lowing must be confidered as Exceptions: I am, thou art, he is; I have, thou haft, he bath, or has; I do, thou doeft, or doft, he doeth, or doth, or does ; I fay, thou fayeft, he faith, or fays.

98. All regular Verbs form their Second Perfon fingular in the paft Tenfe of the indicative Mode by the Addition of t: as, I loved, thou lovedft; I asked, thou afkedft.

99. Irregular Verbs form their fecond Perfon fingular in the paft Tenfe, for the most Part, according to the following Rules:

1. If the irregular paft Tenfe terminates in d, the fecond Perfon fingular is formed by the Addition of ft, in the Manner of regular Preterites: as, I faid, thou faidft; I did, thou didftand fometimes in the grave and folemn Style, or for the sake of Emphasis, thou diddeft.

2. If the irregular paft Tenfe be one of the Verbs, that have the present

and

and paft Tenfes, and the passive Particiciple, all alike, then the fecond Perfon is formed by the Addition of edft: as, I put, thou puttedft; I fhed, thou sheddedft.

3. All other irregular Verbs, with very few if any Exceptions, form their Second Perfon fingular in the past Tenfe by eft: as, I brake, thou brakeft; I knew, thou kneweft.

4. The Preterites of many irregular Verbs, if they be Monofyllables ending with a fingle Confonant, will double that Confonant in the fecond Perfon fingular: as, I fed, thou feddeft; I met, thou metteft.

Our Language has a strong TendenIcy to double the Confonant in this Perfon, as may be feen in the Words, diddeft, puttedft, fheddedft, or fhededst, or fedft, which are Abbreviations of the second d.

of

100.

Of a PARTICIPLE.*,

Participle is derived of a

Verb, and partakes of the

Nature both of the Verb and the Ad

jective.

101. There

From participo, to partake.

NOTE 100. The Participle, fo far as it expreffes the Circumftance of the Noun to which it is joined by the neuter Verb, has the Nature of an Adjective; but, as implying the Action of fome Agent, it has the Nature of the Verb.

The paffive Participle seems to have been invented more fully to exprefs that Influence or Dependence which the Agent and Object of a Verb have on each other: as " John loves "Elizabeth; or, Elizabeth is loved by John. "The King wrote the Letter; or, The Letter "was written by the King.'

Here loved and written, so far as they exprefs the Circumftances of the Nouns to which they are joined by the neuter Verb, may be confidered as Adjectives; but in another View,

as

101. There are two Participles pertaining to the Verbs; the Active, which always ends in ing; and the Paffive, which, for the moft Part, ends in ed:

as they imply the Action or Force of fome Agent or compulfive Cause, they may be confidered as Verbs.

Hence it is, that Verbs intranfitive, which have no Object, can have no pasive Participle. Some of them have a participial Form joined to the neuter Verb: as, "The Man is fallen; "The Sun is rifen." But as fallen and risen have no Reference to any Agent or compulfive Caufe different from the Subject of the Verb, fo they cannot with any Propriety be denominated paffive Participles: And, notwithstanding their Form, they differ very little, if any Thing, from common Adjectives.

The fame Thing may be obferved of the active Participle: as, "The Mafter is writing; The Horfe is trotting." Here the Participle implies both the Circumftance and the Action of the Noun to which it is joined by the neuter Verb, and therefore has the Property of a Participle. But if we ufe the fame Word in a merely defcriptive Sense; as, "The

writing Mafter, the trotting Horse;" it loses the Property of a Participle, and becomes a mere Adjective.

as,

as, from the Verb call are derived the Participles calling and called. In the Formation of the Participles, if the Verb ends in e, the e is omitted: as, love, loving, loved. If it ends in a Single Confonant, preceded by a single Vowel bearing the Accent, that Confonant is doubled: as, commit, committing, committed. But on this Head fee more fully under the Verb.

102. The