loved? Shall I love? Shall I have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must I love?
Might, could, would, _or_ should I love? May, can, _or_ must I have loved?
Might, could, would, _or_ should I have loved?
SECOND PERSON SINGULAR.
SOLEMN STYLE:--IND. Lovest thou? _or_ Dost thou love? Lovedst thou? _or_
Didst thou love? Hast thou loved? Hadst thou loved? Wilt thou love? Wilt
thou have loved? POT. Mayst, canst, _or_ must thou love? Mightst, couldst,
wouldst, _or_ shouldst thou love? Mayst, canst, _or_ must thou have loved?
Mightst, couldst, wouldst, _or_ shouldst thou have loved?
FAMILIAR STYLE:--IND. Lov'st thou? _or_ Dost thou love? Loved thou? _or_
Did thou love? Hast thou loved? Had thou loved? Will thou love? Will thou
have loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must thou love? Might, could, would, _or_
should thou love? May, can, _or_ must thou have loved? Might, could, would,
_or_ should thou have loved?
THIRD PERSON SINGULAR.
IND. Loves he? _or_ Does he love? Loved he? _or_ Did he love? Has he loved?
Had he loved? Shall _or_ will he love? Will he have loved? POT. May, can,
_or_ must he love? Might, could, would, _or_ should he love? May, can, _or_
must he have loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should he have loved?
VI. FORM OF QUESTION WITH NEGATION.
A verb is conjugated _interrogatively and negatively_, in the indicative
and potential moods, by placing the nominative and the adverb _not_ after
the verb, or after the first auxiliary: as,
FIRST PERSON PLURAL.
IND. Love we not? _or_ Do we not love? Loved we not? _or_ Did we not love?
Have we not loved? Had we not loved? Shall we not love? Shall we not have
loved? POT. May, can, _or_ must we not love? Might, could, would, _or_
should we not love? May, can, _or_ must we not have loved? Might, could,
would, _or_ should we not have loved?
SECOND PERSON PLURAL.
IND. See ye not? _or_ Do you not see? Saw ye not? _or_ Did you not see?
Have you not seen? Had you not seen? Will you not see? Will you not have
seen? POT. May, can, _or_ must you not see? Might, could, would, _or_
should you not see? May, can, _or_ must you not have seen? Might, could,
would, _or_ should you not have seen?
THIRD PERSON PLURAL.
IND. Are they not loved? Were they not loved? Have they not been loved? Had
they not been loved? Shall _or_ will they not be loved? Will they not have
been loved? May, can, _or_ must they not be loved? Might, could, would,
_or_ should they not be loved? May, can, _or_ must they not have been
loved? Might, could, would, _or_ should they not have been loved?
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--In a familiar question or negation, the compound or auxiliary form
of the verb is, in general, preferable to the simple: as, "No man lives to
purpose, who _does not live_ for posterity."--_Dr. Wayland_. It is indeed
so much more common, as to seem the only proper mode of expression: as,
"_Do I say_ these things as a man?"--"_Do you think_ that we excuse
ourselves?"--"_Do you not know_ that a little leaven _leavens_ the whole
lump?"--"_Dost thou revile?_" &c. But in the solemn or the poetic style,
though either may be used, the simple form is more dignified, and perhaps
more graceful: as, "_Say I_ these things as a man?"--_1 Cor._, ix, 8.
"_Think ye_ that we excuse ourselves?"--_2 Cor._, xii, 19. "_Know ye not_
that a little leaven _leaveneth_ the whole lump?"--_1 Cor._, v, 6.
"_Revilest thou_ God's high priest?"--_Acts_. "King Agrippa, _believest
thou_ the prophets?"--_Ib._ "_Understandest thou_ what thou
readest?"--_Ib._ "Of whom _speaketh_ the prophet this?"--_Id._ "And the man
of God said, Where _fell it?_"--_2 Kings_, vi, 6.
"What! _heard ye not_ of lowland war?"--_Sir W. Scott, L. L._
"_Seems he not_, Malise, like a ghost?"--_Id., L. of Lake_.
"Where _thinkst thou_ he is now? _Stands he_, or _sits he?_
Or _does he walk?_ or _is he_ on his horse?"--_Shak., Ant. and Cleop._
OBS. 2.--In interrogative sentences, the auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_ are
not always capable of being applied to the different persons agreeably to
their use in simple declarations: thus, "_Will_ I go?" is a question which
there never can be any occasion to ask in its literal sense; because none
knows better than I, what my will or wish is. But "_Shall_ I go?" may
properly be asked; because _shall_ here refers to _duty_, and asks to know
what is agreeable to the will of an other. In questions, the first person
generally requires _shall_; the second, _will_; the third admits of both:
but, in the second-future, the third, used interrogatively, seems to
require _will_ only. Yet, in that figurative kind of interrogation which is
sometimes used to declare a negative, there may be occasional exceptions to
these principles; as, "_Will I eat_ the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood
of goats?"--_Psalms_, 1, 13. That is, _I will not eat_, &c.
OBS. 3.--_Cannot_ is not properly one word, but two: in parsing, the adverb
must be taken separately, and the auxiliary be explained with its
principal. When power is denied, _can_ and _not_ are now _generally
united_--perhaps in order to prevent ambiguity; as, "I _cannot_ go." But
when the power is affirmed, and something else is denied, the words are
written separately; as, "The Christian apologist _can not merely_ expose
the utter baseness of the infidel assertion, but he has positive ground for
erecting an opposite and confronting assertion in its place."--_Dr.
Chalmers._ The junction of these terms, however, is not of much importance
to the sense; and, as it is plainly contrary to analogy, some writers,--(as
Dr. Webster, in his late or "improved" works; Dr. Bullions, in his; Prof.
W. C. Fowler, in his new "English Grammar," 8vo; R. C. Trench, in his
"Study of Words;" T. S. Pinneo, in his "revised" grammars; J. R. Chandler,
W. S. Cardell, O. B. Peirce,--) always separate them. And, indeed, why
should we write, "I _cannot_ go, Thou _canst not_ go, He _cannot_ go?"
Apart from the custom, we have just as good reason to join _not_ to _canst_
as to _can_; and sometimes its union with the latter is a gross error: as,
"He _cannot only_ make a way to escape, but with the injunction to duty can
infuse the power to perform."--_Maturin's Sermons_, p. 287. The fear of
ambiguity never prevents us from disjoining _can_ and _not_ whenever we
wish to put a word between them: as, "Though the waves thereof toss
themselves, yet _can_ they _not_ prevail; though they roar, yet _can_ they
_not_ pass over it."--_Jeremiah_, v, 22. "Which then I _can_ resist
_not_."--_Byron's Manfred_, p. 1.
"_Can_ I _not_ mountain maiden spy,
But she must bear the Douglas eye?"--_Scott_.
OBS. 4.--In negative questions, the adverb _not_ is sometimes placed before
the nominative, and sometimes after it: as, "Told _not I_ thee?"--_Numb._,
xxiii, 26. "Spake _I not_ also to thy messengers?"--_Ib._, xxiv, 12.
"_Cannot I_ do with you as this potter?"--_Jer._, xviii, 6. "Art _not thou_
a seer?"--_2 Sam._, xv, 27. "Did _not Israel_ know?"--_Rom._, x, 19. "Have
_they not_ heard?"--_Ib._, 18. "Do _not they_ blaspheme that worthy
name?"--_James_, ii, 7. This adverb, like every other, should be placed
where it will sound most agreeably, and best suit the sense. Dr. Priestley
imagined that it could not properly come before the nominative. He says,
"When the nominative case is put after the verb, on account of _an_
interrogation, _no other word_ should be interposed between them.
[EXAMPLES:] 'May _not we_ here say with Lucretius?'--Addison on Medals, p.
29. May _we not_ say? 'Is _not it_ he.' [?] Smollett's Voltaire, Vol 18, p.
152. Is _it not_ he. [?]"--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 177.
OBS. 5.--In grave discourse, or in oratory, the adverb _not_ is spoken as
distinctly as other words; but, _ordinarily_, when placed before the
nominative, it is rapidly slurred over in utterance and the _o_ is not
heard. In fact, it is _generally_ (though inelegantly) contracted in
familiar conversation, and joined to the auxiliary: as, IND. Don't they do
it? Didn't they do it? Haven't they done it? Hadn't they done it? Shan't,
_or_ won't they do it? Won't they have done it? POT. Mayn't, can't, _or_
mustn't they do it? Mightn't, couldn't, wouldn't, _or_ shouldn't they do
it? Mayn't, can't, _or_ mustn't they have done it? Mightn't, couldn't,
wouldn't, _or_ shouldn't they have done it?
OBS. 6.--Well-educated people commonly utter their words with more
distinctness and fullness than the vulgar, yet without adopting ordinarily
the long-drawn syllables of poets and orators, or the solemn phraseology of
preachers and prophets. Whatever may be thought of the grammatical
propriety of such contractions as the foregoing, no one who has ever
observed how the English language is usually spoken, will doubt their
commonness, or their antiquity. And it may be observed, that, in the use of
these forms, the distinction of persons and numbers in the verb, is almost,
if not entirely, dropped. Thus _don't_ is used for _dost not_ or _does
not_, as properly as for _do not_; and, "_Thou can't_ do it, or _shan't_ do
it," is as good English as, "_He can't_ do it, or _shan't_ do it." _Will_,
according to Webster, was anciently written _woll_: hence _won't_ acquired
the _o_, which is long in Walker's orthoëpy. _Haven't_, which cannot be
used for _has not_ or _hast not_, is still further contracted by the
vulgar, and spoken _ha'nt_, which serves for all three. These forms are
sometimes found in books; as, "WONT, a contraction of _woll not_, that is,
_will not_."--_Webster's Dict._ "HA'NT, a contraction of _have not_ or _has
not_."--_Id._ "WONT, (w=ont _or_ w~unt,) A contraction of _would not_:--
used for _will_ not."--_Worcester's Dict._ "HAN'T, (hänt or h=ant,) A
vulgar contraction for _has not_, or _have not_."--_Id._ In the writing of
such contractions, the apostrophe is not always used; though some think it
necessary for distinction's sake: as, "Which is equivalent, because what
_can't_ be done _won't_ be done."--_Johnson's Gram. Com._, p. 312.
IRREGULAR VERBS.
An _irregular verb_ is a verb that does not form the preterit and the
perfect participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_; as, _see, saw, seeing, seen_.
Of this class of verbs there are about one hundred and ten, beside their
several derivatives and compounds.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--Regular verbs form their preterits and perfect participles, by
adding _d_ to final _e_, and _ed_ to all other terminations; the final
consonant of the verb being sometimes doubled, (as in _dropped_,) and final
_y_ sometimes changed into _i_, (as in _cried_,) agreeably to the rules for
spelling in such cases. The verb _hear, heard, hearing, heard_, adds _d_ to
_r_, and is therefore irregular. _Heard_ is pronounced _h~erd_ by all our
lexicographers, except _Webster_: who formerly wrote it _heerd_, and still
pronounces it so; alleging, in despite of universal usage against him, that
it is written "more correctly _heared_."--_Octavo Dict._, 1829. Such
pronunciation would doubtless require this last orthography, "_heared_;"
but both are, in fact, about as fanciful as his former mode of spelling,
which ran thus: "_Az_ I had _heerd_ suggested by _frends_ or indifferent
_reeders_."--_Dr. Webster's Essays, Preface_, p. 10.
OBS. 2.--When a verb ends in a sharp consonant, _t_ is sometimes improperly
substituted for _ed_, making the preterit and the perfect participle
irregular in spelling, when they are not so in sound; as, _distrest_ for
_distressed, tost_ for _tossed, mixt_ for _mixed, cract_ for _cracked_.
These contractions are now generally treated as _errors_ in writing; and
the verbs are accordingly (with a few exceptions) accounted regular. Lord
Kames commends Dean Swift for having done "all in his power to restore the
syllable _ed_;" says, he "possessed, if any man ever did, the true genius
of the English tongue;" and thinks that in rejecting these ugly
contractions, "he well deserves to be imitated."--_Elements of Criticism_,
Vol. ii, p. 12. The regular orthography is indeed to be preferred in all
such cases; but the writing of _ed_ restores no syllable, except in solemn
discourse; and, after all, the poems of Swift have so very many of these
irregular contractions in _t_, that one can hardly believe his lordship had
ever read them. Since the days of these critics still more has been done
towards the restoration of the _ed_, in orthography, though not in sound;
but, even at this present time, our poets not unfrequently write, _est_ for
_essed_ or _ess'd_, in forming the preterits or participles of verbs that
end in the syllable _ess_. This is an ill practice, which needlessly
multiplies our redundant verbs, and greatly embarrasses what it seems at
first to simplify: as,
"O friend! I know not which way I must look
For comfort, being, as I am, _opprest_,
To think that now our life is only _drest_
For show."--_Wordsworth's Poetical Works_, 8vo, p. 119.
OBS. 3.--When the verb ends with a smooth consonant, the substitution of
_t_ for _ed_ produces an irregularity in sound as well as in writing. In
some such irregularities, the poets are indulged for the sake of rhyme; but
the best speakers and writers of prose prefer the regular form, wherever
good use has sanctioned it: thus _learned_ is better than _learnt; burned_,
than _burnt; penned_, than _pent; absorbed_, than _absorbt; spelled_, than
_spelt; smelled_, than _smelt_. So many of this sort of words as are
allowably contracted, belong to the class of redundant verbs, among which
they may be seen in a subsequent table.
OBS. 4.--Several of the irregular verbs are variously used by the best
authors; redundant forms are occasionally given to some verbs, without
sufficient authority; and many preterits and participles which were
formerly in good use, are now obsolete, or becoming so. The _simple_
irregular verbs in English are about one hundred and ten, and they are
nearly all monosyllables. They are derived from the Saxon, in which
language they are also, for the most part, irregular.
OBS. 5.--The following alphabetical list exhibits the simple irregular
verbs, as they are _now generally_ used. In this list, those preterits and
participles which are supposed to be preferable, and best supported by
authorities, are placed first. Nearly all compounds that follow the form of
their simple verbs, or derivatives that follow their primitives, are here
purposely omitted. _Welcome_ and _behave_ are always regular, and therefore
belong not here. Some words which are obsolete, have also been omitted,
that the learner might not mistake them for words in present use. Some of
those which are placed last, are now little used.
