| Sing. | Plur. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pres. Indic.: | -e | -en | |
| -es(t) | -et | ||
| -et | -ent | ||
| „Subj.: | -e | -en | |
| -es(t) | -et | ||
| -e | -en | ||
Pret. Indic. | -te, -ete | -ten, -eten | |
| -tes(t), -etes(t) | -tet, -etet | ||
| -te, -ete | -ten, -eten | ||
| Imper. | -en | ||
| -e | -et | ||
| P.P. Uninfl. form | -et | ||
| P.P.Infl.„ | -ter, -eter | ||
| Infin. | -en. |
Final -n in the first pers. sing. of the pres. indicative of the old Classes II and III remained in early MHG., but during the MHG. period the first person was remodelled after the analogy of Class I.
[Note.]— Old forms with ō̆ (u) for later e occasionally occur in verbs originally belonging to the OHG. Class II; and in like manner ī̆ for e in the pret. subjunctive.
[§ 89.] The MHG. weak verbs are divided into two classes, according as the preterite is formed in -te or -ete (see however § 40). The inflexion of the present is the same in both classes.
Class I.
[§ 90.] To this class belong (1) verbs which have old long stem-syllables. Those having a mutated vowel in the present have the corresponding unmutated vowel in the preterite. The i which would have caused umlaut in the preterite disappeared in the prehistoric period of the language. The past participle generally has two forms: one with a mutated vowel, and the other without it, properly from the old inflected form which did not have umlaut. (2) Verbs having a short stem-vowel followed by a single consonant (l, r), and trisyllabic verbs containing an l, n, or r in the second syllable, as zeln, older zellen ([§ 31, 3]), to count, pret. zelte beside zalte, p.p. gezelt beside gezalt; nern, to rescue, pret. nerte (OHG. nerita), p.p. genert; and similarly doln (OHG. dolōn), to tolerate, seln, to hand over, spiln, to play, weln, to choose; wern, to defend; wandeln (OHG. wantalōn), to change, pret. wandelte; vordern (OHG. fordarōn), to further, pret. vorderte; sëgenen (OHG. sëganōn), to bless, pret. sëgente. See §§ [9, 1, 2], [92].
| Present. | |||
| Indic. | Subj. | Imper. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sing. | 1. kenne | kenne | |
| 2. kennes(t) | kennes(t) | kenne | |
| 3. kennet | kenne | ||
| Plur. | 1. kennen | kennen | kennen |
| 2. kennet | kennet | kennet, (-ent) | |
| 3. kennent | kennen | ||
| Preterite. | |||
| Sing. | 1. kante | kante | |
| 2. kantes(t) | kantes(t) | ||
| 3. kante | kante | ||
| Plur. | 1. kanten | kanten | |
| 2. kantet | kantet | ||
| 3. kanten | kanten | ||
Infin. kennen, to know; Pres. Part. kennende; Past Part. gekennet, gekant.
And similarly with a large number of verbs, as blüemen, to bloom, brennen, to burn, füllen, to fill, grüeȥen, to greet, hœren, to hear, küssen, to kiss, lœsen, to loose, nennen, to name, rennen, to run, senden (pret. sante), to send, senken, to sink, setzen (pret. satte, sazte, p.p. gesat, gesazt, gesetzt), to set, stellen, to place, süeȥen, to sweeten, vellen, to fell, wǣnen, to fancy, wünschen, to wish; gelouben, to believe, kēren, to turn, koufen, to buy, leiten (pret. leite), to lead, ougen, to show, suochen, to seek. The verba pura have double forms in the present and preterite, as dræjen, dræn ([§ 35]), to turn, pret. drāte beside the new formation dræjete, dræte, and similarly blüejen, to bloom, müejen, to trouble, rüejen, to row, sæjen, to sow, wæjen, to blow. Verbs with medial ck have double preterites, as decken, to cover, pret. dacte beside dahte, and similarly drücken, drucken, to press, smecken, to taste, wecken, to awake. See also § 92.
[§ 91.] The following are irregular:—