Being; and is generally preferred in poetry. It is the language of Scripture, and is consistently retained in all our grammars.

Where the verb is varied, the second person singular is regularly formed by adding st or est to the first person; and the third person singular, in like manner, by adding s or es: as, I see, thou seest, he sees; I give, thou givest, he gives; I go, thou goest, he goes; I fly, thou fliest, he flies; I vex, thou vexest, he vexes; I lose, thou losest, he loses.

Obs. 1.—In the solemn style (except in poetry, which usually contracts these forms), the second person singular of the present indicative, and that of the irregular preterits, commonly end in est, pronounced as a separate syllable. But as the termination ed, in solemn discourse, constitutes a syllable, the regular preterits form the second person singular by adding st, without further increase of syllables: as, loved, lovedst—not lovedest. Dost and hast, and the irregular preterits wast, didst, and hadst, are permanently contracted. The auxiliaries shall and will, change the final to t. To the auxiliaries may, can, might, could, would, and should, the termination est was formerly added: but they are now generally written with st only, and pronounced as monosyllables.

Obs. 2.—The third person singular was anciently formed by adding th to verbs ending in e, and eth to all others. This method of forming the third person singular almost always adds a syllable to the verb. is now confined to the solemn style. Doth, hath, and saith, are contractions of verbs thus formed.

It

OBS. 3.—When the verb ends in a sound which will not unite with that of st or s, st and s are added to final e, and est and es to other terminations; and the verb acquires an additional syllable: as, I trace, thou tracest, he traces; I pass, thou passest, he passes; l fix, thou fixest, he fixes. But verbs ending in o or y preceded by a consonant, do not exactly follow this rule: in these, y is changed into i; and, to both o and i, est and es are added, without increase of syllables: as, I go, thou goest, he goes; I undo, thou undoest,† he undoes; I fly, thou fliest, he flies; I pity, thou pitiest, he pities.

Obs. 4.—The formation of the third person singular of verbs, is precisely the same as that of the plural number of nouns.

Obs. 5.—The auxiliaries do, dost, does, [pronounced doo, dust, duz,] —am, art, is,—have, hast, has,—being also in frequent use as principal verbs of the present tense, retain their peculiar form, when joined to other verbs. The other auxiliaries are not varied, except in the solemn style. Obs. 6.—The only regular terminations that are added to verbs, are

The second person singular may be contracted, whenever the verb ends in a sound which will unite with that of st.

The second person singular of the simple verb do, is now usually written dost, and road dust; being contracted in orthography, as well as pronunciation.

How are the second and third persons singular formed?

ing, d, or ed, st or est, s or es, th or eth. Ing, and th or eth, always add a syllable to the verb; except in doth, hath, saith. The rest, whenever their sound will unite with that of the final syllable of the verb, are added without increasing the number of syllables; otherwise they are separately pronounced. In solemn discourse, however, ed and est are, by most speakers, uttered distinctly in all cases; except, sometimes, when a vowel precedes.

CONJUGATION OF VERBS.

The conjugation of a verb is a regular arrangement of its moods, tenses, persons, numbers, and participles.

Obs.—The moods and tenses are formed partly by changes made in the verb itself, and partly by the combination of the verb, or its participle, with a few short verbs called auxiliaries or helping verbs.

There are four Principal parts in the conjugation of every simple and complete verb; namely, the Present, the Preterit, the Imperfect Participle, and the Perfect Participle. A verb wanting any of these parts, is called defective.

OBS. The present is radically the same in all the moods, and is the part from which all the rest are formed. The present infinitive is the root, or simplest form, of the verb. The preterit and the perfect participle are regularly formed by adding d or ed, and the imperfect participle by adding ing, to the present.

An auxiliary is a short verb prefixed to one of the principal parts of another verb, to express some particular mode and time of action. The auxiliaries are do, be, have, shall, mill, may, can, and must, with their variations.

Obs. 1.—Do, be, and have, being also principal verbs, are complete: but the participles of do and have, are not used as auxiliaries; unless having, which forms the compound participle, may be considered as such. The other auxiliaries have no participles.

