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The first is the present; as
amo, I love.

The second is the time past; as
amabam, I loved.

The third is the future; as

Ama, amato: love, love.

The other times both imperfect; as

amem, amarem, amabo.

And also perfect; as

amavi, amaverim, amaveram, amavissem, amavero, we use to express by a syntax, as shall be seen in the proper place.

The future is made of the present, and is the same always with it.

Of this future ariseth a verb infinite, keeping the same termination; as likewise of the present, and the time past, are formed the participle present, by adding of ing; as

love, loving.

The other is all one with the time past.

The passive is expressed by a syntax, like the time's going before, as hereafter shall appear.

A person is the special difference of a verbal number, whereof the present, and the time past, have in every number three.

The second and third person singular of the present are made of the first, by adding est and eth; which last is sometimes shortened into s.

The time past is varied, by adding in like manner in the second person singular est, and making the third like unto the first.

The future hath but only two persons, the second and third ending both alike.

The persons plural keep the termination of the first person singular. In former times, till about the reign of king Henry the eighth, they were wont to be formed by adding en; thus,

loven, sayen, complainen.

But now (whatsoever is the cause) it hath quite grown out of use, and that other so generally prevailed, that I dare not presume to set this afoot again albeit (to tell you my opinion) I am persuaded that the lack hereof well considered will be found a great blemish to our tongue. For seeing time and person be, as it were, the right and lefthand of a verb, what can the maiming bring else, but a lameness to the whole body?

And by reason of these two differences, a verb is divided two manner of ways.

First, in respect of persons, it is called personal, or impersonal.

Personal, which is varied by three persons; as love, lovest, loveth.

Impersonal, which only hath the third person; as behoveth, irketh.

Secondly, in consideration of the times, we term it active, or neuter.

Active, whose participle past may be joined with the verb am; as

I am loved, thou art hated.

Neuter, which cannot be so coupled; as pertain, die, live.

This therefore is the general forming of the verb, which must to every special one hereafter be applied.

CHAP. XVII.

OF THE FIRST CONJUGATION.

HE varying of a verb by persons and times, both finite and infinite, is termed a conjugation: whereof there be two sorts. The first fetcheth the time past from the present, by adding ed; and is thus varied :

Pr. love, lovest, loveth.
Pa. loved, loved'st, loved.

Fu. love, love.

Inf.

Part. pr.
Part. past.

Pl. love, love, love.
Pl. loved, loved, loved.
Pl. love, love.

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Verbs are oft times shortened; as

sayest, saist; would, wou'd;

should, shou'd: holpe, hope;

But this is more common in the leaving out of e; as lovea'st, for lovedest;

rubb'd, rubbed; took'st, tookest.

Exception of the time past, for ed, have d or t; as Licked, lickt; leaved, left;

Gaped, gap'd; blushed, blush'd.

Some verbs ending in d, for avoiding the concourse of too many consonants, do cast it away; as

lend, lent; spend, spent; gird, girt.

Make, by a rare contraction, is here turned into made. Many verbs in the time past, vary not at all from the present; such are cast, hurt, cost, burst, &c.

CHAP. XVIII.

OF THE SECOND CONJUGATION.

ND so much for the first conjugation, being indeed the most useful forming of a verb, and thereby also the common inn to lodge every strange and foreign guest. That which followeth, for any thing I can find, (though I have with some diligence searched after it) entertaineth none but natural and home-born words, which though in number they be not many, a hundred and twenty, or thereabouts; yet in varia

tion are so divers and uncertain, that they need much the stamp of some good logic to beat them into proportion. We have set down that, that in our judgment agreeth best with reason and good order. Which notwithstanding, if it seem to any to be too rough hewed, let him plane it out more smoothly, and I shall not only not envy it, but, in the behalf of my country, most heartily thank him for so great a benefit; hoping that I shall be thought sufficiently to have done my part, if in tolling this bell, I may draw others to a deeper consideration of the matter : for, touching myself, I must needs confess, that after much painful churning, this only would come, which here we have devised.

The second conjugation therefore turneth the present into the time past, by the only change of his letters, namely, of vowels alone, or consonants also.

Verbs changing vowels only, have no certain termination of the participle past, but derive it as well from the present, as the time past: and that otherwhile differing from either, as the examples following do declare.

The change of vowels is, either of simple vowels, or of diphthongs; whereof the first goeth by the order of vowels, which we also will observe.

An a is turned into oo. Pres. shake, shakest, shaketh. Past. shook, shookest, shook. Fut. shake, shake.

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Pl. shake, shake, shake.
Pl. shook, shook, shook.
Pl. shake, shake.

Part. pre. shaking.

Part. pa.

shaken.

This form do the verbs take, wake, forsake, and hang, follow; but hang in the time past maketh hung, not hangen.

Hereof the verb am is a special exception, being thus varied:

Pr. am, art, is. Pl. are, are, are; or be, be, be, of the unused word, be, beest, beeth, in the singular.

Past. was, wast, was; or, were, wert, were.

were, were, were.

Fut. be, be. Plur. be, be.

Inf. be.

Part. pr. being.

Part. past. been.

Ea casteth away a, and maketh e short:
Pr. lead. Past. led. Part. pa. led.

Pl.

The rest of the times and persons, both singular and plural, in this and the other verbs that follow, because they jump with the former examples and rules in every point, we have chosen rather to omit, than to thrust in needless words.

Such are the verbs, eat, beat, (both making participles past; besides et and bet, or eaten and beaten) spread, dread, sweat, tread.

Then a, or o, indifferently;

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Hither belong, speak, swear, tear, cleave, wear, steal, bear, shear, weave. So, get, and help; but holpe is seldom used, save with the poets.

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And here sometimes i is turned into a and o both.

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Par. pa. won.

Of this sort are fling, ring, wring, sing, sting, stick, spin, strike, drink, sink, spring, begin, stink, shrink, swing, swim.

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