[§ 307]. II. In the second class, besides the addition of -t or -d, the vowel is shortened,
| Present. | Præterite. |
| Creep | Crept. |
| Keep | Kept. |
| Sleep | Slept. |
| Sweep | Swept. |
| Weep | Wept. |
| Lose | Lost. |
| Mean | Meant.[[57]] |
Here the final consonant is -t.
| Present. | Præterite. |
| Flee | Fled. |
| Hear | Heard.[[58]] |
| Shoe | Shod. |
| Say | Said.[[59]] |
Here the final consonant is -d.
[§ 308]. III. In the second class the vowel of the present tense was shortened in the præterite. In the third class it is changed.
| Tell, told. | Sell, sold. |
| Will, would. | Shall, should. |
To this class belong the remarkable præterites of the verbs seek, beseech, catch, teach, bring, think, and buy, viz., sought, besought, caught, taught, brought, thought, and bought. In all these, the final consonant is either g or k, or else a sound allied to those mutes. When the tendency of these sounds to become h and y, as well as to undergo farther changes, is remembered, the forms in point cease to seem anomalous. In wrought, from work, there is a transposition. In laid and said the present forms make a show of regularity which they have not. The true original forms should be legde and sægde, the infinitives being lecgan, secgan. In these words the i represents the semivowel y, into which the original g was changed. The Anglo-Saxon forms of the other words are as follows:—
| Bycan, bóhte. | Bringan, bróhte. |
| Sêcan, sóhte. | Þencan, þóhte. |
| Wyrcan, wórhte. | |