Irregular verb

“ Somebody says that if we learn the irregular verbs of a language first, all will be well. I think by the use of considerable mental agility one can generally avoid them altogether, although it materially reduces one’s vocabulary ”

“ With a sigh, it sees itself incessantly forced away from its infinite divine task of perfecting 'the Theory of Irregular Verbs,'—to finite terrestrial tasks, which latter have still a significance for us. ”

“ I am prepared to prove, were it consistent with the nature of this work, that nineteen-twentieths of all the corruptions of our language, for five hundred years past, have been introduced by authors—men who have made alterations in particular idioms which they did not understand. The same remark is applicable to the orthography and pronunciation. The tendency of unlettered men is to uniformity—to analogy; and so strong is this disposition, that the common people have actually converted some of our irregular verbs into regular ones. ”

“ Went (at least in its current sense) is without a present. The two words, however, compensate their mutual deficiencies, and are to each other complementary.
The distinction between defectiveness and irregularity, is the first instrument of criticism for coming to true views concerning the proportion of the regular and irregular verbs. ”

“ The senseless superfluity of declensions and conjugations, the needless variety in the methods of forming the plural, the inordinate perplexity of the irregular verbs, are only a few of the evidences to be noted of the striking deficiency in logical and classifying power which, amid all their unquestioned excellences, the earlier Aryan languages everywhere betray. ”

“ Irregular Verbs.
It is principally in the future tense that the inflexions of the irregular verbs in Early Modern Usage differ from the forms now generally used.
Future Tense 1. (no termination) am (‐maoid) . 2. air taoi. 3. a aid. The following verbs took no inflexion in the 3rd person singular of the present time. ”

“ But the grand fault, the glaring impropriety, committed by "all ranks and conditions of men," rich [65] and poor, high and low, illiterate and learned,—except, perhaps, one in twenty,—and from which not even the pulpit or the bar is totally free,—is, the substitution of the active verb lay for the neuter verb lie (to lie down) . The scholar knows that "active verbs govern the objective case," and therefore demand an objective case after them; and that neuter verbs will not admit an objective case after them, except through the medium of a preposition. ”

“ Here it will be perceived that the pronouns "one," "each," "every," "either," are the true nominatives to the verbs; but the intervening noun in the plural number, in each sentence, deludes the ear, and the speaker, without reflection, renders the verb in the plural instead of the singular number. The same error is often committed when no second noun appears to plead an apology for the fault; as, "Each city have their peculiar privileges," "Everybody has a right to look after their [64] own interest," "Either are at liberty to claim it." ”

“ The word itself is only another name for our ignorance of the processes that change words; and, as irregularity [240] is in the direct proportion to the exclusiveness of our rules, the exclusiveness of our rules is in the direct proportion to our ignorance of etymological processes.
§ 326. The explanation of some fresh terms will lead us towards the definition of the word irregular.
Vital and obsolete processes.—The word moved is formed from move, by the addition of -d. The addition of -d is the process by which the present form is rendered præterite. ”

“ OBS. 2.—Most neuter verbs of the passive form, such as, "am grown, art become, is lain, are flown, are vanished, are departed, was sat, were arrived," may now be considered errors of conjugation, or perhaps of syntax. In the verb, to be mistaken, there is an irregularity which ought to be particularly noticed. When applied to persons, this verb is commonly taken in a neuter sense, and signifies, to be in error, to be wrong; as, "I am mistaken, thou art mistaken, he is mistake." But, when used of things, it is a proper passive verb, and signifies, to be misunderstood, or to be taken wrong ”

“ It is not from wild beasts, but from untamed passions, that the greatest evils arise to human society.
158
We think the omission of a comma after “is,” thus suspending the negative group beginning with “not,” is justified, if at all, by the fact that such a sentence is usually read without a pause after the verb; in other words, the language thus readily groups itself, and shows the meaning and the force of the negative intermediate group.
Not a few good writers use a comma before “not” in sentences like No. 86. ”

“ It is probable that this error has originated in the circumstance of the present tense of the verb "to lay" being conjugated precisely like the imperfect tense of the verb "to lie," for they are alike in orthography and sound, and different only in meaning; and in order to remedy the evil which this resemblance seems to have created, I have conjugated at full length the simple tenses of the two verbs, hoping the exposition may be found useful; for it is an error which must be corrected by all who aspire to the merit of speaking their own language well. ”

“ Some good exemplifications of this fallacy are given by Archbishop Whately. "One case," says he, "which may be regarded as coming under the head of Ambiguous Middle, is (what I believe logical writers mean by Fallacia Figuræ Dictionis) the fallacy built on the grammatical structure of language, from men's usually taking for granted that paronymous (or conjugate) words, i.e., those belonging to each other, as the substantive, adjective, verb, etc., of the same root, have a precisely corresponding meaning; which is by no means universally the case. ”

“ When a Verb with its Accusative case, is equivalent to a single verb, it may take this accusative after it in the passive voice; as, 'This has been put an end to.'"--Fowler's English Language, 8vo, §552. Now what is this, but an effort to teach bad English by rule?--and by such a rule, too, as is vastly more general than even the great class of terms which it was designed to include? And yet this rule, broad as it is, does not apply at all to the example given! For "put an end," without the important word "to," is not equivalent to stop or terminate. Nor is the example right. ”

