§ =100.= The ending _-est_ (2nd pers. pres. sing. ind. and pret. sing. of weak verbs) is in Middle English generally syllabic: _Annd séȝȝest swíllc annd swíllc was þú_ Orm. 1512; _Annd ȝíff þu féȝesst þréo wiþ þréo, þa fíndesst tú þær séxe_ id. 11523-4; _That bróughtest Tróye_ Chauc. N. Pr. T. 408; _Thow wálkest nów_ id. Kn. T.; _þat gód þat þóu þénkest do mé_ Alexius, ii. 304; _Hou mýȝtest þóu þus lónge wóne_ Alexius, i. 445; _And wóldest névere ben aknówe_ ib. 461. Frequently, however, syncopation or slurring also occurs: _ȝiff þú seȝȝst tátt tu lúfesst Gódd_ Orm. 5188; _Þu wénest þat éch song béo grislích_ Owl and Night. 315; _Þu schríchest and ȝóllest to þíne fére_ ib. 223; _Thou knówest him well_ Chauc. Blaunche, 137; _Trówest thou? by our Lórd, I wíll thee sáy_ ib. 551; _þou mýȝtest have bén a grét lordíng_ Alexius, i. 511. In Modern English syncopation is extremely common, e.g. _Now knówest thou áll_ Sur. 27; _That mákest but gáme_ Wyatt, 30, &c.; but the full syllabic pronunciation (in accordance with the modern prose usage) is also frequent, both in the poetry of the sixteenth century, e.g. _What frámëst thóu_ Sur. 158; _And lóokëst tó commánd_ Shak. H. VI. I. i. 38; and in that of recent times, e.g.: _Súch as thou stándëst, pále in thé drear líght_. Mrs. Browning, i. 4. _Wan Scúlptor, wéepëst thóu to táke the cást?_ Tennyson, Early Sonn. 9. § =101.= The ending _-eth_, in the North _-es_, _-is_ (3rd pers. sing. pres., plur. pres., and 3rd pers. sing. imperative), is in most cases syllabic in Middle English, especially before the fifteenth century; e.g. _It túrrneþþ hémm till sínne_ Orm. 150; _þat spékeþþ óff þe déofell_ ib. 11944; _þat ǽfre annd ǽfre stándeþþ ínn_ ib. 2617; _þánne hi cumeþ éft_ Moral Ode, 236; _Hi wálkeþ éure_ ib. 239; _So príkeþ hem natúre_ Chauc. Prol. 11; _Cómeþ álle nów to mé_ Alexius, ii. 337; _Ánd a-fóngeþ ȝóure méde_ ib. 375. But already in the earlier portion of this epoch of the language slurring or syncopation is often to be met with, and it became gradually more and more frequent. _Boc séȝȝþ þe bírrþ wel ȝémenn þé_ Orm. 11373, 11981; _Annd áȝȝ afftérr þe góddspell stánnt_ ib. 33; _And thínkeþ, here cómeþ my mórtel énemý_ Chauc. Kn. T. 785; _Comeþ nér, quoth hé_ id. Prol. 839; _þat háveþ traváille_ Alexius, i. 350; _Thai háldis this lánd agáyne resóune_ Barbour's Bruce, i. 488. In Modern English the endings _-eth_ and _-es_ (_'s_) were at first used promiscuously; later _-eth_ is employed, if a full syllable is required, _-es_ (_'s_) if syncopation is intended; but this rule is not strictly observed.