Class I.

[124.]

The preterit singular and past participle of Class I end in -ede and -ed, or -de and -ed respectively.

Note.—The infinitives of this class ended originally in -jan (= -ian). This accounts for the prevalence of i-umlaut in these verbs, and also for the large number of short-voweled stems ending in a double consonant ([§ 115, Note 2]). The weak verb is frequently the causative of the corresponding strong verb. In such cases, the root of the weak verb corresponds in form to the preterit singular of the strong verb: Mn.E. drench (= to make drink), lay (= to make lie), rear (= to make rise), and set (= to make sit), are the umlauted forms of drǫnc (preterit singular of drincan), læg (preterit singular of licgan), rās (preterit singular of rīsan), and sæt (preterit singular of sittan).

Preterit and Past Participle in -ede and -ed.

[125.]

Verbs with infinitive in -an preceded by ri- or the double consonants mm, nn, ss, bb, cg (= gg), add -ede for the preterit, and -ed for the past participle, the double consonant being always made single:

ri:nęri-an,nęr-ede,genęr-ed,to save.
mm:fręmm-an,fręm-ede,gefręm-ed,to perform [frame].
nn:ðęnn-an,ðęn-ede,geðęn-ed,to extend.
ss:cnyss-an,cnys-ede,gecnys-ed,to beat.
bb:swębb-an,swęf-ede,geswęf-ed,to put to sleep.
cg:węcg-an,węg-ede,gewęg-ed,to agitate.

Note.—Lęcgan, to lay, is the only one of these verbs that syncopates the e: lęcgan, lęgde (lēde), gelęgd (gelēd), instead of lęgede, gelęged.

Preterit and Past Participle in -de and -ed.