The following table shows the personal endings of the present and the past tense:—

Personal Endings
Present TensePast Tense
SINGULARPLURALSINGULARPLURAL
1. [no ending]1. [no ending]1. [no ending]1. [no ending]
2. -est, -st2. [no ending]2. -est, -st2. [no ending]
3. -s [old, -eth]3. [no ending]3. [no ending]3. [no ending]
Conjugation of the Present and the Past

225. The inflection of a verb is called its conjugation ([§ 53]). When we inflect a verb we are said to conjugate it.

Conjugation of the Weak Verb Walk
Present Tense
SINGULARPLURAL
1. I walk.1. We walk.
2. Thou walkest.[32]2. You walk.
3. He walks.3. They walk.
Past Tense
SINGULARPLURAL
1. I walked.1. We walked.
2. Thou walkedst.2. You walked.
3. He walked.3. They walked.
Conjugation of the Strong Verb Find
Present Tense
SINGULARPLURAL
1. I find.1. We find.
2. Thou findest.2. You find.
3. He finds.3. They find.
Past Tense
SINGULARPLURAL
1. I found.1. We found.
2. Thou foundest.2. You found.
3. He found.3. They found.
Conjugation of the Copula
Present Tense
SINGULARPLURAL
1. I am.1. We are.
2. Thou art.2. You are.
3. He is.3. They are.
Past Tense
SINGULARPLURAL
1. I was.1. We were.
2. Thou wast.2. You were.
3. He was.3. They were.

Note. The English verb formerly had more personal endings. In Chaucer, for instance, the typical inflection of the present is:—

SingularPlural
1. I walkë.1. We walken (or walkë).
2. Thou walkest.2. Ye walken (or walkë).
3. He walketh.3. They walken (or walkë).

The disappearance of all weak final e’s in the fifteenth century ([§ 191]) reduced the first person singular and the whole plural to the single form walk. Later, walks (a dialect form) was substituted for walketh, and still later the second person singular was replaced in ordinary use by the plural. The result has been that in modern speech there are only two common forms in the present tense,—walk and walks. In poetry and the solemn style, however, walkest and walketh are still in use. The plural in en is frequently adopted by Spenser as an ancient form (or archaism): as,—“You deemen the spring is come.”