Middle English

===Verbs===
As a general rule, the indicative first person singular of verbs in the present tense ended in ''-e'' (e.g., {{lang|enm|ich here}}, "I hear"), the second person singular in ''-(e)st'' (e.g., {{lang|enm|þou spekest}}, "thou speakest"), and the third person singular in ''-eþ'' (e.g., {{lang|enm|he comeþ}}, "he cometh/he comes"). (''[[Thorn (letter)|þ]]'' (the letter "thorn") is pronounced like the unvoiced ''th'' in "think", but under certain circumstances, it may be like the voiced ''th'' in "that"). The following table illustrates a typical conjugation pattern:<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Principles of English Composition.|year = 1831|url = https://archive.org/details/principlesengli01bootgoog|last = Booth|first = David|publisher = Cochrane and Pickersgill}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title = Introduction to Middle English|date = 9 September 2016|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sjVYDwAAQBAJ|last = Horobin|first = Simon|publisher = Edinburgh University Press |isbn = 9781474408462}}</ref><!-- NOTE: It's unclear which of the following entries in this table require a language tag.-->
{| class="wikitable"
|+Middle English verb inflection
! rowspan="3" |Verbs inflection
! rowspan="3" |Infinitive
! colspan="5" |Present
! colspan="5" |Past
|-
! rowspan="2" |Participle
! colspan="3" |Singular
! rowspan="2" |Plural
! rowspan="2" |Participle
! colspan="3" |Singular
! rowspan="2" |Plural
|-
!1st person
!2nd person
!3rd person
!1st person
!2nd person
!3rd person
|-
! colspan="12" |Regular verbs
|-
!Strong
| rowspan="2" | -en
| rowspan="2" |  -ende, -ynge
| rowspan="2" | -e
| rowspan="2" | -est
| rowspan="2" | -eþ (-es)
| rowspan="2" | -en (-es, -eþ)
|i- -en
| –
| -e (-est)
| –
| -en
|-
!Weak
| -ed
| -ede
| -edest
| -ede
| -eden
|-
! colspan="12" |Irregular verbs
|-
! rowspan="2" |Been "be"
| rowspan="2" |been
| rowspan="2" |beende, beynge
|am
|art
|is
|aren
| rowspan="2" |ibeen
| rowspan="2" |was
|wast
| rowspan="2" |was
| rowspan="2" |weren
|-
|be
|bist
|biþ
|beth, been
|were
|-
!Cunnen "can"
|cunnen
|cunnende, cunnynge
|can
|canst
|can
|cunnen
|cunned, coud
|coude, couthe
|coudest, couthest
|coude, couthe
|couden, couthen
|-
!Don "do"
|don
|doende, doynge
|do
|dost
|doþ
|doþ, don
|idon
|didde
|didst
|didde
|didden
|-
!Douen "be good for"
|douen
|douende, douynge
|deigh
|deight
|deigh
|douen
|idought
|dought
|doughtest
|dought
|doughten
|-
!Durren "dare"
|durren
|durrende, durrynge
|dar
|darst
|dar
|durren
|durst, dirst
|durst
|durstest
|durst
|dursten
|-
!Gon "go"
|gon
|goende, goynge
|go
|gost
|goþ
|goþ, gon
|igon(gen)
|wend, yede, yode
|wendest, yedest, yodest
|wende, yede, yode
|wenden, yeden, yoden
|-
!Haven "have"
|haven
|havende, havynge
|have
|hast
|haþ
|haven
|ihad
|hadde
|haddest
|hadde
|hadden
|-
!Moten "must"
| –
| –
|mot
|must
|mot
|moten
| –
|muste
|mustest
|muste
|musten
|-
!Mowen "may"
|mowen
|mowende, mowynge
|may
|myghst
|may
|mowen
|imought
|mighte
|mightest
|mighte
|mighten
|-
!Owen "owe, ought"
|owen
|owende, owynge
|owe
|owest
|owe
|owen
|iowen
|owed
|ought
|owed
|ought
|-
!Schulen "should"
| –
| –
|schal
|schalt
|schal
|schulen
| –
|scholde
|scholdest
|scholde
|scholde
|-
!Þurven/Þaren "need"
| –
| –
|þarf
|þarst
|þarf
|þurven, þaren
| –
|þurft
|þurst
|þurft
|þurften
|-
!Willen "want"
|willen
|willende, willynge
|will
|wilt
|will
|wollen
|  –
|wolde
|woldest
|wolde
|wolden
|-
!Witen "know"
|witen
|witende, witynge
|woot
|woost
|woot
|witen
|iwiten
|wiste
|wistest
|wiste
|wisten
|}
Plural forms vary strongly by dialect, with Southern dialects preserving the Old English ''-eþ'', Midland dialects showing ''-en'' from about 1200, and Northern forms using ''-es'' in the third person singular as well as the plural.<ref name="cambridge">{{cite web|url=http://www.bartleby.com/211/1905.html|title=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature| first1 =AW | last1 = Ward | first2 = AR | last2 = Waller| date= 1907–21| access-date= Oct 4, 2011 | publisher = Bartleby}}</ref>

The past tense of weak verbs was formed by adding an ''-ed(e)'', ''-d(e)'', or ''-t(e)'' ending. The past-tense forms, without their personal endings, also served as past participles with past-participle prefixes derived from Old English: ''i-'', ''y-'', and sometimes ''bi-''.

[[Germanic strong verb|Strong verbs]], by contrast, formed their past tense by changing their stem vowel (e.g., {{lang|enm|binden}} became {{lang|enm|bound}}, a process called [[apophony]]), as in Modern English.