How are verbs classified? Into regular and irregular, with reference to their form. Into transitive and intransitive, with reference to their meaning or use; and the former are often used as passive, and some of the latter are always neuter. What is a regular verb? A regular verb takes the ending ed, to form its preterit and its perfect participle. Ex.-Present play, preterit played, perfect participle played; move, moved, moved. E, at the end of a word, is dropped before an ending that begins with a vowel.-In stead of preteris the pupil may also say past, a less appropriate but more euphouic word. What is an irregular verb? An irregular verb does not take the ending ed, to form its preterit and its perfect participle. Ex.-Present see, preterit saw, perfect participle seen; speak, spoke, spoken. Which are the principal parts of the verb, or those from which all the other parts are formed? The principal parts are the present, or the simplest form given in a dictionary; the preterit, or the simplest form that affirms a past fact; and the perfect participle, or the form that makes sense with the word having or being. Ex.-Pres. (to) walk, write; pret. (I) walked, (I) wrote; perf. part. having walked, being written. List of Irregular Verbs. The following catalogue shows the principal parts of all the irregular verbs. Having learned these, the student also knows the principal parts of all the other verbs, which must be regular. He must not infer, however, from the word irregu lar, that these verbs are a mere straggling offshoot of the language; for they are really the very core or pith of it. In using irregular verbs, we are liable to error for the most part only in the use of those whose preterit and perfect participle are not alike. These verbs have therefore been given first, and separate from the rest, that they may be learned perfectly. R. denotes that the regular form may also be used in stead of the others. * denotes that the form under it is seldom used, being either anc'ent, poetic, or of late introduction. The form supposed to be of the best present usage, is placed first. The second form of some verbs is preferable, when applied in a certain way; as, "freighted with spices and silks," "fraught with mischief;" "thunderstruck," "sorrow-stricken."--Memorize the unmarked forms only. 1. THE TWO PAST FORMS DIFFERENT. Present. Preterit, or Past. Perfect Participle. Present. Preterit, or Past. Perfect Part. begotten, begot. awoke.* began, Begin, begun,* begun. forth), Bear (bring bore, bare, born. Bear (carry), bore, borne. bidden. beaten, bit. blown, (a.) "My tongue clave to the roof of my mouth."-Dickens. (b.) "This line he dared not cross"--Macaulay. (c.) Beholden; withholden.* (d.) "Come as the winds come wheu forests are rended."-W. Scott. Tread, trode,* Wax, waxed, Wear, wore, worn. Weave, wove, r., * Write, wrote, writ,* 2. THE TWO PAST OR THE THREE FORMS ALIKE. Present. Preterit, or Past. Perfect Participle. Present. Preterit, or Past. Perfect Part Jaid. learned, Bereave, bereft, r., bereft, r. Leave, left, left. Beseech, besought, lent, lent. Bestead,* bestead, bestead.* Let, Bet, bet, r., bet, r. Betide, betided, betided, Light, lighted, lighted, lit, lit. betid,* betid.* Bind, bound, made, made. Bleed, bled, Blend, blended, blended, Meet, blent,* blent.* Pass, Bless, blessed, blessed, past,* past. Pay, paid, paid. Breed, bred, bred. Bring, brought, brought. Pen (fence in), penned, penned, Build, built, r., built, r. (Pen-write, penned, penned.) Burn, burned, burned, pleaded, pleaded, Plead, plead, plead, Burst, burst, r., * burst, r.* pled, pled. Buy, bought, bought. Put, Cast, Quit, quit, r., quit, r. Catch, Rap, Cling, clung, clung. rapped, rapped, Clothe, clothed, clothed, Read, read, clad, clad. Reave, rapt.c reft, r.* Cost, Rid, rid, rid. Creep, Cut, cut, cut. Seek, Deal, dealt, r.,* * dealt, r.* Sell, sold, Dig, dug, r., dug, r. Send, sent, Dwell, dwelt, r., dwelt, r. Set, set, dreamed, Dream, shed, sold. sent. dreamt, dreamt. Shine, Dress, dressed, dressed, Shoe, shod, drest,* drest.* Shoot, shot, Feed, fed, fed. Shred, shred, Feel, Shut, shut, shod. Fight, fought, fought. Sit, Find, found, found. Sleep, Flee, fled, fled. Sling, Fling, flung, flung. Slink, slept, Gild, gilded, slit, ?, slit, r. gilt, gilt. Smell, smelt, r smelt, r. Gird, girt, r., girt, r. Speed, sped, "., sped, r.