þurfan

Part of speech: verb
Verb type: preterite-present verb
(pres þearf; p þorfte) 1. to need, have need (of something); 2. to be obliged, be required; must; 3. to want, be needy; ða þurfende the needy, paupers
Etymology
[← Prot-Germ *þurfan; Goth þaúrban; O Fris thurva; O Sax thurvan; Dt durven; OHG durfan (Mod G dürfen); Icel þurfa ← Indo-Europ *terp-, *trep-; cf Anc Gr τέρπω “to delight, revel”; Lith tar̃pti “to succeed, prosper”; O Slav трьпѣти “to endure, tolerate” (Russ терпеть)]
Paradigm

4.5 Preterite-present verbs

Preterite-present verbs are the verbs, whose present tense forms, by their origin, constitute the forms of past (preterite) tense (namely, those of Proto-Germanic/ Indo-European perfect). The said present tense forms are morphologically similar to the past tense forms of strong verbs; while the past tense forms of the preterite-present verbs are built following the weak type, that is, by means of dental suffixes.

It is worth mentioning that in some cases (due to the absence of any stem-forming suffix), the collision of the root of a preterite-present verb and the above-mentioned dental suffix caused the phonetic assimilation of their phonemes; e.g. áȝan (to own, possess, have) and áhte (he owned, possessed, had). This assimilation is analogous to that, which took place in some Anglo-Saxon irregular verbs; e.g. bусȝаn, bусȝеаn (to buy) and bohte (he bought); þencan (to think) and þóhte (he thought); brenȝаn (to bring) and bróhte (he brought). (cf the same in Gothic). In general, we can state that preterite-present verbs are in some respect mixed-type morphologically: they are strong in present tense (having vowel gradation like strong verbs) and weak in the past tense (having dental suffix like weak verbs do).

Shown below is the list of the most frequently used Anglo-Saxon preterite-present verbs.

infinitive
áȝan
(to own, possess, have)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
áh, áȝ
present tense plural áȝon
past tense singular áhte
past tense plural áhton
past participle áȝen

infinitive
cunnan
(to know; to be able, can)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
can, con, cann, conn
present tense plural cunnon
past tense singular cúðe
past tense plural cúðon
past participle cunnen
participial adjective cúð

infinitive
durran
(to dare, venture)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
dear, dearr
present tense plural durron
past tense singular dorste
past tense plural dorston
past participle -

infinitive
maȝan
(to be able; to be strong)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
mæȝ
present tense plural maȝon
past tense singular meahte, mehte, mihte
past tense plural meahton, mehton, mihton
past participle -

infinitive
mótan
(to be allowed to, may)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
mót
present tense plural móton
past tense singular móste
past tense plural móston
past participle -

infinitive
sculan
(shall, ought; to be obliged)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
sceal, scal
present tense plural sculon, sceolon
past tense singular scolde, sceolde, scealde, scalde
past tense plural scoldon, sceoldon, scealdon, scaldon
past participle -

The Anglo-Saxon pret-pres v sculan (as well as the irreg v willan) is characterized by the ending -t in 2 pers sing of the present tense: ðú scealt (you must/should; thou shalt). It is worth mentioning that these verbal forms have retained the ending -t of the 2 pers p tense sing of the Proto-Germanic strong verbs. cf Goth þu gaft (you gave), þu namt (you took), etc.

cf the same forms in case of other OE pret-pres verbs, e.g. cunnanðú canst, ðú const (you can, thou canst), where -st is a later formation [← -s + þú].

infinitive
unnan
(to like; to be pleased)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
an, ann
present tense plural unnon
past tense singular úðe, úþe
past tense plural úðon, úþon
past participle (ȝe)unnen

infinitive
witan
(to know)
present tense singular
1st and 3rd person
wát
present tense plural witon
past tense singular wisse, wiste
past tense plural wisson, wiston
past participle witen

The Mod E verbs can, may, shall and others originate from pres sing forms. cf the Anglo-Saxon (OE) can(n), mæȝ, sceal; while the Mod E verbs ought and must historically originate from the past tense verbal forms and thus can be regarded as twice preterite-present ones (cf OE áhte, móste).