LIST OF THE IRREGULAR VERBS.
_Imperfect Perfect_
_Present. Preterit. Participle. Participle_.
Arise, arose, arising, arisen.
Be, was, being, been.
Bear, bore _or_ bare, bearing, borne _or_ born.[274]
Beat, beat, beating, beaten _or_ beat.
Begin, began _or_ begun,[275] beginning, begun.
Behold, beheld, beholding, beheld.
Beset, beset, besetting, beset.
Bestead, bestead, besteading, bestead.[276]
Bid, bid _or_ bade, bidding, bidden _or_ bid.
Bind, bound, bing, bound.
Bite, bit, biting, bitten _or_ bit.
Bleed, bled, bleeding, bled.
Break, broke,[277] breaking, broken.
Breed, bred, breeding, bred.
Bring, brought, bringing, brought.
Buy, bought, buying, bought.
Cast, cast, casting, cast.
Chide, chid, chiding, chidden _or_ chid.
Choose, chose, choosing, chosen.
Cleave,[278] cleft _or_ clove, cleaving, cleft _or_ cloven.
Cling, clung, clinging, clung.
Come, came, coming, come.
Cost, cost, costing, cost.
Cut, cut, cutting, cut.
Do, did, doing, done.
Draw, drew, drawing, drawn.
Drink, drank, drinking, drunk, _or_ drank.[279]
Drive, drove, driving, driven.
Eat, ate _or_ ~eat, eating, eaten _or_ eat.
Fall, fell, falling, fallen.
Feed, fed, feeding, fed.
Feel, felt, feeling, felt.
Fight, fought, fighting, fought.
Find, found, finding, found.
Flee, fled, fleeing, fled.
Fling, flung, flinging, flung.
Fly, flew, flying, flown.
Forbear, forbore, forbearing, forborne.
Forsake, forsook, forsaking, forsaken.
Get, got, getting, got _or_ gotten.
Give, gave, giving, given.
Go, went, going, gone.
Grow, grew, growing, grown.
Have, had, having, had.
Hear, heard, hearing, heard.
Hide, hid, hiding, hidden _or_ hid.
Hit, hit, hitting, hit.
Hold, held, holding, held _or_ holden.[280]
Hurt, hurt, hurting, hurt.[281]
Keep, kept,[282] keeping, kept.
Know, knew, knowing, known.
Lead, led, leading, led.
Leave, left, leaving, left.
Lend, lent, lending, lent.
Let, let, letting, let
Lie,[283] lay, lying, lain.
Lose, lost, losing, lost.
Make, made, making, made.
Meet, met, meeting, met.
Outdo, outdid, outdoing, outdone.
Put, put, putting, put.
Read, r~ead, reading, r~ead.
Rend, rent, rending, rent.[284]
Rid, rid, ridding, rid.
Ride, rode, riding, ridden _or_ rode.
Ring, rung _or_ rang, ringing, rung.
Rise, rose, rising, risen.
Run, ran _or_ run, running, run.
Say, said, saying, said.[285]
See, saw, seeing, seen.
Seek, sought, seeking, sought.
Sell, sold, selling, sold.
Send, sent, sending, sent.
Set, set, setting, set.
Shed, shed, shedding, shed.
Shoe, shod, shoeing, shod.[286]
Shoot, shot, shooting, shot.
Shut, shut, shutting, shut.
Shred, shred, shredding, shred.
Shrink, shrunk _or_ shrank, shrinking, shrunk _or_ shrunken.
Sing, sung _or_ sang,[287] singing, sung.
Sink, sunk _or_ sank, sinking, sunk.
Sit, sat, sitting, sat.[288]
Slay, slew, slaying, slain.
Sling, slung, slinging, slung.
Slink, slunk _or_ slank, slinking, slunk.
Smite, smote, smiting, smitten _or_ smit.
Speak, spoke, speaking, spoken.
Spend, spent, spending, spent.
Spin, spun, spinning, spun.
Spit, spit _or_ spat, spitting, spit _or_ spitten.
Spread, spread, spreading, spread.
Spring, sprung _or_ sprang, springing, sprung.
Stand, stood, standing, stood.
Steal, stole, stealing, stolen.
Stick, stuck, sticking, stuck.
Sting, stung, stinging, stung.
Stink, stunk _or_ stank, stinking, stunk.
Stride, strode _or_ strid, striding, stridden
_or_ strid.[289]
Strike, struck, striking, struck _or_ stricken.
Swear, swore, swearing, sworn.
Swim, swum _or_ swam, swimming, swum.
Swing, swung _or_ swang, swinging, swung.
Take, took, taking, taken.
Teach, taught, teaching, taught.
Tear, tore, tearing, torn.
Tell, told, telling, told.
Think, thought, thinking, thought.
Thrust, thrust, thrusting, thrust.
Tread, trod, treading, trodden _or_ trod.
Wear, wore, wearing, worn.
Win, won, winning, won.
Write, wrote, writing, written.[290]
REDUNDANT VERBS.
A _redundant verb_ is a verb that forms the preterit or
the perfect participle in two or more ways, and so as to be both regular
and irregular; as, _thrive, thrived_ or _throve, thriving, thrived_ or
_thriven_. Of this class of verbs, there are about ninety-five, beside
sundry derivatives and compounds.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--Those irregular verbs which have more than one form for the
preterit or for the perfect participle, are in some sense redundant; but,
as there is no occasion to make a distinct class of such as have double
forms that are never regular, these redundancies are either included in the
preceding list of the simple irregular verbs, or omitted as being improper
to be now recognized for good English. Several examples of the latter kind,
including both innovations and archaisms, will appear among the
improprieties for correction, at the end of this chapter. A few old
preterits or participles may perhaps be accounted good English in the
solemn style, which are not so in the familiar: as, "And none _spake_ a
word unto him."--_Job_, ii, 13. "When I _brake_ the five loaves."--_Mark_,
viii, 19. "And he _drave_ them from the judgement-seat."--_Acts_, xviii,
16. "Serve me till I have eaten and _drunken_."--_Luke_, xvii, 8. "It was
not possible that he should be _holden_ of it."--_Acts_, ii, 24. "Thou
_castedst_ them down into destruction."--_Psal._, lxxiii, 18. "Behold, I
was _shapen_ in iniquity."--_Ib._, li, 5. "A meat-offering _baken_ in the
oven."--_Leviticus_, ii, 4.
"With _casted_ slough, and fresh celerity."--SHAK., _Henry V_.
"Thy dreadful vow, _loaden_ with death."--ADDISON: _in Joh. Dict._
OBS. 2.--The verb _bet_ is given in Worcester's Dictionary, as being always
regular: "BET, _v. a._ [_i_. BETTED; _pp_. BETTING, BETTED.] To wager; to
lay a wager or bet. SHAK."--_Octavo Dict._ In Ainsworth's Grammar, it is
given as being always irregular: "_Present_, Bet; _Imperfect_, Bet;
_Participle_, Bet."--Page 36. On the authority of these, and of some others
cited in OBS. 6th below, I have put it with the redundant verbs. The verb
_prove_ is redundant, if _proven_, which is noticed by Webster, Bolles, and
Worcester, is an admissible word. "The participle _proven_ is used in
Scotland and in some parts of the United States, and sometimes, though
rarely, in England.--'There is a mighty difference between _not proven_ and
_disproven_.' DR. TH. CHALMERS. 'Not _proven_.' QU. REV."--_Worcester's
Universal and Critical Dict._ The verbs _bless_ and _dress_ are to be
considered redundant, according to the authority of Worcester, Webster,
Bolles, and others. Cobbett will have the verbs, _cast, chide, cling, draw,
grow, shred, sling, slink, spring, sting, stride, swim, swing_, and
_thrust_, to be always regular; but I find no sufficient authority for
allowing to any of them a regular form; and therefore leave them, where
they always have been, in the list of simple irregulars. These fourteen
verbs are a part of the long list of _seventy_ which this author says,
"are, by some persons, _erroneously_ deemed irregular." Of the following
_nine_ only, is his assertion true; namely, _dip, help, load, overflow,
slip, snow, stamp, strip, whip_. These nine ought always to be formed
regularly; for all their irregularities may well be reckoned obsolete.
After these deductions from this most erroneous catalogue, there remain
forty-five other very common verbs, to be disposed of contrary to this
author's instructions. All but two of these I shall place in the list of
_redundant_ verbs; though for the use of _throwed_ I find no written
authority but his and William B. Fowle's. The two which I do not consider
redundant are _spit_ and _strew_, of which it may be proper to take more
particular notice.
OBS. 3.--_Spit_, to stab, or to put upon a spit, is regular; as, "I
_spitted frogs_, I crushed a heap of emmets."--_Dryden. Spit_, to throw out
saliva, is irregular, and most properly formed thus: _spit, spit, spitting,
spit. "Spat_ is obsolete."--_Webster's Dict._ It is used in the Bible; as,
"He _spat_ on the ground, and made clay of the spittle."--_John_, ix, 6. L.
Murray gives this verb thus: "Pres. _Spit_; Imp. _spit, spat_; Perf. Part.
_spit, spitten_." NOTE: "_Spitten_ is nearly obsolete."--_Octavo Gram._, p.
106. Sanborn has it thus: "Pres. _Spit_; Imp. _spit_; Pres. Part.
_spitting_; Perf. Part. _spit, spat_."--_Analytical Gram._, p. 48. Cobbett,
at first, taking it in the form, "to _spit_, I _spat, spitten_," placed it
among the seventy which he so erroneously thought should be made regular;
afterwards he left it only in his list of irregulars, thus: "to _spit_, I
_spit, spitten_."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, of 1832, p. 54. Churchill, in
1823, preferring the older forms, gave it thus: "_Spit, spat_ or _spit,
spitten_ or _spit_."--_New Gram._, p. 111. NOTE:--"Johnson gives _spat_ as
the preterimperfect, and _spit_ or _spitted_ as the participle of this
verb, when it means to pierce through with a pointed instrument: but in
this sense, I believe, it is always regular; while, on the other hand, the
regular form is now never used, when it signifies to eject from the mouth;
though we find in _Luke_, xviii, 32, 'He shall be _spitted_
on.'"--_Churchill's New Gram._, p. 264. This text ought to have been, "He
shall be _spit_ upon."
OBS. 4.--_To strew_ is in fact nothing else than an other mode of spelling
the verb _to strow_; as _shew_ is an obsolete form for _show_; but if we
pronounce the two forms differently, we make them different words. Walker,
and some others, pronounce them alike, _stro_; Sheridan, Jones, Jameson,
and Webster, distinguish them in utterance, _stroo_ and _stro_. This is
convenient for the sake of rhyme, and perhaps therefore preferable. But
_strew_, I incline to think, is properly a regular verb only, though Wells
and Worcester give it otherwise: if _strewn_ has ever been proper, it seems
now to be obsolete. EXAMPLES: "Others cut down branches from the trees, and
_strewed_ them in the way."--_Matt._, xxi, 8. "Gathering where thou hast
not _strewed_."--_Matt._, xxv, 24.
"Their name, their years, _spelt_ by th' unletter'd _muse_,
The place of fame and elegy supply;
And many _a holy text_ around she _strews_,
_That teach_ the rustic moralist to die."--_Gray_.
OBS. 5.--The list which I give below, prepared with great care, exhibits
the redundant verbs, as they are now generally used, or as they may be used
without grammatical impropriety.[291] Those forms which are supposed to be
preferable, and best supported by authorities, are placed first. No words
are inserted here, but such as some modern authors countenance. L. Murray
recognizes _bereaved, catched, dealed, digged, dwelled, hanged, knitted,
shined, spilled_; and, in his early editions, he approved of _bended,
builded, creeped, weaved, worked, wringed_. His two larger books now tell
us, "The Compiler _has not inserted_ such verbs as _learnt, spelt, spilt_,
&c. which are improperly terminated by _t_, instead of _ed_."--_Octavo
Gram._, p. 107; _Duodecimo_, p. 97. But if he did not, in all his grammars,
insert, "_Spill, spilt_, R. _spilt_, R.," (pp. 106, 96,) preferring the
irregular form to the regular, somebody else has done it for him. And, what
is remarkable, many of his _amenders_, as if misled by some evil genius,
have contradicted themselves in precisely the same way! Ingersoll, Fisk,
Merchant, and Hart, republish exactly the foregoing words, and severally
become "_The Compiler_" of the same erroneous catalogue! Kirkham prefers
_spilt_ to _spilled_, and then declares the word to be "_improperly_
terminated by _t_ instead of _ed_."--_Gram._, p. 151. Greenleaf, who
condemns _learnt_ and _spelt_, thinks _dwelt_ and _spilt_ are "the _only
established_ forms;" yet he will have _dwell_ and _spill_ to be "_regular_"
verbs, as well as "_irregular!_"--_Gram. Simp._, p. 29. Webber prefers
_spilled_ to _spilt_; but Picket admits only the latter. Cobbett and
Sanborn prefer _bereaved, builded, dealed, digged, dreamed, hanged_, and
_knitted_, to _bereft, built, dealt, dug, dreamt, hung_, and _knit_. The
former prefers _creeped_ to _crept_, and _freezed_ to _froze_; the latter,
_slitted_ to _slit, wringed_ to _wrung_; and both consider, "_I bended_,"
"_I bursted_" and "_I blowed_," to be good modern English. W. Allen
acknowledges _freezed_ and _slided_; and, like Webster, prefers _hove_ to
_hoven_: but the latter justly prefers _heaved_ to both. EXAMP.: "The
supple kinsman _slided_ to the helm."--_New Timon_. "The rogues _slided_ me
into the river."--_Shak_. "And the sand _slided_ from beneath my feet."--
DR. JOHNSON: _in Murray's Sequel_, p. 179. "Wherewith she _freez'd_ her
foes to congeal'd stone."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 449. "It _freezed_ hard
last night. Now, what was it that _freezed_ so hard?"--_Emmons's Gram._, p.
25. "Far hence lies, ever _freez'd_, the northern main."--_Savage's
Wanderer_, l. 57. "Has he not taught, _beseeched_, and shed abroad the
Spirit unconfined?"--_Pollok's Course of Time_, B. x, l. 275.
