NOUNS
Nouns in Middle English, like those in Modern English, generally add -s if the word ends with a vowel or -es if the word ends with a consonant to indicate the possessive and plural.
Singular |
Possessive |
Plural |
Meaning |
|
Regular |
aventure |
aventures |
(chance,risk) |
|
stound |
stoundes |
(time, moment) |
||
wight |
wightes |
wightes |
(creature) |
|
Short vowel and consonant |
bryd |
bryddes |
bryddes |
(bird) |
god |
goddes , goddis |
goddes , goddis |
(god) |
|
Irregular |
deer |
deer |
(deer) |
|
hors |
horses |
hors |
||
Stem changes |
mous |
mouses |
mys |
(mouse) |
gos |
goses |
gees |
||
Old -en plurals |
eye, ye |
eyen, eighen, yen |
(eye) |
|
fo, foo |
fon [foos] |
(enemy) |
||
too |
toon [toos] |
(toes) |
Notice that words ending with consonants preceded by short vowels double their consonants before adding the usual endings.
Some nouns retain the OE dative ending (-e) when they appear as the object of a pronoun in certain fixed expressions&emdash;such as lif. and on live or bed, and to bedde. A select few nouns sometimes appear with no inflection for the genitive singular, such as Lady Chapel (Our Lady's Chapel) and fader soule (father's soul). Others are brother, chirche, and herte.
Subject |
Possessive |
Object |
I, ich |
my, myn |
me |
thou |
thy, thyn |
thee |
he |
his |
him |
she |
her |
hir(e) |
it, hit |
his |
it, hit |
Plural |
||
we |
oure |
us |
ye |
youre |
you |
they |
hire |
them, hem |
Note particularly those forms that differ from Modern English (in boldface). Though there is no hard and fast rule, the "thou" form is generally used as the familiar form of address to children, intimates and inferiors. Conversely, the "you" form is used in polite situations and when addressing superiors.
There are two possibilities for adjectival inflection. The so called "weak" inflection is used after definite articles, and possessives, in the vocative (O goode God), and often before proper names; it is formed by adding e to the base word. The "strong" inflection is used the rest of the time, and is simply the base word with no inflection when singular. Both strong and weak adjectives add e in the plural.
Weak |
Strong |
|
Singular |
sik lay the goode man |
his opinion was good |
O goode Custance |
A good man was ther |
|
Plural |
for the goode men |
his hors were goode |
Comparative Adjectives
As in Modern English, -er and -est are added to the adjective stem to form the comparative and superlative forms, though there are some irregular forms.
Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
||
Regular |
strong |
stronger |
strongest |
|
grete |
gretter |
grettest |
||
Irregular |
good |
bet |
best |
|
bad |
badder , werse |
werste |
||
muche(l) |
mo |
meste |
"many, more, etc." |
|
Iyte(l) |
lasse/lesse |
leeste |
"small, smaller " |
In a few archaic forms the OE genitive -es is preserved:
alleskinnes of every kind
noskinnes of no kind
The old form alder (or alther ) is sometimes used with the superlative to form a compound adjective:
alderbeste best of all
alderlest least of all
alderfirst first of all
alther-fairest fairest of all
Adverbs Adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding -ly, -liche or -e. See the Vocabulary list at the end for some of the most common Chaucerian adverbs.
The present tense is formed with -e, -rest, and -eth in the singular and -en in the plural:
I,ich here, finde
thou herest, findest
he, she, hit hereth, findeth
we, ye, they heren, finden
The pronoun thou is often suffixed to the verb (usually in questions):
herestow do you hear?
woostow do you know?
*Note: when the stem of the verb ends in -d or -t, the third person singular form is often contracted:
he fynt - he findeth
he rit - he rideth
The present subjunctive is easily formed by the simple addition of -e to the verb stem. Note that the subjunctive is used much more frequently in Middle English than it is today.
Indicative |
Doun on hir knees falleth she to grounde. |
She falls down on her knees to the ground |
|
Subjunctive |
And he falle, he hath non helpe to rise |
If he should fall, he would have no help to get up |
|
A verray pestilence upon yow falle! |
|
May a real plague afflict you! |
|
Al falle it foule or faire |
|
Whether it turn out good or evil |
The imperative singular usually has no ending (occasionally -e is added to the stem); plural imperatives add -eth to the stem. Stems ending in a vowel usually do not add anything.
