2 - The verb

2 The verb

A) The infinitive General rule: All Uropi verbs end in -o in the infinitive.

Voko, pivo, santo, veno, so, avo = to speak, to drink, to sing, to come, to be, to have

There are no irregular verbs.

B) The imperative

- 2nd person singular It corresponds to the verb root (infinitive without the -o)

Vok ! Piv ! Sant ! Ven ! = Speak ! Drink ! Sing ! Come !

- 2nd person plural -e is added to the verb root.

Voke ! Pive ! Sante ! Vene ! = Speak ! Drink ! Sing ! Come !

Note: The verb so (to be) also takes an -e for the 2nd person singular to enable the pronunciation:

This is also the case for a limited number of verbs whose verbal base ends with, or is reduced to a

consonant cluster.

Sto, flo, opro (to stand, to blow, to open) : Ste ! Fle ! Opre ! (Stand!, Blow!, Open!)

- 1st person plural -em is added to the verb root.

Vokem ! Pivem ! Santem ! = Let's talk !, Let's drink!, Let's sing !

Santem !

- With the other persons las (let) is used with the present

(CF. English let, German laß, Russian пусть, Greek ας )

C) The present.

- General rule In the present, you just remove the -O of the infinitive.

The verbal form remains the same whatever the person

Voko = to speak

E) The future

- General rule The verbal particle* VE is used with the l’infinitive

I ve skrivo Ve tu veno ? He v’ne voko (ve ne)

I'll write Will you come ? He won't speak

*(ve is a contracted form of the auxiliaire volo = to want, (cf Greek θέλω = want > θα + V = future, cf Eng. will + V)

- Near future ve + BEPRU (soon) + infinitive, OR so po + infinitive (to be about to)

De tren ve beprù aveno = The train will soon arrive

He se po santo = He's about to sing

- Futur perfect ve avo (v’ avo) = will have + past participle (-en)

It serves to indicate the end of an action in the future

De Bus ve beprù aveno !

F) The perfect

- Form auxiliary avo (to have) in the present: AV + Past participle (-en)

the auxiliary so (to be) is never used

(CF: Eng: have + PP, Sp: haber + PP, Greek: έχω φάει = I have eaten)

- Use The perfect is used to express the present result of a past action

When you say “I've seen that film”, you don't think of the past moment when you saw it, but of the consequences:

you know this film now because you saw it. This is a perfect.

On the other hand, when you say “I slept in Paris last night ”, you are mentioning a past action without any effect

on the présent: this is a past.

This aspect indicating a completed action (the perfect) corresponds to the present perfect in English, whereas the past corresponds to the preterite.

The perfect is neither a past, nor a present; it is a link between the two.

Av tu ʒa jeden spaghete ?

- Past or perfect ?

G) The pluperfect

- Form avì (had) + past participle (-en). The auxiliary so (to be) is never used

- Use The plusperfect is used to refer to an event that occurred before

another one in the past

H) The conditional

- Present The ending -EV is added to the verb root

i volev itev tu ? nu vokev ne

I would like (want) would you go ? we wouldn't speak

Vake in u Greci isel sev mol prijan

- Past conditional The auxiliary AVEV (would have) ist used with the past participle

The auxiliary so (sev) (would be) is never used

- Use As in English

- Sequence of tenses When you have a hypothetical subordinate clause with is (if), the

conditional is used both in the main and in the subordinate clauses

- Two hypothetical situations Present Conditional

- Two unrealized past situations Past Conditional

I) The durative form (progressive or continuous form, as in English)

- Form Auxiliary SO (to be) + Present Participle (-an)

This form exists in all tenses; you only have to put the auxiliary so in the right tense

- Simple and durative past

The durative past (past continuous) is used to express an action lasting in the past and the simple past to express a short event occurring during this lasting action

Nu sì spekan televiz wan de telefòn dringì = We were watching television when the phone rang.

I sì makan kafa wan de polizor venì = I was making coffee when the policeman came.

In the past the durative form corresponds to the past continuous in English

NOTE: The difference with the English progressive form is that the durative form is used only to insist on the duration of an action.

Ex: Liuv je num ? = Is it raining now ? BUT Je sì liuvan dod hore = It had been raining for hours

J) The auxiliaries AVO, SO (recapitulation), the form JE STE

- AVO is the auxiliary of the past forms (+ -en)

- SO is only the auxiliary of the durative form (+ -an)

- So is also used with predicative adjectives, and adverbial phrases

Jana se pati; ce sì ne be skol odia; Jana is ill; she wasn't at scholl today;

ce s’in led dod tri dias she has been in bed for three days.

