The Grammar of English Grammars Part 62

--_Id._, B. x, l. 60.

OBS. 33.--Some of the Friends (perhaps from an idea that it is less formal) misemploy _thee_ for _thou_; and often join it to the third person of the verb in stead of the second. Such expressions as, _thee does, thee is, thee has, thee thinks_, &c., are double solecisms; they set all grammar at defiance. Again, many persons who are not ignorant of grammar, and who employ the p.r.o.noun aright, sometimes improperly sacrifice concord to a slight improvement in sound, and give to the verb the ending of the third person, for that of the second. Three or four instances of this, occur in the examples which have been already quoted. See also the following, and many more, in the works of the poet Burns; who says of himself, "Though it cost the schoolmaster some thrashings, I made an excellent English scholar; and, by the time I was ten or eleven years of age, I was a critic in substantives, VERBS, and particles:"--"But when thou _pours_;"--"There thou _shines_ chief;"--"Thou _clears_ the head;"--"Thou _strings_ the nerves;"--"Thou _brightens_ black despair;"--"Thou _comes_;"--"Thou _travels_ far;"--"Now _thou's turned_ out;"--"Unseen thou _lurks_;"--"O thou pale orb that silent _shines_." This mode of simplifying the verb, confounds the persons; and, as it has little advantage in sound, over the regular contracted form of the second person, it ought to be avoided. With this author it may be, perhaps, a Scotticism: as,

"Thou _paints_ auld nature to the nines, In thy sweet Caledonian lines."--_Burns to Ramsay_.

"Thou _paintst old_ nature," would be about as smooth poetry, and certainly much better English. This confounding of the persons of the verb, however, is no modern peculiarity. It appears to be about as old as the use of _s_ for _th_ or _eth_. Spenser, the great English poet of the sixteenth century, may be cited in proof: as,

"Siker, _thou's_ but a lazy loord, And _rekes_ much of thy swinke."--_Joh. Dict., w. Loord_.

OBS. 34.--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_, p.r.o.nounced as a separate syllable, and requiring the duplication of the final consonant, according to Rule 3d for Spelling: as, I _run_, thou _runnest_; I _ran_, thou _rannest_. But as the termination _ed_, in solemn discourse, const.i.tutes a syllable, the regular preterits form the second person singular by a.s.suming _st_, without further increase of syllables: as, I _loved_, thou _lovedst_; not, "_lovedest_," as Chandler made it in his English Grammar, p. 41, Edition of 1821; and as Wells's rule, above cited, if literally taken, would make it. _Dost_ and _hast_, and the three irregular preterits, _wast, didst_, and _hadst_, are permanently contracted; though _doest_ and _diddest_ are sometimes seen in old books.

_Saidst_ is more common, and perhaps more regular, than _saidest. Werest_ has long been contracted into _wert_: "I would thou _werest_ either cold or hot."--_W. Perkins_, 1608.[251] The auxiliaries _shall_ and _will_ change the final _l_ to _t_, and become _shalt_ and _wilt_. 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 p.r.o.nounced as monosyllables, even in solemn discourse. Murray, in quoting the Scriptures, very often charges _mayest_ to _mayst, mightest_ to _mightst_, &c. Some other permanent contractions are occasionally met with, in what many grammarians call the solemn style; as _bidst_ for _biddest, fledst_ for _fleddest, satst_ for _sattest_:

"Riding sublime, thou _bidst_ the world adore, And humblest nature with thy northern blast."

--_Thomson_.

"Fly thither whence thou _fledst_."

--_Milton, P. L._, B. iv, l. 963.

"Unspeakable, who _sitst_ above these heavens."

--_Id., ib._, B. v, l. 156.

"Why _satst_ thou like an enemy in wait?"

--_Id., ib._, B. iv, l. 825.

OBS. 35.--The formation of the third person singular of verbs, is _now_ precisely the same as that of the plural number of nouns: as, _love, loves; show, shows; boast, boasts; fly, flies; reach, reaches_. This form began to be used about the beginning of the sixteenth century. The ending seems once to have been _es_, sounded as _s_ or _z_: as,

"And thus I see among these pleasant thynges Eche care _decayes_, and yet my sorrow _sprynges_."--_Earl of Surry_.

"With throte yrent, he _roares_, he _lyeth_ along."--_Sir T. Wyat_.

"He _dyeth_, he is all dead, he _pantes_, he _restes_."--_Id._, 1540.

