San han

Sen i san han | Types of verbs

There are two types of verb in Ba kom: active and stative.

San han so | Active verbs

Active verbs describe events, actions, relationships, and processes. They include words like dai "carry", so "do", kau "return to", xang "be the color of", and cak "cook".

Active verbs may be transitive (followed by a direct object), or intransitive (not followed by a direct object).

Many transitive verbs can also be intransitive verbs. For example, ba can mean both "say" (transitive) and "speak" (intransitive).

Many words that are adjectives in English are active verbs in Ba kom.
These verbs refer to the process of taking on a quality, and not to the state of having a quality. To refer to the state, one must use the preverb lo.
This includes words like:

• mat "die" and lo mat "be dead"

• can "grow up" and lo can "be a young adult"

• hong "get ready" and lo hong "be ready"

• hil "get tired" and lo hil "be tired"

• sem "gather" and lo sem "be together"

• pon "fill up with" and lo pon "be full of"

If the object of a transitive verb is indefinite or nonspecific, especially if the action is habitual, then the verb so "do" can be used as a preverb.
If the object were just left out, this could be interpreted as meaning "it".
For example:

• Mi xol.
  [I] [write]
  "I wrote it."

  • Mi so xol.
    [I] [do] [writing]
    "I am a writer."

• Duk hau kong.
  [pollutant] [air] [harm]
  "Air pollutants harmed it."

  • Duk hau so kong.
    [pollutant] [air] [do] [harm]
    "Air pollutants are harmful."

This so preverb should be preferred over using the copula and a ya- noun.

• Yeng lom so dip peng tik.
  [fox] [gray] [do] [climb] [adeptly] [tree]
  "Gray foxes are good tree-climbers."

  • *Yeng lom a yadip tik i peng.

• O so tal lok ling.
  [he/she] [do] [receive] [document] [message]
  "He/she is the letter recipient."

  • *O a yatal i lok ling.

San han ke | Stative verbs

Stative verbs describe states and conditions. They include words like bo "be good", keng "be bad", da "be big", nin "be small", lim "be pretty", cai "be strong", peng "be skillful", and mai "be many".

When a noun is modified by a stative verb, the relativizer particle i is put between the noun and the verb.

• pen i mam
  [child] [relativizer] [happy]
  "a happy child"

• iu i ben
  [answer] [relativizer] [right]
  "the right answer"

• um cap i nau
  [pair] [shoe] [relativizer] [new]
  "new shoes"

• miu i sum
  [cat] [relativizer] [black]
  "a black cat"

Without this particle, the phrase could be interpreted as a complete sentence.

• Pen mam.
  [child] [happy]
  "The child is happy."

• Iu ben.
  [answer] [right]
  "The answer is right."

• Um dap nau.
  [pair] [shoe] [new]
  "The shoes are new."

• Miu sum.
  [cat] [black]
  "The cat is black."

A stative verb can be preceded by the preverb ye, "have", which in this case means "to be in a certain state or condition" or "to find something to be".

• ye ben
  [find to be] [okay]
  "be okay with"

• ye bo
  [find to be] [good]
  "like"

• ye hing
  [find to be] [usual]
  "be used to"

• ye seng
  [find to be] [cold]
  "be cold", "feel cold"

• Si ye lai mo?
  [you] [have] [like] [what]
  "How are you doing?"

Copula

The copula is a, "to be". It links nouns, pronouns, or nominalized clauses.

• Wa a mo?
  [this] [be] [what]
  "What is this?"

• Ya a mo?
  [that] [be] [what]
  "What is that?"

• Wa a ki nit.
  [this] [be] [tool] [sit]
  "This is a chair."

• O a in mo?
  [he/she] [be] [person] [what]
  "Who is this?"

• O a yakun mi.
  [he/she] [be] [companion] [I]
  "This is my friend."

• Nem si a mo?
  [name] [you] [be] [what]
  "What's your name?"

• Nem mi a Lobéto.
  [name] [I] [be] [Roberto]
  "My name is Roberto."

