Early Modern English

====Perfect and progressive forms====
The [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]] of the verbs had not yet been standardised to use only the auxiliary verb "to have". Some took as their auxiliary verb "to be", such as this example from the ''King James Version'': "But which of you... will say unto him... when he '''is''' come from the field, Go and sit down..." [Luke XVII:7]. The rules for the auxiliaries for different verbs were similar to those that are still observed in German and French (see [[unaccusative verb]]).

The modern syntax used for the [[progressive aspect]] ("I am walking") became dominant by the end of the Early Modern period, but other forms were also common such as the prefix ''a-'' ("I am a-walking") and the infinitive paired with "do" ("I do walk"). Moreover, the ''to be'' + -''ing'' verb form could be used to express a passive meaning without any additional markers: "The house is building" could mean "The house is being built".<ref>{{Cite book|editor=Lass, Roger|title=The Cambridge History of the English Language, Volume III|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-26476-1|pages=217–18}}</ref>