ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

ETYMOLOGY-continued.

CHAP. V.-The Verb.

189. THE name given in the Latin language to this part of speech, and which has een adopted in England with very little change, indicates, as already mentioned (Par. 8, p. 8), that it was considered as the word, that is, the principal or most important of le parts of speech. In speaking or in writing, we most usually desire to assert someing, and the verb is the word by which we do that. Indeed, commands and questions ave been represented by grammarians as abbreviated forms of assertion. Perhaps it is ying too much to call the verb the principal word; for the word denoting that about hich we affirm something is a very leading word, as well as the word which makes the firmation. Undoubtedly the noun and verb are the two most important words. [oreover, these two can form a complete sentence of themselves, which no other two words n do; and every sentence must contain a verb and a noun, or its substitute the proun (Par. 39, p. 8). But, although the noun rivals the verb in point of usefulness or portance, there is one point in which it must give precedence to the verb-the fficulty of acquiring a knowledge of it. The facts relating to the noun are few and mple compared with those to be learned of the verb.-And we must here warn the ader that we are now entering upon the most formidable part of Grammar, and solicit s close and patient attention.-There are many different kinds of verbs; each is vided into a number of distinct parts, and has a variety of inflections; and different rbs are joined together, thereby forming a vast variety of compound verbs. Thus, to ke an example from the verb "to write," we have the following various forms in which is used:-To write, write, writes, wrote, writing, written; besides writest and wrotest, >w seldom used: and its various combinations with other verbs, as, did write, have ritten, will write, is writing, is written, may write, may be writing, may have written, &c. 190. We shall consider the verb under two heads—first, the different kinds of verbs, condly, the inflections and various parts of verbs.

1. Different kinds of Verbs.

191. In classifying a number of objects, we may adopt several different principles arrangement, under each of which the same objects will recur, but considered in ferent aspects. Thus, the people of any town may be arranged as men, women, and ildren ;-male and female;-under and above twenty years of age;-in many other sses according to age ;-upper, middle, and lower classes;-natives of the town, migrants into it; and so on. In like manner, verbs may be classified according to eral different features which they present; and to understand them fully it is necesy to consider them from various points of view.

192. Verbs may be divided first into simple and compound verbs.

193. A simple verb consists of a single word; as, I read the book; She writes atly; they walked quickly; he is there; the birds flew.

194. A compound verb consists of two or more verbs used together; as, He has n unwell; She has been writing; he might have been hurt.

195. In the ancient languages the radical form of the verb was subjected to a great iety of inflections, to express the various circumstances under which the action, or te described by the verb, was spoken of. In the modern languages, for the most part, verb has few inflections; and combinations of verbs (as in the preceding paragraph) employed in place of inflections. In the Latin language the expressions-I love ;

VOL. I.-NO. V.

F

I did love; I have loved; I had loved; I shall love; are given each by the single words, a'mo (the radical form), ama bam, ama’vi, ama’veram, ama’bo.

196. Verbs may be divided, next, into transitive, intransitive, and passive verbs. 197. A verb is considered transitive when it means some action which passes on to a noun or pronoun immediately following it; as, I love him; he has the book; she wrote a letter; they sang an anthem; he sent us away; Jane carried the child; John threw a stone; I saw the moon last night. Thus, when a verb is used transitively, the nominative or subject does something to an object. In the above instances, the action of loving is done to him, of writing-to a letter, of singing—to an anthem, of sending-to us, of carrying-to the child, of throwing-to the stone, of seeing-to the moon.

198. A verb is considered intransitive when there is no action, or when the action is confined to the subject or nominative, and does not require a noun or pronoun follow immediately; as, I am; she sits; they stand; the child sleeps; the dog runs; boys walk; they sang very well; he sent for us. In each of the first four of the examples, there is no action; the nominative or subject is simply described as in a certain state or condition. In each of the last four examples there is an action or some thing done by the subject; but there is no object which has something done to it the verb. In the last example there is an object, but it does not follow the verb ima diately. "Us" does not mean the person sent; it is made in the objective case, but by the preposition "for," not by the verb "sent." In the sentence, "he sent her for the verb is used transitively; an action is performed on an object "her."

199. The intransitive verb may be neuter, when it simply describes a state of be as in the first four of the preceding examples; or active, when it describes an act confined to the subject or nominative, as in the last four examples.

200. The verb used transitively is easily known in this way; it makes sense the objective case of a pronoun immediately after it, as in several of the preced examples.

201. The derivation of the words "transitive" and "intransitive," illustrates the meaning. They are from the Latin. The word transitive may be divided into the parts, as follows-trans-it-ive; trans, signifying over or across; it, signifying going passing; and ive, a termination forming an adjective; it is an adjective applied something that passes over or across to some other thing, it is thus applied to a re denoting an action, which passes from the actor to the object. When we say, "Ja struck James," we speak of an action passing from John to James. When we say, "J saw James," although there is not a distinct effect produced upon James, as by a hi when he is struck, still, as he is an object seen, we consider that the action of seeing been done to him, and view "saw" as transitive when used in this manner. The wor intransitive signifies not transitive, and may be dividd as follows-in-trans-it-ive; the before an adjective meaning not.

