A Grammar of the English Tongue

Their and theirs are the possessives likewise of they, when they is the plural of it, and are therefore applied to things.

Pronouns relative are, who, which, what, whether, whosoever, whatsoever.

Who is now used in relation to persons, and which in relation to things; but they were anciently confounded. At least it was common to say, the man which, though I remember no example of the thing who.

Whose is rather the poetical than regular genitive of which.

The fruitOf that forbidden tree, whose mortal tasteBrought death into the world.           Milton.

Whether is only used in the nominative and accusative cases; and has no plural, being applied only to one of a number, commonly to one of two, as Whether of these is left I know not. Whether shall I choose? It is now almost obsolete.

What, whether relative or interrogative, is without variation.

Whosoever, whatsoever, being compounded of who or what, and soever, follow the rule of their primitives.

The plural others is not used but when it is referred to a substantive preceding, as I have sent other horses. I have not sent the same horses, but others.

Another, being only an other, has no plural.

Here, there, and where, joined with certain particles, have a relative and pronominal use. Hereof, herein, hereby, hereafter, herewith, thereof, therein, thereby, thereupon, therewith, whereof, wherein, whereby, whereupon, wherewith, which signify, of this, in this, &c. of that, in that, &c. of which, in which, &c.

Therefore and wherefore, which are properly there for and where for, for that, for which, are now reckoned conjunctions, and continued in use. The rest seem to be passing by degrees into neglect, though proper, useful, and analogous. They are referred both to singular and plural antecedents.

There are two more words used only in conjunction with pronouns, own and self.

Own is added to possessives, both singular and plural, as my own hand, our own house. It is emphatical, and implies a silent contrariety, or opposition; as, I live in my own house, that is, not in a hired house. This I did with my own hand, that is, without help or not by proxy.

Self is added to possessives, as myself, yourselves; and sometimes to personal pronouns, as himself, itself, themselves. It then, like own, expresses emphasis and opposition, as I did this myself, that is, not another; or it forms a reciprocal pronoun, as We hurt ourselves by vain rage.

Himself, itself, themselves, are supposed by Wallis to be put by corruption, for his self, it self, their selves; so that self is always a substantive. This seems justly observed, for we say, He came himself; Himself shall do this; where himself cannot be an accusative.

Of the VERB

English verbs are active, as I love; or neuter, as I languish. The neuters are formed like the actives.

Most verbs signifying action may likewise signify condition or habit, and become neuters; as I love, I am in love; I strike, I am now striking.

Verbs have only two tenses inflected in their terminations, the present, and simple preterit; the other tenses are compounded of the auxiliary verbs, have, shall, will, let, may, can, and the infinitive of the active or neuter verb.

The passive voice is formed by joining the participle preterit to the substantive verb, as I am loved.

To have. Indicative MoodPresent TenseSing. I have, thou hast, he hath or has,Plur. We have, ye have, they have.

Has is a termination connoted from hath, but now more frequently used both in verse and prose.

Simple PreteritSing. I had, thou hadst, he hadPlur. We had, ye had, they had.Compound PreteritSing. I have had, thou hast had, he has or hath had;Plur. We have had, ye have had, they have had.PreterpluperfectSing. I had had, thou hadst had, he had had.Plur. We had had, ye had had, they had had.FutureSing. I shall have, thou shalt have, he shall have;Plur. We shall have, ye shall have, they shall have.Second FutureSing. I will have, thou wilt have, he will have;Plur. We will have, ye wilt have, they will have.

By reading these future tenses may be observed the variations of shall and will.

Imperative MoodSing. Have, or have thou, let him have;Plur. Let us have, have or have ye, let them have.Conjunctive MoodPresentSing. I have, thou have, he have;Plur. We have, ye have, they have. Preterit simple as in the IndicativePreterit compoundSing. I have had, thou have had, he have had;Plur. We have had, ye have had, they have had.FutureSing. I shall have, as in the Indicative.Second FutureSing. I shall have had, thou shalt have had, he shall have had;Plur. We shall have had, ye shall have had, they shall have had.Potential

The potential form of speaking is expressed by may, can, in the present; and might, could, or should, in the preterit, joined with the infinitive mood of the verb.