In all these instances, the _e_ before the _s_ has become improper. The _es_ does not here form a syllable; neither does the _eth_, in "_lyeth_"

and "_dyeth_." In very ancient times, the third person singular appears to have been formed by adding _th_ or _eth_ nearly as we now add _s_ or _es_[252] Afterwards, as in our common Bible, it was formed by adding _th_ to verbs ending in _e_, and _eth_ to all others; as, "For he that _eateth_ and _drinketh_ unworthily, _eateth_ and _drinketh_ d.a.m.nation to himself."--_1 Cor._, xi, 29. "He _quickeneth_ man, who is dead in trespa.s.ses and sins; he _keepeth_ alive the quickened soul, and _leadeth_ it in the paths of life; he _scattereth, subdueth_, and _conquereth_ the enemies of the soul."--_I. Penington_. This method of inflection, as now p.r.o.nounced, always adds a syllable to the verb. It is entirely confined to the solemn style, and is little used. _Doth, hath_, and _saith_, appear to be permanent contractions of verbs thus formed. In the days of Shakspeare, both terminations were common, and he often mixed them, in a way which is not very proper now: as,

"The quality of mercy is not strained; It _droppeth_, as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd; It _blesseth_ him that _gives_, and him that _takes_."

--_Merchant of Venice_.

OBS. 36.--When the second person singular is employed in familiar discourse, with any regard to correctness, it is usually formed in a manner strictly a.n.a.logous to that which is now adopted in the third person singular. When the verb ends with a sound which will unite with that of _st_ or _s_, the second person singular is formed by adding _s_ only, and the third, by adding _s_ only; and the number of syllables is not increased: as, I _read_, thou _readst_, he _reads_; I _know_, thou _knowst_, he _knows_; I _take_, thou _takest_, he _takes_; I _free_, thou _freest_, he _frees_. For, when the verb ends in mute _a_, no termination renders this _a_ vocal in the familiar style, if a synaeresis can take place. To prevent their readers from ignorantly a.s.suming the p.r.o.nunciation of the solemn style, the poets have generally marked such words with an apostrophe: as,

"Look what thy soul holds dear, imagine it To lie the way thou _go'st_, not whence thou _com'st_."--_Shak_.

OBS. 37.--But when the verb ends in a sound which will not unite with that of _st_ or _s_, the second and third persons are formed by adding _est_ and _es_; or, if the first person end in mute _e_, the _st_ and _s_ render that _e_ vocal; so that the verb acquires an additional syllable: as, I _trace_, thou _tracest_, he _traces_; I _pa.s.s_, thou _pa.s.sest_, he _pa.s.ses_; I _fix_, thou _fixest_, he _fixes_; I _preach_, thou _preachest_, he _preaches_; I _blush_, thou _blushest_, he _blushes_; I _judge_, thou _judgest_, he _judges_. But verbs ending in _o_ or _y_ preceded by a consonant, do not exactly follow either of the foregoing rules. 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_,[253] he _undoes_; I _fly_, thou _fliest_, he _flies_; I _pity_, thou _pitiest_, he _pities_. Thus, in the following lines, _goest_ must be p.r.o.nounced like _ghost_; otherwise, we spoil the measure of the verse:

"Thou _goest_ not now with battle, and the voice Of war, as once against the rebel hosts; Thou _goest_ a Judge, and _findst_ the guilty bound; Thou _goest_ to prove, condemn, acquit, reward."--_Pollok_, B. x.

In solemn prose, however, the termination is here made a separate syllable: as, I _go_, thou _goest_, he _goeth_; I _undo_, thou _undoest_, he _undoeth_; I _fly_, thou _fliest_, he _flieth_; I _pity_, thou _pitiest_, he _pitieth_.

OBS. 38.--The auxiliaries _do, dost, does_,--(p.r.o.nounced _doo, dust, duz_; and not as the words _dough, dosed, doze_,--) _am, art, is,--have, hast, has_,--being also in frequent use as princ.i.p.al verbs of the present tense, retain their peculiar forms, with distinction of person and number, when they help to form the compound tenses of other verbs. The other auxiliaries are not varied, or ought not to be varied, except in the solemn style.

Example of the familiar use: "That thou _may_ be found truly owning it."--_Barclay's Works_, Vol. i, p. 234.

OBS. 39.--The only regular terminations that are added to English verbs, are _ing, d_ or _e, st_ or _est, s_ or _es, th_ or _eth_[254] _Ing_, and _th_ or _eth_, always add a syllable to the verb; except in _doth, hath, saith_.[255] The rest, whenever their sound will unite with that of the final syllable of the verb, are usually added without increasing the number of syllables; otherwise, they are separately p.r.o.nounced. In solemn discourse, however, _ed_ and _est_ are by most speakers uttered distinctly in all cases; except sometimes when a vowel precedes: as in _sanctified, glorified_, which are p.r.o.nounced as three syllables only. Yet, in spite of this a.n.a.logy, many readers will have _sanctifiest_ and _glorifiest_ to be words of four syllables. If this p.r.o.nunciation is proper, it is only so in solemn prose. The prosody of verse will show how many syllables the poets make: as,

"Thou _diedst_, a most rare boy, of melancholy!"

