Gan and Don
Just like 'beon' and 'wesan', the verbs 'gan' and 'don' conjugate irregularly and are suppletive verbs, so their past tense does not share the same root as their present tense. Examine the sentences, 'hie gaþ to cyrcan - they go to church' versus 'hie eodon to cyrcan - they went to church' and 'ic do swa nu - I do so now' versus 'he dyde swa forma - he did so first'.
Pronoun
Verb
Prep.
Indirect Object
Pronoun
Verb
Prep.
Indirect Object
Pronoun
Verb
Object
Adverb
Pronoun
Verb
Object
Ordinal
In the module on weak verbs we came across the verb 'feran - to go'. The difference between 'gan' and 'feran' is 'feran' more specifically means to 'set out' or 'journey' and so is more likely to be used when discussing long distances and non-finite forms forms of travel, while 'gan' is more likely to be used for shorter journeys and more finite forms of travel. It might be helpful to translate 'feran' as 'journeys'. So 'he gæþ to cyrcan - he goes to church' but 'he ferþ to þæm beorgum - he journeys to the mountains'.
| Gan - to go | Don - to do | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Person Singular | ga | eode | do | dyde |
| 2nd Person Singular | gæst | eodest | dest | dydest |
| 3rd Person Singular | gæþ | eode | deþ | dyde |
| Plural | gaþ | eodon | doþ | dydon |
| Gan - to go | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ga | eode |
| 2nd | gæst | eodest |
| 3rd | gæþ | eode |
| Plural | gaþ | eodon |
| Don - to do | ||
| 1st | do | dyde |
| 2nd | dest | dydest |
| 3rd | deþ | dyde |
| Plural | doþ | dydon |
Always look for similarities when encountering new grammar. The endings of 'gan' and 'don' are identical to the endings of class I weak verbs. However, if you examine the second and third person singular present verb forms of 'gan' and 'don', you'll notice the vowel in the root changes from 'a' to 'æ' and 'o' to 'e'. This is an example of i-mutation which will be explained in more detail in a later module so just keep it in mind when practicing the verbs below.
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