This exercise will make you better acquainted with the
preterite-present verbs (Introduction to Old English
§§7.1.3, 7.6). For each of the following sentences, supply the
person, number and tense of the highlighted 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 the translation tasks too seriously:
of course a computer program can’t do a good job of evaluating
a translation.
Bringað mē eal þæt ġē āgon!
Iċ āh byrnan and gōd sweord.
Ēadgār āhte maniġe þrælas.
Iċ ġeare can þisne cræft.
Ġē ne cūðon mīne sprǣċe understandan.
Se trēowwyrhta dēah þe þās healle ġetimbrode.
Ne dear iċ feohtan onġēan þām entum.
Ne dorste iċ nān ðing wiðcweðan.
Hē ġeman þā þing þe iċ him sǣde.
Nān sceaða ne mæġ his mādmas forstelan.
Iċ wēne þæt þū meaht þisne man ġehǣlan.
Þǣre hālgan fǣmnan līċhoma brosnian ne meahte.
God him ġeūðe þæt hē mōste his fȳnd āfyllan.
Iċ mōt sittan hēr on benċe.
Cyning sceal rīċe healdan.
Ǣlċ man sceolde wær bēon wið his fȳnd.
Dēoflu sceolon on helle wunian.
Ne þearf nān man wēnan miltse fram þisum cyninge.
Ælfred cyning ūðe mē þisses landes.
Þū wāst mīne gyltas and mine dysiġnyssa.
Iċ ne wāt hwǣr þū eart.
Se ċeorl wisse þæt his oxa hnitol wǣre.
Hē wiste witodlīċe hwā hyne sceolde
belǣwan.
te01
The verb is āgan ‘have, possess, own’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te01
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te02
The verb is again āgan.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te02
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te03
And āgan one more time.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te03
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te04
The verb is cunnon, which comes to Modern English as
‘can’, but its sense in Old English is ‘know, know how to’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te04
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te05
The verb is cunnon again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te05
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te06
The verb is dugan ‘be good, do well’—a very useful
word, now unfortunately lost.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te06
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te07
The verb is durran ‘to dare’, which survives as
Modern English ‘dare’, no longer a preterite-present verb.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te07
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te08
The verb is durran again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te08
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te09
The verb is ġemunan ‘to think of, remember’, now
lost.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te09
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te10
The verb is magan, which survives as Modern English
‘may’; in Old English the best translation is usually ‘be
able to’ or ‘can’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te10
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te11
The verb is magan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te11
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te12
The verb is magan once again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te12
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te13
The verb is mōtan, which survives in Modern English
only as ‘must’; it should usually be translated either ‘may’
or ‘must’, depending on the context.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te13
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te14
The verb is mōtan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te14
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te15
The verb sculan comes to Modern English as ‘shall’;
it should usually be translated ‘have to, be obliged to,
must’ or the like.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te15
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te16
The verb is sculan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te16
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te17
And sculan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te17
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te18
The verb is þurfan ‘to have need, have cause’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te18
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te19
The verb is unnan ‘to give, grant’. It takes a
genitive object.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te19
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te20
The verb is witan ‘to know’. It has almost
disappeared from Modern English, but survives in fossilized
form in ‘unwitting’; and its root is alive and well in such
words as ‘wit’ and ‘witness’.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te20
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te21
The verb is witan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te21
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te22
And witan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te22
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
te23
And witan again.
- unmarked
- first person
- second person
- third person
te23
Now translate the sentence in the box below. Afterwards you will be shown a correct translation,
and if your account is linked to an instructor’s account, your translation will be available
to your instructor.
You have finished the exercise on preterite-present
verbs. If you earned fewer than 128 points, review
Introduction to Old English §7.6 and then try this
exercise again.