Be, Have, Do
Middle English Grammar 1
Chapter 7 · Be, Have, Do, Will
📜 Be, Have, Do, Will
The commonest verbs are the least regular. This chapter gives the forms of be, have, do, go and will, and then the modals (can, may, shall and others), all from the irregular-verb table in Wikipedia's Middle English article. The table came through partly garbled, so I use the rows the tool read clearly and mark the doubtful cells. The regular patterns are in Chapter 6.
Be, have, do, go, will
| Verb | Infinitive | Present (1sg, 2sg, 3sg, plural) | Past (singular, plural) |
|---|---|---|---|
| be | been | am, art, is, aren | was (2sg wast), weren |
| have | haven | have, hast, haþ, haven | hadde (2sg haddest), hadden |
| do | don | do, dost, doþ / doth, doþ / don | didde (2sg didst), didden |
| go | gon | go, gost, goþ, goþ / gon | wend / yede / yode; plural wenden / yeden / yoden |
| will (want) | willen | will, wilt, will, wollen | wolde (2sg woldest), wolden |
- Participles. Present participles end -ende / -ynge (for example beende / beynge, havende / havynge). Past participles listed are ibeen, ihad, idon and igon(gen). No past participle is listed for will.
- Be. An unlabeled extra list follows the row (be, bist, biþ, beth / been, were). The table does not say what it is. It may be subjunctive or imperative forms, but that is a guess.
- Go. The past is a set of alternatives, wend, yede, yode. The article gives no regions for them, so I do not pick one.
- Will. The glossed meaning is "want", which is how the table presents it.
The modals and similar verbs
| Verb (gloss in table) | Present (1sg, 2sg, 3sg, plural) | Past (singular, plural) |
|---|---|---|
| can (cunnen) | can, canst, can, cunnen | coude / couthe; couden / couthen |
| dare (durren) | dar, darst, dar, durren | durst / dirst; dursten |
| may (mowen) | may, myghst, may, mowen | mighte; mighten |
| must (moten) | mot, must, mot, moten | muste; musten |
| shall (schulen, glossed "should") | schal, schalt, schal, schulen | scholde; scholde |
| know (witen) | woot, woost, woot, witen | wiste; wisten |
| owe, ought (owen) | owe, owest, owe, owen | owed / ought |
| need (þurven, þaren) | þarf, þarst, þarf, þurven / þaren | þurft; þurften |
Look at the 1st and 3rd singular: can / can, may / may, schal / schal, mot / mot. They are the same, with no -eþ. That is why Modern English still says he can, not he cans. This is my observation from the table, not a statement in the article. The table's cells for can, dare, owe and need were flagged as unclear, so treat those rows with extra care.
What this chapter could not give
- The use of these verbs. The article's prose says nothing about do as a helper, will as a future marker, or the modals as a group. So I cannot say when do began to help in questions (Chapter 8) or how will and shall marked the future.
- Dialect forms of any of these verbs.
- Why modals look as they do. The article gives the forms but does not explain the pattern. The table is called "irregular and preterite-present", but its text does not describe what preterite-present means.
Words to know
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Irregular verb | A verb that does not follow the regular endings |
| Auxiliary | A helper verb used with another verb |
| Modal verb | A helper verb for ability, permission, obligation or the future |
| Preterite-present | A label the article uses for the modal-type verbs; this course does not define it, as the source does not |
✏️ Try It Yourself
Think of the answer first, then click to check.
1. Give the present singular and plural of be.
Show answer
am, art, is; plural aren.
2. Give the past of be.
Show answer
was (2sg wast), plural weren.
3. What is the 3rd singular present of have?
Show answer
haþ.
4. What is the past of do, singular and plural?
Show answer
didde, didden.
5. Which three past forms does the table give for go?
Show answer
wend, yede, yode.
6. What are the present forms of will in the table?
Show answer
will, wilt, will, plural wollen.
7. What do the 1st and 3rd singular of the modals have in common?
Show answer
They are the same form with no ending: can / can, may / may, schal / schal.
8. Give the past singular of shall, may and must.
Show answer
scholde, mighte, muste.
9. What does the article's prose not tell us about do and will?
Show answer
How they were used as helpers: it says nothing about do in questions or will marking the future.
10. Why does the chapter list no dialect forms?
Show answer
The table gives no regional labels for any of these verbs.