English in its early form was an inflexional language; that is to say, the mutual relations of nouns and of verbs were chiefly expressed, not by means of particles, such as of, to, by, and so forth, but by means of modifications either in the termination or in the body of the root itself. The nouns were declined much as in Greek and Latin; the verbs were conjugated in somewhat the same way as in modern French. Every noun had gender expressed in its form.
The following examples will give a sufficient idea of the commoner forms of declension in the classical West Saxon of the time of Ælfred. The pronunciation has already been briefly explained in the preface.
| Sing. | Plur. | ||
| (1.) Nom. | stan (a stone). | Nom. | stanas. |
| Gen. | stanes. | Gen. | stana. |
| Dat. | stane. | Dat. | stanum. |
| Acc. | stan. | Acc. | stanas. |
This is the commonest declension for masculine nouns, and it has fixed the normal plural for the modern English.
| Sing. | Plur. | ||
| (2.) Nom. | fot (a foot). | Nom. | fet. |
| Gen. | fotes. | Gen. | fota. |
| Dat. | fet. | Dat. | fotum. |
| Acc. | fot. | Acc. | fet. |
Hence our modified plurals, such as feet, teeth, and men.
| Sing. | Plur. | ||
| (3.) Nom. | wudu (a wood). | Nom. | wuda. |
| Gen. | wuda. | Gen. | wuda. |
| Dat. | wuda. | Dat. | wudum. |
| Acc. | wudu. | Acc. | wuda. |
All these are for masculine nouns.
The commonest feminine declension is as follows:—
| Sing. | Plur. | ||
| (4.) Nom. | gifu (a gift). | Nom. | gifa. |
| Gen. | gife. | Gen. | gifena. |
| Dat. | gife. | Dat. | gifum. |
| Acc. | gife. | Acc. | gifa. |