San yai | Adverbs

The Ba kom word for "adverb" is san yai, "manner word".

Adverbs are words or phrases that describe verbs or whole sentences.

There are two kinds of adverbs, which differ in word order:

1. Stative verbs that are used as adverbs, or adverbs that exist per-se as adverbs.

2. Adverbs that are formed with the adverbial particle sa.

Adverbs without sa

These are placed right after the verb that they describe, before any following nouns. They can be lined up in a series, where each adverb describes the adverb before. Stative verbs can be used as adverbs by placing them directly after another verb.

• Mim yon le sau.
  [we] [go] [later] [quickly]
  "We're going soon."

• O ba mai.
  [he/she] [speak] [much]
  "He/she talks a lot."

• Mi kan nau tixol ya.
  [I] [look at] [recent] [book] [that]
  "I read that book recently."

• Si xan til mem.
  [you] [enjoy] [rise] [early]
  "You like to get up early."

• Yen ci cen.
  [come] [now] [immediate]
  "Come here right now."

• Mu si ting li o?
  [question] [you] [think.about] [ever] [he/she]
  "Do you ever think about him/her?"

• Mi on ming si.
  [I] [see] [clear] [you]
  "I see you clearly."

It is important to know whether a compound-verb is a serial verb construction or a verb-object compound.
If it is a serial verb construction, then the adverb goes after the last verb.

• kat macim
  [cut] [cause to fall over]
  "cut it down"

  • kat macim na
    [cut] [cause to fall over] [not]
    "do not cut it down"

  • kat macim kang
    [cut] [cause to fall over] [easy]
    "cut it down easily"

If the verb is a verb-object compound, then the adverb goes before the noun.

• ha kai
  [consume] [food]
  "eat"

  • ha na kai
    [consume] [not] [food]
    "do not eat"

  • ha hing kai
    [consume] [often] [food]
    "eat often"

The adverbial particle

Sa, the adverbial particle, forms adverbs from nouns, single verbs, or whole verb phrases or sentences. These adverbs come at the very end of a sentence.
For example:

• Si xol sa lim.
  [you] [write] [adverb] [beautiful]
  "You write beautifully."

• O kong yong sa leng bong ping.
  [he/she] [injure] [leg] [adverb] [play] [ball] [foot]
  "He/she injured his/her leg while playing football."

• Mi han sa un ki kon.
  [I] [work] [adverb] [use] [device] [calculation]
  "I work using a computer."

• Wai yen kau cen sa jum na ta yan.
  [(I) ask (you)] [come] [return] [straight] [adverb] [stop] [not] [at] [anywhere]
  "Please come straight home without stopping anywhere."

Ai and a ai

Both of these adverbs mean "even", but they have different uses which should not be confused.

Ai places the emphasis on the action or object.

• O ca ai ya.
  [he/she] [know] [also] [that]
  "He/she even knows that." (In addition to knowing something else.)

A ai places the emphasis on the subject.

• O a ai ca ya.
  [he/she] [be] [also] [know] [that]
  "Even he/she knows that." (In addition to other people who know.)

Sin and a sin

Both of these adverbs mean "just, only", but they have different uses which should not be confused.

Sin places emphasis on the action or on the object.

• Mim po na ha sin hip nip.
  [we] [can] [not] [eat] [only] [shellfish] [string]
  "We cannot eat nothing but clams."

A sin places emphasis on the subject. It means "to be the only one who …".

• Wa a sin ciu.
  [this] [be] [only] [be left over]
  "This is all that is left."

• Si a sin ham mi.
  [you] [be] [only] [understand] [I]
  "You're the only one who understands me."

• Si a sin po dak hai yut.
  [you] [be] [only] [can] [prevent] [fire] [wild]
  "You are the only one who can prevent wildfires."

Deverbal nouns

All verbs and clauses can be used as nouns. These are called "deverbal nouns" (i.e. "nouns from verbs"), and they are similar to English gerunds (-ing form).

