Yeri pluvi e sedey bu pluvi. — Yesterday it rained, and today it isn't raining.
Laste mes me kan filma om polisyuan e lai-she mes me kan otre filma. — Last month I watched the film about a policeman, and next month I'll watch another film.
However, even in texts repeated past-tense marking is quite often superfluous, e. g., in narrating a series of past events.
Example (with a literal translation):
Se eventi mucho yar bak. Dwa jen zai go This happens many years ago. Two men walk along kamina e miti un jen kel porti un along the road and meet a man who carries a nangwa. pumpkin. Li lai a ta, shwo: They come to him and say: — Hey! Kwo es sub yur bracha? — Hey! What is it under your arm?
Transitivity
The prefix “fa” (“to get, to become”) may serve as an intransitivity marker:
astoni — “to astonish”
fa-astoni — “to be (become) astonished”
The causative prefix “mah” may serve as a transitivity marker:
lwo — “ to fall”
mah-lwo — “to drop, let fall”
Many verbs in LdP may be intransitive and transitive in the same form, the same as the English verbs, for example ‘begin’ (‘to begin something’ vs ‘the film begins’) and ‘develop’ (‘to develop a theory’ vs ‘to develop into a nice personality’). Usually, if the verb is followed by an object, the verb is transitive, otherwise it is not:
me begin gun — I begin to work
kino begin — the cinema begins
If ambiguity may arise, one can use the prefixes “fa” and “mah”.
Participles with -ney
Passive participle is marked with "-ney":
pi-ney akwa — the drunk water.
If you want to say that the water is being drunk, add "zai":
zai-pi-ney akwa — the water that is being drunk.
With intransitive verbs -ney is a past active participle marker:
apari-ney jen — the person that has appeared
morti-ney jen — the dead person
With some verbs both meanings are possible:
adapti-ney — adapted (either “that has become adapted” or “that has been adapted”).
To specify the exact meaning, if needed, use transitivity markers:
fa-adapti-ney — that has become adapted
adaptisi-ney — that has been adapted.
The passive of state
The passive of state is formed by "bi" and "verb+ney"; it indicates a state as a result of a finished process:
Olo es yo shwo-ney, ye nixa fo shwo pyu. — Everything has already been said; there's nothing more to say.
Toy auto bin kupi-ney char yar bak. — That car was bought 4 years ago.
The passive of becoming
The passive of becoming, formed by the auxiliary verb ‘gei’ and verb, indicates an unfinished process:
Dwar gei ofni lentem. — The door is being opened slowly (=gets opened)
(compare: dwar es ofni-ney — the door is opened).
To gei zwo. — That is being done (compare: to es zwo-ney — that is done).
Autos gei kupi kada dey. — Cars are bought every day.
The past tense is formed with ‘gei-te’; the future with ‘ve gei’:
Se gei-te zwo tak e to ve gei zwo otrem. — This was (being) done so, and that will be (being) done otherwise.
Verb doubling
This expresses that an action takes some time or is repeated many times. There may also be a connotation of certain ease and lack of constraint :
Nu shwo-shwo ba idyen. — Let's talk (chat) a little.
Nau treba kan-kan atenta-nem. — Now you should look carefully (keep an eye on something).
Treba dumi-dumi idyen. — One should think a little.
Kwo yu zwo-zwo? — What are you doing now?
The verb "bi" (to be)
This is an exceptional verb. It has the main form "bi", the present tense form "es", and the past tense form "bin".
• "Es" does not need a subject in clauses like
Es hao. — This (it) is good.
Bu es posible. — This (it) is not possible.
• In aphoristic sayings the link-verb ‘es’ might be dropped:
Tu shwo fasile, tu zwo mushkile. — To say is easy, to do is difficult.
Char gamba hao, dwa gamba buhao. — Four legs good, two legs bad.
The infinitive and the infinitive particle "tu"
The infinitive particle tu is used when the infinitive has a meaning close to that of a noun (substantivization):
Tu shwo veritaa es hao. — To tell the truth is good.
Tu begin es lo zuy mushkile. — To begin is the most difficult thing.
Tu chi fish es hao fo sanitaa. — To eat fish is good for health.
Tu pluvi es muhim fo rekola. — Raining is important for the crop.
• If the infinitive is placed after another verb, "tu" is not used:
Ta pri chi masu. — He likes to eat beef.
Me wud yao lagi sub surya nau. — I would like to lie under the sun now.
Me nadi vidi yu sun. — I hope to see you soon.
Oli jen mus gun. — All people must work.
Sempre gai samaji lo shefe. — One should always understand the most important thing.
Lu pregi-te pi. — He asked to drink.
Ela fogeti-te klefi dwar. — She forgot to lock the door.
Stopi shwo! — Stop talking!
• In cases where the infinitive completes the meaning of a noun or adjective, it uses the same preposition as a noun would — though that preposition may differ from its English equivalent:
mogsa de lopi longtaim — the ability to run for a long time (=mogsa de longtaim-ney loping)
Lu es tro fatigi-ney fo go. — He is too tired to go. (=Lu es tro fatigi-ney fo going.)
Lu es fatigi-ney por go. — He is tired of walking. (=Lu es fatigi-ney por going.)
kitaba fo lekti — a book to read (=kitaba fo lekting)
Ob yu es tayar fo go? — Are you ready to go? (=Ob yu es tayar fo going?)
Es taim fo samaji to. — It is time to understand this. (=Es taim fo samaja)
Sembli ke problema fo diskusi yok. — It seems that there are no problems to discuss. (=Sembli ke problema fo diskusa yok.)
Ela go-te a basar fo kupi yabla. — She went to the market to buy apples.
Ela afsosi por kupi grin yabla. — She is sorry to have bought green apples.
Me joi al vidi yu. — I am glad to see you.
Me he lai por vidi luma in yur winda. — I came because of seeing light in your windows.
• In subordinate clauses after the relative words "ob", "wo", "komo", etc., the infinitive is used without "tu":
Ela he findi plasa wo kupi hwan yabla. — She found a place (where) to buy yellow apples.
Me bu es serte ob go adar o bu go. — I am not sure whether to go there or not.
Lu jan komo zwo to. — He knows how to do it.
• The particle "tu" may be used to mark the infinitive group:
Lu he wadi a me tu bringi un interes-ney jurnal. — He promised me to bring an interesting magazine.
(But: Lu he wadi bringi un interes-ney jurnal a me).
Bu es fasile, tu begin rasmi in may yash. — It is not easy to take up drawing at my age.
The verb "ye" (there is)
The verb ye means "there is":
In shamba ye mucho stula. — In the room there are many chairs.
Stula dar ye. — There are chairs there.
The negative meaning (absence of something) is expressed through "bu ye" or yok (not available). The latter is placed after the object under discussion:
Bu ye stula in shamba. — There are no chairs in the room.
Stula in shamba yok. — There are no chairs in the room.
Mani ye-bu-ye? — Is there any money (to use)?
Mani yok. — No money available.
The helping verb "fai"
It has the general meaning ‘to do, to perform an action’ and is used in combination with nouns and adverbs: