After _l_, _m_, _n_, _r_, _w_, _y_, or a vowel, the addition is also _-d_. This is the habit of the English language. _Filt_, _slurt_, _strayt_, &c., are as pronounceable as _filld_, _slurrd_, _strayd_, &c. It is the habit, however, of the English language to prefer the latter forms. All this, as the reader has probably observed, is merely the reasoning concerning the _s_, in words like {318} _father's_, &c., applied to another letter and to another part of speech. For some historical notices respecting the use of _-d_, _-t_, and _-ed_, in the spelling of the English praeterites and participles, the reader is referred to the Cambridge Philological Museum, vol. i. p. 655. s. 378. The verbs of the weak conjugation fall into three classes. In the first there is the simple addition of _-d_, _-t_, or _-ed_. Serve, served. Cry, cried. Betray, betrayed. Expel, expelled. Accuse, accused. Instruct, instructed. Invite, invited. Waste, wasted. Dip, dipped (_dipt_). Slip, slipped (_slipt_). Step, stepped (_stept_). Look, looked (_lookt_). Pluck, plucked (_pluckt_). Toss, tossed (_tost_). Push, pushed (_pusht_). Confess, confessed (_confest_) To this class belong the greater part of the weak verbs and all verbs of foreign origin. s. 379. In the second class, besides the addition of _-t_ or _-d_, the vowel is _shortened_. It also contains those words which end in _-d_ or _-t_, and at the same time have a short vowel in the praeterite. Such, amongst others, are _cut_, _cost_, &c., where the two tenses are alike, and _bend_, _rend_, &c., where the praeterite is formed from the present by changing _-d_ into _-t_, as _bent_, _rent_, &c. In the following list, the words ending in _-p_ are remarkable; since, in Anglo-Saxon, each of them had, instead of a weak, a strong praeterite. Leave, left. Cleave, cleft. Bereave, bereft. Deal, de[)a]l_t_. Feel, fel_t_. Dream, dre[)a]m_t_. Lean, le[)a]n_t_. Learn, learn_t_. Creep, crept. Sleep, slept. Leap, lept. Keep, kept. Weep, wept. Sweep, swept. Lose, lost. Flee, fled. In this class we sometimes find _-t_ where the _-d_ is expected; the forms being _left_ and _dealt_, instead of _leaved_ and _dealed_. {319} s. 380. Third class.--In the second class the vowel of the present tense was _shortened_ in the praeterite. In the third class it is _changed_. Tell, told. Will, would. Sell, sold. Shall, should.