The meaning of the deverbal noun is different depending on whether the verb is active or stative.
A noun from an active verb refers to the action of that verb.

• ba "speak" → "speech"

• hin "begin" → "beginning"

• ain "live" → "life, living"

• ban "move" → "motion, movement"

• ding "touch" → "contact"

• mat "die" → "death"

• kim "believe" → "belief"

• ting "think about" → "thought"

A noun from a stative verb refers to something that has that quality, e.g. "that which is …".

• kal "be precious" → "treasure"

• bo "be favorable" → "benefit, advantage"

• san "be peaceful" → "peace"

• bi "be alive" → "living thing, creature, organism"

• ung "be empty" → "empty space, void"

• ol "be whole" → "whole, entirety, sum"

• mil "be sweet" → "sugar"

• xing "be sour" → "acid"

Preverbs

A preverb is a verb that comes before the main verb. The main verb is grammatically the object of the preverb.

Po means "can", "may", "be able to", "be permitted to".
It should be negated as po na, "cannot".

Wi means "want to", "need to". It can also mean "will" or "shall" when referring to someone's intention.
It is negated with na after the main verb.

• Pen wi ha na taum.
  [child] [want] [eat] [not] [peach]
  "The child won't eat the peach."

De means "should", "have to".

De na indicates a lack of obligation or need.

• Si de na so ya.
  [you] [must] [not] [do] [that]
  "You don't have to do that."

De [verb] na indicates obligation not to do something.

• Si de so na ya.
  [you] [must] [do] [not] [that]
  "You shouldn't do that."

Pin means "to manage to, to get to, to have a chance to, to try and succeed at".
Pin na indicates a failed attempt or a missed opportunity.

Ca means "can", "to know how to".
Ca na means "not know how to".

Xan means "to like to", "to enjoy –ing".

Man means "to intend to".
Man is negated with na after the main verb.

Piu means "would like to".
Piu is negated with na after the main verb.

Ting means "to be willing to".
Ting na means "to be unwilling to".

Lun means "to try to".
Lun na means "to not try to".
Lun [verb] na means "to try not to".

Kam means "to tend to", "to be inclined to".
Kam is negated with na after the main verb.

Taim means "to be worth", "to be worthy of".

Existential sentences

The word for "there is, there are" is ye, "to have", negated as ye na, "not have".
This can be placed at the beginning of a sentence with a null subject.

• Ye in i sai ta lot.
  [there be] [person] [relativizer] [stand] [at] [door]
  "There's someone standing at the door."

• Kan, ye kaun tol sam.
  [look], [there be] [junction] [-fold] [three]
  "Look, there's a three-way intersection."

The place where someone/something exists can be put before ye.

• Mot o ye tel nin.
  [island] [he/she] [have] [house] [little]
  "There's a little house on that island."

• Ka dong au wa ye yadong kuk ku do.
  [place] [learn] [high] [this] [have] [student] [thousand] [ten] [two]
  "There are 20,000 students at this university."

• Ul am ye ik i te da.
  [water] [wide] [have] [fish] [relativizer] [more] [big]
  "There are bigger fish in the sea."

The word ye is not used with verbs such as mai "be many", "be few", don "be enough", or caun "to be leftover", or with numbers. Instead, these are simply used on their own, and numbers use the special verb nul, "be of a certain number".

• In ta wa mai.
  [person] [at] [here] [many]
  "There's a lot of people here."

• Map mi don na.
  [money] [I] [enough] [not]
  "I don't have enough money."

• Mu non yan caun?
  [question] [milk] [any] [leftover]
  "Is there any milk left?"

• Ho wam com mai.
  [sound] [random] [too] [much]
  "There's too much noise."

• Xi po nul do.
  [event] [possible] [number] [two]
  "There are two possibilities."

• Palai i nung mai, u palai i pin kam nul sin nan.
  [way] [of] [fail] [many]
  [and] [way] [of] [meet] [goal] [number] [only] [one]
  "Thare are many ways to fail, and there is only one way to succeed."

