn_, climb, _creep, dream_, fold, freight, _geld, heat, heave_, help, _lay, leap_, lift, _light_, melt, owe, _quit_, rent, rot, _seethe, spell, split, strive_, wash, _weave, wet, work_." See _Dearborn's Gram._, p. 37-45.

LIST OF THE REDUNDANT VERBS.

_Imperfect_
_Present. Preterit. Participle. Perfect Participle_.

Abide, abode _or_ abided, abiding, abode _or_ abided. Awake, awaked _or_ awoke, awaking, awaked _or_ awoke. Belay, belayed _or_ belaid, belaying, belayed _or_ belaid. Bend, bent _or_ bended, bending, bent _or_ bended. Bereave, bereft _or_ bereaved, bereaving, bereft _or_ bereaved. Beseech, besought _or_ beseeched, beseeching, besought _or_ beseeched. Bet, betted _or_ bet, betting, betted _or_ bet. Betide, betided _or_ betid, betiding, betided _or_ betid. Bide, bode _or_ bided, biding, bode _or_ bided. Blend, blended _or_ blent, blending, blended _or_ blent. Bless, blessed _or_ blest, blessing, blessed _or_ blest. Blow, blew _or_ blowed, blowing, blown _or_ blowed. Build, built _or_ builded, building, built _or_ builded. Burn, burned _or_ burnt, burning, burned _or_ burnt. Burst, burst _or_ bursted, bursting, burst _or_ bursted. Catch, caught _or_ catched, catching, caught _or_ catched. Clothe, clothed _or_ clad, clothing, clothed _or_ clad. Creep, crept _or_ creeped, creeping, crept _or_ creeped. Crow, crowed _or_ crew, crowing, crowed. Curse, cursed _or_ curst, cursing, cursed _or_ curst. Dare, dared _or_ durst, daring, dared. Deal, dealt _or_ dealed, dealing, dealt _or_ dealed. Dig, dug _or_ digged, digging, dug _or_ digged. Dive, dived _or_ dove, diving, dived _or_ diven. Dream, dreamed _or_ dreamt, dreaming, dreamed _or_ dreamt. Dress, dressed _or_ drest, dressing, dressed _or_ drest. Dwell, dwelt _or_ dwelled, dwelling, dwelt _or_ dwelled. Freeze, froze _or_ freezed, freezing, frozen _or_ freezed. Geld, gelded _or_ gelt, gelding, gelded _or_ gelt. Gild, gilded _or_ gilt, gilding, gilded _or_ gilt. Gird, girded _or_ girt, girding, girded _or_ girt. Grave, graved, graving, graved _or_ graven. Grind, ground _or_ grinded, grinding, ground _or_ grinded. Hang, hung _or_ hanged, hanging, hung _or_ hanged. Heat, heated _or_ het, heating, heated _or_ het. Heave, heaved _or_ hove, heaving, heaved _or_ hoven. Hew, hewed, hewing, hewed _or_ hewn. Kneel, kneeled _or_ knelt, kneeling, kneeled _or_ knelt. Knit, knit _or_ knitted, knitting, knit _or_ knitted. Lade, laded, lading, laded _or_ laden. Lay, laid _or_ layed, laying, laid _or_ layed. Lean, leaned _or_ leant, leaning, leaned _or_ leant. Leap, leaped _or_ leapt, leaping, leaped _or_ leapt.[292] Learn, learned _or_ learnt, learning, learned _or_ learnt. Light, lighted _or_ lit, lighting, lighted _or_ lit. Mean, meant _or_ meaned, meaning, meant _or_ meaned. Mow, mowed, mowing, mowed _or_ mown. Mulct, mulcted _or_ mulct, mulcting, mulcted _or_ mulct. Pass, passed _or_ past, passing, passed _or_ past. Pay, paid _or_ payed, paying, paid _or_ payed. Pen, penned _or_ pent, penning, penned _or_ pent. (to coop,) Plead, pleaded _or_ pled, pleading, pleaded _or_ pled. Prove, proved, proving, proved _or_ proven. Quit, quitted _or_ quit, quitting, quitted _or_ quit.[293] Rap, rapped _or_ rapt, rapping, rapped _or_ rapt. Reave, reft _or_ reaved, reaving, reft _or_ reaved. Rive, rived, riving, riven _or_ rived. Roast, roasted _or_ roast, roasting, roasted _or_ roast. Saw, sawed, sawing, sawed _or_ sawn. Seethe, seethed _or_ sod, seething, seethed _or_ sodden. Shake, shook _or_ shaked, shaking, shaken _or_ shaked. Shape, shaped, shaping, shaped _or_ shapen. Shave, shaved, shaving, shaved _or_ shaven. Shear, sheared _or_ shore, shearing, sheared _or_ shorn. Shine, shined _or_ shone, shining, shined _or_ shone. Show, showed, showing, showed _or_ shown. Sleep, slept _or_ sleeped, sleeping, slept _or_ sleeped. Slide, slid _or_ slided, sliding, slidden, slid, _or_ slided. Slit, slitted _or_ slit, slitting, slitted _or_ slit. Smell, smelled _or_ smelt, smelling, smelled _or_ smelt. Sow, sowed, sowing, sowed _or_ sown. Speed, sped _or_ speeded, speeding, sped _or_ speeded. Spell, spelled _or_ spelt, spelling, spelled _or_ spelt. Spill, spilled _or_ spilt, spilling, spilled _or_ spilt. Split, split _or_ splitted, splitting, split _or_ splitted.[294] Spoil, spoiled _or_ spoilt, spoiling, spoiled _or_ spoilt. Stave, stove _or_ staved, staving, stove _or_ staved. Stay, staid _or_ stayed, staying, staid _or_ stayed. String, strung _or_ stringed, stringing, strung _or_ stringed. Strive, strived _or_ strove, striving, strived _or_ striven. Strow, strowed, strowing, strowed _or_ strown. Sweat, sweated _or_ sweat, sweating, sweated _or_ sweat. Sweep, swept _or_ sweeped, sweeping, swept _or_ sweeped. Swell, swelled, swelling, swelled _or_ swollen. Thrive, thrived _or_ throve, thriving, thrived _or_ thriven. Throw, threw _or_ throwed, throwing, thrown _or_ throwed. Wake, waked _or_ woke, waking, waked _or_ woke. Wax, waxed, waxing, waxed _or_ waxen. Weave, wove _or_ weaved, weaving, woven _or_ weaved. Wed, wedded _or_ wed, wedding, wedded _or_ wed. Weep, wept _or_ weeped, weeping, wept _or_ weeped. Wet, wet _or_ wetted, wetting, wet _or_ wetted. Whet, whetted _or_ whet, whetting, whetted _or_ whet.[295] Wind, wound _or_ winded, winding, wound _or_ winded. Wont, wont _or_ wonted, wonting, wont _or_ wonted. Work, worked _or_ wrought, working, worked _or_ wrought. Wring, wringed _or_ wrung, wringing, wringed _or_ wrung.[296]