Singular |
Go bet! (Go quickly!) |
Com hider, love, to me (Come hither, l ove, to me) |
|
Plural |
Gooth forth! ([you, pl.] go forth.!) |
"Cometh neer," quod he, "my lady Prioress." |
|
( Come nearer, " he said "my lady Prioress. ") |
|
Note the use of the plural imperative for polite address.
As in Modern English the preterite is formed by the addition of -d or -t to the verb stem (the weak conjugation) or by a change in the stem vowel (the "strong" conjugation as in sing, sang, sung). In the weak conjugation the personal endings are often superadded:
Sing. |
Plu. |
Sing. |
Plu. |
|
I herde |
we herden |
I wente |
we wenten |
|
thou herdest |
ye herden |
thou wentest |
ye wenten |
|
he herde |
they herden |
he wente |
they wenten |
Strong verbs form their preterites by regular vowel changes. No personal singular endings are added, but the second person singular and plural have a different vowel from the first and third persons singular. This distinction had already begun to fade by Chaucer's time, however, and the same vowel is frequently used throughout the preterite. Take the verb ginnen (to begin) as an example:
I gan
thou gonne
he, she, it gan
we gonnen
The past participle of both strong and weak verbs frequently has a y prefix; the weak past participle ends in -d or -t, the strong in -e or -en. Example: (y)gonne and (y)herd. As always, the verbs "been," to be, and "gon," to go, are irregular. The forms for the present and preterite are as follows:
Sing. |
Plu. |
Sing. |
Plu. |
|
I am |
we be(e)n, aren |
I was |
we were(n) |
|
thou art |
ye be(e)n, aren |
thou were(n) |
ye were(n) |
|
he/she/hit is |
they be(e)n, aren |
he were(n) |
they were(n) |
Past participle - (y)be(n)
These are usually auxiliary ("helping") verbs, and many of them survive in Modern English. Their present tense is formed on an old preterite, so that the third person singular has no inflectional ending. Their preterites are weak.
Present Sing ular |
Present PIural |
Preterite |
dar, darst (dare) |
dorste, durste |
|
may, mayst (to be able) |
mowe(n) |
myghte, myghtest, myghte(n) |
mot, most (must, may) |
mote(n) |
moste,muste, muster, mosten |
owe, owest, oweth (ought, owe, own) |
owe(n) |
oght, oughtest, oughten |
tharf (it is necessary) |
thurfen |
thurfte |
kan, kanst (know how, know) |
connen |
coude |
woo(s)t (know, discover) |
witen |
wiste |
shal, shalt (must)* |
shul, shulle(n) |
sholde, sholdest, sholden |
* shal also has its modern sense of futurity.
Be careful. These words often have meanings different from their Modern English counterparts.
Some Special Cases
The verb "ginnen," to begin, is most often used in the preterite as a mere auxiliary signifying past time: he gan riden (he rode). Its sense of beginning is usually apparent only when the dependent infinitive is preceded by for to: he gan for to riden (he began to ride). The verb "don," to do, is often used with a causative sense: he did don him sleen (he had him killed).
Middle English has a great many impersonal constructions. These are some of the most common:
him liketh |
it pleases him |
him list |
it pleases him; he wants |
him reweth |
it pains hirn ; he rues, repents |
hire mette |
it dreamed to her; she dreamed |
us nedeth |
it is lacking to us; we need |
deigned hym nat |
it was not proper to him; he disdained |
hire oughte |
it was right for her; she ought |
us moste |
it is necessary for us; we must |
it remembreth me |
I remember |
Note the difference between the personal verb thenke(n) and the impersonal thynke(n): the subject of thenken is in the nominative case (I); since thynken is impersonal, it takes not a subject pronoun, but rather an object pronoun (you, hir).
thenke(n) |
And after wyn on Venus moste I thynke |
After drinking I must think of Venus (lovemaking) |
|
Nay, nay, I thoghte it revere, trewely! |
|
No, no, I never thought it (such a thing), truly! |
|
thynke(n) |
Which was the mooste fre, as thynketh yow? |
Who was the most generous, as it seems to you? |
|
But nathelees, hir thoughte that she dyde |
|
But nevertheless, it seemed to her that she was dying |