Preterite-Present Verbs are a small group of common verbs, originally unreduplicated perfects, which have acquired a present meaning. Thus for instance ic wāt is in form a preterite, parallel with ić wrāt ‘I wrote’, but its meaning is ‘I know’ (Present). They differ in inflexion from ordinary strong verbs in 2 Sg., where the ending is –t or –st, not –e. Their preterite tenses are new weak formations, inflected like other weak preterites (hence they may be also called mixed verbs, being partly strong and partly weak).
The group of preterite-presents includes 12 verbs: witan(know), cunnan (can; know), dugan(be fit for, be of use to), magan(may, be able), munan (remember), sculan(shall), āgan(have), ðurfan(need), etc.
Some of these verbs did not have a full paradigm and were in this sense “defective” (dear(r), mōt, geneah). Most of them did not indicate actions, but expressed a kind of attitude to an action denoted by another verb. In other words, they were used like modal verbs. Six of them have survived in Modern English (owe/ought; can; dare; shall; may; must).
Paradigms of four of them will be given here: those of witan,magan,āgan,cunnan. But it must be remembered that even these are incompletely recorded.
a) witan‘know’
Present
Preterite
Indicative
1/3 Sg.
wæt
wiste or
wisse
2 Sg.
wāst
wistest
wissest
1-3 Pl.
witon
wiston
wisson
Subjunctive
1-3 Sg.
wite
wiste
wisse
1-3 Pl.
witen
wisten
wisten
Imperative
2 Sg.
wite
2 Pl.
witaþ
Participles
wittende - witen
(gewiss, adj.)
The contracted negative forms are nāt (= ne wāt) nāst (= ne wāst), nyton (= ne witon), nyte (= ne wite), etc.
b) magan‘be able’
Present
Preterite
Indicative
1/3 Sg.
mæg
meahte or
mihte
2 Sg.
meaht, miht
meahtest
mihtest
1-3 Pl.
magon
meahton
mihton
Subjunctive
1-3 Sg.
mæge
meahte
mihte
1-3 Pl.
mægen
meahten
mihten
Participle I
magende
Participle II -
c) āgan ‘have’
Present
Preterite
Indicative
1/3 Sg.
āh, āg
āhte
2 Sg.
āhst
āhtest
1-3 Pl.
āgon
āhton
Subjunctive
1-3 Sg.
āge
āhte
1-3 Pl.
āgen
āhten
Participles
āgende
āgen(only as adj.)
The contracted negative forms are nāh (= ne āh), nāhte (= ne āhte), nāge (= āge), etc.