(1) Preterite and imperfect:--_se s[=a]were [=u]t [=e]ode his s[=ae]d t[=o]
s[=a]wenne, and th[=a] th[=a] h[=e] s[=e]ow ..._ (the sower _went_ out to
sow his seed, and while he _was sowing_ ...).
(2) Perfect:--_h[=e]r is m[=i]n cnapa, thone ic [.g]e[.c][=e]as_ (here is
my servant, whom I have chosen);--_[=u]re cyning c[=o]m n[=u] h[=e]r t[=o]
lande_ (our king has just landed here).
(3) Pluperfect:--_th[=a] th[=a] [.g]e.c[=o]mon the ymb th[=a] [e,]ndlyftan
t[=i]d c[=o]mon_ (when those came who had come at the eleventh hour).
Periphrastic tenses are sometimes formed, as in Modern E., by _haebbe_ and
_haefde_ with the past participles, and often have the meanings of the
modern perfect and pluperfect respectively, as in _n[=u] ic haebbe
[.g]estr[=i]ened [=o]thru tw[=a] pund_ (now I have gained two other
pounds), but even the pluperfect often has the sense of a simple preterite.
The participle is undeclinable in the later language, but originally it was
declined, being really an adjective in apposition to the noun or pronoun
governed by _habban_: _h[=i]e haefdon hiera cyning [=a].worpenne_ (they had
deposed their king).
The pluperfect sense is often indicated by the addition of the adverb
_[=ae]r_ (before):--_his sw[=e]ora, the [=ae]r waes for.slae[.g]en_ (his
neck, which had been cut through).
The periphrastic forms of intransitive verbs are formed with
_wesan_:--_siththan h[=i]e [=a].farene w[=ae]ron_ (after they had gone
away). Here the participle always agrees with the noun or pronoun with
which it is connected.
The periphrases with the present participle have no distinctive meanings of
duration, &c.:--_[=a]n mann waes eardiende on Israh[=e]la th[=e]ode,
Manu[=e] [.g]e.h[=a]ten_ (a man dwelt in Israel called Manue). {47}