202. In the following lines the transitive verbs are in italics, the intransitive ve in small capitals :

"For ivy climbs the crumbling hall,

To decorate decay;

And spreads its dark deceitful pall,

To hide what wastes away.

And wine will CIRCLE round the brain,

As ivy o'er the brow,

Till what could once SEE far as stars,

Is dark as death's eye now."-FESTUS.

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203. Some intransitive verbs may be used transitively in a peculiar sense, taki an object after them; as, John ran a race; he walked his horse, that is, caused horse to walk; Go thy way; they stood fire bravely; may we live the life, and die tr death of the righteous." The words race, horse, way, fire, life, death, in the precedin examples, are in the objective case, being so placed by the verbs preceding them.

204. A verb is said to be passive when the nominative (or subject) is acted upo

or in a state produced by something else; as, John was hurt; the letter is written; they have been taught; she was comforted; William was sent. A passive verb is always a compound verb in the English language, and consists of a certain part of some transitive verb used along with one of the words am, is, are, was, were, been, be; i. e. with some part of the verb "to be."

205. It will be observed, that in the passive verbs the nominative, or subject, has something done to it, as in the examples just given: hurting to John, writing to the letter, teaching to them, comforting to her, and sending to William. The examples in Par. 197, showing a transitive verb with an object following it in the objective case, may be turned so that the object shall be in the nominative case, by using a passive verb; thus, for "I love him," we may say, "he is loved by me;" for "They sang an anthem," ," "an anthem was sung by them;" for "Jane carried the child," "the child was carried by Jane;" and so on.

206. The scene represented in the following cut illustrates the transitive verb, the intransitive verb active, the intransitive verb neuter, and the passive verb.

The coachman sits on the box, and WHIPS the horses, which GALLOP, and PULL the vehicle rapidly. The guard stands behind at his ease, and BLOWS the horn; but the passengers are not so much at their ease they [are alarmed], for they THINK that the vehicle [may be upset] at the turn at the foot of the hill, and that they [may be hurt] or [killed]. "That they may be" is understood before "killed." The transitive verbs are in large capitals, the intransitive active verbs in small capitals, the intransitive neuter verbs in italics, and the passive verbs within brackets.

207. Verbs may also be divided into principal and auxiliary verbs.

208. A principal verb is one that can be used by itself; as, The ship sails quickly; Henry wrote a letter; she walked quickly. An auxiliary verb is a verb used along with a principal verb, to express some circumstances of time or manner with greater precision than can be done by the principal verb alone: as, He will sail to-morrow; Henry should write a letter; she has walked too quickly. The principal verb is almost always placed last when it is used along with auxiliary verbs; it expresses the leading action or state spoken of, and is therefore considered the principal verb used. In the examples given in Par. 195, each expresses something about "loving," which is the idea common to them all. The differences in meaning are expressed by the auxiliary verbs in the English language, by inflections of the principal verb in the Latin. Hence the name "auxiliary," or "helping" verbs.

209. The auxiliary verbs are-be, do, have, shall, will, may, can, ought, must. But be, do, and have, are also used as principal verbs; as, He is there; they did well; I have the book.

210. The simple English verb is divided into two principal parts, Moods and Participles. The word "mood" is derived from the Latin word modus, a manner or

mode, and is applied in grammar to express the manner in which the leading idea of the verb is used.

211. The radical form of the verb with the word "to" before it, expresses the action or state denoted by the verb in the most general manner, giving the name of the action or state, without saying anything definite about it; as, To love, to write, I am going to walk. Hence, this is called the infinitive mood, that is, the mood which gives the idea indefinitely. It may be used as a noun, and as a nominative to another verb; as, To fly is beyond the power of man. (See Pars. 73 and 110).

212. When the verb is used to assert positively, or to ask a question, it is said to be in the indicative mood; (from the Latin indico-I point out) as, He writes; I saw ; lovest thou him? where is he?

213. When it is stated that in a certain condition or contingency something may happen, the verb expressing the contingency or condition, is said to be in the conditional mood (called also subjunctive conjunctive); as, If I were in London, I should certainly go to see the Crystal Palace. Here it is not said that the person spoken of is in London, nor positively that he will be there, nor that he has been there, nor is he commanded to go there; but simply, that, in the event of his being there, something else would happen. The verb that expresses an action or state as a condition in this manner, is considered in the conditional mood, and may be known by having a conjunction-such as if, or though, placed before it.*

214. When we use a verb to give a command, it is said to be in the imperative mood, from the Latin impero-I command; as, Write to him to-morrow; go away. The nominative case of the pronoun of the second person, is the subject (understood or expressed) to a verb in the imperative mood.