OBS. 6.--D. Blair supposes _catched_ to be an "erroneous" word and
unauthorized: "I _catch'd_ it," for "I _caught_ it," he sets down for a
"_vulgarism_."--_E. Gram._, p. 111. But _catched_ is used by some of the
most celebrated authors. Dearborn prefers the regular form of _creep_:
"creep, creeped _or_ crept, creeped _or_ crept."--_Columbian Gram._, p. 38.
I adopt no man's opinions implicitly; copy nothing without examination;
but, _to prove all my decisions to be right_, would be an endless task. I
shall do as much as ought to be expected, toward showing that they are so.
It is to be remembered, that the _poets_, as well as the _vulgar_, use some
forms which a _gentleman_ would be likely to avoid, unless he meant to
quote or imitate; as,
"So _clomb_ the first grand thief into God's fold;
So since into his church lewd hirelings climb."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 192.
"He _shore_ his sheep, and, having packed the wool,
Sent them unguarded to the hill of wolves."
--_Pollok, C. of T._, B. vi, l. 306.
------"The King of heav'n
Bar'd his red arm, and launching from the sky
His _writhen_ bolt, not shaking empty smoke,
Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon _strook_."
--_Dryden_.
OBS. 7.--The following are examples in proof of some of the forms
acknowledged below: "Where etiquette and precedence _abided_ far
away."--_Paulding's Westward-Ho!_ p. 6. "But there were no secrets where
Mrs. Judith Paddock _abided_."--_Ib._, p. 8. "They _abided_ by the forms of
government established by the charters."--_John Quincy Adams, Oration_,
1831. "I have _abode_ consequences often enough in the course of my
life."--_Id., Speech_, 1839. "Present, _bide_, or _abide_; Past, _bode, or
abode_."--_Coar's Gram._, p. 104. "I _awaked_ up last of all."--_Ecclus._,
xxxiii, 16. "For this are my knees _bended_ before the God of the spirits
of all flesh."--_Wm. Penn_. "There was never a prince _bereaved_ of his
dependencies," &c.--_Bacon_. "Madam, you have _bereft_ me of all
words."--_Shakspeare_. "Reave, _reaved or reft_, reaving, _reaved or reft_.
_Bereave_ is similar."--_Ward's Practical Gram._, p. 65. "And let them tell
their tales of woful ages, long ago _betid_."--_Shak_. "Of every nation
_blent_, and every age."--_Pollok, C. of T._, B vii, p. 153. "Rider and
horse,--friend, foe,--in one red burial _blent!_"--_Byron, Harold_, C. iii,
st. 28. "I _builded_ me houses."--_Ecclesiastes_, ii, 4. "For every house
is _builded_ by some man; but he that _built_ all things is God."--_Heb_.
iii, 4. "What thy hands _builded_ not, thy wisdom gained."--_Milton's P.
L._, X, 373. "Present, _bet_; Past, _bet_; Participle, _bet_."--
_Mackintosh's Gram._, p. 197; _Alexander's_, 38. "John of Gaunt loved him
well, and _betted_ much upon his head."--SHAKSPEARE: _Joh. Dict, w. Bet_.
"He lost every earthly thing he _betted_."--PRIOR: _ib._ "A seraph
_kneeled_."--_Pollok, C. T._, p. 95.
"At first, he declared he himself would be _blowed_,
Ere his conscience with such a foul crime he would load."
--_J. R. Lowell_.
"They are _catched_ without art or industry."--_Robertson's Amer._,-Vol. i,
p. 302. "Apt to be _catched_ and dazzled."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 26. "The
lion being _catched_ in a net."--_Art of Thinking_, p. 232. "In their
self-will they _digged_ down a wall."--_Gen._, xlix, 6. "The royal mother
instantly _dove_ to the bottom and brought up her babe unharmed."--
_Trumbull's America_, i, 144. "The learned have _diven_ into the secrets of
nature."--CARNOT: _Columbian Orator_, p. 82. "They have _awoke_ from that
ignorance in which they had slept."--_London Encyclopedia_. "And he _slept_
and _dreamed_ the second time."--_Gen._, xli, 5. "So I _awoke_."--_Ib._,
21. "But he _hanged_ the chief baker."--_Gen._, xl, 22. "Make as if you
_hanged_ yourself."--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict._ "_Graven_ by art and man's
device."--_Acts_, xvii, 29. "_Grav'd_ on the stone beneath yon aged
thorn."--_Gray_. "That the tooth of usury may be _grinded_."--_Lord Bacon_.
"MILN-EE, The hole from which the _grinded_ corn falls into the chest
below."--_Glossary of Craven_, London, 1828. "UNGRUND, Not _grinded_."--
_Ibid._ "And he _built_ the inner court with three rows of _hewed_
stone."--_1 Kings_, vi, 36. "A thing by which matter is _hewed_."--_Dr.
Murray's Hist. of Europ. Lang._, Vol. i, p. 378. "SCAGD or SCAD _meaned_
distinction, dividing."--_Ib._, i, 114. "He only _meaned_ to acknowledge
him to be an extraordinary person."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 12. "_The_
determines what particular thing is _meaned_."--_Ib._, p. 11. "If Hermia
_mean'd_ to say Lysander lied."--_Shak_. "As if I _meaned_ not the first
but the second creation."--_Barclay's Works_, iii, 289. "From some stones
have rivers _bursted_ forth."--_Sale's Koran_, Vol. i, p. 14.
"So move we on; I only _meant_
To show the reed on which you _leant_."--_Scott, L. L._, C. v, st. 11.
OBS. 8.--_Layed, payed_, and _stayed_, are now less common than _laid,
paid_, and _staid_; but perhaps not less correct, since they are the same
words in a more regular and not uncommon orthography: "Thou takest up that
[which] thou _layedst_ not down."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, SMITH'S, BRUCE'S:
_Luke_, xix, 21. Scott's Bible, in this place, has "_layest_," which is
wrong in tense. "Thou _layedst_ affliction upon our loins."--FRIENDS'
BIBLE: _Psalms_, lxvi, 11. "Thou _laidest_ affliction upon our
loins."--SCOTT'S BIBLE, _and_ BRUCE'S. "Thou _laidst_ affliction upon our
loins."--SMITH'S BIBLE, Stereotyped by J. Howe. "Which gently _lay'd_ my
knighthood on my shoulder."--SINGER'S SHAKSPEARE: _Richard II_, Act i, Sc.
1. "But no regard was _payed_ to his remonstrance."--_Smollett's England_,
Vol. iii, p. 212. "Therefore the heaven over you is _stayed_ from dew, and
the earth is _stayed_ from her fruit."--_Haggai_, i, 10. "STAY, _i_. STAYED
_or_ STAID; _pp_. STAYING, STAYED _or_ STAID."--_Worcester's Univ. and
Crit. Dict._ "Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz _stayed_ by En-rogel."--_2 Sam._,
xvii, 17. "This day have I _payed_ my vows."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Prov_, vii,
14. Scott's Bible has "_paid_." "They not only _stayed_ for their resort,
but discharged divers."--HAYWARD: _in Joh. Dict._ "I _stayed_ till the
latest grapes were ripe."--_Waller's Dedication_. "_To lay_ is regular, and
has in the past time and participle _layed_ or _laid_."--_Lowth's Gram._,
p. 54. "To the flood, that _stay'd_ her flight."--_Milton's Comus_, l. 832.
"All rude, all waste, and desolate is _lay'd_."--_Rowe's Lucan_, B. ix, l.
1636. "And he smote thrice, and _stayed_."--_2 Kings_, xiii, 18.
"When Cobham, generous as the noble peer
That wears his honours, _pay'd_ the fatal price
Of virtue blooming, ere the storms were _laid_."--_Shenstone_, p. 167.
OBS. 9.--By the foregoing citations, _lay, pay_, and _stay_, are clearly
proved to be redundant. But, in nearly all our English grammars, _lay_ and
_pay_ are represented as being always irregular; and _stay_ is as often,
and as improperly, supposed to be always regular. Other examples in proof
of the list: "I _lit_ my pipe with the paper."--_Addison_.
"While he whom learning, habits, all prevent,
Is largely _mulct_ for each impediment."--_Crabbe, Bor._, p. 102.
"And then the chapel--night and morn to pray,
Or _mulct_ and threaten'd if he kept away."--_Ib._, p. 162.
"A small space is formed, in which the breath is _pent_ up."--_Gardiner's
Music of Nature_, p. 493. "_Pen_, when it means to write, is always
regular. Boyle has _penned_ in the sense of confined."--_Churchill's
Gram._, p. 261. "So far as it was now _pled_."--ANDERSON: _Annals of the
Bible_, p. 25. "_Rapped_ with admiration."--HOOKER: _Joh. Dict._ "And being
_rapt_ with the love of his beauty."--_Id., ib._ "And _rapt_ in secret
studies."--SHAK.: _ib._ "I'm _rapt_ with joy."--ADDISON: _ib._ "_Roast_
with fire."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Exod._, xii, 8 and 9. "_Roasted_ with
fire."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Exod._, xii, 8 and 9. "Upon them hath the light
_shined_."--_Isaiah_, ix, 2. "The earth _shined_ with his
glory."--_Ezekiel_, xliii, 2. "After that he had _showed_
wonders."--_Acts_, vii, 36. "Those things which God before had
_showed_."--_Acts_, iii, 18. "As shall be _shewed_ in Syntax."--_Johnson's
Gram. Com._, p. 28. "I have _shown_ you, that the _two first_ may be
dismissed."--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 10. "And in this struggle were _sowed_
the seeds of the revolution."--_Everett's Address_, p. 16. "Your favour
_showed_ to the performance, has given me boldness."--_Jenks's Prayers,
Ded_. "Yea, so have I _strived_ to preach the gospel."--_Rom._, xv, 20.
"Art thou, like the adder, _waxen_ deaf?"--_Shakspeare. "Hamstring'd_
behind, unhappy Gyges died."--_Dryden_. "In Syracusa was I born and
_wed_."--_Shakspeare_. "And thou art _wedded_ to calamity."--_Id._ "I saw
thee first, and _wedded_ thee."--_Milton_. "Sprung the rank weed, and
_thrived_ with large increase."--_Pope_. "Some errors never would have
_thriven_, had it not been for learned refutation."--_Book of Thoughts_, p.
34. "Under your care they have _thriven_."--_Junius_, p. 5. "Fixed by being
rolled closely, compacted, _knitted_."--_Dr. Murray's Hist._, Vol. i, p.
374. "With kind converse and skill has _weaved_."--_Prior_. "Though I shall
be _wetted_ to the skin."--_Sandford and Merton_, p. 64. "I _speeded_
hither with the very extremest inch of possibility."--_Shakspeare_. "And
pure grief _shore_ his old thread in twain."--_Id._ "And must I ravel out
my _weaved-up_ follies?"--_Id., Rich. II_. "Tells how the drudging Goblin
_swet_."--_Milton's L'Allegro_. "Weave, wove or _weaved_, weaving, wove,
_weaved_, or woven."--_Ward's Gram._, p. 67.
"Thou who beneath the frown of fate hast stood,
And in thy dreadful agony _sweat_ blood."--_Young_, p. 238.
OBS. 10.--The verb to _shake_ is now seldom used in any other than the
irregular form, _shake, shook, shaking, shaken_; and, in this form only, is
it recognized by our principal grammarians and lexicographers, except that
Johnson improperly acknowledges _shook_ as well as _shaken_ for the perfect
participle: as, "I've _shook_ it off."--DRYDEN: _Joh. Dict._ But the
regular form, _shake, shaked, shaking, shaked_, appears to have been used
by some writers of high reputation; and, if the verb is not now properly
redundant, it formerly was so. Examples regular: "The frame and huge
foundation of the earth _shak'd_ like a coward."--SHAKSPEARE: _Hen. IV_. "I
am he that is so _love-shaked_."--ID.: _As You Like it_. "A sly and
constant knave, not to be _shak'd_."--ID.: _Cymbeline: Joh. Dict._ "I
thought he would have _shaked_ it off."--TATTLER: _ib._ "To the very point
I _shaked_ my head at."--_Spectator_, No. 4. "From the ruin'd roof of
_shak'd_ Olympus."--_Milton's Poems_. "None hath _shak'd_ it
off."--_Walker's English Particles_, p. 89. "They _shaked_ their
heads."--_Psalms_, cix, 25. Dr. Crombie says, "Story, in his Grammar, has,
_most unwarrantably_, asserted, that the Participle of this Verb should be
_shaked_."--ON ETYMOLOGY AND SYNTAX, p. 198. Fowle, on the contrary,
pronounces _shaked_ to be right. See _True English Gram._, p. 46.
OBS. 11.--All former lists of our irregular and redundant verbs are, in
many respects, defective and erroneous; nor is it claimed for those which
are here presented, that they are absolutely perfect. I trust, however,
they are much nearer to perfection, than are any earlier ones. Among the
many individuals who have published schemes of these verbs, none have been
more respected and followed than Lowth, Murray, and Crombie; yet are these
authors' lists severally faulty in respect to as many as sixty or seventy
of the words in question, though the whole number but little exceeds two
hundred, and is commonly reckoned less than one hundred and eighty. By
Lowth, eight verbs are made redundant, which I think are now regular only:
namely, _bake, climb, fold, help, load, owe, wash_. By Crombie, as many:
to wit, _bake, climb, freight, help, lift, load, shape, writhe_. By Murray,
two: _load_ and _shape_. With Crombie, and in general with the others too,
twenty-seven verbs are always irregular, which I think are sometimes
regular, and therefore redundant: _abide, beseech, blow, burst, creep,
freeze, grind, lade, lay, pay, rive, seethe, shake, show, sleep, slide,
speed, string, strive, strow, sweat, thrive, throw, weave, weep, wind,
wring_. Again, there are, I think, more than twenty redundant verbs which
are treated by Crombie,--and, with one or two exceptions, by Lowth and
Murray also,--as if they were always regular: namely, _betide, blend,
bless, burn, dive, dream, dress, geld, kneel, lean, leap, learn, mean,
mulct, pass, pen, plead, prove, reave, smell, spell, stave, stay, sweep,
wake, whet, wont_. Crombie's list contains the auxiliaries, which properly
belong to a different table. Erroneous as it is, in all these things, and
more, it is introduced by the author with the following praise, in bad
English: "_Verbs, which_ depart from this rule, are called Irregular, _of
which_ I believe the subsequent enumeration to be _nearly
complete_."--TREATISE ON ETYM. AND SYNT., p. 192.
