Lesson Fifteen

Dialogue fifteen: Public transportation

👆 Men: Spend a day riding around on public transport in your area. Listen for the names of destinations called out by conductors. Work out the routes. Later, confirm your findings with your helper.

👆 Ladies: This week become an expert on rickshaws or whatever transport is appropriate for you where you are. Learn the names of the useful landmarks and roads that rickshaw drivers know for directions.

NOTE:

Like many English loan words, the Pukhto word for “minute” is not uniform. Different speakers use it in a variety of forms.

Pronunciation drill

👆 How are you doing at remembering and pronouncing the names of your new friends correctly? Here are some common names to practice with your helper. Knowing the meanings may help you remember them too.

1. Ladies’ names:

2. Men’s names:

The future tense

There are two forms of the future tense, each with a slightly different meaning. In everyday speech the difference is often ignored and the distinction is made by intonation of voice rather than verb forms.

1. Imperfective

This implies a continuous action: 'I will be going, seeing, finishing’, etc.

به - ba + Present Form = Imperfective Future

The imperfective (strong) future uses the present form of the verb and and adds the particle به - ba. For example,

2. Perfective

In the perfective future tense the action is delimited or complete, that is, it is of short duration. The perfective future also can give a verb a weaker or less definite feel.

به - ba + Subjunctive Form = Perfective Futurue

The perfective future is made by using the subjunctive form of the verb and adding the particle به - ba. For example, notice the difference between the regular present and subjunctive forms of these verbs:

Now let’s make some sentences with the perfective future. (به - ba + subjunctive)

Transitive verbs in the perfective future

As we saw above, most regular (non-compound / non-seperable) verbs add a و - oo / w to the beginning in the subjunctive form and put the emphasis on the first syllable.

NOTE:

The خ - kh is sometimes not pronounced, hence sakaal.

In everyday speech the و - oo prefix is sometimes dropped from sentences, this is especially so in the negative. For example,

Some transitive verbrs that take the ـو - -oo / -w prefix:

NOTE:

The verbs رابلل - raa-balúl and راستول - raastawúl are formed from بلل - balúl and استول - astawul with an added را - raa on front. The ـو - -oo prefix gets attached after the را - raa. For example, راوبلم - raa-oo-balum or راواستوم - raa-waastawum.

Intransitive verbs in the perfective future tense

Here are some intransitive verbs that take the و - oo / w prefix.

Example sentences:

👆 Make more sentences from the list of verbs above.

The verb کېدل - kedúl (to become) in the future tense

The verb کېدل - kedúl (to become) has an irregular subjunctive / perfective root form, شـ - sh- which never takes a و - oo prefix.

The subjunctive form of کېدل - kedúl (to become)

NOTE:

This verb is not to be confused with کېدل - kedúl (to happen) with _does_ take a و - oo prefix.

Just like with all other verbs, we use

• the present form + به - ba for an imperfective future, and
• the subjunctive form + به - ba for a perfective future.

For example contrast:

Perfective future example sentences with کېدل - kedúl (to become) / کېدل - kedúl (to become) compounds:

Intransitive compound verbs with کېدل - kedúl (to become)

As you can see in the exampels above, there are mamy compound verbs made using کېدل - kedúl (to become). Remember, there is no و - oo added to the subjunctive / perfective form of کېدل - kedúl (to become), so these verbs will never take a و - oo prefix.

Notice how in the present form the verbs get stuck in the infinitive and present forms if the first word ends in a consonant, but they always get broken up in the subjunctive form.

👆 Generate some future sentences with your helper using these verbs.

As with regular verbs, these intransitive کېدل - kedúl (to become) compound verbs carry slightly different meanings in the perfective (weak) and imperfective (strong) forms.

For example contrast the different uses of پوهېدل - pohedul:

The verb کول - kawul (to make) in the future tense.

The verb کول - kawul (to make) also has an irregular subjunctive / perfective root form, کړـ - kR- which also never takes a و - oo prefix. Often in spoken language the root کړـ - kR- is shortened to کـ - k- in speech (not in writing).

The subjunctive form of کول - kawúl (to make)

Compound verbs with کول - kawul (to make)

There are many compounds made with کول - kawul (to make) in Pukhto. These compounds take an object and involve doing something to that object that changes it.

Examples of compound verbs with کول - kawul (to make) in the future

NOTES:

1. Verbal adjectives are inflected in agreement with the object.
2. In the perfective form, the negative verbs prefix نهٔ - nu- precedes the verb stem کړـ - kR-:

{" "}

The verb کول - kawul (to do) in the future tense.

The verb کول - kawul (to do), (not to be confused with the کول - kawul (to make) above) also has an irregular subjunctive / perfective root form, وکړـ - óokR- which always includes a و - oo prefix. Often in spoken language the root وکړـ - óokR- is shortened to وکـ - óok- in speech (not in writing).

The subjunctive form of کول - kawúl (to do)

Compound verbs with کول - kawul (to do)

The verb کول - kawul (to do) is often used in compound verbs describing actions where the action being done is the object of the sentence.

This below chart may help you to understand the difference between the compounds with کول - kawul (to make) and the compounds with کول - kawul (to do)

Here are some examples of compound verbs with کول - kawul (to do)

The imperfective form can be used to show that an an action is limited and immediate, as in a one-off event. To show continous action, the (subjunctive based) perfective form.

Examples of compound verbs with کول - kawul (to do)

The future progressive وی - wee

The equative verb (to be) in the future looks similar to it’s present form, except that all third person endings (دے - day, ده - da, and دی - dee) are replaced with وی - wee.

Also, وی - wee is used in a sentence without به - ba, it it signals an existing continuous or habitual state of a person or thing, for example, the weather every year at springtime.

NOTES:

1. The و - w sound here is somewhere beween a / v / and / w /.

2. به - ba is added to وی - wee to make the imperfective future tense.

Comprehension drill: Learning your way around

👆 Find a big map of your area. Take an imaginary trip with your finger, or give instructions for your helper to travel. Use the following words in your description, making complete sentences:

Towns in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa

Learn the names of the principal towns. Pay special attention to those “hard” sounds that occur in names like ملاکنډ - malaakánD

Memorising moment

mataloona

Rahman Baba

Exercises for Lesson Fifteen

1. Change the following sentences into perfective future tense. For example:

becomes

2. Answer the following questions in full sentences with negative responses.