PresentSing. I may have, thou mayst have, he may have;Plur. We may have, ye may have, they may have.PreteritSing. I might have, thou mightst have, he might have;Plur. We might have, ye might have, they might have.PresentSing. I can have, thou canst have, he can have;Plur. We can have, ye can have, they can have.PreteritSing. I could have, thou couldst have, he could have;Plur. We could have, ye could have, they could have.

In like manner should is united to the verb.

There is likewise a double Preterit.

Sing. I should have had, thou shouldst have had, he should have had;Plur. We should have had, ye should have had, they should have had.

In like manner we use, I might have had; I could have had, &c.

Infinitive MoodPresent. To have.Preterit. To have had.Participle present. Having.Participle preterit. Had.Verb Active. To loveIndicative. PresentSing. I love, thou lovest, he loveth or loves;Plur. We love, ye love, they love.Preterit simpleSing. I loved, thou lovedst, he loved;Plur. We loved, ye loved, they loved.Preterperfect compound. I have loved, &c.Preterpluperfect. I had loved, &c.Future. I shall love, &c. I will love, &c.ImperativeSing. Love or love thou, let him love;Plur. Let us love, love or love ye, let them love.Conjunctive. PresentSing. I love, thou love, he love;Plur. We love, ye love, they love.Preterit simple, as in the indicative.Preterit compound. I have loved, &c.Future. I shall love, &c.Second Future. I shall have loved, &c.PotentialPresent. I may or can love, &c.Preterit. I might, could, or should love, &c.Double Preterit. I might, could, or should haveloved, &c.InfinitivePresent. To love.Preterit. To have loved.Participle present. Loving.Participle past. Loved.

The passive is formed by the addition of the participle preterit to the different tenses of the verb to be, which must therefore be here exhibited.

Indicative. PresentSing. I am, thou art, he is;Plur. We are or be, ye are or be, they are or be.The plural be is now little in use.PreteritSing. I was, thou wast or wert, he was;Plur. We were, ye were, they were.

Wert is properly of the conjunctive mood, and ought not to be used in the indicative.

Preterit compound. I have been, &c.Preterpluperfect. I had been, &c.Future. I shall or will be, &c.ImperativeSing. Be thou; let him be;Plur. Let us be; be ye; let them be.Conjunctive. PresentSing. I be, thou beest, he be;Plur. We be, ye be, they be.PreteritSing. I were, thou wert, he were;Plur. We were, ye were, they were.Preterit compound. I have been, &c.Future. I shall have been, &c.PotentialI may or can; would, could, or should be; could,would, or should have been, &c.InfinitivePresent. To be.Preterit. To have been.Participle present. Being.Participle preterit. Having been.Passive Voice. Indicative MoodI am loved, &c. I was loved, &c. I have beenloved, &c.Conjunctive MoodIf I be loved, &c. If I were loved, &c. If I shallhave been loved, &c.Potential MoodI may or can be loved, &c. I might, could, orshould be loved, &c. I might, could, or shouldhave been loved, &c.InfinitivePresent. To be loved.Preterit. To have been loved.Participle. Loved.

There is another form of English verbs, in which the infinitive mood is joined to the verb do in its various inflections, which are therefore to be learned in this place.

To doIndicative. PresentSing. I do, thou dost, he doth;Plur. We do, ye do, they do.PreteritSing. I did, thou didst, he did;Plur. We did, ye did, they did.Preterit., &c. I have done, &c. I had done, &c.Future. I shall or will do, &c.ImperativeSing. Do thou, let him do;Plur. Let us do, do ye, let them do.Conjunctive. PresentSing. I do, thou do, he do;Plur. We do, ye do, they do.