OBS. 12.--Dr. Johnson, in his Grammar of the English Tongue, recognizes two
forms which would make _teach_ and _reach_ redundant. But _teached_ is now
"obsolete," and _rought_ is "old," according to his own Dictionary. Of
_loaded_ and _loaden_, which he gives as participles of _load_, the regular
form only appears to be now in good use. For the redundant forms of many
words in the foregoing list, as of _abode_ or _abided, awaked_ or _awoke,
besought_ or _beseeched, caught_ or _catched, hewed_ or _hewn, mowed_ or
_mown, laded_ or _laden, seethed_ or _sod, sheared_ or _shore, sowed_ or
_sown, waked_ or _woke, wove_ or _weaved_, his authority may be added to
that of others already cited. In Dearborn's Columbian Grammar, published in
Boston in 1795, the year in which Lindley Murray's Grammar first appeared
in York, no fewer than thirty verbs are made redundant, which are not so
represented by Murray. Of these I have retained nineteen in the following
list, and left the other eleven to be now considered always regular. The
thirty are these: "bake, _bend, build, burn_, climb, _creep, dream_, fold,
freight, _geld, heat, heave_, help, _lay, leap_, lift, _light_, melt, owe,
_quit_, rent, rot, _seethe, spell, split, strive_, wash, _weave, wet,
work_." See _Dearborn's Gram._, p. 37-45.
LIST OF THE REDUNDANT VERBS.
_Imperfect_
_Present. Preterit. Participle. Perfect Participle_.
Abide, abode _or_ abided, abiding, abode _or_ abided.
Awake, awaked _or_ awoke, awaking, awaked _or_ awoke.
Belay, belayed _or_ belaid, belaying, belayed _or_ belaid.
Bend, bent _or_ bended, bending, bent _or_ bended.
Bereave, bereft _or_ bereaved, bereaving, bereft _or_ bereaved.
Beseech, besought _or_ beseeched, beseeching, besought _or_ beseeched.
Bet, betted _or_ bet, betting, betted _or_ bet.
Betide, betided _or_ betid, betiding, betided _or_ betid.
Bide, bode _or_ bided, biding, bode _or_ bided.
Blend, blended _or_ blent, blending, blended _or_ blent.
Bless, blessed _or_ blest, blessing, blessed _or_ blest.
Blow, blew _or_ blowed, blowing, blown _or_ blowed.
Build, built _or_ builded, building, built _or_ builded.
Burn, burned _or_ burnt, burning, burned _or_ burnt.
Burst, burst _or_ bursted, bursting, burst _or_ bursted.
Catch, caught _or_ catched, catching, caught _or_ catched.
Clothe, clothed _or_ clad, clothing, clothed _or_ clad.
Creep, crept _or_ creeped, creeping, crept _or_ creeped.
Crow, crowed _or_ crew, crowing, crowed.
Curse, cursed _or_ curst, cursing, cursed _or_ curst.
Dare, dared _or_ durst, daring, dared.
Deal, dealt _or_ dealed, dealing, dealt _or_ dealed.
Dig, dug _or_ digged, digging, dug _or_ digged.
Dive, dived _or_ dove, diving, dived _or_ diven.
Dream, dreamed _or_ dreamt, dreaming, dreamed _or_ dreamt.
Dress, dressed _or_ drest, dressing, dressed _or_ drest.
Dwell, dwelt _or_ dwelled, dwelling, dwelt _or_ dwelled.
Freeze, froze _or_ freezed, freezing, frozen _or_ freezed.
Geld, gelded _or_ gelt, gelding, gelded _or_ gelt.
Gild, gilded _or_ gilt, gilding, gilded _or_ gilt.
Gird, girded _or_ girt, girding, girded _or_ girt.
Grave, graved, graving, graved _or_ graven.
Grind, ground _or_ grinded, grinding, ground _or_ grinded.
Hang, hung _or_ hanged, hanging, hung _or_ hanged.
Heat, heated _or_ het, heating, heated _or_ het.
Heave, heaved _or_ hove, heaving, heaved _or_ hoven.
Hew, hewed, hewing, hewed _or_ hewn.
Kneel, kneeled _or_ knelt, kneeling, kneeled _or_ knelt.
Knit, knit _or_ knitted, knitting, knit _or_ knitted.
Lade, laded, lading, laded _or_ laden.
Lay, laid _or_ layed, laying, laid _or_ layed.
Lean, leaned _or_ leant, leaning, leaned _or_ leant.
Leap, leaped _or_ leapt, leaping, leaped _or_ leapt.[292]
Learn, learned _or_ learnt, learning, learned _or_ learnt.
Light, lighted _or_ lit, lighting, lighted _or_ lit.
Mean, meant _or_ meaned, meaning, meant _or_ meaned.
Mow, mowed, mowing, mowed _or_ mown.
Mulct, mulcted _or_ mulct, mulcting, mulcted _or_ mulct.
Pass, passed _or_ past, passing, passed _or_ past.
Pay, paid _or_ payed, paying, paid _or_ payed.
Pen, penned _or_ pent, penning, penned _or_ pent.
(to coop,)
Plead, pleaded _or_ pled, pleading, pleaded _or_ pled.
Prove, proved, proving, proved _or_ proven.
Quit, quitted _or_ quit, quitting, quitted _or_ quit.[293]
Rap, rapped _or_ rapt, rapping, rapped _or_ rapt.
Reave, reft _or_ reaved, reaving, reft _or_ reaved.
Rive, rived, riving, riven _or_ rived.
Roast, roasted _or_ roast, roasting, roasted _or_ roast.
Saw, sawed, sawing, sawed _or_ sawn.
Seethe, seethed _or_ sod, seething, seethed _or_ sodden.
Shake, shook _or_ shaked, shaking, shaken _or_ shaked.
Shape, shaped, shaping, shaped _or_ shapen.
Shave, shaved, shaving, shaved _or_ shaven.
Shear, sheared _or_ shore, shearing, sheared _or_ shorn.
Shine, shined _or_ shone, shining, shined _or_ shone.
Show, showed, showing, showed _or_ shown.
Sleep, slept _or_ sleeped, sleeping, slept _or_ sleeped.
Slide, slid _or_ slided, sliding, slidden, slid,
_or_ slided.
Slit, slitted _or_ slit, slitting, slitted _or_ slit.
Smell, smelled _or_ smelt, smelling, smelled _or_ smelt.
Sow, sowed, sowing, sowed _or_ sown.
Speed, sped _or_ speeded, speeding, sped _or_ speeded.
Spell, spelled _or_ spelt, spelling, spelled _or_ spelt.
Spill, spilled _or_ spilt, spilling, spilled _or_ spilt.
Split, split _or_ splitted, splitting, split
_or_ splitted.[294]
Spoil, spoiled _or_ spoilt, spoiling, spoiled _or_ spoilt.
Stave, stove _or_ staved, staving, stove _or_ staved.
Stay, staid _or_ stayed, staying, staid _or_ stayed.
String, strung _or_ stringed, stringing, strung _or_ stringed.
Strive, strived _or_ strove, striving, strived _or_ striven.
Strow, strowed, strowing, strowed _or_ strown.
Sweat, sweated _or_ sweat, sweating, sweated _or_ sweat.
Sweep, swept _or_ sweeped, sweeping, swept _or_ sweeped.
Swell, swelled, swelling, swelled _or_ swollen.
Thrive, thrived _or_ throve, thriving, thrived _or_ thriven.
Throw, threw _or_ throwed, throwing, thrown _or_ throwed.
Wake, waked _or_ woke, waking, waked _or_ woke.
Wax, waxed, waxing, waxed _or_ waxen.
Weave, wove _or_ weaved, weaving, woven _or_ weaved.
Wed, wedded _or_ wed, wedding, wedded _or_ wed.
Weep, wept _or_ weeped, weeping, wept _or_ weeped.
Wet, wet _or_ wetted, wetting, wet _or_ wetted.
Whet, whetted _or_ whet, whetting, whetted _or_ whet.[295]
Wind, wound _or_ winded, winding, wound _or_ winded.
Wont, wont _or_ wonted, wonting, wont _or_ wonted.
Work, worked _or_ wrought, working, worked _or_ wrought.
Wring, wringed _or_ wrung, wringing, wringed _or_ wrung.[296]
DEFECTIVE VERBS.
A _defective verb_ is a verb that forms no participles, and is used in but
few of the moods and tenses; as, _beware, ought, quoth_.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1. When any of the principal parts of a verb are wanting, the tenses
usually derived from those parts are also, of course, wanting. All the
auxiliaries, except _do, be_, and _have_, if we compare them with other
verbs, are defective; but, _as auxiliaries_, they lack nothing; for no
complete verb is used throughout as an auxiliary, except _be_. And since an
auxiliary differs essentially from a principal verb, the propriety of
referring _may, can, must_, and _shall_, to the class of defective verbs,
is at least questionable. In parsing there is never any occasion to _call_
them defective verbs, because they are always taken together with their
principals. And though we may technically say, that their participles are
"_wanting_," it is manifest that none are _needed_.
OBS. 2. _Will_ is sometimes used as a principal verb, and as such it is
regular and complete; _will, willed, willing, willed_: as, "His Majesty
_willed_ that they should attend."--_Clarendon_. "He _wills_ for them a
happiness of a far more exalted and enduring nature."--_Gurney_. "Whether
thou _willest_ it to be a minister to our pleasure."--_Harris_. "I _will_;
be thou clean."--_Luke_, v, 13. "Nevertheless, not as I _will_, but as thou
_will_."--_Matt._, xxvi, 39. "To _will_ is present with me."--_Rom._, vii,
18. But _would_ is sometimes also a principal verb; as, "What _would_ this
man?"--_Pope_. "Would God that all the Lord's people were
prophets."--_Numb._, xi, 29. "And Israel _would_ none of me."--_Psalm_,
lxxxi, 11. If we refer this indefinite preterit to the same root, _will_
becomes redundant; _will, willed_ or _would, willing, willed_. In respect
to time, _would_ is less definite than _willed_, though both are called
preterits. It is common, and perhaps best, to consider them distinct verbs.
The latter only can be a participle: as,
"How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
When man was _will'd_ to love his enemies!"--_Shakspeare_.
OBS. 3. The remaining defective verbs are only five or six questionable
terms, which our grammarians know not well how else to explain; some of
them being now nearly obsolete, and others never having been very proper.
_Begone_ is a needless coalition of _be_ and _gone_, better written
separately, unless Dr. Johnson is right in calling the compound an
_interjection_: as,
"Begone! the goddess cries with stern disdain,
Begone! nor dare the hallow'd stream to stain!"--_Addison_.
_Beware_ also seems to be a needless compound of _be_ and the old adjective
_ware_, wary, aware, cautious. Both these are, of course, used only in
those forms of expression in which _be_ is proper; as, "_Beware_ of dogs,
_beware_ of evil workers, _beware_ of the concision."--_Philippians_, iii,
2. "But we _must beware_[297] of carrying our attention to this beauty too
far."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 119. These words were formerly separated: as,
"Of whom _be_ thou _ware_ also."--_1 Tim._, iv, 15. "They _were ware_ of
it."--FRIENDS' BIBLE, and ALGER'S: _Acts_, xiii, 6. "They were _aware_ of
it."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: ib. "And in an hour _that_ he is not _ware_ of
him."--_Johnson's Dict., w. Ware_. "And in an hour that he is not _aware_
of."--COMMON BIBLES: _Matt._, xxiv, 50. "Bid her well _be ware_ and still
erect."--MILTON: _in Johnson's Dict._ "That even Silence _was took_ ere she
_was ware_."--_Id., Comus_, line 558. The adjective _ware_ is now said to
be "_obsolete_;" but the propriety of this assertion depends upon that of
forming such a defective verb. What is the use of doing so?
"This to disclose is all thy guardian can;
_Beware_ of all, but most _beware_ of man."--_Pope_.
The words written separately will always have the same meaning, unless we
omit the preposition _of_, and suppose the compound to be a _transitive_
verb. In this case, the argument for compounding the terms appears to be
valid; as,
"_Beware_ the public _laughter_ of the town;
Thou springst a-leak already in thy crown."--_Dryden_.
OBS. 4. The words _ought_ and _own_, without question, were originally
parts of the redundant verb _to owe_; thus: _owe, owed_ or _ought, owing,
owed_ or _own_. But both have long been disjoined from this connexion, and
hence _owe_ has become regular. _Own_, as now used, is either a pronominal
adjective, as, "my _own_ hand," or a regular verb thence derived, as, "to
_own_ a house." _Ought_, under the name of a _defective verb_, is now
generally thought to be properly used, in this one form, in all the persons
and numbers of the present and the imperfect tense of the indicative and
subjunctive moods. Or, if it is really of one tense only, it is plainly an
aorist; and hence the time must be specified by the infinitive that
follows: as, "He _ought_ to _go_; He _ought_ to _have gone_." "If thou
_ought_ to _go_; If thou _ought_ to _have gone_." Being originally a
preterit, it never occurs in the infinitive mood, and is entirely
invariable, except in the solemn style, where we find _oughtest_ in both
tenses; as, "How thou _oughtest_ to _behave_ thyself."--_1 Tim._, iii, 15.
"Thou _oughtest_ therefore to _have put_ my money to the
exchangers."--_Matt._, xxiv, 27. We never say, or have said, "He, she, or
it, _oughts_ or _oughteth_." Yet we manifestly use this verb in the present
tense, and in the third person singular; as, "Discourse _ought always to
begin_ with a clear proposition."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 217. I have already
observed that some grammarians improperly call _ought_ an auxiliary. The
learned authors of Brightland's Grammar, (which is dedicated to Queen
Anne,) did so; and also affirmed that _must_ and _ought_ "have only the
_present time_," and are alike _invariable_. "It is _now_ quite obsolete to
say, _thou oughtest_; for _ought_ now changes its ending no more than
_must_."--_Brightland's Gram._, (approved by _Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq._,) p.
