Strong
Verbs
Strong
Verbs
Strong verbs are
always characterized by a change in the stem vowel in the past
tense. There may or may not be a a change of the vowel in the
non-progressive participle. The non-progressive participles is
marked by '-en', '-n', or no ending. The latter tenders to occur
if the verb stem contains a post vocalic nasal consonant, and
'-n' tends to follow a vowel. Otherwise '-en' is selected:
| present/default stem | past stem | non-progressive participle |
| write | wrote | written |
| swim | swam | swum |
| see | saw | seen |
| drink | drank | drunk |
| shear | shore | shorn |
| sing | sang | sung |
| ride | rode | ridden |
| drive | drove | driven |
| speak | spoke | spoken |
| fall | fell | fallen |
| run | ran | run |
| break | broke | broken |
| rise | rose | risen |
| ring | rang | rung |
| wring | wrung | wrung |
| lie | lay (lied) | lain (lied) |
| fly | flew | flown |
| throw | threw | thrown |
| blow | blew | blown |
| draw | drew | drawn |
| shrink | shrank | shrunk |
| bite | bit | bitten |
| win | won | won |
| come | came | come |
| take | took | taken |
| shake | shook | shaken |
| forsake | forsook | forsaken |
| eat | ate | eaten |
| tear | tore | torn |
| bear | bore | borne (born) |
| know | knew | known |
| hang | hung | hung |
| bid | bade | bidden |
| freeze | froze | frozen |
| get | got | gotten |
| sink | sank | sunk |
| spin | spun | spun |
| grow | grew | grown |
| slay | slew | slain |
| thrive | throve (thrived) | thriven (thrived) |
The pattern here is
that there is no affix in the past tense, and the past tense stem
vowel is always different from the present tense stem vowel. The
participle vowel may be the same as the present tense stem vowel,
the past tense stem vowel, or a different vowel altogether.
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