- The form JE STE (there is, there are)

The verbe STO (to stand, be there) is used with the pronoun JE (it)

to indicate the presence of something (there is / are)

K) The semi-auxiliaries or modal verbs MOZO, DOƷO, MOJO, NUDO, VOLO

- Form In Uropi, the modal verbs are conjugated like ordinary verbs with all tenses

They are followed by the infinitive

- Use Modals are used to express capacity, possibility, necessity,

obligation, will, etc...

a) MOZO (can) (CF. Rus. мочь "motch’", Cz. moc, Ger. können, Eng. can)

expresses a physical or intellectual capacity

It can express permission

Moz i opro de fent ? Can I open the window ?

Un moz ne koduto u vag for un se desòc jare You can't drive a car before you are 18

b) DOƷO (must, have to) (CF. Rus. должень "doljen'", It. dovere, Ger. müßen, Eng. must)

It expresses an obligation, the necessity to do something

Morìs doʒ vizo de doktor

DOƷO is never used with an impersonal form like “falloir” in French

Un doʒ ne deto da You mustn't do that

Tu doʒev ruveno You should come back

In the negative, it expresses prohibition

Un doʒ ne opro de skrite altuni You mustn't open other people's letters

Tu doʒev ne oblaso ti klije You shouldn't forget your keys

In the conditional : moral obligation or advice.

Tu doʒev stopo fumo You should stop smoking

Ce doʒev ne jedo samole peke She shouldn't eat so many cakes.

The absence of obligation is expressed with the modal NUDO (to need)

DOƷO also expresses near certainty

He doʒ veno be pin He must come at 5 o' clock

Nekun ruvòk be telefòn: lu doʒ so us Nobody answers the phone: they must be out

Equivalent : the adverb siurim = certainly

He doʒ veno domòr He must come tomorrow

He ve siurim veno domòr He will certainly come tomorrow

In the past: an expectation that hasn't come true

He doʒì veno be pin He was supposed to come at 5 o'clock

(ba he venì ne) (but he didn't come)

c) MOJO (may) (CF : Eng. may)

It expresses possibility

Neme vi tegele ! je moj liuvo

Maybe = MOJSE

In the conditional, the possibility is even less probable.

I mojev ito za nes sedia, ba i s’ne siuri = I might go there next week, but I'm not sure

d) NUDO (to need, have to)

(Eng : need, Ger : brauchen, Rus. надо/ нужно "nado/noujno", Sp. necesitar)

Expresses need, necessity

He nud varko dar = he has to work hard

It can be used as an ordinary verb

I nud u vordar po traduto da = J’ai besoin d’un dictionnaire pour traduire cela

In the negative, it expresses the absence of obligation (don't have to, don't need to)

Tu nud ne veno, is tu vol ne = You don't have to come if you don't want to

Je s’varmi; tu nud ne nemo u mantèl = It's warm; you don't need to take a coat

e) VOLO (to want) (Fr: vouloir, It. volere, Ger. wollen, Du. willen, Da. ville, Sw. vilja)

It expresses will

Vol tu veno ki ma ? = Would you like to come with me ?

I probì dezo co, ba ce volì ne skuco = I tried to tell her, but she didn't want to listen

It can be used as an ordinary verb with a complement

Je se frij, tu nud nemo ti mantèl

L) Negative, interrogative

a) Negative sentences NE is added after the verb, or the auxiliary when there is one

NE is generally placed before the infinitive

So, o ne so... To be or not to be...

Ne fumo Not to smoke

Other negatives: nit (nothing), nevos (never), nekun (nobody, no one), nekia (nowhere),

nemaj (no longer, not…any more), ane (without)

Only one negative is used at a time

Ko se mi okle ? I viz la nekia

b) Interrogative sentences The verb or the auxiliary is placed before the subject (inversion)

With interrogative pronouns

c) Interro-negative sentences

The verb or auxiliary is placed before the subject

The negative is placed after the subject

When the subject is long, it is preferable to place the

negative just after the verbe or the auxiliary.

Struì ne Romane di tempel ?

M) The Passive

a) General Rule The passive is formed with the auxiliary VIDO (to get, to become)

and the past participle (v-EN)

(CF: Ger. werden, Du. worden, Da. blive + past participle (cf. Eng. get)

Indeed the passive doesn't refer to a state, but to a change, a transition;

for example when we say "he got killed", there is a transition: before he was alive, but now he's dead, thus in Uropi:

He vidì tuden = He got killed

- Note: The past participle is always invariable

- Use The passive is used to emphasize the object of the active verb.

It becomes the subject of the passive verb.

b) PASSIVE + agent

The subject of the active verb becomes the agent of the passive verb

and is placed after the latter, introduced by the preposition PA (by)

De mus vid jeden pa de kat

The agent is omitted

1) when we don't know it

2) s’il n’est pas nécessaire de le mentionner

c) Perfect and Pluperfect CF (v/ F & G)

d) Durative Form CF ( v/ I )

* These forms are rather rare: it is better to use Un = one: Un sì milkan de govas… un sì pentan de pont

One was milking the cows …

e) The Passive and Modal verbs