Lesson Twenty

Dialogue twenty: Make your own texts

👆 It is a huge step forward in your learning when you are able to speak on a short topic. Work with your helper to develop three topics about yourself. To do this explain to your helper how you would talk about yourself in three diferent tenses. Then have your helper prepare three short talks – as you might say them. Record each one; transcribe them; and then memorize them before going out to use them.

Present:

A text answering the common question, تهٔ دلته څهٔ کوې؟ - tu dălta tsu kawe? (What do you do here?)

Future

A text telling of your plans in the near future.

Past

A text that tells of some interesting event you saw or something that happened to you a few days ago. Try to keep it in the simple past tense.

Pronunciation drill

Have fun with this tongue twister:

Transitive verbs in the simple past tense

The next two chapters deal with the simple past tense for transitive verbs. Unlike intransitive verbs, transitive verbs in the past tense agree with the object, not the subject of the sentence. It is this feature of Pukhto that makes it a challenging language to speak accurately in the past tense. Take your time as you study the next lessons.

The simple past tense is always built from the perfective root of a verb.

Transitive verbs taking و - -oo / -w

For many verbs, the perfective root is formed by adding و - oo / w to the infinitive and moving the émphasis to the fírst sýllable. خوړل - khoRúl (to bite, eat, consume) is one example of a transitive verb that does this:

Now we can build simple past sentences using the perfective root of خوړل - khoRúl (to eat):

NOTES:

1. The ـل - -ul on the end of the perfective root can be kept or dropped. Both forms are used and this does not affect the meaning at all.
2. If this verb خوړل - khoRúl (to eat) is spoken without an object, then generally the feminine singular is used, implying روټۍ - roTúy or ډوډۍ - DoDúy both of which refer to “food” or 'a meal’. For example:

{" "}

2. The masculine and feminine verb endings refer the thing eatan (the object), not the gender of the one who ate (the subject).

👆 Study these examples and then practice making lots of new sentences:

NOTES:

1. In these sentences, fruit is the object (recipient of an action).

2. The verb form is based on the person, number and gender of the object.

3. The subject of transitive sentences is inflected in the past tense in the same way it does for when used with prepositions etc.

Remember that plural prounouns can't be inflected.

So to review the basic rules for transitive past tense sentences:

1. The verb agrees with the object.
2. The subject gets inflected (if possible).

It’s also important to note that with transitive past tense sentences the enclitic pronouns مې، دې، یې، مو - me, de, ye, mU are used for subjects in the past tense, but objects in the present.

👆 Practice the sentences below to become familiar with the way transitive verbs are used in the simple past tense. The information about the object of each sentences is given in (brackets).

NOTES:

1. The object is not inflected.
2. In the sentence, “The dog bit me” the object is me, so the verb takes the first person singular ending ـم - -um
3. When a dog is the subject (the one doing the biting), it’s inflected from سپے - spay to سبی - spee. If there were multiple dogs biting, we would need to do a double inflection because the dogs are plural and the subject of the sentence, for example:

{" "}

Transitive verbs that take the و - oo / w prefix in the simple past tense

NOTE:

In transitive past tense sentences enclitic pronouns can be used as subjects.

Transitive verbs when the object is “you” or “us” or “me”

When the object of past tense sentences is 1st person singular, the “reversal” (ergativity) of the past tense in Pashto can seem really jarring for learners. Practice the following sentences, using substitution, until it begins to feel natural to form sentences this way.

Remember, with transitive past tense sentences:

• the object is inflected
• the subject is not inflected
• the verb agrees with the object

NOTES:

1. Compare the present and past tense forms of the following sentences:

2. The subject in the past tense is always inflected. If the subject is already inflected because it is plural, then it takes the double inflection. For example, ښځې - khuze (women) changes to ښځو - khuzo.

Here’s another example with the word سپے - spay (dog):

Transitive verbs that take a و - w prefix

When we make the perfective root from some verbs beginning in a vowel, the و prefix makes a w sound instead of a oo sound.

Transitive verbs that don’t take a وـ - oo- prefix

There are a number of “seperable” verbs like “ke-naastul” and “ke-xodul” where you can shove particles in the middle of them. For instance the کې - ke in کېناستل - kenaastul is seperable, so we can say: کې به نُو - ke-ba-noo (We'll sit).

These kinds of verbs can never take a و - oo prefix. However, the accent still moves to the front with the perfective root.

And here is an example of a very irregular verb, where the perfective root is totally different:

Some sentences

👆 Make more sentences with each of these verbs. Remember, to make a simple past sentence you use the perfective root of the verb.

A note on the following comprehension drills

👆 In this kind of drill your language helper gives a series of instructions on a topic, and demonstrates the activities. For example: “Put the onion on the board. Open the drawer, and take out the knife. Slice the onion.” Mimic the actions a couple of times and then obay the instructions without your helper doing the actions. Then have him or her give the instructions at random. For some activities you can use real props and for others do it in mime.

You might find it helpful to record the drill on the first time through, and at a later time do the drill 'live’.

The following is the first of several comprehension drills using these instructions. Learn this one by mime.

Comprehension drill: Cooking

Memorising moment

mataloona

Rahman Baba

Exercises for Lesson Twenty

1. Listen to your helper read the following story and see how much of it you understand. Work on it until you can tell it. Concentrate on the past tense verb endings.

2. Take one verb at a time from the list of transitive verbs forms in the simple past tense. Have your language helper supply masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural and feminine plural tenses, and also the subjects and objects that are normally used with each verb. Make sentences accordingly. Try not to use any English in these drills.

3. Make a recording putting the verb through its paces with the different subjects and objects, making sure that your helper stresses the endings. Say the sentence in English, then have the helper say the sentence in Pukhto. Progress down the verb charts in the Lesson one verb at a time.