--_Shak., Cymb._, Act iv, sc. 2.

"Had not a voice thus warn'd me: What thou _seest_, What there thou _seest_, fair creature, is thyself."

--_Milton_, B. iv, l. 467.

"By those thou _wooedst_ from death to endless life."

--_Pollok_, B. ix, l. 7.

"Attend: that thou art happy, owe to G.o.d; That thou _continuest_ such, owe to thyself"

--_Milton_, B. v, l. 520.

OBS. 40.--If the grave and full form of the second person singular must needs be supposed to end rather with the syllable _est_ than with _st_ only, it is certain that this form may be _contracted_, whenever the verb ends in a sound which will unite with that of _st_. The poets generally employ the briefer or contracted forms; but they seem not to have adopted a uniform and consistent method of writing them. Some usually insert the apostrophe, and, after a single vowel, double the final consonant before _st_; as, _hold'st, bidd'st, said'st, ledd'st, wedd'st, trimm'st, may'st, might'st_, and so forth: others, in numerous instances, add _st_ only, and form permanent contractions; as, _holdst, bidst, saidst, ledst, wedst, trimst, mayst, mightst_, and so forth. Some retain the vowel _e_, in the termination of certain words, and suppress a preceding one; as, _quick'nest, happ'nest, scatt'rest, rend'rest, rend'redst, slumb'rest, slumb'redst_: others contract the termination of such words, and insert the apostrophe; as, _quicken'st, happen'st, scatter'st, render'st, render'dst, slumber'st, slumber'dst_. The nature and idiom of our language, "the accent and p.r.o.nunciation of it," incline us to abbreviate or "contract even all our regular verbs;" so as to avoid, if possible, an increase of syllables in the inflection of them. Accordingly, several terminations which formerly const.i.tuted distinct syllables, have been either wholly dropped, or blended with the final syllables of the verbs to which they are added. Thus the plural termination _en_ has become entirely obsolete; _th_ or _eth_ is no longer in common use; _ed_ is contracted in p.r.o.nunciation; the ancient _ys_ or _is_, of the third person singular, is changed to _s_ or _es_, and is usually added without increase of syllables; and _st_ or _est_ has, in part, adopted the a.n.a.logy. So that the proper mode of forming these contractions of the second person singular, seems to be, to add _st_ only; and to insert no apostrophe, unless a vowel is suppressed from the verb to which this termination is added: as, _thinkst, sayst, bidst, sitst, satst, lov'st, lov'dst, slumberst, slumber'dst_.

"And know, for that thou _slumberst_ on the guard, Thou shalt be made to answer at the bar."--_Cotton_.

OBS. 41.--Ho man deserves more praise for his attention to English p.r.o.nunciation, than John Walker. His p.r.o.nouncing Dictionary was, for a long period, the best standard of orthoepy, that our schools possessed. But he seems to me to have missed a figure, in preferring such words as _quick'nest, strength'nest_, to the smoother and more regular forms, _quickenst, strengthenst_. It is true that these are rough words, in any form you can give them; but let us remember, that needless apostrophes are as rough to the eye, as needless _st_'s to the ear. Our common grammarians are disposed to enc.u.mber the language with as many of both as they can find any excuse for, and vastly more than can be sustained by any good argument.

In words that are well understood to be contracted in p.r.o.nunciation, the apostrophe is now less frequently used than it was formerly. Walker says, "This contraction of the participial _ed_, and the verbal _en_, is so fixed an idiom of our p.r.o.nunciation, that to alter it, would be to alter the sound of the whole language. It must, however, be regretted that it subjects our tongue to some of the most hissing, snapping, clashing, grinding sounds that ever grated the ears of a Vandal; thus, _rasped, scratched, wrenched, bridled, fangled, birchen, hardened, strengthened, quickened_, &c. almost frighten us when written as they are actually p.r.o.nounced, as _rapt, scratcht, wrencht, bridl'd, fangl'd, birch'n, strength'n'd, quick'n'd_, &c.; they become still more formidable when used contractedly in the solemn style, which never ought to be the case; for here instead of _thou strength'n'st_ or _strength'n'd'st, thou quick'n'st_ or _quick'n'd'st_, we ought to p.r.o.nounce _thou strength'nest_ or _strength'nedst, thou quick'nest_ or _quick'nedst_, which are sufficiently harsh of all conscience."--_Principles_, No. 359. Here are too many apostrophes; for it does not appear that such words as _strengthenedest_ and _quickenedest_ ever existed, except in the imagination of certain grammarians. In solemn prose one may write, _thou quickenest, thou strengthenest_, or _thou quickenedst, thou strengthenedst_; but, in the familiar style, or in poetry, it is better to write, _thou quickenst, thou strengthenst, thou quickened, thou strengthened_. This is language which it is possible to utter; and it is foolish to strangle ourselves with strings of rough consonants, merely because they are insisted on by some superficial grammarians. Is it not strange, is it not incredible, that the same hand should have written the two following lines, in the same sentence? Surely, the printer has been at fault.

