In the word _am_, as compared with _are_ and _art_, we find a sign of the first person singular. In the old forms _tellen_, _weren_, &c., we have a sign of the plural number. § 284. In the Modern English, the Old English, and the Anglo-Saxon, the peculiarities of our personal inflections are very great. This may be seen from the following tables of comparison:-- _Present Tense, Indicative Mood._ _Mœso-Gothic._ _1st person._ _2nd person._ _3rd person._ _Singular._ Sôkja Sôkeis Sôkeiþ--_seek_. _Plural._ Sôkjam Sôkeiþ Sokjand. _Old High German._ _Singular._ Prennu Prennîs Prennit--_burn_. _Plural._ Prennames Prennat Prennant. _Icelandic._ _Singular._ Kalla Kallar Kallar--_call_. _Plural._ Kôllum Kalliþ Kalla. _Old Saxon._ _Singular._ Sôkju Sôkîs Sôkîd--_seek_. _Plural._ Sôkjad Sôkjad Sôkjad. _Anglo-Saxon._ _Singular._ Lufige Lufast Lufað. _Plural._ Lufiað Lufiað Lufiað. _Old English._ _Singular._ Love Lovest Loveth. _Plural._ Loven Loven Loven. _Modern English._ _Singular._ Love Lovest Loveth (or Loves). _Plural._ Love Love Love. § 285. Herein remark; 1. the Anglo-Saxon addition of t in the second person singular; 2. the identity in form of the three persons of the plural number; 3. the change of -að into -en in the Old English plural; 4. the total absence of plural forms in the Modern English; 5. the change of the th into s, in _loveth_ and _loves_. These are points bearing especially upon the history of the English persons. The following points indicate a more general question: 1. The full form _prennames_ in the newer Old High German, as compared with _sôkjam_ in the _old_ Mœso-Gothic. 2. The appearance of the r in Icelandic. 3. The difference between the Old Saxon and the Anglo-Saxon in the second person singular; the final t being absent in Old Saxon. § 286. _The person in -t._--The forms _art_, _wast_, _wert_, _shalt_, _wilt_, or _ar-t_, _was-t_, _wer-t_, _shal-t_, _wil-t_, are remarkable. Here the second person singular ends, not in -st, but in t. The reason for this is to be sought in the Mœso-Gothic and the Icelandic. In those languages the form of the person changes with the tense, and the second singular of the præterite tense of one conjugation is, not -s, but -t; as Mœso-Gothic, _svôr_ = _I swore_, _svôrt_ = _thou swarest_, _gráip_ = _I griped_, _gráipt_ = _thou gripedst_; Icelandic, _brannt_ = _thou burnest_, _gaft_ = _thou gavest_. In the same languages ten verbs are conjugated like præterites. Of these, in each language, _skal_ is one. _Mœso-Gothic._ _Singular._ _Dual._ _Plural._