Verbs - Present Tenses

  « Verbs - General Notes «        Course Index        Samples         » Past Tense »    

 

Quenya has two forms that we would call “present tense”:  Aorist tense and Continuative tense.

Question for the Geeks:

(Is “Aorist” an English word?  It is at least a “linguistics” word.)

Aorist

“Aorist” present tense expresses the simple, unmodified, unlimited meaning of the verb.  Use this form for general, timeless truths.  It is often translated by the English present tense.

Forming Aorist verbs:

Basic verb:  add -ë (or –i– if any other ending is added)

matë     (one person) eats

matir    (several people) eat (Remember adding –r for the plural)

A-Stem:  ends in -a

(That makes aorist present tense for A-stem verbs come out just like their plain ordinary dictionary forms.)

lassë lanta     a leaf falls

lassi lantar    leaves fall

Continuative Present Tense

“Continuative” present tense expresses an action that is happening right now.  It is sometimes translated as “is doing”.  Some situations could appropriately use either Aorist or Continuative.

Forming Continuative verbs:

Basic Verb:  lengthen the vowel (add accent), and add –a

máta     (one person) is eating

mátar   (several people) are eating

lassë lanta         a leaf falls

lassi lantar        leaves fall

A-Stem:  lengthen the vowel, unless it falls before a consonant cluster, (remember, long vowels never occur before a consonant cluster.)

and replace –a with –ëa

(You did download the chart of all the verb forms already worked out, didn't you?   Even your teacher doesn't memorize all this.)

lálaëa       is laughing

lálaëar     are laughing

lassë lantëa       a leaf is falling

lassi lantëar      leaves are falling

added February 15, 2012:

Extra material for the Geeks:

Does it seem strange to change the vowel in a verb?  In English, we have run/ran, get/got, take/took, and other similar verbs.

Examples of timeless truths (Aorist)

"I am a Human."

"Dogs eat meat."

vs.  present actions (Continuative):

"I am wearing a red shirt."

"That dog is eating my dinner!"

Extra material for the Geeks:

The Quenya translations of those sentences (which include some elements we haven't yet learned):

   Nán Atan.

   Huor matir larma.

   Cólan carnë laupë.

   Tana huo máta apsanya!

Practice – Your Turn

Highlight the shaded boxes to see the answers.

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐

│          useful vocabulary           │

│ mar-            live (at a location) │

│ rista-          cut                  │

│ Alqualondessë   in Alqualondë        │

│ orva            apple                │

│ ar              and                  │

└──────────────────────────────────────┘

First, which type of verb is mar-, basic or A-stem?   basic

Which type of verb is rista-? A-stem

Aldandil lives in Alqualondë.  (in general)     Aldandil marë Alqualondessë.

Aldandil and Calanar live in Alqualondë.

Aldandil ar Calanar marir Alqualondessë.

Aldandil is living in Alqualondë.  (currently)     Aldandil mára Alqualondessë.
Aldandil and Calanar are living in Alqualondë.

Aldandil ar Calanar márar Alqualondessë.

Halla cuts apples.  (in general)     Halla rista orvar.

Halla and Narwë cut apples.          Halla ar Narwë ristar orvar.
Halla is cutting an apple.  (now)               Halla ristëa orva.
Halla and Narwë are cutting an apple.     Halla ar Narwë ristëar orva.

Implied “Is”

Extra Material for the Geeks:

You can leave out the "is" in a sentence, if it is just joining two nouns or a noun and an adjective.

To say "That table (is) brown and white" in Quenya, you might not bother with the "is"

   Iana sarna varnë ar ninquë.

An ordinary adjective comes before the noun.   If the adjective comes after the noun, it becomes a sentence, “Noun is adjective.”

   calima Anar      the bright Sun

   Anar calima.    The Sun is bright.

You can still use "is" (ná), but you don't need to.

   Tana sarna ná varnë ar ninquë.     That table is brown and white.

   Anar ná calima     The Sun is bright.

Practice – Your Turn

Highlight the shaded boxes to see the answers.

┌───────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────┐

│                  useful vocabulary                  │

│ ar      and                   │ celva  animal       │

│ sina    this [adjective]      │ aiwë   (small) bird │

│ tana    that [adjective]      │ huo    dog          │

│ carnë   red                   │ yaxë   cow          │

│ morë    black                 │ lótë   flower       │

│ helwa   pale blue             │ yávë   fruit        │

│ ninquë  white                 │ orva   apple        │

│ varnë   brown                 │ piucca blackberry   │

│ vanya   beautiful (of looks)  │                     │

│ linda   beautiful (of sound)  │                     │

│ lissë   sweet                 │                     │

│                                                     │

│ -(e)rya   his/hers/its                              │

│ -(e)lta   their (plural)                            │

└───────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────┘

These apples are sweet.  (Hint:  “These” is the plural of “this”.)

Sinë orvar lissi. or Sinë orvar nár lissi.

That flower is pale blue.        Tana lótë helwa.  or Tana lótë ná helwa.

Blackberries are black.        Piuccar mori.  or Piuccar nár mori.

This cow is brown.                Sina yaxë varnë.  or Sina yaxë ná varnë.

Dogs and cows are animals.        Huor ar yaxi celvar.  or Huor ar yaxi nár celvar.

Aiwë linda.                        (A) small bird is sweet-sounding.  In many situations, this would be equivalent to English  "The small bird is sweet-sounding."

Orvar ar piuccar lissi yávi.        Apples and blackberries are sweet fruits.

Her cow is white.                Yaxerya ninquë.  or Yaxerya ná ninquë.

That animal is his dog.        Tana celva huorya.  or Tana celva ná huorya.

Their (a group's) apples are sweet.        Orvaltar lissi.  or Orvaltar nár lissi.

  « Verbs - General Notes «        Course Index        Samples         » Past Tense »