Lesson Fourteen

Dialogue fourteen: Directions

To the Post Office

NOTE:

👆 Today, as you go out, make a point of asking several people for directions to places you already know and use this dialogue. You can practice giving directions by looking for confirmation of what you already know about the location you are heading for. For example:

Directions to your own house

👆 Ask someone who knows your house to give directions to it. Then write them here in phonetics or script and learn them. Invite a friend over.

Pronunciation drill

1. Illustrating ښک - khk

2. Contrasting ڼ - N and ن - n

Imperatives

1. The imperative relates to commands, orders, directions, requests and prohibitions. Imperatives are formed by dropping the person endings from the present or subjunctive forms of verbs and adding the appropriate imperative ending (see the charts below for examples). For example the base subjunctive form of پوهېدل - pohedúl meaning 'to know, to understand', is پوه شـ - poh sh-, and so the imperative forms become:

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2. Using the subjunctive form of a verb for an imperative indicates that you are commanding someone to do something as a one-time event (often right away). Using the regular present form of the verb means that you are commanding someone to do something in general, or repeated over some time. Simple (non-compound) verbs are made into their subjunctive forms by adding و - oo- to the beginning. Note the following examples:

note: Some grammars might describe this as the difference between the “perfective” and “imperfective” aspects. (Adding و - -oo puts it in the "perfective aspect").

3. When making imperative commands using compound verbs you need to be careful and see if whether a compound verb is a “doing” (dynamic) compound or a “making” (stative) compound.

a. “Doing” (dynamic) compounds often use the verb کول - kawul (to do), and the object of the sentence is inside of the compound. When making the subjunctive / one-time forms of the verb, you add a و - oo on the front.

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b. “Making” (stative) compounds use the verb کول - kawul (to make), to apply the other word in the compound to an object outside of the compound. When you make the subjunctive / one-time form of these compound you do not add a و - oo on front!

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4. The negative form is shown by the prefix مهٔ - mu meaning “don’t” as in the following:

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In the negative, there is no distinction between the one-time or continuous forms of the commands. There’s just one form that covers both.

A summary of the imperative forms of verbs

• The top of each row ending in ـه - -a is for commands directed to the singular ته - tu
• the bottom row ending in ـئ - -ey is for commands directed to the plural or respectful تاسو - táaso.

NOTES:

1. The “one-time” (perfective) forms of the imperatives are based on the subjunctive form of the verb. (Introduced in Lesson 16). For regular verbs, the subjunctive form is made by adding و - oo to the beginning. Some words, like the following, take totally irregular forms in the subjunctive:

   • تلل - tlul
   • راتلل - raatlul
   • کول - kawul (to do)
   • کول - kawul (to make)
   • کېدل - kedul (to happen)
   • کېدل - kedul (to become)
   • وړل - oRúl (to take (inanim.))

2. It’s impórtant to put the émphasis on the right sýllable!! You’ll notice that all the one-time commands have the emphasis on the first syllable. With some words you can’t add an و - oo to the front of the word, but there is still a difference in where you put the emphasis! For instance:

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3. The imperative mood is always directed at “you” in the second person singular ته - tu or the second person plural تاسو - táaso, but these pronouns are generally omitted unless there is some ambiguity or the speaker wants to add emphasis to the command.

4. In the imperative mood, the second person singular subject marker for verbs is ـه - -a. This differs from its present tense subject marker ـې - -e. For example,

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5. The plural subject marker for both the imperative mood and the present tense is ـئ - -ey.

Intransitive verbs in the imperative mood

1. Regular intransitive verbs:

2. Compound intransitive verbs:

NOTES:

1. The last two sentences could be made more respectful by making the imperatives plural with ـئ - -ey.

2. Suffixes added for calling someone are:

• ـه - -a for masuline nouns: وروره - wror-a
• ـې - -e for feminine nouns: خورې - khor-e
• ـو - -o for plural nouns: ماشومانو - maashoomáano

Transitive verbs in the imperative mood

1. Regular transitive verbs:

2. Compound transitive verbs:

a. The imperative forms of dynamic, or “doing” compounds (verbs where the object is in the compound)

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b. The imperative forms of stative, or “making” compounds (verbs where the object is outside the compound)

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NOTES:

1. All negative commands are based off of the present form of the verb. Only positive commands differentiate between one-time (perfective aspect) commands, and continuous (imperfective aspect) commands.

Using کول - kawul (to do)

Using کول - kawul (to make)

2. As usual with stative “making” compound verbs, adjectives are inflected according to the object’s gender and number. See the example with the regular adjective (make it), and with the irregular adjective (cook it) below:

Make it!

کټ - kaT (bed (m.))

Try making these sentences covering up the Pashto.

لینده - leendá (slinghsot (f.))

چائې - chaay (tea (f. pl.))

Cook it!

👆 Now try making sentences with some foods of different genders. Have your helper say the food and you tell him or her to cook it!

ADD ENGLISH HERE

3. While Pukhtuns tend to be more direct in giving commands than English speakers, there are a number of polite ways in which to express orders, requests and directions. The addition of مهربانی - mirabaanee to the start of the sentence, as in the request “Please don’t shut the window” is one such way.

Verbs commonly used in the imperative mood

NOTE:

The بېټک - beTúk is the men’s guest room.

Some polite expressions

NOTE:

The last sentence is useful if you were leaving to go somewhere else at the moment a guest arrives.

Comprehension drill: Asking and giving directions

Learn the common landmarks around your area that people use for direction-giving.

👆 Try practising the words in the following chart with your teacher. Start by talking about an area you are familiar with, then move to something that is less familiar. Use a picture or a map to help you.

Memorising moment

matalóona

NOTE:

Taru Jabba is a small town on the outskirts of Peshawar that was known for its bandits and robbers. There are many regional versions of this proverb. One of the most common is: هله به خبر شې چې تالو ژبې له ورشې. (You'll know when your tongue sticks to your palate). Discuss with local friends which variant they use and what they understand by it.

NOTE:

The particle دې - de can be used in prayers to mean 'may’. For example,

Be careful though, because دې - de can have many other meanings!

Exercises for Lesson Fourteen

1. Complete these sentences with the correct imperative verb form:

2. Make a list of sequential commands to perform several common tasks you need done. Write them down, learn them and then try them out.