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4. Grammar

Basic principles

In the lessons: Lesson 2: The first sentence

• No gender, no articles.
• No cases. Roles follow from the fixed word order.
• Prepositions for place, time, recipient, tool.
• Verbs never change (no personal endings, no tenses).
• Tense only when needed, with a short word after the verb (name po = ate).
• Plural only when needed, with a short word before the noun (ma dova = houses); after numbers it is dropped.
• Adjectives stay unchanged and come after the noun (nama limi = green food). Comparison with ro (more): ro biri = bigger.
• Negation with a short word after the negated word (gome ne = is not difficult).
• Questions with the question word ka; the word order stays the same.
• No forms of politeness in the grammar (no formal “you”).

Details on all short words: chapter 6.

Nouns with quantity and quality

In the lessons: Lesson 5: Quantities and numbers

Quantity – noun – quality.

• Quantity words come before the noun: cardinal numbers, the plural short word and all other quantity words. Quantity words that are not short words end in -u like the numbers (e.g. “many”, “all”). A number does not describe a thing, it counts it.
• Qualities come after the noun: adjectives (ending -i), and ordinal numbers too.
• The endings show the boundaries: -u always belongs to the following word, -i to the preceding one. Usually a noun follows -u; before an adjective it measures the quality (pulu biri = very big).
• Before a verb a quantity word measures the verb: mi ro name = I eat more, lo pulu vupile = it is very poor. A quantity word before the subject still measures the subject (pulu mela name = many people eat); this stays unambiguous because a subject already stands before the verb.

Several quantity words

In the lessons: Lesson 20: Quantities in more detail

The first quantity word measures everything that follows, just as in numbers (dosu beku = two tens). Number words that follow each other form one number together (chapter 5) and count as one quantity word: dosu beku kiru dova = 23 houses, not “two tens of three houses”. This also includes the decimal point nutu and the calculation words (petu, nipu, gemu, vegu): dosu nutu lahu seta = 2.5 hours.

“More than three” is always said with te and the noun repeated.

A quantity word never stands without its noun, not even as an answer: “How many children?” – kiru pina. If the number itself is meant, the -a form is used: kira = the three.

Quantities apply to each one

In the lessons: Lesson 20: Quantities in more detail

A quantity applies to each single member: ma mi name pavu nama. = Each of us eats one meal. If it is meant to be shared, the adverb from “together” (medo) says so. That is why “each” needs no word of its own besides “all”.

Order after the noun

In the lessons: Lesson 9: Question words and pointing · Lesson 10: My, your: noun + noun

Quantity – noun – short words for the noun – adjectives – specifying nouns: kiru dova hi biri mi = these three big houses of mine.

• Short words (hi, da, ka, mo, so, ha, ne) come directly after the word they refer to. After an adjective they refer to the adjective: dova biri ne = a house that is not big.
• Pointing words therefore never come after an adjective; “so big” = duvu hi biri (so much big).

Parts of a quantity

In the lessons: Lesson 20: Quantities in more detail

The number as a thing (-a) with noun + noun: dosa kiru dova = two of the three houses (literally: the two of the three houses), pava ma mi = one of us.

Noun + noun

In the lessons: Lesson 10: My, your: noun + noun

When two nouns stand directly one after the other, the second specifies the first, like an adjective: rava Senatola = the learning of Senatola. There is no double object (recipients take a preposition), so this can never be confused with a second object.

• Chains: every noun specifies the next noun to its left; adjectives and short words in between do not count. rava sena toli mi = the learning of my clear language, rava toli sena mi = the clear learning of my language.
• Two nouns always merge as soon as they stand side by side, even across a sentence boundary. That is why subordinate clauses come last and sentences are always joined with a conjunction (see “One verb per clause”). Every new rule has to be checked for whether it can put two nouns side by side.
• Action + person: nama lo is “his eating”. Whether a person after an action noun is the one acting or the one affected is not fixed by noun + noun. Where it matters, it is paraphrased: the acting person becomes the subject of a sentence, the affected one takes a preposition (fu, va).
• Action as object: when an action is the object of a verb (see “Two verbs”), the subject always does it; a noun after it is affected: mi dure duba tu = I want to help you, mi pune sena Senatola = I can speak Senatola. “I want your help” = mi dure, de tu dube mi.
• Names: a name after a noun specifies it like any noun: dova Marc = Marc's house. An apposition (“the child Marc”) cannot be made by simply putting words side by side; it is said with meba: pina je bure meba Marc. Foreign names keep their spelling; the capital letter shows that it is a name.

What adjectives refer to

In the lessons: Lesson 3: Qualities · Lesson 10: My, your: noun + noun

An adjective always refers to the noun directly before it.

Word order

In the lessons: Lesson 2: The first sentence · Lesson 4: Being without “to be”

Subject – verb – object – rest.

• The first noun is always the one acting or the one the sentence is about. Otherwise “dog bite man” would be ambiguous.
• There is no word for “is”: quality root + -e = “to be …” (tole = to be clear), thing root + -e = “to be a …” (dove = to be a house), lute = “to be the same” for sentences like “He is my friend”. Otherwise sena toli would be ambiguous (clear language, or: the language is clear).

Prepositional phrases belong to the sentence

In the lessons: Lesson 7: Where? Places · Lesson 18: With what, and where exactly?

