Germanic Strong Verb - Conjugation

Conjugation

As an example of the conjugation of a strong verb, we may take the Old English class 2 verb bēodan, "to command" (cf. English "bid").

This has the following forms:

While the inflections are more or less regular, the vowel changes in the stem are not predictable without an understanding of the Indo-European ablaut system, and students have to learn the principal parts by heart: bēodan, bīett, bēad, budon, boden. The five principal parts are:

1. The infinitive: bēodan. The same vowel is used through most of the present tense.
2. The present tense 3rd singular: bīett. The same vowel is used in the 2nd singular.
3. The preterite 1st singular (from the PIE (Proto-Indo-European language) perfect): bēad, which is identical to the 3rd singular.
4. The preterite plural: budon. The same vowel is used in the 2nd singular.
5. The past participle (from the PIE verbal noun): boden. This vowel is used only in the participle.

Strictly speaking, in this verb ablaut causes only a threefold distinction: parts 1 and 2 are from the e-grade, part 3 from the o-grade, and parts 4 and 5 from the zero grade. The other two distinctions are caused by different kinds of regressive metaphony: part 2, when it is distinct at all, is always derived from part 1 by Umlaut. In some verbs, part 5 is a discrete ablaut grade, but in this class 2 verb it is derived from part 4 by an a-mutation.