DEFECTIVE VERBS.

A _defective verb_ is a verb that forms no participles, and is used in but few of the moods and tenses; as, _beware, ought, quoth_.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1. When any of the principal parts of a verb are wanting, the tenses usually derived from those parts are also, of course, wanting. All the auxiliaries, except _do, be_, and _have_, if we compare them with other verbs, are defective; but, _as auxiliaries_, they lack nothing; for no complete verb is used throughout as an auxiliary, except _be_. And since an auxiliary differs essentially from a principal verb, the propriety of referring _may, can, must_, and _shall_, to the class of defective verbs, is at least questionable. In parsing there is never any occasion to _call_ them defective verbs, because they are always taken together with their principals. And though we may technically say, that their participles are "_wanting_," it is manifest that none are _needed_.

OBS. 2. _Will_ is sometimes used as a principal verb, and as such it is regular and complete; _will, willed, willing, willed_: as, "His Majesty _willed_ that they should attend."--_Clarendon_. "He _wills_ for them a happiness of a far more exalted and enduring nature."--_Gurney_. "Whether thou _willest_ it to be a minister to our pleasure."--_Harris_. "I _will_; be thou clean."--_Luke_, v, 13. "Nevertheless, not as I _will_, but as thou _will_."--_Matt._, xxvi, 39. "To _will_ is present with me."--_Rom._, vii, 18. But _would_ is sometimes also a principal verb; as, "What _would_ this man?"--_Pope_. "Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets."--_Numb._, xi, 29. "And Israel _would_ none of me."--_Psalm_, lxxxi, 11. If we refer this indefinite preterit to the same root, _will_ becomes redundant; _will, willed_ or _would, willing, willed_. In respect to time, _would_ is less definite than _willed_, though both are called preterits. It is common, and perhaps best, to consider them distinct verbs. The latter only can be a participle: as,

"How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
When man was _will'd_ to love his enemies!"--_Shakspeare_.

OBS. 3. The remaining defective verbs are only five or six questionable terms, which our grammarians know not well how else to explain; some of them being now nearly obsolete, and others never having been very proper. _Begone_ is a needless coalition of _be_ and _gone_, better written separately, unless Dr. Johnson is right in calling the compound an _interjection_: as,

"Begone! the goddess cries with stern disdain,
Begone! nor dare the hallow'd stream to stain!"--_Addison_.