Indicative
Present
| 1st sing. | mæġ |
| 2nd sing. | meaht |
| 3rd sing. | mæġ |
| 1st plur. | magon |
| 2nd plur. | magon |
| 3rd plur. | magon |
Past
| 1st sing. | meahte; mehte |
| 2nd sing. | meahtest; mehtest |
| 3rd sing. | meahte; mehte |
| 1st plur. | meahton; mehton |
| 2nd plur. | meahton; mehton |
| 3rd plur. | meahton; mehton |
Subjunctive
Present
| 1st sing. | mæġe |
| 2nd sing. | mæġe |
| 3rd sing. | mæġe |
| 1st plur. | mæġen |
| 2nd plur. | mæġen |
| 3rd plur. | mæġen |
Past
| 1st sing. | meahte; mehte |
| 2nd sing. | meahte; mehte |
| 3rd sing. | meahte; mehte |
| 1st plur. | meahten; mehten |
| 2nd plur. | meahten; mehten |
| 3rd plur. | meahten; mehten |
Imperative
Verbs conjugated like 'magan'
magan,
Verbs similar to 'magan'
agan,
magian,
mawan,
migan,
nagan,
acan,
alan,
bacan,
began,
bigan,
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *magan, from Proto-Germanic *maganą. See there for cognates. See: Proto-Germanic '
*maganą'.
Verbs referencing "magan"
English
may, English
main, English
dismay, Old English
magian, Old High German mugan, Middle English
mowen.
Sample Sentences
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "Saint Maur, Abbot"
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Þā ġecwæð sē abbod and ealle þā ġebrōðra þæt þēr ne mihte nā mā munuca wunian... (Then said the abbot and all the brothers, that no more monks could dwell there...)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "Saint Swithhun, Bishop"
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...he næfre ær naht cweðan ne mihte... (...he had never before been able to speak,...)
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Early 11th century, Wulfstan, "Secundum Lucam"
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Uton helpan ūre selfra þā hwīle þe wē magon, þȳ lǣs wē forweorðen þonne wē lǣst wēnen. (Let us help ourselves while we can, lest we perish when we least expect it.)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "Of the Catholic Faith"
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Būtan ġē hit ġelīefen, ne magon ġē hit understandan. (Unless you believe it, you cannot understand it.)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 45:3 (And he said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is our father still alive?" But, out of fear, his brothers could not answer him.)
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c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 26:8-9 (This ointment could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor.)
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c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Mark 14:37 (Then he came and found them asleep, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could'nt you stay awake for one hour?")
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c. 992, Ælfric, "Palm Sunday: On the Lord's Passion"
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Swā fela þūsenda engla meahton ēaðe bewerian Crist wiþ þām unmannum, mid heofonlīcum wǣpnum, ġif hē þrōwian nolde selfwilles for ūs. (That many thousands of angels could have easily defended Christ against those brutes [the men who came to arrest Jesus], with weapons from heaven, if he didn't want to suffer voluntarily for us.)
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late 10th century, Ælfric, "The First Sunday After Easter"
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God is ælmihtiġ, and mæġ eall þæt hē wile. (God is all-mighty, and can do anything he wants.)
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Durham Proverbs, no. 22 (A coward can only do one thing: fear.)
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Nine Herbs Charm, https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ascp/a43_02.htm
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Þū meaht wiþ þām lāþan / þe ġeond land færeþ. (You avail against the loathsome one going around the land.)
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"Hu meaht þu?" "Ic mæg wel." ("How are you going?" "I am well.")
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c. 994, Ælfric, https://books.google.co.id/books?id=iqCU4ZV4pjoC&pg=PA8De Anno (On the Year)] (Now, you might understand that the person who goes around a single house has a smaller circuit than the one who goes around the whole city.)
Cognates
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