112.
"_Do, will_, and _shall, must_, OUGHT, and _may_,
_Have, am_, or _be_, this Doctrine will display."--_Ib._, p. 107.
OBS. 5.--_Wis_, preterit _wist_, to know, to think, to suppose, to imagine,
appears to be now nearly or quite obsolete; but it may be proper to explain
it, because it is found in the Bible: as, "I _wist_ not, brethren, that he
was the high priest."--_Acts_, xxiii, 5. "He himself '_wist_ not that his
face shone.'"--_Life of Schiller_, p. iv. _Wit_, to know, and _wot_, knew,
are also obsolete, except in the phrase _to wit_; which, being taken
abstractly, is equivalent to the adverb _namely_, or to the phrase, _that
is to say_. The phrase, "_we do you to wit_," (in 2 Cor., viii, 1st,)
means, "we _inform_ you." Churchill gives the present tense of this verb
three forms, _weet, wit_, and _wot_; and there seems to have been some
authority for them all: as, "He was, _to weet_, a little roguish
page."--_Thomson_. "But little _wotteth_ he the might of the means his
folly despiseth."--_Tupper's Book of Thoughts_, p. 35. _To wit_, used
alone, to indicate a thing spoken of, (as the French use their infinitive,
_savoir, à savoir_, or the phrase, _c'est à savoir_,) is undoubtedly an
elliptical expression: probably for, "_I give you to wit_;" i. e., "I give
you _to know_." _Trow_, to think, occurs in the Bible; as, "I _trow_
not."--_N. Test_. And Coar gives it as a defective verb; and only in the
first person singular of the present indicative, "_I trow_." Webster and
Worcester mark the words as obsolete; but Sir W. Scott, in the Lady of the
Lake, has this line:
"Thinkst thou _he trow'd_ thine omen ought?"--_Canto_ iv, stanza 10.
_Quoth_ and _quod_, for _say, saith_, or _said_, are obsolete, or used only
in ludicrous language. Webster supposes these words to be equivalent, and
each confined to the first and third persons of the present and imperfect
tenses of the indicative mood. Johnson says, that, "_quoth you_," as used
by Sidney, is irregular; but Tooke assures us, that "The _th_ in _quoth_,
does not designate the third person."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p.
323. They are each invariable, and always placed before the nominative: as,
_quoth I, quoth he_.
"Yea, so sayst thou, (_quod_ Tröylus,) alas!"--_Chaucer_.
"I feare, _quod_ he, it wyll not be."--_Sir T. More_.
"Stranger, go! Heaven be thy guide!
_Quod_ the beadsman of Nith-side."--_Burns_.
OBS. 6.--_Methinks_, (i. e., _to_ me _it_ thinks,) for I think, or, it
seems to me, with its preterit _methought_, (i. e., _to_ me _it_
thought,) is called by Dr. Johnson an "ungrammatical word." He imagined it
to be "a Norman corruption, the French being apt to confound _me_ and
_I_."--_Joh. Dict._ It is indeed a puzzling anomaly in our language, though
not without some Anglo-Saxon or Latin parallels; and, like its kindred, "me
_seemeth_," or "_meseems_," is little worthy to be countenanced, though
often used by Dryden, Pope, Addison, and other good writers. Our
lexicographers call it an _impersonal verb_, because, being compounded with
an objective, it cannot have a nominative expressed. It is nearly
equivalent to the adverb _apparently_; and if impersonal, it is also
defective; for it has no participles, no "_methinking_," and no participial
construction of "_methought_;" though Webster's American Dictionary,
whether quarto or octavo, absurdly suggests that the latter word may be
used as a participle. In the Bible, we find the following text: "_Me
thinketh_ the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz."--_2
Sam._, xviii, 27. And Milton improperly makes _thought_ an impersonal verb,
apparently governing the separate objective pronoun _him_; as,
"_Him thought_ he by the brook of Cherith stood."
--_P. R._, B. ii, l. 264.
OBS. 7.--Some verbs from the nature of the subjects to which they refer,
are chiefly confined to the third person singular; as, "It _rains_; it
_snows_; it _freezes_; it _hails_; it _lightens_; it _thunders_." These
have been called _impersonal verbs_; because the neuter pronoun it, which
is commonly used before them, does not seem to represent any noun, but, in
connexion with the verb, merely to express a state of things. They are
however, in fact, neither impersonal nor defective. Some, or all of them,
may possibly take some other nominative, if not a different person; as,
"The _Lord rained_ upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and
fire."--_Gen._, xix, 24. "The _God_ of glory _thundereth_."--_Psalms_,
xxix, 3. "_Canst thou thunder_ with a voice like him?"--_Job_, xl, 9. In
short, as Harris observes, "The doctrine of Impersonal Verbs has been
justly rejected by the best grammarians, both ancient and
modern."--_Hermes_, p. 175.
OBS. 8.--By some writers, words of this kind are called _Monopersonal
Verbs_; that is, verbs of _one person_. This name, though not very properly
compounded, is perhaps more fit than the other; but we have little occasion
to speak of these verbs as a distinct class in our language. Dr. Murray
says, "What is called an impersonal verb, is not so; for _lic-et, juv-at_,
and _oport-et_, have _Tha, that thing_, or _it_, in their
composition."--_History of European Languages_, Vol. ii, p. 146. _Ail,
irk_, and _behoove_, are regular verbs and transitive; but they are used
only in the third person singular: as, "What _ails_ you?"--"It _irks_
me."--"It _behooves_ you." The last two are obsolescent, or at least not in
very common use. In Latin, _passive_ verbs, or neuters of the passive form,
are often used impersonally, or without an obvious nominative; and this
elliptical construction is sometimes imitated in English, especially by the
poets: as,
"Meanwhile, ere thus _was sinn'd_ and _judg'd_ on earth,
Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. x, l. 230.
"Forthwith on all sides to his aid _was run_
By angels many and strong, who interpos'd."
--_Id._, B. vi, l. 335.
LIST OF THE DEFECTIVE VERBS.
_Present. Preterit._
Beware, ------
Can, could.
May, might.
Methinks, methought.
Must, must.[298]
Ought, ought.[298]
Shall, should,
Will[299] would.
Quoth, quoth.
Wis, wist.[300]
Wit, wot.
EXAMPLES FOR PARSING.
PRAXIS VI--ETYMOLOGICAL.
_In the Sixth Praxis, it is required of the pupil--to distinguish and
define the different parts of speech, and the classes and modifications of
the_ ARTICLES, NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, PRONOUNS, _and_ VERBS.
_The definitions to be given in the Sixth Praxis, are two for an article,
six for a noun, three for an adjective, six for a pronoun, seven for a verb
finite, five for an infinitive, and one for a participle, an adverb, a
conjunction, a preposition, or an interjection. Thus_:--
EXAMPLE PARSED.
"The freedom of choice seems essential to happiness; because, properly
speaking, that is riot our own which is imposed upon us."--_Dillwyn's
Reflections_, p. 109.
_The_ is the definite article. 1. An article is the word _the, an_, or
_a_, which we put before nouns to limit their signification. 2. The
definite article is _the_, which denotes some particular thing or things.
_Freedom_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative case is that
form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the subject of a
finite verb.
_Of_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.
_Choice_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is; the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can he known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.
_Seems_ is a regular neuter verb, from _seem, seemed, seeming, seemed_;
found in the indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular
number. 1. A verb is a word that signifies to be, to act, or to be acted
upon. 2. A regular verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. A neuter verb is a verb that
expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of
being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply
indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is
that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. _Essential_ is a common
adjective, compared by means of the adverbs; _essential, more essential,
most essential_; or, _essential, less essential, least essential_. 1. An
adjective is a word added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses
quality. 2. A common adjective is any ordinary epithet, or adjective
denoting quality or situation. 3. Those adjectives which may be varied in
sense, but not in form, are compared by means of adverbs.
_To_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.
_Happiness_ is a common noun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and objective case. 1. A noun is the name of any person, place, or
thing, that can be known or mentioned. 2. A common noun is the name of a
sort, kind, or class, of beings or things. 3. The third person is that
which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The singular number
is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that which denotes
things that are neither male nor female. 6. The objective case is that form
or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the object of a verb,
participle, or preposition.
_Because_ is a conjunction. 1. A conjunction is a word used to connect
words or sentences in construction, and to show the dependence of the terms
so connected.
_Properly_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a
participle, an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time,
place, degree, or manner.
_Speaking_ is a participle. 1. A participle is a word derived from a verb,
participating the properties of a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and
is generally formed by adding _ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb.
_That_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared; standing for _that thing_,
in the third person, singular number, neuter gender, and nominative case.
[See OBS. 14th, p. 290.] 1. An adjective is a word added to a noun or
pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A pronominal adjective is a
definitive word which may either accompany its noun, or represent it
understood. 3. The third person is that which denotes the person or thing
merely spoken of. 4. The singular number is that which denotes but one. 5.
The neuter gender is that which denotes things that are neither male nor
female. 6. The nominative case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun,
which usually denotes the subject of a finite verb.
_Is_ is an irregular neuter verb, from _be, was, being, been_; found in the
indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A
verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon._ 2. An
irregular verb is a verb that does not form the preterit and the perfect
participle by assuming _d_ or _ed._ 3. A neuter verb is a verb that
expresses neither action nor passion, but simply being, or a state of
being. 4. The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply
indicates or declares a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is
that which expresses what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The
singular number is that which denotes but one.
_Not_ is an adverb. 1. An adverb is a word added to a verb, a participle,
an adjective, or an other adverb; and generally expresses time, place,
degree, or manner.
_Our_ is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine
gender, and possessive case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a
noun. 2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what
person it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or
writer. 4. The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The
masculine gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind.
6. The possessive case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which
usually denotes the relation of property.
_Own_ is a pronominal adjective, not compared. 1. An adjective is a word
added to a noun or pronoun, and generally expresses quality. 2. A
pronominal adjective is a definitive word which may either accompany its
noun, or represent it understood. 3. Those adjectives whose signification
does not admit of different degrees cannot be compared.
_Which_ is a relative pronoun, of the third person, singular number, neuter
gender, and nominative case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a
noun. 2. A relative pronoun is a pronoun that represents an antecedent word
or phrase, and connects different clauses of a sentence. 3. The third
person is that which denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 4. The
singular number is that which denotes but one. 5. The neuter gender is that
which denotes things that are neither male nor female. 6. The nominative
case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun which usually denotes the
subject of a finite verb.
_Is imposed_ is a regular passive verb, from the active verb, _impose,
imposed, imposing, imposed_,--passive, _to be imposed_; found in the
indicative mood, present tense, third person, and singular number. 1. A
verb is a word that signifies _to be, to act_, or _to be acted upon_. 2. A
regular verb is a verb that forms the preterit and the perfect participle
by assuming _d_ or _ed_. 3. A passive verb is a verb that represents the
subject, or what the nominative expresses, as being acted upon. 4. The
indicative mood is that form of the verb which simply indicates or declares
a thing, or asks a question. 5. The present tense is that which expresses
what now exists, or is taking place. 6. The third person is that which
denotes the person or thing merely spoken of. 7. The singular number is
that which denotes but one.
_Upon_ is a preposition. 1. A preposition is a word used to express some
relation of different things or thoughts to each other, and is generally
placed before a noun or a pronoun.
_Us_ is a personal pronoun, of the first person, plural number, masculine
gender, and objective case. 1. A pronoun is a word used in stead of a noun.
2. A personal pronoun is a pronoun that shows, by its form, of what person
it is. 3. The first person is that which denotes the speaker or writer. 4.
The plural number is that which denotes more than one. 5. The masculine
gender is that which denotes persons or animals of the male kind. 6. The
objective case is that form or state of a noun or pronoun, which usually
denotes the object of a verb, participle, or preposition.
LESSON I.--PARSING.
"He has desires after the kingdom, and mates no question but it shall be
his; he wills, runs, strives, believes, hopes, prays, reads scriptures,
observes duties, and regards ordinances."--_Penington_, ii, 124.
"Wo unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye
enter not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye
hindered."--_Luke_, xi, 52.
"Above all other liberties, give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to
argue freely, according to my conscience."--_Milton_.
"Eloquence is to be looked for only in free states. Longinus illustrates
this observation with a great deal of beauty. 'Liberty,' he remarks, 'is
the nurse of true genius; it animates the spirit, and invigorates the
hopes, of men; it excites honourable emulation, and a desire of excelling
in every art.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 237.
"None of the faculties common to man and the lower animals, conceive the
idea of civil liberty, any more than that of religion."--_Spurzheim, on
Education_, p. 259. "Whoever is not able, or does not dare, to think, or
does not feel contradictions and absurdities, is unfit for a refined
religion and civil liberty."--_Ib._, p. 258.
"The too great number of journals, and the extreme partiality of their
authors, have much discredited them. A man must have great talents to
please all sorts of readers; and it is impossible to please all authors,
who, generally speaking, cannot bear with the most judicious and most
decent criticisms."--_Formey's Belles-Lettres_, p. 170.
"Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it
shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it
strong to hold the sword."--_Ezekiel_, xxx, 21.
"Yet he was humble, kind, forgiving, meek,
Easy to be entreated, gracious, mild;
And, with all patience and affection, taught,
Rebuked, persuaded, solaced, counselled, warned."--_Pollok_, B. ix.
LESSON II.--PARSING.
"What is coming, will come; what is proceeding onward, verges towards
completion."--_Dr. Murray's Europ. Lang._, i, 324. "Sir, if it had not been
for the art of printing, we should now have had no learning at all; for
books would have perished faster than they could have been
transcribed."--_Dr. Johnson's Life_, iii, 400.
"Passionate reproofs are like medicines given scalding hot: the patient
cannot take them. If we wish to do good to those whom we rebuke, we should
labour for meekness of wisdom, and use soft words and hard
arguments."--_Dodd_.
"My prayer for you is, that God may guide you by his counsel, and in the
end bring you to glory: to this purpose, attend diligently to the dictates
of his good spirit, which you may hear within you; for Christ saith, 'He
that dwelleth with you, shall be in you.' And, as you hear and obey him,
he will conduct you through this troublous world, in ways of truth and
righteousness, and land you at last in the habitations of everlasting rest
and peace with the Lord, to praise him for ever and ever."--_T. Gwin_.