Obs. 2.—English verbs are principally conjugated by means of auxili- . aries; the only tenses which can be formed by the simple verb, being the present and the imperfect: as, I love, I loved. And even here an auxiliary is usually preferred in questions and negations: as, Do you learn? You do not learn. All the other tenses, even in their simplest form, are compounds.

Obs. 3.—English verbs having few inflections, it is convenient to

What

What is the conjugation of a verb? What are the principal parts in the conjugation of a verb? What is a verb called which wants some of these parts? is an auxiliary in grammar? What verbs are used as auxiliaries?

insert in the conjugations the preposition to, to mark the infinitive; pronouns, to distinguish the persons and numbers; the conjunction if, to denote the subjunctive; and the adverb not, to shew the form of negation. With these additions, a verb may be conjugated in four

ways:

1. Affirmatively; as, I write, I do write, or I am writing.

2. Negatively; as, I write not, I do not write, or I am not writing, 3. Interrogatively; as, Write I? Do I write? or, Am I writing? 4. Interrogatively and negatively; as, Write I not? Do I not write? or, Am I not writing?

I. SIMPLE FORM, ACTIVE OR NEUTER.

The simplest form of an English conjugation makes the present and imperfect tenses without auxiliaries; but, even in these, auxiliaries are required for the potential mood, and are often preferred for the indicative.

The infinitive mood is that form of the verb which expresses what is said or done indefinitely, and without reference to person or number. It is used only in the present and perfect tenses.

Present Tense.

This tense is the root or radical verb; and is usually preceded by the preposition to, which shews its relation to some other word: thus,

To love.
Perfect Tense.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary have to the perfect participle, and is usually preceded by the preposition to: thus,

To have loved.

What is the simplest form of an English conjugation? What is the first example of conjugation? What are the principal parts of the verb Love? How many, and what tenses has the infinitive mood ?---the indicative ?---the potential?---the subjunctive ?---the imperative? What is the verb Love in the Infinitive, present ?--perfect?

INDICATIVE MOOD.

The indicative mood is that form of the verb, which simply indicates or declares what is said or done, or asks a question. It is used in all the tenses.

Present Tense.

The present indicative, in its simple form, is essentially the same as the present infinitive, or radical verb; except that the verb be has am in the indicative.

1. The simple form of the present tense is varied thus:

2. This tense may also be formed by prefixing the auxiliary do to the verb: thus,

This tense, in its simple form, is the preterit; which, in all regular verbs, adds d or ed to the present, but in others is formed variously.

1. The simple form of the imperfect tense is varied thus:

Singular.

1. I loved,

2. Thou lovedst,

3. He loved;

Plural.

1. We loved,

2. You loved,

3. They loved.

2. This tense may also be formed by prefixing the auxiliary

did to the present: thus,

OBS.-In a familiar question or negation, the auxiliary form is preferable to the simple. But in the solemn or the poetic style, the simple form is more dignified and graceful; as, "Understandest thou what thou readest?"— Of whom speaketh the prophet this?"-Acts, viii. 30, 34.

E

Perfect Tense.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary have to the perfect participle: thus,

Singular.

1. I had loved,

2. Thou hadst loved,

This tense prefixes the auxiliary had to the perfect participle: thus,

3. He

had loved;

3. They had loved.

First-future Tense.

This tense prefixes the auxiliary shall or will to the present: thus, 1. Simply to express a future action or event:

2. To express a promise, volition, command, or threat:

OBS.-In interrogative sentences, the meaning of these auxiliaries is reversed. When preceded by a conjunction implying condition or uncertainty, their import is somewhat varied.

Second-future Tense.

This tense prefixes the auxiliaries shall have or will have to the perfect participle: thus,

Singular.

1. I shall have loved,
2. Thou wilt have loved,
3. He will have loved;

Plural.

shall have loved,

1. We
2. You will have loved,
3. They will have loved.

OBS. The auxiliary shall may also be used in the second and third

What is the verb Love in the Indicative, present ?---imperfect ?---perfect ?---pluperfect?—first-future ?---second-future?