Note 2.—A peculiar interest attaches to hātan: the forms hātte and hātton are the sole remains in O.E. of the original Germanic passive. They are used both as presents and as preterits: hātte = I am or was called, he is or was called. No other verb in O.E. could have a passive sense without calling in the aid of the verb to be ([§ 141]).

Contract Verbs.

[118.]

The few Contract Verbs found in O.E. do not constitute a new class; they fall under Classes I, II, V, VI, and VII, already treated. The present stem ended originally in h. This was lost before -an of the infinitive, contraction and compensatory lengthening being the result. The following are the most important of these verbs:

Classes.

I.ðēon(< *ðīhan),ðāh,ðig-on,geðig-en
geðung-en		, to thrive.
II.tēon(< *tēohan),tēah,tug-on,getog-en,to draw, go [tug].
V.sēon(< *sehwan),seah,sāw-on,gesew-en,to see.
VI.slēan(< *slahan),slōh,slōg-on,geslæg-en,to slay.
VII.fōn(< *fōhan),fēng,fēng-on,gefǫng-en,to seize [fang].
[119.]

The Present Indicative of these verbs runs as follows (see rules of i-umlaut, [§ 58]):

Sing. 1.Ic ðēotēosēoslēafō
2.ðū ðīhsttīehstsiehstsliehstfēhst
3.hē ðīhðtīehðsiehðsliehðfēhð
Plur. 1.wē
2.gēðēoðtēoðsēoðslēaðfōð
3.hīe

The other tenses and moods are regularly formed from the given stems.