NiwEnglisc/Appendix 5

Verbs

New Englisc verbs can be classified as weak or strong based on whether the vowel changes in the past tense or not.

With its Anglo-Saxon origin, this notion is also present in English.

flip, flipped, flipped
sing, sang, sung

Weak: wenden, wendete, gewendt Strong: drinken, drank, gedrunken

Present Tense

The present tense of verbs in Niw Englisc should be familiar to anyone who might have read Chaucer or Shakespeare. The older endings 'est' and 'eth' are present in Niw Englisc, much as they are in modern German (as 'st' and 't')

_	sg.	pl.
Ic	drinke	drinkeþ
þu	drinkst	drinkeþ
he/scie/it	drinkþ	drinkeþ

This translates the modern English: I drink, I do drink, I am drinking. There is really no analogous construction to these forms in Niw Englisc. The closest is the am -oþ/-en construction:

Ic em am Huntoþ - I'm hunting. Ic em am Surfen - I'm surfing.

This is not too often used, as the simple verb gives the same meaning, but this form indicates that the activity has been going on for some time, and will continue to occur for at least some time into the future.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are those verbs that can take an infinitive as an object without a to beforehand. One example is "I can go" versus "I like to go" - can is a modal, while like is not.

kunnen - can

_	sg.	pl.
Ic	kann	kunneþ
þu	kannst	kunneþ
he/scie/it	kann	kunneþ

This verb means 'can' in the sense that you can do something because you have the knowledge to do it. Alone, it can mean 'to know, be acquainted with'

magen - can

_	sg.	pl.
Ic	mag	mageþ
þu	magst	mageþ
he/scie/it	mag	mageþ

This verb means 'can' in the sense that you can do something because you have the physical ability to do it. Alone, it can mean 'to be effective against' with the preposition 'wiþ.'

þurfen - need

Present tense:

_	sg.	pl.
Ic	þarf	þurfeþ
þu	þarfst	þurfeþ
he/scie/it	þarf	þurfeþ

Ic þarf - I need to

Þu þarfst - You need to

He/Scie/It þarf - He/She/It needs to

We þurfeþ - We need to

Ȝe þurfeþ - You (plural) need to

Hje þurfeþ - They need to

Þarf ic anen Freond tom Fest bringen? Do I need to bring a friend to the party?

Past tense:

Ich þurfte

Du þurftest

He/Scie/It þurfte

We þurften

Ȝe þurften

Hje þurften