Lit lan san | Serial Verb Constructions

Active verbs that share the same subject can be stacked up in chains. These are called serial verbs, or serial verb constructions.

In serial verbs, the verbs are ordered according to the temporal or causal relationship.
The first verb happens before, or makes possible, the following verb. It's as if there is an unspoken "and then" or "and thereby".

Here are some examples:

• dam song
  [press] [throw]
  "shove"

• til fe
  [rise] [fly]
  "take off"

• liu pu
  [jump] [fall]
  "dive"

• han fal
  [work] [merit]
  "earn"

• pu pa pik
  [fall] [passive] [break]
  "fall and break"

• pau macim
  [pick up] [flip over]
  "pick up and flip over"

• wot jang
  [wage war against] [defeat]
  "defeat in war"

• hil mat
  [get tired] [die]
  "be dead tired"

• yen no leng
  [come] [come/go out] [play]
  "come out to play"

• O yen pau fo mil im.
  [he/she] [come] [get] [granule] [sugar] [some]
  "He/she came to get some sugar."

• Yen kan wa.
  [come] [look] [this]
  "Come look at this."

• O un cit kat nil gom.
  [he/she] [use] [knife] [cut off] [skin] [yam]
  "He/she peels yams with a knife."

• O dau yon min.
  [he/she] [turn] [go] [away]
  "He/she turned and left."

• Mi bil pau tixol din wo o.
  [I] [trade] [get] [book] [give] [to] [he/she]
  "I bought a book and gave it to him/her."

• Mi mayam sun.
  [I] [pretend] [sleep]
  "I pretended to be asleep."

• Bai xom mi xil ki.
  [sibling] [take the place of] [I] [wash] [dish]
  "(My) sibling washed dishes instead of me."

• O pau bong hin lal kam ut.
  [he/she] [catch] [ball] [start] [run] [towards] [end]
  "He/she caught the ball and started running towards the goal."

• Mi ye xam wi san.
  [I] [have] [question] [want to] [say]
  "I have a question that I want to ask."

• Den yam ming de hak kau paún mang to wo mapun ain ben wo in to.
  [folk] [appear] [clearly] [must] [lay hold to] [return] [means] [production] [every]
  [in order to] [ensure] [life] [well] [for] [person] [every]
  "It is evident that to guarantee well-being to all, society must take back possession of all means of production."

Subordinate clauses

Subordinate clauses are clauses that are the objects of verbs.

Some verbs that often precede subordinate clauses are:

• yu — because of

• niyu — despite

• pan — before

• lan — after

• pin — until

• min — since

These can be placed either before or after the main verb.

• Wau yain yu wi ha non.
  [baby] [cry] [because] [want] [drink] [milk]
  "The baby cried because he/she wanted to nurse."

• Mi so niyu nikang.
  "I'll do it even though it's hard."

• Yen lau ka mi lan wain.
  [come] [pass by] [place] [I] [after] [movie/play]
  "Come over to my place after the movie."

• Mim xal pin mal com hil.
  [we] [ride] [until] [horse] [too] [get tired]
  "We rode until the horses got too tired."

When placed before the verb, they can be followed by the conjunction pi, for the sake of clarity. In that case, yu becomes superfluous and can be omitted.

• Wau yu wi ha non pi yain.
  [baby] [because] [want] [drink] [milk] [therefore] [cry]
  "The baby cried because he/she wanted to nurse."

  • Wau wi ha non pi yain.
    [baby] [want] [drink] [milk] [therefore] [cry]
    "The baby wanted to nurse, so he/she cried."

• Lan wain pi yen lau ka mi.
  [come] [pass by] [place] [I] [after] [movie/play]
  "After the movie, come over to my place."

Verbs of motion

Verbs that indicate direction come after the verb that denotes the manner of motion.
In these serial verbs, the order is as follows:

action — come/go — in/out/etc.

