Conjugations.
[17.]
There are, likewise, two systems of conjugation in Old English: the Strong or Old Conjugation, and the Weak or New Conjugation.
The verbs of the Strong Conjugation (the so-called Irregular Verbs of Modern English) number about three hundred, of which not one hundred remain in Modern English ([§ 101, Note]). They form their preterit and frequently their past participle by changing the radical vowel of the present stem. This vowel change or modification is called ablaut (pronounced áhp-lowt): Modern English sing, sang, sung; rise, rose, risen. As the radical vowel of the preterit plural is often different from that of the preterit singular, there are four principal parts or tense stems in an Old English strong verb, instead of the three of Modern English. The four principal parts in the conjugation of a strong verb are (1) the present indicative, (2) the preterit indicative singular, (3) the preterit indicative plural, and (4) the past participle.
Strong verbs fall into seven groups, illustrated in the following table:
| Present. | Pret. Sing. | Pret. Plur. | Past Participle. |
|---|---|---|---|
| I. | |||
| Bītan, to bite: | |||
| Ic bīt-e, I bite or shall bite.[3] | Ic bāt, I bit. | Wē bit-on, we bit. | Ic hæbbe ge[4]-biten, I have bitten. |
| II. | |||
| Bēodan, to bid: | |||
| Ic bēod-e, I bid or shall bid. | Ic bēad, I bade. | Wē bud-on, we bade. | Ic hæbbe ge-boden, I have bidden. |
| III. | |||
| Bindan, to bind: | |||
| Ic bind-e, I bind or shall bind. | Ic bǫnd, I bound. | Wē bund-on, we bound. | Ic hæbbe ge-bund-en, I have bound. |
| IV. | |||
| Beran, to bear: | |||
| Ic ber-e, I bear or shall bear. | Ic bær, I bore. | Wē bǣr-on, we bore. | Ic hæbbe ge-bor-en, I have borne. |
| V. | |||
| Metan, to measure: | |||
| Ic met-e, I measure or shall measure. | Ic mæt, I measured. | Wē mǣt-on, we measured. | Ic hæbbe ge-met-en, I have measured. |
| VI. | |||
| Faran, to go: | |||
| Ic far-e, I go or shall go. | Ic fōr, I went. | Wē fōr-on, we went. | Ic eom[5] ge-far-en, I have (am) gone. |
| VII. | |||
| Feallan, to fall: | |||
| Ic feall-e, I fall or shall fall. | Ic fēoll, I fell. | Wē fēoll-on, we fell. | Ic eom[5] ge-feall-en, I have (am) fallen. |
[18.]
The verbs of the Weak Conjugation (the so-called Regular Verbs of Modern English) form their preterit and past participle by adding to the present stem a suffix[6] with d or t: Modern English love, loved; sleep, slept.
The stem of the preterit plural is never different from the stem of the preterit singular; hence these verbs have only three distinctive tense-stems, or principal parts: viz., (1) the present indicative, (2) the preterit indicative, and (3) the past participle.
Weak verbs fall into three groups, illustrated in the following table: