Verbs in Middle English

• one voice (active voice);

• two numbers (singular and plural); three persons;
• two tenses (present and preterite);
• three moodes (indicative, subjunctive, imperative);
• two participles (present and preterite).
• verbal noun (infinitive), present participle, and verbal
adjective (past participle)
• verbs are divided in two major groups according to
how preterite and past participle is formed:
weak verbs ; preterite formed with a dental suffix (-de/-te)
strong verbs ; preterite formed with an ablaut.
 These gradation classes should be compared with those of the Old
English forma:

Consequently, the weak -ed ending for the preterit and past
participle came to be used with many originally strong verbs.
 In the 14th century, in some weak verbs with a stem ending in -l, - n, -
f, -v the past -d changed into -t:

OE dælan - dælde - dæled

‘divide’
ME delen - delte - delt;

OE læfan - læfde - læfed

‚leave’
ME lëven - lefte (lafte) - left (laft);
Verbs with a stem in -rd, -nd, -ld formed their past in -rte, -nte, -lte, and
their second participle in -rt, -nt, -lt:
OE rendan - rende - rend ‘rend’ ME renden - rente - rent;

OE sendan - sende - send ‘send’ ME senden - sente - sent.

 Weak verbs

o to call
o to want (Scandinavian borrowings)
o to guess
o to pierce
o to punish (French borrowings)
o to finish
o to contribute
o to create (Latin borrowings)
o to distribute

• Alike strong verbs many weak verbs became irregular in the course
of history, especially weak verbs of the first class.

Old English cēpan – cēpte – cēpte – cēpt

Middle English kēpen – kepte – kept
finden 'to find' (strong) and thanken 'to thank' (weak)
• The future tense with shall and will is established in
Middle English

In Old English ic sceal usually meant ‘I am obliged to’, and

ic wille normally meant ‘I wish to’.

‘I shal (from OE sceal) myself to herbes techen yow /

That shul (from OE sculon) been for youre heele and
for youre prow’

‘I shall myself direct you to herbs that will be for

your health and for your benefit.’
• Formation of the passive voice
The auxiliary been + Pret. Part. is used to form the passive voice in
Middle English. The rules of formation and the function of the passive
are very similar to Modern English usage.

• Тhe perfect tenses with habban or bēon and the passive forms with
bēon or weorþan already existed in Old English

• The continuous tenses, formed with be and the present participle

also arise in Middle English

Ond hīe þā ymb þā gatu feohtende wǣron, oþ þæt

‘And then they went on fighting around the gates, until…‘

he was areading (OE rǣdung)

‘he was engaged in the act of reading’