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Gothic/Verbs

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What kind of verb is smart?

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When you look up a verb in a Gothic dictionary, you will be told

  • whether it is strong or weak
  • which class it is in. There are seven classes of strong verbs (1 to 7, or I to VII) and four classes of weak verbs.

Strong verbs are marked with sv or abl.V.. Weak verbs are marked with wv or sw.V.. For example, look at the entries for skreitan (a strong verb) and skritnan (a weak verb) in this modern dictionary and this facsimile of a 1910 dictionary.

Things which are the same for both strong and weak verbs

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Present tense

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The present tense goes as follows:

Person Singular Dual Plural
First ik qiΓΎa,
𐌹𐌺 𐌡𐌹𐌸𐌰
I say.
wit qiΓΎos,
π…πŒΉπ„ πŒ΅πŒΉπŒΈπ‰πƒ
the two of us say.
weis qiΓΎam,
π…πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ 𐌡𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌼
we say.
Second ΓΎu qiΓΎis,
𐌸𐌿 πŒ΅πŒΉπŒΈπŒΉπƒ
thou sayest.
jut qiΓΎats,
πŒΎπŒΏπ„ πŒ΅πŒΉπŒΈπŒ°π„πƒ
the two of you say.
jus qiΓΎiΓΎ,
πŒΎπŒΏπƒ 𐌡𐌹𐌸𐌹𐌸
you all say.
Third is qiΓΎiΓΎ,
πŒΉπƒ 𐌡𐌹𐌸𐌹𐌸
he says.
(use the plural) eis qiΓΎand,
πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ 𐌡𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽𐌳
they say.

How strong verbs behave

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Infinitive

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The infinitive of strong verbs always ends in -an. For example:

Infinitive
qiΓΎan,
𐌡𐌹𐌸𐌰𐌽
to say.

How weak verbs behave

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...

Irregular verbs

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wisan, π…πŒΉπƒπŒ°πŒ½, to be

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Infinitive
wisan
π…πŒΉπƒπŒ°πŒ½
to be.

Present

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Person Singular Dual Plural
First ik im,
𐌹𐌺 𐌹𐌼
I am.
wit siju,
π…πŒΉπ„ πƒπŒΉπŒΎπŒΏ
the two of us are.
weis sijum,
π…πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ πƒπŒΉπŒΎπŒΏπŒΌ
we are.
Second ΓΎu is,
𐌸𐌿 πŒΉπƒ
thou art.
jut sijuts,
πŒΎπŒΏπ„ πƒπŒΉπŒΎπŒΏπ„πƒ
the two of you are.
jus sijuΓΎ,
πŒΎπŒΏπƒ πƒπŒΉπŒΎπŒΏπŒΈ
you all are.
Third is ist,
πŒΉπƒ πŒΉπƒπ„
he is.
(use the plural) eis sind,
πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ πƒπŒΉπŒ½πŒ³
they are.
Person Singular Dual Plural
First ik was,
𐌹𐌺 π…πŒ°πƒ
I was.
wit wesu,
π…πŒΉπ„ π…πŒ΄πƒπŒΏ
the two of us were.
weis wesum,
π…πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ π…πŒ΄πƒπŒΏπŒΌ
we were.
Second ΓΎu wast,
𐌸𐌿 π…πŒ°πƒπ„
thou wert.
jut wesuts,
πŒΎπŒΏπ„ π…πŒ΄πƒπŒΏπ„πƒ
the two of you were.
jus wesun,
πŒΎπŒΏπƒ π…πŒ΄πƒπŒΏπŒ½
you all were.
Third is was,
πŒΉπƒ π…πŒ°πƒ
he was.
(use the plural) eis wesun,
πŒ΄πŒΉπƒ π…πŒ΄πƒπŒΏπŒ½
they were.