* Grind, ground, Hang, Lung, r., ground. spelled, spelled, hung, ra Spell, spelt, spelt. Have (princi Spend, spent, pal verb), Spill, spilt, r., Hear, Spin, spun, Hit, Hurt, hurt, hurt. Spoil, Кеер, Kneel, knelt, knelt, Spread, kneeled, kneeled. Stay, split, r., spoiled, spoilt,* spread, staid, r., * spent. spun. Knit, knit, r., knit, r. | String, * strung, r., strung, r. (a.) Hang, hanged, hanged; to suspend by the neck with intent to kill: but the distinction is not always observed. (b.) Past is used as an adjective or as a noun. (c.) Rap, rapt, rapt; to seize with rapture. (d.) Stay, stayed, stayed; tɔ cause to stop. Defective, because some of the parts are wanting; and verbs having more parts than are absolutely necessary, are termed redundant, as bereave, slide, swim. How are formed the principal parts of verbs derived from others by means of prefixes? Generally in the same way as those of their primitives. What is a transitive verb? A transitive verb is a verb that has an object. Ex.-" John struck JAMES." "Cats devour RATS and MICE." "I know HIM." "I know the LESSON." Transitive means passing over: there is generally an act passing from the doer to what is acte Intransitive means not passing over. Passive means suffering or receiving. Neuter means neither; and neuter veiks were so named because they are neither active nor passive. on. What is a passive verb? A passive verb is a transitive verb so used that it represents its subject as acted upon. Ex.-" John struck James." "James was struck by John." When is a verb intransitive, or what is an intransitive verb? An intransitive verb does not have an object. "Webster was Ex.-"John walks." "The child cries." "The rose blooms." eloquent." "Webster was an orator." "Alice reads and writes well." What is a neuter verb? A neuter verb is an intransitive verb that does not imply action or exertion. Ex. "Troy was." lay on the shelf." "There is a land of every land the pride." "The spurs "It stood near." "The plants look green and fresh." What properties have verbs? Voices, moods, tenses, persons, and numbers. a. A transitive verb can generally be expressed in two different ways; as, "Farmers raise corn," "Corn is raised by farmers": and hence transitive verbs are said to have two voices,-the active and the passive. When is a verb in the active voice, or what does this voice denote? The active voice represents the subject as acting, or the verb as relating to an object. Ex.-" David slew Goliath." this farm." "John resembles his father." When is a verb in the passive voice, or what does this voice denote? "They owned The passive voice represents the subject as acted upon, or the verb as having the object for its subject. Ex.-"Goliath was slain by David." "This farm was owned by them." b. If I say, "I write," I express a matter of fact; "I may or can write," I express what is not matter of fact, yet may become so; "If I were writing,' 99 66 If 1 had written," I express a mere supposition; "Write," I request it to be done; "To write," "Writing," I simply speak of the act. These different modes of expressing the verb in reference to its subject, may give you some idea of what graininarians call moods. When is a verb in the indicative mood, or what does the indicative mood express? The indicative mood affirms something as an actual occurrence or fact. Ex.-"John has caught some fish." "God created this beautiful world." "Cork floats." "The guilty are not happy." "Far away in the South is a beautiful isle." Indicative means declaring; subjunctivé, joined to; potential, having power; imperative, com. manding; and infinitive, left free. How does the subjunctive mood express the act or state? The subjunctive mood affirms something as a future contingency, or as a mere supposition, wish, or conclusion. Ex.-"If it rain to-night, our plants will live." "Beware lest he deceive you." "He talked to me as if I were a widow." "Were I a lawyer, I should not like to plead a rogue's case." "O, had I the wings of a dove."-Cowper. "But if I asked 6. But your papa, he would only say you had better [to] stay at home."-Bulwer. I should wrong my friend, if I concealed it." Id. "If conscience had had as strong a hold on his mind as honor, he had still been innocent.”—British Essayists. What words often precede this mood, or indicate it? If, though, that, lest, except, unless, provided, &c. What does a verb in the sabjunctive mood suggest, when it refers to present or past time? That the contrary of what is supposed, or something different, is the true state of the case. See above. What other mood does the subjunctive resemble in its form, and what one in its meaning? In its form, the indicative; but in meaning, the potential, with which it is also most frequently associated in sentences. See above. |