weakverb

Weakverb is a term used in historical and descriptive linguistics to describe verbs whose past tense and past participle are formed with a dental suffix rather than by changing the stem vowel (ablaut). In English, weak verbs are typically called regular verbs, and their past tense is usually formed with -ed (talked, walked, loved). Spelling variations occur when the stem ends in a consonant cluster or a y, as in carried (carry + -ed) or tried (y changes to i before -ed). Some weak verbs show additional spelling adjustments, such as doubled consonants (stopped, stopped) or the -ied ending after a -y (carried, studied).

In Germanic languages, the concept of weak verbs covers a broader morphological pattern: in German, schwache Verben form the Präteritum (simple past) with a dental suffix -te/-test/-ten and form the past participle with ge- + stem + -t or -tend (for example, spielen -> spielte, gespielt). This contrasts with strong verbs in which the stem vowel changes (ablaut) and the past participle often ends in -en (sehen – sah – gesehen). The distinction reflects historical developments in Proto-Germanic, where a past-tense marker emerged as a dental suffix and was later realized differently across daughter languages.

Usage and scope: In modern English, the set of weak verbs includes most common, regular verbs, though a few verbs show mixed or irregular spellings (learned vs learnt, moved). The term also serves as a useful cross-linguistic label for the Germanic pattern of past-tense formation, highlighting how languages mark tense without stem-vowel alternation.