"By matter, we mean, that which is tangible, extended, and divisible; by
mind, that which perceives, reflects, wills, and reasons. These properties
are wholly dissimilar and admit of no comparison. To pretend that mind is
matter, is to propose a contradiction in terms; and is just as absurd, as
to pretend that matter is mind."--_Gurney's Portable Evidence_, p. 78.
"If any one should think all this to be of little importance, I desire him
to consider what he would think, if vice had, essentially, and in its
nature, these advantageous tendencies, or if virtue had essentially the
direct contrary ones."--_Butler_, p. 99.
"No man can write simpler and stronger English than the celebrated Boz, and
this renders us the more annoyed at those manifold vulgarities and slipshod
errors, which unhappily have of late years disfigured his
productions."--LIVING AUTHORS OF ENGLAND: _The Examiner_, No. 119.
"Here Havard, all serene, in the same strains,
Loves, hates, and rages, triumphs, and complains."--_Churchill_, p. 3.
"Let Satire, then, her proper object know,
And ere she strike, be sure she strike a foe."--_John Brown_.
LESSON III.--PARSING.
"The Author of nature has as truly directed that vicious actions,
considered as mischievous to society, should be punished, and has as
clearly put mankind under a necessity of thus punishing them, as he has
directed and necessitated us to preserve our lives by food."--_Butler's
Analogy_, p. 88. "An author may injure his works by altering, and even
amending, the successive editions: the first impression sinks the deepest,
and with the credulous it can rarely be effaced; nay, he will be vainly
employed who endeavours to eradicate it."--_Werter_, p. 82.
"It is well ordered, that even the most innocent blunder is not committed
with impunity; because, were errors licensed where they do no hurt,
inattention would grow into habit, and be the occasion of much
hurt."--_Kames, El. of Crit._, i, 285.
"The force of language consists in raising complete images; which have the
effect to transport the reader, as by magic, into the very place of the
important action, and to convert him as it were into a spectator, beholding
every thing that passes."--_Id., ib._, ii, 241.
"An orator should not put forth all his strength at the beginning, but
should rise and grow upon us, as his discourse advances."--_Blair's Rhet._,
p. 309.
"When a talent is given to any one, an account is open with the giver of
it, who appoints a day in which he will arrive and 'redemand his own with
usury.'"--_West's Letters to a Young Lady_, p. 74.
"Go, and reclaim the sinner, instruct the ignorant, soften the obdurate,
and (as occasion shall demand) cheer, depress, repel, allure, disturb,
assuage, console, or terrify."--_Jerningham's Essay on Eloquence_, p. 97.
"If all the year were playing holydays,
To sport would be as tedious as to work:
But when they seldom come, they wish'd-for come,
And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents."
--_Shak., Hen. V_.
"The man that once did sell the lion's skin
While the beast liv'd, was kill'd with hunting him."
--_Id., Joh. Dict., w. Beast_.
IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
ERRORS OF VERBS.
LESSON I.--PRETERITS.
"In speaking on a matter which toucht their hearts."--_Philological
Museum_, Vol. i, p. 441.
[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the verb _toucht_ is terminated in _t_. But,
according to Observation 2nd, on the irregular verbs, _touch_ is regular.
Therefore, this _t_ should be changed to _ed_; thus, "In speaking on a
matter which _touched_ their hearts."]
"Though Horace publisht it some time after."--_Ib._, i, 444. "The best
subjects with which the Greek models furnisht him."--_Ib._, i, 444. "Since
he attacht no thought to it."--_Ib._, i, 645. "By what slow steps the Greek
alphabet reacht its perfection."--_Ib._, i, 651. "Because Goethe wisht to
erect an affectionate memorial."--_Ib._, i, 469. "But the Saxon forms soon
dropt away."--_Ib._, i, 668. "It speaks of all the towns that perisht in
the age of Philip."--_Ib._, i, 252. "This enricht the written language with
new words."--_Ib._, i, 668. "He merely furnisht his friend with matter for
laughter."--_Ib._, i, 479. "A cloud arose and stopt the light."--_Swift's
Poems_, p. 313. "She slipt _zpadillo_ in her breast."--_Ib._, p. 371. "I
guest the hand."--_Ib._, p. 372. "The tyrant stript me to the skin: My skin
he flay'd, my hair he cropt; At head and foot my body lopt."--_Ib., On a
Pen_, p. 338. "I see the greatest owls in you, That ever screecht or ever
flew."--_Ib._, p. 403. "I sate with delight, from morning till
night."--_Ib._, p. 367. "Dick nimbly skipt the gutter."--_Ib._, p. 375. "In
at the pantry door this morn I slipt."--_Ib._, p. 369. "Nobody living ever
toucht me but you."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 92. "_Present_, I ship;
_Past_, I shipped or shipt; _Participle_, shipped or shipt."--_Murray the
schoolmaster. Gram._, p. 31. "Then the king arose, and tare his
garments."--_2 Sam._, xiii, 31. "When he lift up his foot, he knew not
where he should set it next."--_Bunyan_. "He lift up his spear against
eight hundred, whom he slew at one time."--2 SAM.: _in Joh. Dict._ "Upon
this chaos rid the distressed ark."--BURNET: _ib._ "On whose foolish
honesty, my practices rid easy."--SHAK.: _ib._ "That form of the first or
primogenial Earth, which rise immediately out of chaos."--BURNET: _ib._
"Sir, how come it you have holp to make this rescue?"--SHAK.: _in Joh.
Dict._ "He sware he had rather lose all his father's images than that
table."--PEACHAM: _ib._ "When our language dropt its ancient
terminations."--_Dr. Murray's Hist._, ii, 5. "When themselves they
vilify'd."--_Milton_, P. L., xi, 515. "But I choosed rather to do
thus."--_Barclay's Works_, i, 456. "When he plead against the parsons."--
_School History_, p. 168. "And he that saw it, bear record."--_Cutler's
Gram._, p. 72. "An irregular verb has one more variation, as drive,
drivest, drives, drivedst, drove, driving, driven."--REV. MATT. HARRISON,
_on the English Language_, p. 260. "Beside that village Hannibal pitcht his
camp."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 79. "He fetcht it even from Tmolus."--
_Ib._, p. 114. "He supt with his morning gown on."--_Ib._, p. 285. "There
stampt her sacred name."--_Barlow's Columbiad_, B. i, l. 233.
"Fixt on the view the great discoverer stood,
And thus addrest the messenger of good."--_Barlow_, B, i, l. 658.
LESSON II.--MIXED.
"Three freemen were being tried at the date of our last
information."--_Newspaper_.
[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the participle _being_ is used after its own
verb _were_. But, according to Observation 4th, on the compound form of the
conjugation, this complex passive form is an absurd innovation. Therefore,
the expression should be changed; thus, "Three freemen _were on
trial_"--or, "_were receiving their trial_--at the date of our last
information."]
"While the house was being built, many of the tribe arrived."--_Ross Cox's
Travels_, p. 102. "But a foundation has been laid in Zion, and the church
is being built upon it."--_The Friend_, ix, 377. "And one fourth of the
people are being educated."--_East India Magazine_. "The present, or that
which is now being done."--_Beck's Gram._, p. 13. "A new church, called the
Pantheon, is just being completed in an expensive style."--_G. A.
Thompson's Guatemala_, p. 467. "When I last saw him, he was grown
considerably."--_Murray's Key_, p. 223; _Merchants_, 198. "I know what a
rugged and dangerous path I am got into."--_Duncan's Cicero_, p. 83. "You
were as good preach case to one on the rack."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 285.
"Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation."--_Psal._, cxviii, 21.
"While the Elementary Spelling-Book was being prepared for the press."--_L.
Cobb's Review_, p. vi. "Language is become, in modern times, more correct
and accurate."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 16. "If the plan have been executed
in any measure answerable to the author's wishes."--_Robbins's Hist._, p.
3. "The vial of wrath is still being poured out on the seat of the
beast."--_Christian Experience_, p. 409. "Christianity was become the
generally adopted and established religion of the whole Roman
Empire."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 35. "Who wrote before the first century was
elapsed."--_Ib._, p. 13. "The original and analogical form is grown quite
obsolete."--_Lowth's Gram._, p. 56. "Their love, and their hatred, and
their envy, are perished."--_Murray's Gram._, i, 149. "The poems were got
abroad and in a great many hands."--_Pref. to Waller_. "It is more
harmonious, as well as more correct, to say, 'the bubble is almost
bursted.'"--_Cobbett's E. Gram._, ¶ 109. "I drave my suitor from his mad
humour of love."--_Shak_. "Se viriliter expedivit. (_Cicero_.) He hath
plaid the man."--_Walker's Particles_, p. 214. "Wilt thou kill me, as thou
diddest the Egyptian yesterday."--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Acts_, vii, 28. "And we,
methoughts, look'd up t'him from our hill."--_Cowley's Davideis_, B. iii,
l. 386. "I fear thou doest not think as much of best things as thou
oughtest."--_Memoir of M. C. Thomas_, p. 34. "When this work was being
commenced."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 10. "Exercises and Key to this work are
being prepared."--_Ib._, p. 12. "James is loved, or being loved by
John."--_Ib._, p. 64. "Or that which is being exhibited."--_Ib._, p. 77.
"He was being smitten."--_Ib._, p. 78. "In the passive state we say, 'I am
being loved.'"--_Ib._, p. 80. "Subjunctive Mood: If I am being smitten, If
thou art being smitten, If he is being smitten."--_Ib._, p. 100. "I will
not be able to convince you how superficial the reformation
is."--_Chalmers's Sermons_, p. 88. "I said to myself, I will be obliged to
expose the folly."--_Chazotte's Essay_, p. 3. "When Clodius, had he meant
to return that day to Rome, must have been arrived."--_Adams's Rhetoric_,
i, 418. "That the fact has been done, is being done, or shall or will be
done."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, pp. 347 and 356. "Am I being
instructed?"--_Wright's Gram._, p. 70. "I am choosing him."--_Ib._, p. 112.
"John, who was respecting his father, was obedient to his
commands."--_Barrett's Revised Gram._, p. 69. "The region echos to the
clash of arms."--_Beattie's Poems_, p. 63.
"And sitt'st on high, and mak'st creation's top
Thy footstool; and behold'st below thee, all."
--_Pollok_, B. vi, l. 663.
"And see if thou can'st punish sin, and let
Mankind go free. Thou fail'st--be not surprised."
--_Id._, B. ii, l. 118.
LESSON III.--MIXED.
"What follows, had better been wanting altogether."--_Blair's Rhet._, p.
201.
[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the phrase _had better been_, is used in the
sense of the potential pluperfect. But, according to Observation 17th, on
the conjugations, this substitution of one form for another is of
questionable propriety. Therefore, the regular form should here be
preferred; thus, "What follows, _might better have been_ wanting
altogether."]
"This member of the sentence had much better have been omitted
altogether."--_Ib._, p. 212. "One or [the] other of them, therefore, had
better have been omitted."--_Ib._, p. 212. "The whole of this last member
of the sentence had better have been dropped."--_Ib._, p. 112. "In this
case, they had much better be omitted."--_Ib._, p. 173. "He had better have
said, 'the _productions_'"--_Ib._, p. 220. "The Greeks have ascribed the
origin of poetry to Orpheus, Linus, and Musæus."--_Ib._, p. 377. "It has
been noticed long ago, that all these fictitious names have the same number
of syllables."--_Phil. Museum_, i, 471. "When I found that he had committed
nothing worthy of death, I have determined to send him."--_Acts_, xxv, 25.
"I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God."--_Ps._, lxxxiv, 10.
"As for such, I wish the Lord open their eyes."--_Barclay's Works_, iii.
263. "It would a made our passidge over the river very difficult."--
_Walley, in_ 1692. "We should not a been able to have carried our great
guns."--_Id._ "Others would a questioned our prudence, if wee had."--_Id._
See _Hutchinson's Hist. of Mass._, i, 478. "Beware thou bee'st not
BECÆSAR'D; i.e. Beware that thou dost not dwindle into a mere
Cæsar."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 183. "Thou raisedest thy voice to record the
stratagems of needy heroes."--ARBUTHNOT: _in Joh. Dict., w. Scalade_. "Life
hurrys off apace: thine is almost up already."--_Collier's Antoninus_, p.
19. "'How unfortunate has this accident made me!' crys such a one."--_Ib._,
p. 60. "The muse that soft and sickly wooes the ear."--_Pollok_, i, 13. "A
man were better relate himself to a statue."--_Bacon._ "I heard thee say
but now, thou lik'dst not that."--_Shak._ "In my whole course of wooing,
thou cried'st, _Indeed!_"--_Id._ "But our ears are grown familiar with _I
have wrote, I have drank_, &c., which are altogether as ungrammatical."--
_Lowth's Gram._, p. 63; _Churchill's_, 114. "The court was sat before Sir
Roger came."--_Addison, Spect._, No. 122. "She need be no more with the
jaundice possest."--_Swift's Poems_, p. 346. "Besides, you found fault with
our victuals one day that you was here."--_Ib._, p. 333. "If spirit of
other sort, So minded, have o'erleap'd these earthy bounds."--_Milton, P.
L._, B. iv, l. 582. "It should have been more rational to have forborn
this."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii, p. 265. "A student is not master of it
till he have seen all these."--_Dr. Murray's Life_, p. 55. "The said
justice shall summons the party."--_Brevard's Digest._ "Now what is become
of thy former wit and humour?"--_Spect._, No. 532. "Young stranger, whither
wand'rest thou?"--_Burns_, p. 29. "SUBJ.: _Pres._ If I love, If thou
lovest, If he love. _Imp._ If I loved, If thou lovedst, If he
loved."--_Merchant's Gram._, p. 51. "SUBJ.: If I do not love, If thou dost
not love, If he does not love;" &c.--_Ib._, p. 56. "If he have committed
sins, they shall be forgiven him."--_James_, v, 15. "Subjunctive Mood of
the verb _to call_, second person singular: If Thou callest. If Thou
calledst. If Thou hast called. If Thou hadst called. If Thou call. If Thou
shalt or wilt have called."--_Hiley's Gram._, p. 41. "Subjunctive Mood of
the verb _to love_, second person singular: If thou love. If thou do love.
