Lesson 7
Past Perfective
Goal: In this lesson you will learn how to make sentences in past (perfective) tense. Gujarati distinguished between simple perfective and pluperfective. The latter is used to express remote past.
Simple Perfective:
Consider the following sentences:
1. hu& hSyo.
‘I laughed.’ (male speaker)
2. Ame / Aap8e
hSya.
‘We laughed.’(male speakers)
3. tu& hSyo.
‘You laughed.’ (male listener)
4. tme hSya.
‘You laughed.’(male listeners)
5. te hSyo.
‘He laughed.’
6. teAo hSya.
‘They laughed.’ (persons refereed
to are males)
7. hu& hsI.
‘I laughed.’ (female speaker)
8. Ame / Aap8e
hSya&.
‘We laughed.’ (female or male and
female speakers)
9. tu& hsI.
‘You laughed.’ (female listener)
10. tme hSya&.
‘You laughed.’ (female listeners)
11. te hsI.
‘She laughed.’
12. 2okru&
hSyu&.
‘A child laughed.’ (person refereed
to is a child-neuter gender)
13. teAo hSya&.
‘They laughed.’ (persons referred
to are either females or male and females together)
14. 2okra&
hSya&.
‘Children laughed.’ (persons referred
to are children- neuter gender plural)
1. Remember the following:
A. The past tense marker is -y\-.
B. An intransitive verb agrees with the subject in gender and number. Following table summarizes these facts:
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
Masculine |
hs\ + y\
+ Ao |
hs\ + y\ + Aa |
|
Feminine |
hs\ + y\ + ; |
hs\ + y\ + Aa& |
|
Neuter |
hs\ + y\ + w& |
hs\ + y\ + Aa& |
2. However, if the verb is transitive, the verb agrees with object in gender and number. Moreover the subject pronoun is always from the following set.
|
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
1st person |
me& |
Ame (Exclusive) Aap8e (Inclusive) |
|
2nd person |
te& |
tme |
|
3rd person |
te8e te8IAe (Formal) |
teAoAe |
4. If the Subject is a noun it
takes -Ae.
Consider the following sentences.
1. me& kagX kaPyo.
‘I cut a paper.’
2. me& kagX kaPya.
‘I cut papers.’
3. me& kerI kapI.
‘I cut a mango.’
4. me& kerIAo
kapI.
‘I cut mangos.’
5. me& keXu&
kaPyu&.
‘I cut a banana.’
6. me& keXa&
kaPya&.
‘I cut bananas.’
Remember the following irregularity in verb forms. (Only neuter forms
are listed):
|
Verb |
Simple Perfective |
Pluperfective |
|
khevu& ‘to say’ |
kI0u& |
kI0elu& |
|
`avu& ‘to eat’ |
`a0u& |
`a0elu& |
|
jvu& ‘to
go’ |
gyu& |
gyelu& |
|
de`vu& ‘to see’ |
dI5u& |
dI5elu& |
|
devu& ‘to give’ |
dI0u& |
dI0elu& |
|
nasvu& ‘to
flee’ |
na5u& |
na5elu& |
|
pIvu& ‘to
drink’ |
pI0u& |
pI0elu& |
|
pesvu& ‘to
enter’ |
pe5u& |
pe5elu& |
|
besvu& ‘to
sit’ |
be5u& |
be5elu& |
|
levu& ‘to
take’ |
lI0u& |
lI0elu& |
3.
Negative sentences
To make negative sentences, use n9I immediately after the verb. Examples:
1. hu& hSyo n9I.
‘I didn’t laugh.’ (male speaker)
2. Ame / Aap8e
hSya n9I.
3. te hsI n9I.
‘She didn’t laugh.’
4. 2okru&
hSyu& n9I.
‘A child didn’t laugh.’ (person
refereed to is a child-neuter gender)
5. me& kerIAo kapI
n9I.
‘I didn’t cut mangos.’
6. me& keXu&
kaPyu& n9I.
‘I didn’t cut a banana.’
7. me& keXa&
kaPya& n9I.
‘I didn’t cut bananas.’
Pluperfective
Consider the following examples:
1. hu& hselo&/
hsel.
‘I have laughed.’ (male speaker)
2. Ame / Aap8e
hsela&/ hsel.
‘We have laughed.’(male speakers)
3. tu& hselo&/
hsel.
‘You have laughed.’ (male listener)
4. tme hsela&/
hsel.
‘You have laughed.’(male listeners)
5. te hselo&/
hsel.
‘He has laughed.’
6. teAo hsela&/
hsel.
‘They have laughed.’ (persons
refereed to are males)
7. hu& hselI /
hsel.
‘I have laughed.’ (female speaker)
8. Ame / Aap8e
hsela &/ hsel .
‘We have laughed.’ (female or male
and female speakers)
9. tu& hselI &/
hsel.
‘You have laughed.’ (female
listener)
10. tme hsela&
&/ hsel.
‘You have laughed.’ (female
listeners)
11. te hselI &/
hsel.
‘She has laughed.’
12. 2okru&
hselu& &/ hsel.
‘A child has laughed.’ (person
refereed to is a child-neuter gender)
13. teAo
hsela&&/ hsel .
‘They have laughed.’ (persons
referred to are either females or male and females together)
14. 2okra&
hsela&/ hsel.
‘Children have laughed.’ (persons
referred to are children- neuter gender
plural)
|
Remember the following: 1. The pluperfective marker is -Ael-. 2. The gender and number maker normally follows the -Ael-. 3. Intransitive verb agrees with the subject in gender and number. 4. Transitive verb agrees with the object in gender and number. 5. In fast speech people drop the gender and number marker. |