The rest are as in the Indicative.

Infinite. To do, to have done.Participle present. Doing.Participle preterit. Done.

Do is sometimes used superfluously, as I do love, I did love; simply for I love, or I loved; but this is considered as a vitious mode of speech.

It is sometimes used emphatically; as,

I do love thee, and when I love thee not,Chaos is come again.           Shakespeare.

It is frequently joined with a negative; as, I like her, but I do not love her; I wished him success, but did not help him. This, by custom at least, appears more easy than the other form of expressing the same sense by a negative adverb after the verb, I like her, but love her not.

The imperative prohibitory is seldom applied in the second person, at least in prose, without the word do; as, Stop him, but do not hurt him; Praise beauty, but do not dote on it.

Its chief use is in interrogative forms of speech, in which it is used through all the persons; as, Do I live? Dost thou strike me? Do they rebel? Did I complain? Didst thou love her? Did she die? So likewise in negative interrogations; Do I not yet grieve? Did she not die?

Do and did are thus used only for the present and simple preterit.

There is another manner of conjugating neuter verbs, which, when it is used, may not improperly denominate them neuter passives, as they are inflected according to the passive form by the help of the verb substantive to be. They answer nearly to the reciprocal verbs in French; as, I am risen, surrexi, Latin; Je me suis levé, French. I was walked out, exieram: Je m'étois promené.

In like manner we commonly express the present tense; as, I am going, eo. I am grieving, doleo, She is dying, illa moritur. The tempest is raging, furit procella. I am pursuing an enemy, hostem insequor. So the other tenses, as, We were walking, ετυγχανομεν περιπατουντες, I have been walking, I had been walking, I shall or will be walking.

There is another manner of using the active participle, which gives it a passive signification: as, The grammar is now printing, grammatica jam nunc chartis imprimitur. The brass is forging, ara excuduntur. This is, in my opinion, a vitious expression, probably corrupted from a phrase more pure, but now somewhat obsolete: The book is a printing, The brass is a forging; a being properly at, and printing and forging verbal nouns signifying action, according to the analogy of this language.

The indicative and conjunctive moods are by modern writers frequently confounded, or rather the conjunctive is wholly neglected, when some convenience of versification docs not invite its revival. It is used among the purer writers of former times after if, though, ere, before, till or until, whether, except, unless, whatsoever, whomsoever, and words of wishing; as, Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not.

Of IRREGULAR VERBS

The English verbs were divided by Ben Jonson into four conjugations, without any reason arising from the nature of the language, which has properly but one conjugation, such as has been exemplified: from which all deviations are to be considered as anomalies, which are indeed, in our monosyllable Saxon verbs, and the verbs derived from them, very frequent; but almost all the verbs which have been adopted from other languages, follow the regular form.

Our verbs are observed by Dr. Wallis to be irregular only in the formation of the preterit, and its participle. Indeed, in the scantiness of our conjugations, there is scarcely any other place for irregularity.

The first irregularity is a slight deviation from the regular form, by rapid utterance or poetical contraction: the last syllable ed is often joined with the former by suppression of e; as lov'd for loved; after c, ch, sh, f, k, x, and after the consonants s, th, when more strongly pronounced, and sometimes after m, n, r, if preceded by a short vowel, t is used in pronunciation, but very seldom in writing rather than d; as plac't, snatch't, fish't, wak't, dwel't, smel't for plac'd, snatch'd, fish'd, wak'd, dwel'd, smel'd; or placed, snatched, fished, waked, dwelled, smelled.

Those words which terminate in l or ll, or p, make their preterit in t, even in solemn language; as crept, felt, dwelt; Sometimes after x, ed is changed into t; as vext: this is not constant.

A long vowel is often changed into a short one; thus kept, slept, wept, crept, swept; from the verbs to keep, to sleep, to weep, to creep, to sweep.

