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ROOT
To understand what a root is let us begin by reading this excerpt from a course of German:
Weak verbs only inflect their endings - not their invariable part.
The invariable part of verbs is called root:
- "sag-" is the root of "sagen" (to say)
- "kauf-" of "kaufen" (to buy)
- ... and so on.
It is the invariable segment of the verb - to which endings are attached to conjugate it, i.e. to flex the verb according to tenses and modes.
However, with strong verbs, the root itself adjusts to some conjugation items.
In other words, weak verbs are the regular ones; strong verbs are irregular in that their root doesn't stay the same throughout their conjugation.
Weak verbs inflect to present tense forms:
- by removing "-en" from their end so as to lay the root bare (once "en" is removed from "sagen", what is left is its root: "sag"),
- by adding:
- "-e"
- "-st"
- " t"
- "-en"
- "-t"
- "-en"
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SAGEN
[to say] |
KAUFEN
[to buy] |
| ich |
sage |
kaufe |
| du |
sagst |
kaufst |
| er/sie |
sagt |
kauft |
| wir |
sagen |
kaufen |
| ihr |
sagt |
kauft |
| sie/Sie |
sagen |
kaufen |
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English verbs of course have less endings than German ones, but the root notion applies to any language.
Let us consider to rest as an example.
The root is rest and the third person singular of the present tense attaches -s to it: he / it / she rest-s. The past tense attaches -ed yielding rest-ed in all persons. The same happens for the past participle: rest-ed. As to the present participle, -ing is attached to the root leading to rest-ing.
Likewise, we find that the irregular English verbs are those which modify their root.
As an example, let us consider to tell.
The regular forms tell-s and tell-s are formed like for rest, but in told (an irregular form) the root is modified.
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