Have, Had (contr. of Haved); Hang, Hung; also Hanged, or regular; Hear, Heard (contr. of Heared); Held, Hold; Keep, Kept (contr, of Keeped); Lay, Laid (contr, of Layed); Lead, Led; Leave, Left; Lend, Lent; Lose, Lost; Make, Made; Meet, Met; Pay, Paid (contr. of Payed); Say, Said (contr. of Sayed); Seek, Sought; Send, Sent; Shoe, Shod; Shoot, Shot; Shrink, Shrunk; Sing, Sung; Sink, Sunk; Sit, Sat; Sleep, Slept; Sling, Slung; Slink, Slunk; Speed, Sped; Spend, Spent; Spill, Spilt, also Spilled; Spin, Spun; Stand, Stood; Stick, Stuck; Sting, Stung; Stink, Stunk; String, Strung; Swing, Swung; Teach, Taught; Tell, Told (contr. of Telled); Think, Thought; Weep, Wept.

3. Those which have two or more anomalous terminations: as, I begin, I began, I have begun; Begin, Began, Begun; Know, Knew, Known; .Rise, Rose, Risen; Arise, Arose, Arisen; Blow, Blew, Blown; Awake, Awoke (also Awaked), Awaken; Bear (to bring forth), Bare, Born; Bear (to carry), Bore, Borne; Begin, Began, Begun; Bid, Bade, also Bad and Bid, Bidden, also Bid; Break, Broke, Broken; Choose, Chose, Chosen; Cleave, Clove or Cleft, Cloven or Cleft; Come, Came, Come; Dare, Durst, Dared; Do, Did, Done; Draw, Drew, Drawn; Drive, Drove, Driven; Drink, Drank, Drunk; Eat, Ate, Eaten; Fall, Fell, Fallen; Fly, Flew, Flown; Forsake, Forsook, Forsaken; Freeze, Froze, Frozen; Give, Gaye, Given; Go, Went, Gone; Grow, Grew, Grown; Knew, Know, Known;

Ring, Rang, or Rung; Run, Ran, Run; See, Saw, Seen; Shake, Shook, Shaken; Slay, Slew, Slain Slide, Slid, Slidden; Smite, Smote, Smitten; Speak, Spoke, Spoken; Spit, Spat, Spit or Spitten; Spring, Sprang, Sprung; Steal, Stole, Stolen; Stride, Strode or Strid, Stridden; Strive, Strove, Striven; Swear, Swore, Sworn; Swim, Swam, Swum; Take, Took, Taken; Tear, Tore, Torn; Throw, Threw, Thrown; Tread, Trod, Trodden; Wear, Wore, Worn; Weave, Wove, Woven; Write, Wrote, Written.

The reader may compare these irregular verbs with the exhibition of them in a former part of the work, where it is proposed to render them regular. Pronouns and nouns, when combined with verbs, are commonly distinguished into number and

We are, first person plural.

Ye or You are, second person plural.

person:

Thou is obsolete, except in prayer and among the

Quakers, and in jocular or contemptuous speech; for instead of saying thou art, thou mayest, thou lovest, &c., when addressing one person we say, you are, you may, you love. But in prayer to God we say, thou art, thou mayest, thou wast, thou lovest, &c.

DIRECTIONS CONCERNING THE SUBSTANTIVE VERB.

UNGRAMMATIC people are apt to say, I be, Thou be, He be, We be, You be, They be; instead of, I am, Thou art, He is, We are, You are, They are.

There is seldom any mistake made by persons who are at all accustomed to grammatic language except in the third person; in which the greatest grammatic proficients are apt to blunder, particularly in extemporaneous speaking, when their sentences are long and intricate; employing is for are and are for is, and was for were, or were for was.

Grammatic etiquette admits of this plain rule. When one object is spoken of, is for the present, and was for the past, must be employed: when two or more objects are spoken of, are for the present, and were for the past, must be employed. Thus,

Man is a rational creature: he is the natural lord of the lower animals, which are commonly called irrational; but he is mortal as well as they are, and some of them are longer lived than he is. Plato and Aristotle are two of the most ancient philosophers whose writings are extant; but neither the one nor

the other is to be compared with some modern philosophers.

Some persons blunder by using were instead of was: thus, I were at London yesterday, he were in the country last week, for, I was in London yesterday, he was in the country last week. But the most common grammatic error is in employing was instead of were: as, we was there, you was there, they was there, for we were, you were, they were.

The following are instances of grammatic inaccuracy: the improper words are put in Italics.

Was we wrong? Was you there? Was they here? Was the ancients well acquainted with science? Was Plato and Aristotle truly great philosophers? There is many authors in the present time. There are some kind of writings which is wholly destitute of merit when tried by the test of utility; which are the true standard of excellence. The mechanism of clocks and watches were wholly unknown a few centuries ago. Folly and vice is often united. There was more equivocators than one.

The substantive verb being of frequent recurrence, the grammatic learner should practise much upon it to acquire a correct habit; keeping this obvious principle steadily in view as to the third person, viz. When one object is spoken of, is or was, not are or were, must be used: when two or more objects are spoken of, are or were, not is or was, must be used; i. e. when the nominative to the verb is singular, is

and was must be employed; but when the nominative is plural, are and were must be employed.

The following are examples of false grammar.

The smiles of counterfeit friendship is to be suspected; it should be, are to be suspected. The number of the inhabitants of Great Britain are greatly increased of late years; is greatly increased. Nothing but vain and foolish pursuits are agreeable to some persons-is agreeable. There is many occasions in life in which silence and reserve is true wisdom; it should be are. There are many an occasion in life in which silence or reserve are true wisdom it should be is; because many an occasion is one entity or a singular nominative; as, also, silence or reserve; for every disconnective word (neither, nor, either, or, &c.) has just the opposite effect of a connective word, such as and. The business that related to ecclesiastical meetings, matters, and persons, were to be ordered according to the king's direction,

was. The affairs belonging to the church, was to be ordered by the king,-were. In him was happily blended true dignity and affability,were. In him were happily blended true dignity with affability, was. The conjunction and connects two or more singular nouns or pronouns into a plural nominative ; but with, besides, as well as, and such words do not connect two or more singular nouns and pronouns into a plural nominative. The support of so many of his relations were a heavy tax upon his industry,