For example:

• lin yen
  [flow] [come]
  "come flowing"

  • lin yen lau
    [flow] [come] [pass by]
    "come flowing by"

• fe yon no
  [fly] [go] [come/go out]
  "fly out (away from here)"

• dai […] yen
  "bring"

  • O dai tixol yen.
    [he/she] [carry] [book] [come]
    "He/she brought a book."

• dai […] yon
  "take"

  • Mi dai gang bamin yon xi kom kai.
    [I] [carry] [soup] [okra] [go to] [event] [share] [food]
    "I'll take gumbo to the potluck."

• dan yen nun
  [walk] [come] [enter]
  "walk inside (towards here)"

• dan yon nun
  [walk] [go] [enter]
  "walk inside (away from here)"

• xak yon til
  [shoot] [go] [rise]
  "shoot upwards (away from here)"

• An lem yen lau long mak.
  [sun] [shine] [come] [pass through] [hole] [eye]
  "The sun shone in through the window."

• O nit ki fe min dom méhiko wal pin dom yak palum on mi.
  [he/she] [sit] [machine] [fly] [leave] [city] [Mexico] [travel] [arrive at] [city] [cross] [holy] [visit] [I]
  "He/she took a plane from Mexico City to Santa Cruz to visit me."

• Mi wi dan yon pau yen kau lun.
  [I] [want] [walk] [go] [get] [come] [return] [try]
  "I want to go and get it and bring it back and try it."

Bodyparts

Bodyparts can be used as verbs in serial verb constructions. In these cases, the verb means "to do something with X bodypart".
For example:

• tim dai
  [head] [carry]
  "carry on the head"

• ping bak
  [foot] [hit]
  "kick"

• uk xung
  [claw/nail] [cut]
  "to cut with a claw"

• al tu
  [hand] [hold]
  "hold in one's hands"

• cu tu
  [arm] [hold]
  "hug"

• mon ding
  [mouth] [touch]
  "kiss"

Pivot sentences

In "pivot sentences", the object of the first verb is the subject of the following verb. For example:

• Om dun mi kan.
  [they] [let] [I] [watch]
  "They let me watch."

• dai dang yen lau
  [carry] [table] [come] [pass by]
  "carry the table over here"

• Miu dam pok pu min dang.
  [cat] [push] [cup] [fall] [off] [table]
  "The cat pushed the cup off the table."

• Yadul makam dum no.
  [ruler] [instruct] [team] [move.out]
  "The general ordered the troops to move out."

• O din tixol kau mi.
  [he/she] [give] [book] [return to] [I]
  "He/she gave the book back to me."

• Yadul so tong ding dol i yaxal mal.
  [ruler] [do] [blade] [touch] [shoulder] [of] [rider] [horse]
  "The king touched the sword to the knight's shoulder."

Aspect

Ba kom does not have grammatical tense. However, some preverbs indicate aspectual information.

Aspect is different from tense. Tense indicates when an event occurs, while aspect indicates how an event relates to the flow of time. Tense has absolute time—e.g. past, present, and future—while aspect has only the undefined "reference time", the time at which a given statement is true.

Lo

Lo indicates a situation that results from a recently completed event.
When used with a stative verb, it indicates a new situation that results from a recent change.
Lo is not a past-tense marker. The reference time can be past, present, or future.

• Mi lo xil ki.
  [I] [aspect] [wash] [tool]
  "I have washed the dishes." (They are clean now.)

• Yadem lo yen pin.
  [guest] [aspect] [come] [arrive]
  "The guests have arrived." (They are here now.)

• Om lo han.
  [they] [aspect] [work]
  "They have worked." (And are finished working.)

• Om lo han ci.
  [they] [aspect] [work] [now]
  "They're working now." "They're finally working." (They weren't working before.)

• Pen'pen hil.
  [child][child] [aspect] [get tired]
  "The children have gotten tired." (They are tired.)

• Ul lo xu.
  [water] [aspect] [hot]
  "The water has gotten hot." "The water is hot now."

• Hon lo ming.
  [sky] [aspect] [clear]
  "The sky has become clear." "The sky is clear now."

