For each of the following sentences, supply the person, number
and tense of the highlighted weak verb (but remember that
finite verbs sometimes are not marked for person—see
Introduction to Old English §7.1.1 for details); then
translate the sentence.. All of the verbs for this exercise
are in the indicative mood.
Don’t take the scoring of this exercise too seriously: of
course a computer program can’t do a good job of evaluating a
translation.
Þēos bōc seġð þæt Hrōðgār gōd cyning
wǣre.
Ġehȳrst þū þā wēdende wulfas?
Þā wigan āwēston
eall þæt hīe mētton.
Hwæt leornodest þū be þām steorrum?
Þis hūs þynċð mē swīðe lȳtel.
Hīe wilniað lof and wuldor tō
hæbbenne.
Þā unġelǣredan sōhton wīsdōm, ac hī
næfdon nānne lārēow.
Se hālga wyrċð dæġhwamlīċe wundra.
Þā wīċingas lǣddon þone biscop mid him
tō scipum.
Iċ ġehȳre þā weras sprecan.
Ēadwīġ brōhte hǣðene þēawas innan
þissum lande.
Iċ þē secge þæt Adam wæs se ǣresta
man.
Se þeġn lǣfde his suna sweord and
byrnan.
Be ðissum wē habbað on ōðerre stōwe
āwriten.
Ūs scamað þæt wē drēogað swelċe yrmðe.
Iosue ġewan ðā burh and ðone cyning ofslōh and
ācwealde his folc.
Se wælhrēowa ealdorman blissode on
earmra manna sleġe.
Hē hæfð his mēde his mōdes gōdnesse.
Sēo ēadiġe Marie hæfde swā hwīte sāwle
swā snāw.
Þūhte him tō hrēowliċ þæt man swā ġeongne man
ācwealde.
te01
The verb is (ġe)secgan ‘to say’. For the use of the
subjunctive in the noun clause, see Introduction to Old
English §7.10.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te01
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and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te02
The verb is (ġe)hȳran ‘to hear’. The verb
wēdan, not in the glossary, means ‘go mad, rampage’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te02
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to your instructor.
te03
The verb (ġe)mētan is our word ‘meet’, but it has
some meanings not in Modern English. Āwēstan, not in
the glossary, is ‘lay waste’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te03
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to your instructor.
te04
The verb is (ġe)leornian ‘to learn’. Can you tell the
class of the verb from the infinitive?
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te04
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te05
This extremely common verb is þynċan ‘to seem’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te05
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te06
The verb wilnian means ‘to desire, wish’. It can take
a noun or an inflected infinitive to express what is
desired.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te06
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te07
The verb (ġe)sēċan is very common: it means ‘to
seek’. For the negative form næfdon, see
Introduction to Old English §7.8.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te07
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te08
The verb (ġe)wyrċan gives us modern ‘work’, but a
number of its Old English meanings have been lost.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te08
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te09
The verb (ġe)lǣdan is our ‘lead’; it is often used
where Modern English uses ‘bring’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te09
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te10
Here is the verb (ġe)hȳran again. For the
construction with accusative weras and the infinitive
sprecan, see Introduction to Old English
§7.9.1.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te10
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te11
The common verbs (ġe)bringan, (ġe)brenġan ‘to
bring’ are somewhat anomalous in that strong
(ġe)bringan is usual in the present tense and weak
(ġe)brenġan in the past.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te11
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and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
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te12
Here is another form of (ġe)secgan ‘say’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te12
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te13
This verb is lǣfan ‘to leave’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te13
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te14
The extremely common verb habban belongs to the third
weak class. You should memorize its various forms early on in
your study of Old English.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te14
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te15
This verb is scamian ‘to shame’. As used here it is
impersonal: the person who is ashamed is its object rather
than its subject.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te15
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te16
The verb ācwellan means ‘to slay’. This sentence is
adapted from a translation of the biblical Book of Joshua.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te16
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te17
This verb is blissian ‘rejoice’. The noun
sleġe, not in the glossary, means ‘beating, slaying’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te17
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te18
Here is another form of the verb habban. The noun
gōdness is not in the glossary, but you can probably
figure it out for yourself.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te18
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and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
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te19
Another form of habban. The construction swā
. . . swā ‘as . . . as’ is commonly used in comparisons
(see Introduction to Old English §10.4).
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te19
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and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
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te20
Another form of the verb þynċan. The adjective
hrēowliċ, not in the glossary, means ‘sad, cruel’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te20
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and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
Congratulations on finishing the exercise on weak verbs! If
you earned fewer than 64 points, review Introduction to
Old English §7.1.1 and §7.3 and then try this exercise
again.