If thou lovedst. If thou didst love. If thou hast loved. If thou hadst
loved. If thou shalt or wilt love. If thou shalt or wilt have
loved."--_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 46. "I was; thou wast, or you was; he,
she, or it was: We, you or ye, they, were."--_White, on the English Verb_,
p. 51. "I taught, thou taughtedst, he taught."--_Coar's English Gram._, p.
66. "We say, _if it rains, suppose it rains_, lest _it should rain_, unless
_it rains_. This manner of speaking is called the SUBJUNCTIVE
mode."--_Weld's Gram._, 2d Ed., p. 72; Abridged Ed., 59. "He is arrived at
what is deemed the age of manhood."--_Priestley's Gram._, 163. "He had much
better have let it alone."--_Tooke's Diversions_, i, 43. "He were better be
without it."--_Locke, on Education_, p. 105. "Hadest not thou been
by."--_Beauties of Shak._, p. 107. "I learned geography. Thou learnedest
arithmetick. He learned grammar."--_Fuller's Gram._, p. 34. "Till the sound
is ceased."--_Sheridan's Elocution_, p. 126. "Present, die; Preterit, died;
Perf. Participle, dead."--_British Gram._, p. 158; _Buchanan's_, 58;
_Priestley's_, 48; _Ash's_, 45; _Fisher's_, 71; _Bicknell's_, 73.
"Thou bowed'st thy glorious head to none, feared'st none."
--_Pollok_, B. viii, l. 603.
"Thou look'st upon thy boy as though thou guessedst it."
--_N. A. Reader_, p. 320.
"As once thou slept'st, while she to life was form'd"
--_Milt., P. L._, B. xi, l. 369.
"Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,
But may imagine how the bird was dead?"
--SHAK.: _Joh. Dict._
"Which might have well becom'd the best of men."
--_Id., Ant. and Cleop._
CHAPTER VII.--PARTICIPLES.
A Participle is a word derived from a verb, participating the properties of
a verb, and of an adjective or a noun; and is generally formed by adding
_ing, d_, or _ed_, to the verb: thus, from the verb _rule_, are formed
three participles, two simple and one compound; as, 1. _ruling_, 2.
_ruled_, 3. _having ruled_.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--Almost all verbs and participles seem to have their very essence
in _motion_, or _the privation of motion_--in _acting_, or _ceasing to
act_. And to all motion and rest, _time_ and _place_ are necessary
concomitants; nor are the ideas of _degree_ and _manner_ often irrelevant.
Hence the use of _tenses_ and of _adverbs_. For whatsoever comes to pass,
must come to pass _sometime_ and _somewhere_; and, in every event,
something must be affected _somewhat_ and _somehow_. Hence it is evident
that those grammarians are right, who say, that "_all participles imply
time_." But it does not follow, that the _English_ participles _divide_
time, like the tenses of a verb, and _specify_ the period of action; on the
contrary, it is certain and manifest, that they do not. The phrase, "_men
labouring_," conveys no other idea than that of _labourers at work_; it no
more suggests the _time_, than the _place, degree_, or _manner_, of their
work. All these circumstances require _other words_ to express them; as,
"Men _now here awkwardly_ labouring _much_ to little purpose." Again:
"_Thenceforward_ will men, _there_ labouring _hard_ and _honourably_, be
looked down upon by dronish lordlings."
OBS. 2.--Participles retain the _essential meaning_ of their verbs; and,
_like verbs_, are either _active-transitive, active-intransitive, passive_,
or _neuter_, in their signification. For this reason, many have classed
them with the verbs. But their _formal meaning_ is obviously different.
They convey no affirmation, but usually relate to nouns or pronouns, _like
adjectives_, except when they are joined with auxiliaries to form the
compound tenses of their verbs; or when they have in part the nature of
substantives, like the Latin gerunds. Hence some have injudiciously ranked
them with the adjectives. The most discreet writers have commonly assigned
them a separate place among the parts of speech; because, in spite of all
opposite usages, experience has shown that it is expedient to do so.
OBS. 3.--According to the doctrine of Harris, all words denoting the
_attributes_ of things, are either verbs, or participles, or adjectives.
Some attributes have their essence in motion: as, _to walk, to run, to fly,
to strike, to live_; or, _walking, running, flying, striking, living_.
Others have it in the privation of motion: as, _to stop, to rest, to cease,
to die_; or, _stopping, resting, ceasing, dying_. And there are others
which have nothing to do with either motion or its privation; but have
their essence in the quantity, quality, or situation of things; as, _great_
and _small, white_ and _black, wise_ and _foolish, eastern_ and _western_.
These last terms are adjectives; and those which denote motion or its
privation, are either verbs or participles, according to their formal
meaning; that is, according to their manner of attribution. See _Hermes_,
p. 95. Verbs commonly say or affirm something of their subjects; as, "_The
babe wept_." Participles suggest the action or attribute without
affirmation; as, "_A babe weeping_,"--"_An act regretted_."
OBS. 4.--A verb, then, being expressive of some attribute, which it
ascribes to the thing or person named as its subject; of time, which it
divides and specifies by the tenses; and also, (with the exception of the
infinitive,) of an assertion or affirmation; if we take away the
affirmation and the distinction of tenses, there will remain the attribute
and the general notion of time; and these form the essence of an English
participle. So that a participle is something less than a verb, though
derived immediately from it; and something more than an adjective, or mere
attribute, though its manner of attribution is commonly the same. Hence,
though the participle by rejecting the idea of time may pass almost
insensibly into an adjective, and become truly a participial adjective; yet
the participle and the adjective are by no means one and the same part of
speech, as some will have them to be. There is always an essential
difference in their meaning. For instance: there is a difference between _a
thinking man_ and _a man thinking_; between _a bragging fellow_ and _a
fellow bragging_; between _a fast-sailing ship_ and _a ship sailing fast_.
A thinking man, a bragging fellow, or a fast-sailing ship, is contemplated
as being habitually or permanently such; a man thinking, a fellow bragging,
or a ship sailing fast, is contemplated as performing a particular act; and
this must embrace a period of _time_, whether that time be specified or
not. John Locke was a _thinking man_; but we should directly contradict his
own doctrine, to suppose him _always thinking_.
OBS. 5.--The English participles are all derived from the _roots_ of their
respective verbs, and do not, like those of some other languages, take
their names from the _tenses_. On the contrary, they are reckoned among the
principal parts in the conjugation of their verbs, and many of the tenses
are formed from them. In the compound forms of conjugation, they are found
alike _in all the tenses_. They do not therefore, of themselves, express
any particular time; but they denote the state of the being, action, or
passion, in regard to its progress or completion. This I conceive to be
their principal distinction. Respecting the participles in _Latin_, it has
been matter of dispute, whether those which are called the _present_ and
the _perfect_, are really so in respect to time or not. Sanctius denies it.
In _Greek_, the distinction of tenses in the participles is more apparent,
yet even here the time to which they refer, does not always correspond to
their names. See remarks on the Participles in the _Port Royal Latin and
Greek Grammars_.
OBS. 6.--Horne Tooke supposes our participles in _ed_ to express time past,
and those in _ing_ to have no signification of time. He says, "I did not
mean to deny the adsignification of time to _all_ the participles; though I
continue to withhold it from that which is called the _participle
present_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 415. Upon the same point,
he afterwards adds, "I am neither new nor singular; for Sanctius both
asserted and proved it by numerous instances in the Latin. Such as, 'Et
_abfui proficiscens_ in Græciam.' _Cicero_. 'Sed postquam amans _accessit_
pretium _pollicens_.' _Terent_. 'Ultro ad cam _venies indicans_ te amare.'
_Terent_. 'Turnum _fugientem_ hæc terra videbit.' _Virg_."--_Tooke's Div._,
ii, 420. Again: "And thus I have given you my opinion concerning what is
called the _present participle_. Which I think improperly so called;
because I take it to be merely the simple verb _adjectived_, without any
adsignification of _manner_ or _time_."--_Tooke's Div._, Vol. ii, p. 423.
OBS. 7.--I do not agree with this author, either in limiting participles in
_ed_ to time past, or in denying all signification of time to those in
_ing_; but I admit that what is commonly called the _present participle_,
is not very properly so denominated, either in English or in Latin, or
perhaps in any language. With us, however, this participle is certainly, in
very many instances, something else than "merely the simple verb
_adjectived_." For, in the first place, it is often of a complex character,
as _being loved, being seen_, in which two verbs are "_adjectived_"
together, and that by different terminations. Yet do these words as
perfectly coalesce in respect to time, as to everything else; and _being
loved_ or _being seen_ is confessedly as much a "_present_" participle, as
_being_, or _loving_, or _seeing_--neither form being solely confined to
what now is. Again, our participle in _ing_ stands not only for the present
participle of the Latin or Greek grammarians, but also for the Latin
gerund, and often for the Greek infinitive used substantively; so that by
this ending, the English verb is not only _adjectived_, but also
_substantived_, if one may so speak. For the participle when governed by a
preposition, partakes not of the qualities "of a verb and an _adjective_,"
but rather of those of a verb and a _noun_.
CLASSES.
English verbs, not defective, have severally three participles;[301] which
have been very variously denominated, perhaps the most accurately thus: the
_Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, and the _Preperfect_. Or, as their order is
undisputed, they may he conveniently called the _First_, the _Second_, and
the _Third_.
I. The _Imperfect participle_ is that which ends commonly in _ing_, and
implies a continuance of the being, action, or passion: as, _being, acting,
ruling, loving, defending, terminating_.
II. The _Perfect participle_ is that which ends commonly in _ed_ or _en_,
and implies a _completion_ of the being, action, or passion: as, _been,
acted, ruled, loved, defended, terminated_.
III. The _Preperfect participle_ is that which takes the sign _having_, and
implies a _previous completion_ of the being, action, or passion: as,
_having loved, having seen, having written; having been loved, having been
writing, having been written_.
The _First_ or _Imperfect_ Participle, when simple, is always formed by
adding _ing_ to the radical verb; as, _look, looking_: when compound, it is
formed by prefixing _being_ to some other simple participle; as, _being
reading, being read, being completed_.
The _Second_ or _Perfect_ Participle is always simple, and is regularly
formed by adding _d_ or _ed_ to the radical verb: those verbs from which it
is formed otherwise, are either irregular or redundant.
The _Third_ or _Preperfect_ Participle is always compound, and is formed by
prefixing _having_ to the perfect, when the compound is double, and _having
been_ to the perfect or the imperfect, when the compound is triple: as,
_having spoken, having been spoken, having been speaking_.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--Some have supposed that both the simple participles denote present
_time_; some have supposed that the one denotes present, and the other,
past time; some have supposed that the first denotes no time, and the
second time past; some have supposed that neither has any regard to time;
and some have supposed that both are of _all_ times. In regard to the
distinction of _voice_, or the manner of their signification, some have
supposed the one to be active, and the other to be passive; some have
supposed the participle in _ing_ to be active or neuter, and the other
active or passive; and some have supposed that either of them may be
active, passive, or neuter. Nor is there any more unanimity among
grammarians, in respect to the compounds. Hence several different names
have been loosely given to each of the participles: and sometimes with
manifest impropriety; as when Buchanan, in his conjugations, calls _being_,
"Active,"--and _been, having been, having had_, "Passive." Learned men may
differ in opinion respecting the nature of words, but grammar can never
well deserve the name of _science_, till at least an ordinary share of
reason and knowledge appears in the language of those who teach it.
OBS. 2.--The FIRST participle has been called the Present, the Progressive,
the Imperfect, the Simple Imperfect, the Indefinite, the Active, the
Present Active, the Present Passive, the Present Neuter, and, in the
passive voice, the Preterimperfcct, the Compound Imperfect, the Compound
Passive, the Passive. The SECOND, which, though it is always but _one
word_, some authors treat as being _two participles_, or _three_, has been
called the Perfect, the Preter, the Preterperfect, the Imperfect, the
Simple Perfect, the Past, the Simple Past, the First Past, the Preterit,
the Passive, the Present Passive, the Perfect Active, the Past Active, the
Auxiliary Perfect, the Perfect Passive, the Perfect Neuter, the Simple
Perfect Active, the Simple Perfect Passive. The THIRD has been called the
Compound, the Compound Active, the Compound Passive, the Compound Perfect,
the Compound Perfect Active, the Compound Perfect Passive, the Compound
Preter, the Present, the Present Perfect, the Past, the Second Past, the
Past Compound, the Compound Past, the Prior-perfect, the Prior-present, the
Perfect, the Pluperfect, the Preterperfect, the Preperfect.[302]
In teaching others to speak and write well, it becomes us to express our
doctrines in the most suitable terms; but the application of a name is of
no great consequence, so that the thing itself be rightly understood by the
learner. Grammar should be taught in a style at once neat and plain, clear
and brief. Upon the choice of his terms, the writer of this work has
bestowed much reflection; yet he finds it impossible either to please
everybody, or to explain, without intolerable prolixity, all the reasons
for preference.
OBS. 3.--The participle in _ing_ represents the action or state as
_continuing_ and ever _incomplete_; it is therefore rightly termed the
IMPERFECT participle: whereas the participle in _ed_ always, or at least
usually, has reference to the action as _done_ and _complete_; and is, by
proper contradistinction, called the PERFECT participle. It is hardly
necessary to add, that the terms _perfect_ and _imperfect_, as thus applied
to the English participles, have no reference to _time_, or to those
_tenses_ of the verb which are usually (but not very accurately) named by
these epithets. The terms _present_ and _past_, which some still prefer to
_imperfect_ and _perfect_, do denote _time_, and are in a kind of oblique
contradistinction; but how well they apply to the participles, may be seen
by the following texts: "God _was_ in Christ, _reconciling_ the world unto
himself."--"We pray you in Christ's stead, _be_ ye _reconciled_ to
God."--ST. PAUL: _2 Cor._, v, 19, 20. Here _reconciling_ refers to the
death of Christ, and _reconciled_, to the desired conversion of the
Corinthians; and if we call the former a _present_ participle, and the
latter a _past_, (as do Bullions, Burn, Clark, Felton, S. S. Greene,
Lennie, Pinneo, and perhaps others,) we nominally reverse the order of time
in respect to the events, and egregiously misapply both terms.