When sa (the adverbial particle) is used with lo, it means "after —ing" or "when you have —ed".

• Jam pang sa lo so kai.
  [gather] [arrange] [adverb] [aspect] [make] [food]
  "Tidy up after cooking."

• Yen kun mi nal sa si lo so ol ya.
  [come] [accompany] [I] [discuss]
  [adverb] [you] [aspect] [do] [complete] [that]
  "Come talk with me when you're done with that."

Lo cannot be negated. However, the main verb can be. This means something like "not anymore", "no longer".

• Mi lo ba na.
  [I] [aspect] [talk] [not]
  "I won't talk anymore."

• Ul lo xu na.
  [water] [aspect] [hot] [not]
  "The water isn't hot anymore."

• O lo co na ta wa.
  [he/she] [aspect] [live] [not] [at] [here]
  "He/she doesn't live here anymore."

• O lo po na on lem an.
  [he/she] [aspect] [can] [not] [see] [light] [sun]
  "He/she cannot see the daylight anymore."

La

La indicates progressive or continuative aspect, i.e. an action or event is in progress at the time that the sentence takes place.

• Mi la xil ki.
  [I] [aspect] [wash] [tool]
  "I am/was washing dishes."

• Om la nit ta tik.
  [they] [aspect] [sit] [at] [tree]
  "They are sitting in a tree."

• Fa i da bo la pu.
  [rain] [relativizer] [big] [good] [aspect] [fall]
  "It's raining pretty hard."

La cannot be negated.

Lu

Lu means "become", and can be used to indicate the future tense. It can be translated as "will do something later" or "eventually".
When used with a stative verb or a noun, it simply means "to become".

• Mi lu xil ki.
  [I] [become] [wash] [tool]
  "I'll get around to washing the dishes. I eventually washed the dishes."

• Pen-pen lu hil.
  [child-child] [become] [get tired]
  "The children will get tired eventually. The children got tired eventually."

It also refers to a hypothetical situation.

Lang

Lang means "stay". When used as a preverb, it means "has been [verb]ing", indicating that an event starts before the reference time and continues into it.

• Mi lang han ta yel lap.
  [I] [stay] [work] [at] [road] [strip]
  "I have/had been working on the railroad."

• Om min hin lang nap nak.
  [they] [from] [beginning] [stay] [extinguish] [sickness]
  "They have been dispelling sickness since the beginning."

The length of time can be indicated in two ways.
Firstly, it can be indicated with the preposition ta.

• Mi lang han ta yel lap ta an ol.
  [I] [stay] [work] [at] [road] [strip] [for] [day] [whole]
  "I have been working on the railroad all day."

Secondly, it can be indicated by placing the time-noun right after lang, before the main verb.

• Mi lang an ol han ta yel lap.
  [I] [stay] [day] [whole] [work] [at] [road] [strip].
  "I have been working on the railroad all day."

Ne

Ne means "lack". It means "have not done" or "did not do". It indicates the non-completion of an action.

• Si ne san mai.
  [you] [lack] [say] [much]
  "You haven't said much."

• Ne du on.
  [lack] [long] [see]
  "(We) haven't seen (each other) in a while."

Lan

Lan means "follow" or "continue". As a preverb, it means "to keep doing something". It can be combined with the adverb se, "further, again".

• Lan so se han bo.
  [continue] [do] [further] [work] [good]
  "Keep up the good work."

Xei

Xei means "to experience". As a preverb, it indicates an action or experience in the distant past, like English "have [verb]ed before".

• Mi xei co ta dom heng'gong lau yon nan.
  [I] [experience] [live] [at] [city] [Hongkong] [spend] [year] [one].
  "I lived in Hong Kong for a year."

• Mu si xei nit ki fei?
  [question] [you] [experience] [sit] [machine] [fly]
  "Have you ever ridden on a plane before?"

Kam

Kam means "to face towards". It refers to a habit or tendency. It can be translated as "normally" or "tend to".