Where d or t go before, the additional letter d or t, in this contracted form, coalesce into one letter with the radical d or t: if t were the radical, they coalesce into t; but if d were the radical, then into d or t, as the one or the other letter may be more easily pronounced; as read, led, spread, shed, shred, bid, hid, chid, fed, bled, bred, sped, strid, slid, rid; from the verbs to read, to lead, to spread, to shed, to shread, to bid, to hide, to chide, to feed, to bleed, to breed, to speed, to stride, to slide, to ride. And thus cast, hurt, cost, burst, eat, beat, sweat, sit, quit, smit, writ, bit, hit, met, shot; from the verbs to cast, to hurt, to cost, to burst, to eat, to beat, to sweat, to sit, to quit, to smite, to write, to bite, to hit, to meet, to shoot. And in like manner, lent, sent, rent, girt; from the verbs to lend, to send, to rend, to gird.

The participle preterit or passive is often formed in en instead of ed; as, been, taken, given, slain, known, from the verbs to be, to take, to give, to slay, to know.

Many words have two or more participles, as not only written, bitten, eaten, beaten, hidden, chidden, shotten, chosen, broken; but likewise writ, bit, eat, beat, hid, chid, shot, chose, broke, are promiscuously used in the participle, from the verbs to write, to bite, to eat, to beat, to hide, to chide, to shoot, to choose, to break, and many such like.

In the same manner, sown, shewn, hewn, mown, loaden, laden, as well as sow'd, show'd, hew'd, mow'd, loaded, laded, from the verbs to sow, to show, to hew, to mow, to load, to lade.

Concerning these double participles it is difficult to give any rule; but he shall seldom err who remembers, that when a verb has a participle distinct from its preterit, as write, wrote, written, that distinct participle is more proper and elegant, as The book is written, is better than The book is wrote. Wrote however may be used in poetry; at least, if we allow any authority to poets, who, in the exultation of genius, think themselves perhaps entitled to trample on grammarians.

There are other anomalies in the preterit.

1. Win, spin, begin, swim, strike, stick, sing, sting, fling, ring, wring, spring, swing, drink, sink, shrink, stink, come, run, find, bind, grind, wind, both in the preterit imperfect and participle passive, give won, spun, begun, swum, struck, stuck, sung, stung, flung, rung, wrung, sprung, swung, drunk, sunk, shrunk, stunk, come, run, found, bound, ground, wound. And most of them are also formed in the preterit by a, as began, sang, rang, sprang, drank, came, ran, and some others; but most of these are now obsolete. Some in the participle passive likewise take en, as stricken, strucken, drunken, bounden.

2. Fight, teach, reach, seek, beseech, catch, buy, bring, think, work, make fought, taught, raught, sought, besought, caught, bought, brought, thought, wrought.

But a great many of these retain likewise the regular form, as teached, reached, beseeched, catched, worked.

3. Take, shake, forsake, wake, awake, stand, break, speak, bear, shear, swear, tear, wear, weave, cleave, strive, thrive, drive, shine, rise, arise, smite, write, bide, abide, ride, choose, chuse, tread, get, beget, forget, seethe, make in both preterit and participle took, shook, forsook, woke, awoke, stood, broke, spoke, bore, shore, swore, tore, wore, wove, clove, strove, throve, drove, shone, rose, arose, smote, wrote, bode, abode, rode, chose, trode, got, begot, forgot, sod. But we say likewise, thrive, rise, smit, writ, abid, rid. In the preterit some are likewise formed by a, as brake, spake, bare, share, sware, tare, ware, clave, gat, begat, forgat, and perhaps some others, but more rarely. In the participle passive many of them are formed by en, as taken, shaken, forsaken, broken, spoken, born, shorn, sworn, torn, worn, woven, cloven, thriven, driven, risen, smitten, ridden, chosen, trodden, gotten, begotten, forgotten, sodden. And many do likewise retain the analogy in both, as waked, awaked, sheared, weaved, cleaved, abided, seethed.