"With noiseless foot, thou _walkedst_ the vales of earth"-- "Most honourable thou _appeared_, and most To be desired."--_Pollok's Course of Time_, B. ix, l. 18, and l. 24.

OBS. 42.--It was once a very common practice, to retain the final _y_, in contractions of the preterit or of the second person of most verbs that end in _y_, and to add the consonant terminations _d, st_, and _dst_, with an apostrophe before each; as, _try'd_ for _tried, reply'd_ for _replied, try'st_ for _triest, try'dst_ for _triedst_. Thus Milton:--

"Thou following _cry'dst_ aloud, Return, fair Eve; Whom _fly'st_ thou? whom thou _fly'st_, of him thou art."

--_P. L._, B. iv, l. 481.

This usage, though it may have been of some advantage as an index to the p.r.o.nunciation of the words, is a palpable departure from the common rule for spelling such derivatives. That rule is, "The final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is changed into _i_ before an additional termination." The works of the British poets, except those of the present century, abound with contractions like the foregoing; but late authors, or their printers, have returned to the rule; and the former practice is wearing out and becoming obsolete. Of regular verbs that end in _ay, ey_, or _oy_, we have more than half a hundred; all of which usually retain the _y_ in their derivatives, agreeably to an other of the rules for spelling. The preterits of these we form by adding _ed_ without increase of syllables; as, _display, displayed; survey, surveyed; enjoy, enjoyed_.

These also, in both tenses, may take _st_ without increase of syllables; as, _display'st, display'dst_; _survey'st, survey'dst; enjoy'st, enjoy'dst_. All these forms, and such as these, are still commonly considered contractions, and therefore written with the apostrophe; but if the termination _st_ is sufficient of itself to mark the second person singular, as it certainly is considered to be as regards one half of them, and as it certainly was in the Saxon tongue still more generally, then for the other half there is no need of the apostrophe, because nothing is omitted. _Est_, like _es_, is generally a syllabic termination; but _st_, like _s_, is not. As signs of the third person, the _s_ and the _es_ are always considered equivalent; and, as signs of the second person, the _st_ and the _est_ are sometimes, and ought to be always, considered so too. To all verbs that admit the sound, we add the _s_ without marking it as a contraction for _es_; and there seems to be no reason at all against adding the _st_ in like manner, whenever we choose to form the second person without adding a syllable to the verb. The foregoing observations I commend to the particular attention of all those who hope to write such English as shall do them honour--to every one who, from a spark of literary ambition, may say of himself,

---------"I twine My hopes of being remembered in my line With my land's language."--_Byron's Childe Harold_, Canto iv, st. 9.

THE CONJUGATION OF VERBS.

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

There are four PRINc.i.p.aL PARTS in the conjugation of every simple and complete verb; namely, the _Present_, the _Preterit_, the _Imperfect Participle_, and the _Perfect Participle_.[256] A verb which wants any of these parts, is called _defective_; such are most of the auxiliaries.

An _auxiliary_ is a short verb prefixed to one of the princ.i.p.al parts of an other verb, to express some particular mode and time of the being, action, or pa.s.sion. The auxiliaries are _do, be, have, shall, will, may, can_, and _must_, with their variations.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The _present_, or the verb in the present tense, is radically the same in all the moods, and is the part from which all the rest are formed.

The present infinitive is commonly considered _the root_, or _simplest form_, of the English verb. We usually place the _preposition_ TO _before_ it; but never when with an auxiliary it forms a compound tense that is not infinitive: there are also some other exceptions, which plainly show, that the word _to_ is neither a part of the verb, as Cobbett, R. C. Smith, S.

Kirkham, and Wells, say it is; nor a part of the infinitive mood, as Hart and many others will have it to be, but a distinct _preposition_. (See, in the _Syntax_ of this work, Observations on Rule 18th.) The preterit and the perfect participle are regularly formed by adding _d_ or _ed_, and the imperfect participle, by adding _ing_, to the present.