Even in the present English it will be found convenient to
call the forms like sang and drank the singular, and those like sung and bound the plural forms.
Be it observed, that, though this fact accounts for most of our double forms, it will not account for all. In the Anglo-Saxon, Ic sprǽc, I spake, we sprǽcon, we spake. There is no change of number to account for the two forms spake and spoke.
First Class.
[§ 364]. Contains the two words fall and fell, hold and held, where the sound of o is changed into that of ĕ. Here must be noticed the natural tendency of a to become o; since the forms in Anglo-Saxon are, Ic fealle, I fall; Ic feoll, I fell; Ic healde, I hold; Ic heold, I held.
Second Class.
[§ 365]. Here the præterite ends in -ew. Words of this class are distinguished from those of the third Class by the different form of the present tense.
| Present. | Præterite. |
| Draw | Drew. |
| Slay | Slew. |
| Fly | Flew. |
In these words the w has grown out of a g, as may be seen from the Anglo-Saxon forms. The word see (saw) belongs to this class: since, in Anglo-Saxon, we find the forms geseáh and gesegen, and in the Swedish the præterite form is saag.
Third Class.