OBS. 4.--Though the participle in _ing_ has, by many, been called the
_Present_ participle, it is as applicable to past or future, as to present
time; otherwise, such expressions as, "I _had been writing_,"--"I _shall be
writing_," would be solecisms. It has also been called, almost as
frequently, the _Active_ participle. But it is not always active, even when
derived from an active verb; for such expressions as, "The goods are
_selling_,"--"The ships are now _building_," are in use, and not without
good authority: as, "And hope to allay, by rational discourse, the pains of
his joints _tearing_ asunder."--_Locke's Essay_, p. 285. "Insensible of the
designs now _forming_ by Philip."--_Goldsmith's Greece_, ii, 48. "The
improved edition now _publishing_."--BP. HALIFAX: _Pref. to Butler_. "The
present tense expresses an action now _doing_."--_Emmons's Gram._, p. 40.
The distinguishing characteristic of this participle is, that it denotes an
unfinished and progressive state of the being, action, or passion; it is
therefore properly denominated the IMPERFECT participle. If the term were
applied with reference to _time_, it would be no more objectionable than
the word _present_, and would be equally supported by the usage of the
_Greek_ linguists. I am no more inclined to "_innovation_," than are the
pedants who, for the choice here made, have ignorantly brought the false
charge against me. This name, authorized by Beattie and Pickbourn, is
approved by Lindley Murray,[303] and adopted by several of the more recent
grammarians. See the works of Dr. Crombie, J. Grant, T. O. Churchill, R.
Hiley, B. H. Smart, M. Harrison, and W. G. Lewis, published in London; and
J. M. M'Culloch's Grammar, published in Edinburgh; also some American
grammars, as E. Hazen's, N. Butler's, D. B. Tower's, W. H. Wells's, the
Sanderses'.
OBS. 5.--The participle in _ed_, as is mentioned above, usually denotes a
_completion_ of the being, action, or passion, and should therefore be
denominated the PERFECT participle. But this completion may be spoken of as
present, past, or future; for the participle itself has no tenses, and
makes no distinction of time, nor should the name be supposed to refer to
the perfect tense. The conjugation of any passive verb, is a sufficient
proof of all this: nor is the proof invalidated by resolving verbs of this
kind into their component parts. Of the participles in _ed_ applied to
_present_ time, the following is an example: "Such a course would be less
likely to produce injury to health, than the _present course pursued_ at
our colleges."--_Literary Convention_, p. 118. Tooke's notion of
grammatical time, appears to have been in several respects a strange one:
he accords with those who call this a _past_ participle, and denies to the
other not only the name and notion of _a tense_, but even the _general
idea_ of time. In speaking of the old participial termination _and_ or
_ende_,[304] which our Anglo-Saxon ancestors used where we write _ing_, he
says, "I do not allow that there are any _present_ participles, or any
_present tense_ of the verb." [305]--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p.
41.
OBS. 6.--The _Perfect_ participle of transitive verbs, being used in the
formation of passive verbs, is sometimes called the _Passive_ participle.
It usually has in itself a passive signification, except when it is used in
forming the compound tenses of the active verb. Hence the difference
between the sentences, "I have written a letter," and, "I have a letter
written;" the former being equivalent to _Scripsi literas_, and the latter
to _Sunt mihi literæ scriptæ_. But there are many perfect participles which
cannot with any propriety be called passive. Such are all those which come
from intransitive or neuter verbs; and also those which so often occur in
the tenses of verbs not passive. I have already noticed some instances of
this misnomer; and it is better to preclude it altogether, by adhering to
the true name of this Participle, THE PERFECT. Nor is that entirely true
which some assert, "that this participle in the _active_ is only found in
combination;" that, "Whenever it stands alone to be parsed as a participle,
it is passive."--_Hart's English Gram._, p. 75. See also _Bullions's
Analyt. and Pract. Gram._, p. 77; and _Greene's Analysis, or Gram._, p.
225. "Rebelled," in the following examples, cannot with any propriety be
called a _passive_ participle:
"_Rebelled_, did I not send them terms of peace,
Which not my justice, but my mercy asked?"--_Pollok_, x, 253.
"Arm'd with thy might, rid Heav'n of these _rebell'd_,
To their prepar'd ill mansion driven down."--_Milton_, vi, 737.
OBS. 7.--The third participle has most generally been called the
_Compound_, or the _Compound perfect_. The latter of these terms seems to
be rather objectionable on account of its length; and against the former it
may be urged that, in the compound forms of conjugation, the first or
imperfect participle is a compound: as, _being writing, being seen_. Dr.
Adam calls _having loved_ the _perfect_ participle _active_, which he says
must be rendered in Latin by the _pluperfect_ of the subjunctive; as, he
having loved, _quum amavisset_; (_Lat. and Eng. Gram._, p. 140;) but it is
manifest that the perfect participle of the verb _to love_, whether active
or passive, is the simple word _loved_, and not this compound. Dr. Adam, in
fact, if he denies this, only contradicts himself; for, in his paradigms of
the English Active Voice, he gives the participles as two only, and both
simple, thus: "_Present_, Loving; _Perfect_, Loved:"--"_Present_, Having;
_Perfect_, Had." So of the Neuter Verb: "_Present_, Being; _Perfect_,
Been."--_Ib._, pp. 81 and 82. His scheme of either names or forms is no
model of accuracy. On the very next page, unless there is a misprint in
several editions, he calls the _Second_ participle the "_imperfect_;"
saying, "The whole of the passive voice in English is formed by the
auxiliary verb _to be_, and the participle _imperfect_; as, _I am loved, I
was loved, &c_." Further: "In many verbs," he adds, "the _present_
participle also is used in a passive sense; as, _These things are doing,
were doing_, &c.; _The house is building, was building_, &c."--_Ib._, p.
83. N. Butler, in his Practical Grammar, of 1845, names, and counts, and
orders, the participles very oddly: "Every verb," he says, "has _two_
participles--the _imperfect_ and the _perfect_."--P. 78. Yet, for the verb
_love_, he finds these six: two "IMPERFECT, _Loving_ and _Being loved_;"
two "PERFECT, _Having loved_, and _Having been loved_;" one "AUXILIARY
PERFECT, _Loved_," of the "_Active Voice_;" and one "PASSIVE, _Loved_," of
the "_Passive Voice_." Many old writers erroneously represent the
participle in _ing_ as always active, and the participle in _ed_ or _en_ as
always passive; and some, among whom is Buchanan, making no distinction
between the simple perfect _loved_ and the compound _having loved_, place
the latter with the former, and call it passive also. The absurdity of this
is manifest: for _having loved_ or _having seen_ is active; _having been_
or _having sat_ is neuter; and _having been loved_ or _having been seen_ is
passive. Again, the triple compound, _having been writing_, is active; and
_having been sitting_ is neuter; but if one speak of goods as _having been
selling_ low, a similar compound is passive.
OBS. 8.--Now all the compound participles which begin with _having_ are
essentially alike; and, as a class of terms, they ought to have a name
adapted to their nature, and expressive of their leading characteristic.
_Having loved_ differs from the simple participle _loved_, in signification
as well as in form; and, if this participle is to be named with reference
to its _meaning_, there is no more suitable term for it than the epithet
PREPERFECT,--a word which explains itself, like _prepaid_ or
_prerequisite_. Of the many other names, the most correct one is
PLUPERFECT,--which is a term of very nearly the same meaning. Not because
this compound is really of the pluperfect _tense_, but because it always
denotes being, action, or passion, that is, or was, or will be, _completed
before_ the doing or being of something else; and, of course, when the
latter thing is represented as past, the participle must correspond to the
pluperfect tense of its verb; as, "_Having explained_ her views, it was
necessary she should expatiate on the vanity and futility of the enjoyments
promised by Pleasure."--_Jamieson's Rhet._, p. 181. Here _having explained_
is exactly equivalent to _when she had explained_. Again: "I may say, _He
had commanded_, and we obeyed; or, _He having commanded_, we
obeyed."--_Fetch's Comprehensive Gram._, p. ix. Here the two phrases in
Italics correspond in import, though not in construction.
OBS. 9.--_Pluperfect_ is a derivative contracted from the Latin
_plusquam-perfectum_, and literally signifies _more than complete_, or
_beyond the perfect_; i. e., (as confirmed by use,) _antecedently
finished_, or _completed before_. It is the usual name of our fourth tense;
is likewise applicable to a corresponding tense in other tongues; and is a
word familiar to every scholar. Yet several grammarians,--too ready,
perhaps, for innovation,--have shown their willingness to discard it
altogether. Bullions, Butler, Hiley, Perley, Wells, and some others, call
the English _pluperfect tense_, the _past-perfect_, and understand either
epithet to mean--"_completed at or before_ a certain _past_ time;"
(_Bullions's E. Gram._, p. 39;) that is--"_finished or past, at_ some
_past_ time."--_Butler's Pract. Gram._, p. 72. The relation of the _tense_
is _before the past_, but the epithet _pluperfect_ is not necessarily
limited to this relation, any more than what is _perfect_ is necessarily
past. Butler has urged, that, "_Pluperfect_ does not mean _completed
before_," but is only "a technical name of a particular tense;" and,
arguing from this erroneous assumption, has convinced himself, "It would be
as correct to call this the _second future_ participle, as the
_pluperfect_."--_Ib._, p. 79. The technical name, as limited to the past,
is _preterpluperfect_, from the older term _præteritum plusquam perfectum_;
so _preterperfect_, from _præteritum perfectum_, i. e. _past perfect_, is
the name of an _other_ tense, now called the _perfect_: wherefore the
substitution of _past-perfect_ for _pluperfect_ is the less to be
commended. There may be a convenience in having the name of the tense to
differ from that of the participle, and this alone induces me to prefer
_preperfect_ to _pluperfect_ for the name of the latter.
OBS. 10.--From the participle in _ed_ or _en_, we form three tenses, which
the above-named authors call _perfect_;--"the _present-perfect_, the
_past-perfect_, and the _future-perfect_;"--as, _have seen, had seen, will
have seen_. Now it is, doubtless, the _participle_, that gives to these
their _perfectness_; while diversity in the auxiliaries makes their
difference of time. Yet it is assumed by Butler, that, in general, the
simple participle in _ed_ or _en_, "does not denote an action _done_ and
_completed_," and is not to be called _perfect_; (p. 80;)--that, "If we
wish to express by a participle, an action _completed at any time_, we use
the compound form, and _this is_ THE _perfect participle_;" (p. 79;)--that,
"_The characteristic_ of the participle in _ed_ is, that it implies the
_reception_ of an action;" (p. 79;)--that, hence, it should be called _the
passive_, though it "is _usually_ called the _perfect_ participle;" (p.
79;)--that, "The use of _this participle_ in the _perfect tenses_ of the
active voice should not be taken into consideration in giving it a name or
a definition;" (p. 80;)--that its _active, neuter_, or _intransitive_ use
is not a primitive idiom of the language, but the result of a gradual
_change_ of the term from the passive to the active voice; (p. 80;)--that,
"the participle _has changed_ its mode of signification, so that, instead
of being passive, it is now active in sense;" (p. 105;)--that, "having
changed its original meaning so entirely, it should not be considered _the
same_ participle;" (p. 78;)--that, "in such cases, it is a _perfect_
participle," and, "for the sake of distinction [,] this may be called the
_auxiliary perfect_ participle."--_Ib._ These speculations I briefly throw
before the reader, without designing much comment upon them. It will be
perceived that they are, in several respects, contradictory one to an
other. The author himself names the participle in reference to a usage
which he says, "should not be taken into consideration;" and names it
absurdly too; for he calls that "the _auxiliary_," which is manifestly the
_principal_ term. He also identifies as one what he professes to
distinguish as two.
OBS. 11.--Participles often become _adjectives_, and are construed before
nouns to denote quality. The terms so converted form the class of
_participial adjectives_. Words of a participial form may be regarded as
adjectives, under the following circumstances: 1. When they reject the idea
of time, and denote something customary or habitual, rather than a
transient act or state; as, "A _lying_ rogue,"--i.e., one that is addicted
to lying. 2. When they admit adverbs of comparison; as, "A _more learned_
man." 3. When they are compounded with something that does not belong to
the verb; as, "_unfeeling, unfelt_:" there is no verb _to unfeel_,
therefore these words cannot be participles. Adjectives are generally
placed before their nouns; participles, after them. The words beginning
with _un_, in the following lines may be classed with participial
adjectives:
"No king, no subject was; unscutcheoned all;
Uncrowned, unplumed, unhelmed, unpedigreed;
Unlaced, uncoroneted, unbestarred."
--_Pollok, C. of T._, B. viii, l. 89.
OBS. 12.--Participles in _ing_ often become _nouns_. When preceded by an
article, an adjective or a noun or pronoun of the possessive case, they are
construed as nouns; and, if wholly such, have neither adverbs nor active
regimen: as, "He laugheth at the _shaking_ of a spear."--_Job_, xli, 29.
"There is _no searching_ of _his understanding_."--_Isaiah_, xl, 28. "In
_their setting_ of their threshold by ray threshold."--_Ezekiel_, xliii, 8.
"That any man should make _my glorying_ void."--_1 Cor._, ix, 15. The terms
so converted form the class of _verbal_ or _participial_ nouns. But some
late authors--(J. S. Hart, S. S. Greene, W. H. Wells, and others--) have
given the name of participial nouns to many _participles_,--such
participles, often, as retain all their verbal properties and adjuncts, and
merely partake of some syntactical resemblance to nouns. Now, since the
chief characteristics of such words are from the verb, and are incompatible
with the specific nature of a noun, it is clearly improper to call them
_nouns_. There are, in the popular use of participles, certain mixed
constructions which are reprehensible; yet it is the peculiar nature of a
_participle_, to participate the properties of other parts of speech,--of
the verb and adjective,--of the verb and noun,--or sometimes, perhaps, of
all three. A participle immediately preceded by a preposition, is not
converted into a noun, but remains a participle, and therefore retains its
adverb, and also its government of the objective case; as, "I thank you
_for helping him so seasonably_." Participles in this construction
correspond with the Latin gerund, and are sometimes called _gerundives_.