- strong verbs correspond to Modern English (and German) irregular verbs
- examples include::
- instead of adding ‘d’ to form the past tense (also known as the ‘preterite’) as in weak verbs, strong verbs form the past through vowel changes.sing, sang, sung write, wrote, written take, took, taken choose, chose, chosen find, found, found
etc.
| class | infinitive | 1st person preterite | 2nd person preterite | past participle |
| I | ridan (to ride) | rad | ridon | riden |
| II | ceosan (to choose) | ceas | curon | coren |
| III | bindan (to bind) | band | bundon | bunden |
| IV | stelan (to steal) | stæl | stælon | stolen |
| V | cweðan (to say, 'quoth') | cwæð | cwædon | cwedon |
| VI | standan (to stand) | stod | stodon | standen |
| VIIa) | cnawan (to know) | cneow | cneowon | cnawen |
| VIIb) | fon (to seize) | feng | fengon | fangen |
| indicative | subjunctive | ||
| ic bere | we berað | ic bere | we beren |
| þu bir(e)st | ge berað | þu bere | ge beren |
| he bir(e)ð | hie berað | hio bere | hie beren |
| singular | plural |
| ber | berað |
| indicative | subjunctive | ||
| ic bær | we bæron | ic bære | we bæren |
| þu bære | ge bæron | þu bære | ge bæren |
| hie bær | hie bæron | hio bære | hie bæren |
| infinitive: | beran |
| inflected infinitive/gerund: | to beranne |
| present participle: | berende |
| past participle: | (ge)boren |
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Page created by Dr Jennifer Neville |
