Old English

Homepage / In the past / Old English /

Old English was an inflexional languages, which means that the different functions within a sentences were visualised by means of endings. In Modern English only the ending -s survies for the third person singular. Here's an example with the verb to sing:

  Present simple   Past simple
1sg singe 1sg sang
2sg singest 2sg sunge
3sg singeþ 3sg sang
1pl singaþ 1pl sungon
2pl singaþ 2pl sungon
3pl singaþ 3pl sungon