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Irregular verbs are those that vary from this rule, in either or both instances.-See Lowth, English Grammar, p. 71.

More recent grammarians have contended that verbs of the latter kind are not really irregular, but that they are formed according to rules specially applicable to themselves. And since the verbs termed Regular are formed by addition to the root, while the so-called Irregular verbs are formed, in most instances, by internal change of the root-vowel-as take, took ; shake, shook; the Regulars have been called Weak verbs, and the Irregulars Strong verbs.

But other grammarians consider these terms fanciful and objectionable. They remark, truly enough, that all derivatives, all verbs borrowed from other languages, in short all new verbs, are formed in the first method, by adding -ed or -d. It is also a fact, that many verbs, which once formed their past tense by change of vowel, now take the form in -ed, -d, or -t; as lep, slep, mew, snew, now take the form leapt, slept, mowed, snowed.

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Hence we may infer, that there is a tendency for the one form to be displaced by the other; and the more we compare the older stages of our language with the newer, the more clearly we see that such is actually the case.'-Latham, English Grammar, § 136.

For these reasons, some grammarians prefer the terms New and Old Conjugation; assigning Regular verbs to the New, and Irregular verbs to the Old. But these terms are liable to mislead the student, for many verbs in the New conjugation are historically as old as verbs in the other.

326. We have, then, the following comparison of terms:

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Now, we observe that all these terms involve a theory; and, as a matter of course, the advocates of each fresh proposal condemn their predecessors; because, unless the former terms were objectionable, there was no necessity for change. But, in the present state of our knowledge, we should beware of giving names which involve any theory whatever, because future investigations may prove that our terms have been unadvisedly imposed.

It appears safer to divide verbs into the First and Second conjugations.

VERBS OF THE FIRST CONJUGATION.

327. Verbs of the First Conjugation form their Past Tense and Perfect Participle by adding -ed to the root of the verb, or -d alone, if the verb itself ends in -e: as,

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But certain changes take place, according to the letters in which the verb itself terminates.

When the verb ends in -y, with a consonant immediately preceding, the y is turned into i in the past tense and the perfect participle: as,

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But if the -y be preceded by a vowel, -ed is generally added: as,

delay

convey

changed into i: as,

lay

delayed conveyed

delayed
conveyed.

Yet not always; for sometimes the e is dropped, and the y is

pay

say

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Sometimes, too, authors differ in their way of writing: from the verb stay, some will write stayed, others staid.

328. With reference to verbs ending in a single consonant, the rules are uncertain. We are told that when the verb ends in a single consonant, which has a single vowel immediately before it, the final consonant is doubled in the past tense and the perfect participle: as,

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But this rule holds good only for words of one syllable; for with verbs of more than one syllable, the consonant is not doubled, unless the accent be on the last syllable: thus we write,

open

but

refér

opened

reférred

opened,

reférred.

Yet, even here, usage is not consistent. There is a tendency to double the letters 1, p, and t: we constantly see levelled, bigotted, rivetted, worshipped. Unless my memory deceives

I

me, I have seen benefitted in a leading article of the Times. The word unparalleled is constantly written with one before-ed, to avoid an accumulation of consonants. The Americans, following Dr. Webster, generally observe the strict rule, and do not double the consonant, unless the accent falls upon the last syllable of the root.

329. But we have to consider the doctrine of contraction. In all languages, there is a tendency to abbreviation, and we generally pronounce more briefly than we write; we say lov'd, mov'd for lověd, mověd. Archdeacon Hare proposed that, following the example of Spenser and Milton, we should adopt that form of writing which expresses the sound. For example, Spenser writes lookt, pluckt, nurst, kist; and Milton has hurld, worshipt, confest. According to this view the rule would be, 'where e is omitted in the past tense and perfect participle, the d becomes t after l, m, n, p, k, f, gh, and 8; as dealt, dreamt, learnt, crept, crackt, reft, sought, kist." At present our usage is not uniform; some write dropt, others dropped; and many who write dropt, would scruple to use wisht and jumpt, for wished and jumped. To show the inconsistency of our custom, Archdeacon Hare quotes this stanza from Coleridge's Genevieve:

There is no

write wept.

sistencies.

Her bosom heaved, she stepped aside,
As conscious of my look she stepped
Then suddenly, with timorous eye,
She fled to me and wept.

reason why we should not write stept, just as we
But the English language is full of these incon-

If the root of a verb ends in a double consonant, one of the two is always rejected before -d or -t: as,

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Hence if the e of dropped is omitted, the word becomes dropt.

330. Many verbs of this conjugation, besides adding -d or --t, admit changes of the internal vowel. We therefore make

the following divisions:

I. Verbs forming their past tense and perfect participle by adding -d or -t, and by shortening the vowel of the root.

(1) Verbs ending in a vowel:

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In dealt the shortening is not exhibited to the eye; but the word is pronounced delt.

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In bereave and leave there is not only a shortening of the vowel, but a change of consonant, v'd becoming f't:

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331. II. Verbs forming their past tense and perfect partíciple, by adding -d or -t, and by changing the vowel of the

root: as,

sell
tell

sold
told

sold

told.

With verbs ending in k, g, ch, not only is there a change of vowel, but the final consonant of the root is changed into gh.

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(2) Verb ending in -g (or rather in -ng):

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reach

So Chaucer says of the Prioresse,

In Old English, the verb reach was conjugated,

Full semely after her mete she raught.

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Canterbury Tales, Prologue.

In the verb buy (A. S. bycg-an) the consonant g does not appear, as a final, in the present tense; but it finds place in the past tense and the perfect participle:

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In the verb fight, the letter t is an original part of the root; so that, strictly, this verb ought to be classed with verbs ending in -t-See § 333.

The verb light, where the -t is part of the root, is conjugate

light

lighted

lighted,

But sometimes the essential character of the -t is forgotten, and contraction takes place:

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332. Special attention must be paid to verbs the root of which ends in -d or -t. If, for example, we take the verbs which are said not to change their form in the past tense and perfect participle, we find that they all end in -d or -t.

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Dr. Lowth thinks that these forms have resulted from con

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