Negated Verbs

In Old English, the negative particle 'ne' can be attached to certain verbs as a prefix. When this happens, one or more letters may be lost from the start of the verb, and the 'e' in 'ne' is often dropped from the negative particle in a process called negative contraction.

This is a process most easily explained using examples. The first person present singular of the verb 'wesan - to be' is 'eom'. With negation, and the prefixing of 'ne', we have 'neom'. The past tense of the first person singular is 'ic wæs - I was'. When this is negated, the 'w' of 'wæs' is dropped as well as the 'e' of the negative particle, so the negated form is 'ic næs - I was not'. Examine the sentences, 'Ic wille drincan, ac ic nylle etan - I want to drink, but I don't want to eat' and 'Næbbe ic synne gefremed; neom ic synfull - I have not committed sins; I am not sinful'.

Only certain verbs are negated in this way, and the negation is usually easy to spot. The most important verbs are 'wesan - to be', 'habban - to have'; and 'willan - to want'.

Next, we will look at the final thing that makes negation in Old English a little different from standard modern English: double, or multiple, negatives.