“ When this is done, error is often made by using the wrong number of the verb. Each, either, neither, this, that, and one, when used alone as subjects, require singular verbs. All, those, these, few, many, always require plural verbs. Any, none, and some may take either singular or plural verbs. In most of these cases, as is true throughout the subject of agreement in number, reason will determine the form to be used.
Some nouns in a plural form express quantity rather than number. When quantity is plainly intended the singular verb should be used. ”

“ When language has once created a particular mould it is very liable to run all manner of words into it. This is what is meant by the action of false analogy in speech. Words, forms, and significations which ought to have been kept apart are erroneously made like one another; the instinct of imitation and the desire to save trouble combine to exclude the irregular from language, and to force all exceptions under a uniform rule. ”

“ Inasmuch as, concurrently with building for the active participle, and being built for the corresponding passive participle, we possessed the former, with is prefixed, as the active present imperfect, it is in rigid accordance with the symmetry of our verb that, to construct the passive present-imperfect, we prefix is to the latter, producing the form is being built. Such, in its greatest simplicity, is the procedure which, as will be seen, has provoked a very levanter of ire and vilification. But anything that is new will be excepted to by minds of a certain order. ”

“ We have little occasion to wonder at the errors and mistakes of grammar makers, when our lexicographers tell us for sober truth, that to act, to be in action, not to rest, to be in motion, to move, is v. n. a verb neuter, signifying no action!! or v. i. verb intransitive, producing no effects; and that a "neuter verb expresses (active transitive verb) a state of being!! There are few minds capable of adopting such premises, and drawing therefrom conclusions which are rational or consistent. Truth is rarely elicted from error, beauty from deformity, or order from confusion. ”

“ This last error points to a very common anomaly in grammar; one which seems almost to have become a rule, or, at any rate, a license in Shakespeare’s own time, that a verb shall agree in number with the nominative intervening between the true governing noun and the verb. ”

“ Humbler people yielded through fear of offence; and the practice extended, in time, to all ranks of society: so that at present the customary mode of familiar as well as complimentary address, is altogether plural; both the verb and the pronoun being used in that form. [237] This practice, which confounds one of the most important distinctions of the language, affords a striking instance of the power of fashion. It has made propriety itself seem improper. But shall it be allowed, in the present state of things, to confound our conjugations and overturn our grammar? ”

“ Such a theory is at war with the first principles of philosophy, and denies that "like causes produce like effects."
The ablest minds have never been able to explain the foundation of a "neuter verb," or to find a single word, with a solitary exception, which does not, in certain conditions, express a positive action, and terminate on a definite object; and that exception we shall see refers to a verb which expresses the highest degree of conceivable action. ”

“ All the auxiliaries, except do, be, and have, if we compare them with other verbs, are defective; but, as auxiliaries, they lack nothing; for no complete verb is used throughout as an auxiliary, except be. And since an auxiliary differs essentially from a principal verb, the propriety of referring may, can, must, and shall, to the class of defective verbs, is at least questionable. In parsing there is never any occasion to call them defective verbs, because they are always taken together with their principals. ”

“ Every word has its own value and nearly all our mistakes arise from lack of regard for the exact value of the words to be used.
Where a participial construction is used as the object of a verb, the noun or pronoun in the object should be in the possessive case and not in the objective. You should not say, "I object to him watching me," but "I object to his watching me."
Care should be taken not to give objects to passive verbs. The very common expression "The man was given a [Pg 15] chance" is incorrect. It should be "A chance was given to the man." ”

“ The most frequent errors result from using laid, the past tense form of the transitive verb, when the word lay, the past tense form of the intransitive verb, should be used. The ear naturally expects the usual past tense ending of the d or t sound, and as that is absent in the past tense of lie, the past tense form of the other verb is substituted. For the same reason the participle form laid is often incorrectly used for lain. ”

“ We have to fix our attention on the functions of words, as we did not in a simpler language, for a whole row of words goes to make up an adjective, and dependent sentences are constantly taking the place of simple words. Insight there must be to see what are dependent sentences, and then the whole paraphernalia of rules about certain conjunctions which require the verb to be sent to the end vanish too and we move freely. ”

“ If the father pays pay the debt, he will be released. Though Mary be is young, she is a writer of note. Unless he takes take better care of his health, he will die. If he be is honest, he has not shown it. If he be is honest, he will insist on paying me. If he ever tell tells the truth, he conceals the fact. 61. Agreement of Verb with its Subject. The verb should agree with its subject in person and number. The most frequent error is the failure of the verb to agree in number with its subject. Singular subjects are used with plural verbs, and plural subjects with singular verbs. ”

“ Hear Campbell: "When a verb is used impersonally, it ought undoubtedly to be in the singular number, whether the neuter pronoun be expressed or understood: and when no nominative in the sentence can regularly be construed with the verb, it ought to be considered as impersonal. For this reason, analogy as well as usage favour [say favours] this mode of expression, 'The conditions of the agreement were as follows;' and not 'as follow.' A few late writers have inconsiderately adopted this last form through a mistake of the construction. ”

“ These always double the l in the derivative, whether the last syllable of the root be accented or not. The verb ‘to expél,’ will, by the above rule, naturally make its past tense, ‘expelled;’ but why should ‘trável’ give ‘traveller,’ or ‘équal,’ ‘equalled?’ These, though universally adopted, are clearly against the principle. Two other words are also exceptions, ‘worship,’ and ‘bias.’ These make ‘worshipped,’ and ‘biassed,’ with double consonants. The Americans refuse to admit these exceptions, and they write ‘traveler,’ ‘equaled,’ ‘worshiped,’ and ‘biased,’ with single consonants. ”