Ken

This emphasizes brief duration. It can be translated as "for a while", "a minute", or "once". It can also be used to soften suggestions.

• Ken lang.
  [for a while] [stay]
  "Wait a minute."

• Mi wi ken nit.
  [I] [need to] [for a while] [sit]
  "I need to sit down for a little while."

• Ken kan.
  [once] [look]
  "Take a look."

• Cun xe wai si ken lut ko mi.
  [bothersome] [but] [ask] [you] [for a second] [guard] [thing] [I]
  "Can you keep an eye on my stuff for a second?"

Ken nu means "to be about to (do something)".

• Mi ken nu lau yon ya.
  [I] [in a minute] [barely] [pass by] [go to] [there]
  "I'm about to go over there."

• Om ken nu mahin dein.
  [they] [in a minute] [barely] [start] [ceremony]
  "They're about to start the ceremony."

Time adverbs

There are some adverbs that can be used to express time, if the speaker chooses. They are not obligatory.

Here is a list of such adverbs:

• ci
  "now, right now, from now on"

  • ci na
    "not now, not right now"

• xa
  "already, yet, by now"

  • xa na
    "not yet"

• le
  "afterwards, later on"

• nu
  "just a moment ago", "just a moment before"
  When this adverb is used with a following pi, it means "right after X, Y" or "as soon as X, Y".

  • Lau nu, pi o kau.
    [pass] [just] [and then] [he/she] [return]
    "It was not long before he/she returned."

  • O kau pin nu, pi sun.
    [he/she] [return] [arrive] [just] [and then] [sleep]
    "As soon as he/she got home, he/she fell asleep."

  • Mi cum nu si, pi hin bein.
    [I] [know] [just] [you] [and then] [begin] [love]
    "As soon as I met you, I fell in love with you."

• li
  "ever"

  • li na
    [ever] [not]
    "never"

  • li sin
    [ever] [only]
    "always"

• hing
  "often", "usually"

• yeim
  "forever"

• xon
  "yesterday"

• xen
  "tomorrow"

• lan [length of time] [verb]
  This is actually a preverb, and means "in [a certain amount of time]".

  • Yadem lan ken nan yen pin.
    [guest] [follow] [hour] [one] [come] [arrive]
    "The guests will arrive in an hour."

• pan [length of time] [verb]
  This is a preverb that means "[a certain amount of time] ago".

  • Yadem pan ken nan yen pin.
    [guest] [ago] [hour] [one] [come] [arrive]
    "The guests arrived an hour ago."

  • O pan kaun lip ta wa.
    [he/she] [ago] [minute] [five] [be at] [here]
    "He/she was here five minutes ago."

• pin [time] lo [verb]
  "do something by a certain time"

  • Mi pin aun lo so ol to.
    [I] [arrive at] [evening] [aspect] [do] [complete] [all]
    "I finished everything by the evening."

  • Pin nan yun lo din wo mi.
    [arrive at] [first] [week] [aspect] [give] [to] [I]
    "Give it to me by Monday."

• sa im
  This is a prepositional phrase that means "sometimes".

Reduplication

Reduplication of an active verb indicates that the action is repeated as part of a larger activity.

• bak "hit" → bak'bak "beat"

• kat "chop" → kat'kat "chop up into pieces"

• dau "turn, spin" → dau'dau "spin in circles"

• lem "shine" → lem'lem "blink, flash"

It can also indicate that an action is performed casually, aimlessly, or leisurely.

• dan "walk" → dan'dan "take a walk"

• ba "speak" → ba'ba "chit chat"

• leng "play" → leng'leng "play around"

• ban "move, stir" → ban'ban "fidget"

Reduplication of a stative verb intensifies the meaning.

• da "big" → da'da "huge"

• nin "small" → nin'nin "tiny, itty bitty"

• bo "good" → bo'bo "great, excellent"

• je "bad" → je'je "awful, terrible"

• bau "red" → bau'bau "bright red"

• hing "often, always" → hing'hing "always"