Page:Graimear na Gaedhilge.djvu/129

Rh The old form of the third person singular ended in  or, and the analytic forms found in books, and sometimes in the northern dialect, are got from this form: as , we praise.

The analytic form is not usually found in the first person singular of this tense, nor is the synthetic form often used in the second person plural.

The Imperfect Tense.

The initial consonant of this tense is usually aspirated in the active voice, when possible.

When none of the particles, , , &c., precede the Imperfect Tense, may be used before it. This may be omitted except when the verb begins with a vowel or. The compound particles,, , , , , &c. can never be used with the Imperfect Tense.

Whenever the word "would" is used in English to describe what used to take place, the Imperfect Tense, not the Conditional, is used in Irish, as—
 * He would often say to me.&emsp;

The Past Tense.

In the Past Tense active voice the initial consonant of the verb is aspirated. The remark which