b) -ney (passive or past)
-Me (I) he (past tense marker) lekti (to read) sey (this) kitaba (book), it (it) es (is / are) yo (already) lekti-ney (read). Me he lekti sey kitaba, it es yo lekti-ney. – I have read this book, it is already read.
- Lu (he) yus he ("just") lai (to come), lu (he) es (is / are) yo (already) lai-ney (come). Lu yus he lai, lu es yo lai-ney. – He has just come.
5.10. Participle: -yen ("while doing")
- Me (I) zai (continuous marker) slu (to listen) kan-yen (looking at) yu (you). Me zai slu kan-yen yu. – I'm listening while looking at you.
5.11. Simultaneity: al
- Al vidi (to see) me (I) lu (he) ahfi (to hide) swa (oneself). Al vidi me lu ahfi swa. – As soon as he sees me, he hides himself.
5.12. Succession of actions: afte (after)
- Afte vidi (to see) un (one) ves (time) yu (you) neva (never) fogeti (to forget). Afte vidi un ves yu neva fogeti. – After you see it once, you will never forget it.
6. Special verbs[edit]
6.1. fai (can substitute any verb): fai kama (bed) – to lie or to sleep in the bed
6.2. mah ("to cause"): mah sikin (knife) agude (sharp) - mah sikin agude – to sharpen the knife (= mah-agude sikin)
6.3. hev (to have), ye (there is), yok (there is no), walaa (here is)
- Me (I) hev (to have) dwa (two) kalam (pencil). Me hev dwa kalam. – I have two pencils.
- Kalam (pencil) ye (there is), bat (but) papir (paper) yok (there is no). Kalam ye, bat papir yok. – There is a pencil, but there is no paper.
- Walaa may (my) shamba (room). Walaa may shamba. – Here is my room.
6.4. Modal verbs.
a) Possibility, ability: mog
- Me (I) mog zwo (to do) se (this). Me mog zwo se. – I can do it.
- Bu (not) mog jivi (to live) sin (without) akwa (water). Bu mog jivi sin akwa. – One can't live without water.
b) Know how: janmog
- Me (I) janmog gani (to sing) hao (good, well). Me janmog gani hao. – I can sing well.
c) Permission: darfi
- Hir (here) bu (not) darfi fumi (to smoke). Hir bu darfi fumi. – One can't (isn't allowed to) smoke here.
d) Need: nidi
- Me (I) nidi chi (to eat) koysa (something). Me nidi chi koysa. – I need to eat something.
e) Be obliged, have to: majbur
- En-pluvi (to begin to rain), me (I) majbur go (to go) a dom (home). En-pluvi, me majbur go a dom. – it has started to rain; I have to go home.
f) It is necessary; require: treba
- Treba fini (finish) til (till) aksham (evening). Treba fini til aksham. – It is necessary to finish till the evening.
g) Should: gai
- Bu (not) gai lanfai (to be lazy). Bu gai lanfai. – One shouldn't be lazy.
h) Must: mus
- Me (I) mus go (to go) a ofis (to the office). Me mus go a ofis. – I must go to the office.
i) Wish: yao
- Me (I) yao shwo (to talk) kun (with) yu (you). Me yao shwo kun yu. – I want to talk to you.
j) To like: pri
- Me (I) pri raki (to ride) bisikla (bicycle). Me pri raki bisikla. – I like to ride a bicycle.
6.5. “Intensive” verbs (before another verb)
a) to succeed in doing: pai (to get)
- Me (I) pai ofni (to open) boxa (box). Me pai ofni boxa. – I have managed to open the box.
b) indication of a new condition: lwo in (to fall in)
- Ela (she) lwo in plaki (to cry). Ela lwo in plaki. – She burst into tears.
c) unexpectedness: dai (to give)
- dai shwo (ta say, to talk) – to blurt out
6.6. "worth": val
- Val slu (to listen) pyu (more) atentem (attentively). Val slu pyu atentem. – It's worth listening more attentively.
6.7. “state” verb: sta
- Komo (how) yu (you) sta? Komo yu sta? – How are you?
- Me (I) sta hao (good, well). Me sta hao. – I'm well.
Compound words[edit]
1. When sequence of two words acquires a new meaning, at least a little, the words are written together and a compound word appears.
1.1. The last word is the main one in a sequence:
- gun (to work) + taim (time) = guntaim (action time)
- surya (sun) + flor (flower) = suryaflor (sunflower)
- maus (mouse) + kapter (catcher) = mauskapter (mouse trap)
1.2. Some words are regularly used to make compound words:
a) jen (person), man (man), gina (woman): jadu (sorcery) – jadujen (sorcerer/sorceress) – jadugina (sorceress) – jaduman (sorcerer)
b) yuan (employee): polis (police) – polisyuan (policeman)
c) guan (institution): kitaba (book) – kitabaguan (library)
d) lok(o) (place): habitilok (habitation)
e) menga (great amount): jenmenga (crowd)
f) fin (end): lekti (to read) – finlekti (to read completely)
g) swa (oneself): swa-luba (self-love), swa-kontrola (self-control)
h) for (ahead): for-gunsa (work continuation)
i) kontra (against): kontratoxin (antidote); kontrapon (to oppose)
j) sin (without): sinsensu-ney (meaningless)
k) tra (through): go (to go) – trago (to go through)
Interchange of one part of speech for another[edit]
1. Noun to adjective:
a) -ney (for nouns ending with -а the short form is acceptable: resta-ney = reste): interes (interest) – interes-ney (interesting)
b) -ful (full of): luma (light) – lumaful (full of light, luminous)
c) -lik (similar in appearance or character): gina (woman) – ginalik (feminine, womanly)
2. Adjective to noun:
2.1. Suffixes.
a) -a (only for adjectives ending in -e) (“something or somebody characterized with this quality”)
- adulte (grown-up) – adulta (a grown-up person), konstante (constant) – konstanta (a constant)
b) -(i)taa (makes abstract nouns): vere (true) – veritaa (truth), hao (good) – haotaa (goodness)
c) -nesa: gao (high) – gaonesa (highness) – gaotaa (height)
d) -nik (characteristic feature): hao (good) – haonik (good one)
e) -ka (a thing having the quality): mole (soft) – molika (pulp)
2.2. Particles:
a) lo: Lo zuy (most) muhim (important) es (is) luba (love). – The most important thing is love.