(2) That the preterit singular stem is used in only two forms of the verb, the 1st and 3d persons singular of the preterit indicative: Ic drāf, hē drāf.
(3) That the preterit plural stem is used in the preterit plural indicative, in the second person of the preterit singular indicative, and in the singular and plural of the preterit subjunctive.
(4) That the stem of the past participle (gedrif-) is used for no other form.
Syntax of the Verb.
[104.]
The Indicative Mood[2] represents the predicate as a reality. It is used both in independent and in dependent clauses, its function in O.E. corresponding with its function in Mn.E.
[105.]
The Subjunctive Mood represents the predicate as an idea.[3] It is of far more frequent occurrence in O.E. than in Mn.E.
1. When used in independent clauses it denotes desire, command, or entreaty, and usually precedes its subject: Sīe ðīn nama gehālgod, Hallowed be Thy name; Ne swęrigen gē, Do not swear.
2. In dependent clauses it denotes uncertainty, possibility, or mere futurity.[4] (a) Concessive clauses (introduced by ðēah, though) and (b) temporal clauses (introduced by ǣr, ǣr ðǣm ðe, before) are rarely found with any other mood than the subjunctive. The subjunctive is also regularly used in Alfredian prose (c) after verbs of saying, even when no suggestion of doubt or discredit attaches to the narration.[5] “Whether the statement refer to a fact or not, whether the subject-matter be vouched for by the reporter, as regards its objective reality and truth, the subjunctive does not tell. It simply represents a statement as reported”[6]: ðēah man āsętte twēgen fǣtels full ealað oððe wæteres, though one set two vessels full of ale or water; ǣr ðǣm ðe hit eall forhęrgod wǣre, before it was all ravaged; Hē sǣde ðæt Norðmanna land wǣre swȳðe lang and swȳðe smæl, He said that the Norwegians’ land was very long and very narrow.