In the first Conjugation, do is prefixed to the Pret. Aff. and Neg. Active and Passive. However, it often is, and always may be, omitted before the Pret. Aff. It is sometimes omitted in the Pret. Neg. in verse, and in common conversation. In the second Conjugation, the same Particle do is prefixed to the Preterite through all the Moods and Voices, and to the Fut. Subj. excepting only the Subjunctive Tenses after ni, mur, nach, gu, an, am. In this { 77} Conjugation, do always loses the _o_ to avoid a _hiatus_, and the _d_ is aspirated in the Affirm. and Subjunct. Moods[49].
In all regular Verbs, the Terminations adjected to the Root are, strictly speaking, the same in Verbs characterised by a small vowel. But where the first vowel of the Termination does not correspond in quality to the last vowel of the Root, it has become the constant practice to insert in the Termination a vowel of the requisite quality, in order to produce this correspondence. Thus a variety has been introduced into the Terminations even of regular Verbs, prejudicial to the uniformity of inflection, and of no use to ascertain either the sense or the pronunciation[50]. In the foregoing examples of regular Verbs, the common mode of Orthography has been followed, but in the following rules the simple Terminations only are specified.
The Theme or Root of the Verb is always found in the second Per. sing. of the imperative.
The _Preterite_ Affirm. and Negat. is like the Root, and has no distinction of Number or Person. In most of the editions of the Gaelic Psalms, some inflections of the { 78} Preterite have been admitted, with good effect, from the Irish Verb; such as, bhuaileas _I struck_, bhuailis _thou didst strike_, bhuaileamar _we struck_, bhuaileadar _they struck_. The Pret. Subj. is formed by adding to the Root _inn_ for the first pers. sing., and _adh_ for the other persons. The first pers. plur. also terminates in _amaid_.
The _Future_ Affirm. adds _idh_ to the Root; in the Negat. it is like the Root; and in the Subjunct. it adds _as_. A poetic Future Tense terminating in _ann_ or _onn_, is frequent in the Gaelic Psalms; as, gairionn _will call_, seasfann _will stand_, do bheirionn, _will give_, &c. The Future has no distinction of Number or Person. The Termination of the Future Affirm. and Negat. in many Verbs was formerly _fidh_, like the Irish; of which many examples occur in the earlier editions of the Gaelic Psalms. In later Gaelic publications, the _f_ has been uniformly set aside[51]. The Termination of the first pers. and third pers. plur. is often incorporated with the corresponding Pronoun; as, seinnam cliu _I will sing praise_, Psal. lxi. 8., Ni fuigham bàs, ach mairfam beo, _I shall not die, but shall remain alive_, Ps. cxviii. 17., Ithfid, geillfid, innsid, _they will eat_, _they will submit_, _they will tell_, Ps. xxii, 26, 29, 31. [52].