215. The Participles are parts of the verb which participate in the nature of both verbs and adjectives; from which their name is derived. They end mostly in ing or ed; give the idea of the action or state conveyed by the verb, but without making an assertion; and are used as adjectives, or along with other verbs to form compound verbs; as, He is writing; the letter is written; they have gone away; she sent a written message; he was murdered; they found the body of the murdered man. The participle ending in ing may be used as a noun. In the example of the infinitive used as a noun at the end of Par. 211, we might substitute flying for to fly.

216. It will be thus observed that the verb, besides the parts which are employed in its great office of asserting, has forms which may be used as adjectives-the participles; and forms which can be used as nouns and as nominatives-the infinitive mood, and the participle ending in ing.

217. The indicative and conditional moods are divided into parts called tenses, (from the French tems-time) to denote the time at which the state or action is spoken f. In the simple English verb there are two tenses, the present tense, indicating that the action or state is going on at the present time-the past tense, indicating a former action or state. I learn, I am, I see, I write denote present states or actions, and are therefore in the present tense. I learned, I was, I saw, I wrote-indicate states or actions past, and are therefore considered as in the past tense.

218. The participles also are different according to the times to which they refer. There are two; the present participle, denoting an action or state going on, and always ending in ing; as, seeing, hearing, walking, running; and the past participle, denoting an action or state as finished, generally ending in ed; as, loved, described, seen, written. In the formation of the participles, when the radical form ends in a single e,

* Many grammarians reject the Conditional mood altogether, as Dr. Reid (of Edinburgh), from whose excellent Rudiments of English Grammar we make the following extract:-" That form of the verb, which expresses a condition or contingency on which an affirmation depends, is sometimes called the Subjunctive mood; as, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him :' a mode of expression which is evidently elliptical, and may be thus rendered, Though he should slay me, yet will I trust in him.'" But we cannot explain away the undoubted Conditional mood of the verb "to be" in this manner; and as the Conditional mood of other verbs is analogous to it, we may as well admit it as a distinct and separate form, even although it is capable of another construction being given to it.

it is dropped before ing for the present participle, and d only is added for the past participle; as, love, loving, loved.

219. Each tense has two numbers, the singular and the plural; as, He sees, they see; and each number has three parts, called persons, the first, second, and third; as, I see, thou seest, he sees. These correspond with the first, second, and third persons of the pronouns, singular and plural, forming six persons in each tense, to agree with the nominative or subject, which must be the person speaking (first person), the person spoken to (second person), or the person or thing spoken of (third person).

220. Thus in the simple verb, we have to consider mood, tense, number, and person. But there is not a different inflection for each of these parts in the English verb. The same form is used for several persons, tenses, or moods; we say, I love, you love, we love, they love; and the only inflections in that tense are for the second person singular (old form), thou lovest, and the third person singular, he loves. In the Latin language there is a different inflection for each of these six; as, A'mo (I love); a'mas (thou lovest); a'mat (he loves); ama'mus (we love); ama'tis (ye or you love); a'mant (they love). Thus the English verb is of comparatively simple structure. It has been observed, that it might be still further simplified with advantage-that as we have the noun or pronoun of the third person to mark when the third person is meant (in the singular), the addition of the s is unnecessary—that a distinction in the verb for the third person is not required in the singular more than in the plural, where there is no such distinction.

221. The simple English verb may be regular, irregular, or defective.

222. A verb is said to be regular when it forms its past tense and past participle in ed, by adding d to the radical form if it ends in e, and ed in other cases; as, love, loved; walk, walked. As this is the most general mode of forming the past tense and past participle, it is considered to be the regular form, and other modes are viewed as irregular.

223. A verb is said to be irregular when the past tense and past participle are formed in any other mode than by adding d or ed to the radical form; as, See, saw (past tense); seen (past participle); write, wrote (past tense); written (past participle).

224. Some grammarians prefer to apply the terms weak and strong to regular and irregular verbs, the regular verb being viewed as weak, because an addition must be made to it (d or ed) to form the past tense; while the irregular verb is considered strong, as it makes the change within itself by merely altering the vowel. Verbs of the strong class generally form the past participle in en; as, take, taken; speak, spoken; steal, stolen. Some verbs which are irregular nevertheless belong to the weak class; as, weep, wept; creep, crept; leave, left; in which the past tenses are mere abbreviations of weeped, creeped, and leaved.

225. The defective verb wants one or more of the parts enumerated; as must, ought, can.

HISTORICAL COINCIDENCE.-The Romish festival called the "Regifugium," or flight of the king, was held on the 24th of February, in commemoration of the flight of Tarquin, the last Roman king, and the establishment of the Roman Republic, A.c. 510. On the anniversary of this Republican epoch, Louis Philippe was banished from France, and the French Republic proclaimed. Varro says it was the last day of the Roman year. It was also the day that gave its name to the Leap year: the year of Louis's flight was also Leap year, 1848; and the 23rd of February, or second day of the Revolution, was the intercalary day. In ancient Rome, the feast of Regifugium was preceded by that of the Terminalia (or feast of the God of Boundaries, or terminations), on the 22nd. The modern Terminalia was also held on the 22nd, which we may be allowed to call the Terminal Banquet Day of the French Opposition, and the beginning of the Revolution.