A prepositional phrase never specifies a noun, it always specifies the whole sentence. mi name nama di dova. means “I eat (the) food in the house” in the sense of “in the house, I eat”. If the food that is in the house is meant, a relative clause with fale (to be located) is needed: mi name nama je fale di dova. Several prepositional phrases can come in any order.

The other way round would not work: every position in the sentence comes after a noun. There would be no room left for phrases about the whole sentence, and before the object they would merge with it.

What each preposition means is in chapter 6. Important: ga is only company; tool and means take ru (mi name ru namota = I eat with cutlery).

Duration, “since” and reason: ru and ko show duration and “since” only with a time noun: ru kiru basa = for three years, ko nupa vudoki = since yesterday, ru lusa vesagefa = while reading. Without a time noun ru means way or means (mi rave Senatola ru vesagefa = by reading) and ko origin (ko dova = out of the house). A reason always takes vera: ko vera nama = because of the food, like ko vera ka = why.

Position: where something is, is said like any place phrase with di nisa + adjective: di nisa tari = above, di nisa vutari = below, di nisa vuluri = behind, di nisa vumepi = outside. “Next to” and “between” take a position noun: di goba dova = next to the house, di rafa ma dova = between the houses; for “between A and B” see paraphrases.

Time phrases

In the lessons: Lesson 8: When? Time · Lesson 9: Question words and pointing · Lesson 19: Numbers in everyday life

Time phrases always come with a preposition in the rest. Without a preposition the first noun after the verb would be the object.

Duration and “since” only come with a time noun (day, year, lusa …); otherwise ru and ko mean “through” and “from” (see above).

Distance: le and gi with a quantity word and a time noun give the distance from the time currently being talked about. In conversation that is now, in a story the point in time of the previous sentence. mi gole po le kiru basa. = I came three years ago. lo gole vi gi dosu nupa. = He is coming in two days. In a story: lo vele ku gi kiru nupa. = Three days later he was still alive. The question is duvu ka: le duvu ka basa = how many years ago. Without a quantity word it stays “before” or “after” a point in time or an event: le nama = before the meal, gi nupa hi = after this day. If in the middle of a story you want to count from now, a separate sentence names the point of reference.

• po and vi always count from the moment of speaking, even in a subordinate clause. In direct speech they count, like the person words, from the point of view of the person quoted: lo sene po re „mi name vi.“ = He said: “I will eat.”
• Near and far in time: hi or da after po or vi. lo gole po da. = He came a long time ago. lo gole vi hi. = He is coming soon. The same works with the time noun: di lusa po da = a long time ago, di lusa vi da = in the distant future.
• Frequency: -o on a quantity root: kiro = three times, nomo = never, nalo = always, pulo = often.

Adverbs

In the lessons: Lesson 12: Want, can, must

An adverb (-o) comes directly after the verb and its short words, before the object: mi rave sevo Senatola. = I learn Senatola quickly. As always, ne negates the word before it: mi rave sevo ne Senatola. = I do not learn Senatola quickly.

Topic

In the lessons: Lesson 17: Telling

The topic (“about”, “of”, “for”) takes di tama + noun, literally “in the matter of …”: ma mi sene di tama tamagefa = we talk about the book, mi kile di tama tu = I think of you, lo pabe di tama meba mi = he asks for my name. The object stays what is said: lo sene po tama ka? = What did he say? “A book about animals” = tamagefa vema (noun + noun). This is not a new rule, only preposition + noun + noun.

Two verbs

In the lessons: Lesson 12: Want, can, must

A clause never has two verbs in a row: no verb chains. Two verbs directly one after the other only occur at the boundary between two clauses, for example at the end of a relative clause on the subject: pina je name vubire. = The child who is eating is small. If a verb is complemented by an action, the action becomes a noun in the object: mi rave sena Senatola. = I learn to speak Senatola. Likewise dure nama = to want to eat and bame bira = to grow big. If someone else acts, a de clause follows: mi sene, de vo tu name. Tense and negation come after the verb as always.

One verb per clause

In the lessons: Lesson 10: My, your: noun + noun · Lesson 12: Want, can, must · Lesson 14: Linking sentences

• Every clause has exactly one verb; verbs joined with su, jo or ho count as one. This is how you can tell where a relative clause ends (see “Relative clauses”).
• Several main clauses in one sentence are always joined with a conjunction: mi name nama, su tu rave Senatola. Without su, nama tu would mean “your food”.
• The verb is never left out (“I food, you water”), otherwise the nouns merge. Object and rest may be left out when they are clear.

Types of sentence

In the lessons: Lesson 6: No, yes and questions · Lesson 13: Requests

Yes-no questions and requests can be recognised by the first word, open questions by the ka after a word (tu name nama ka? = Which food are you eating?). The rest of the sentence stays a normal sentence with subject – verb – object.

A request keeps its subject. That way vo covers more than the imperative:

Politeness is a matter of vocabulary, not of grammar.

Short sentences

In the lessons: Lesson 4: Being without “to be” · Lesson 6: No, yes and questions

A short sentence is a sentence of its own without a verb that consists of just one group: an answer, an addition or a greeting. It follows the same rules for the type of sentence.

Short sentences exist only as sentences of their own, never inside a sentence (see “One verb per clause”). Otherwise two nouns would end up side by side: “I eat bread, you water” as mi name buga, su tu nima would mean “I eat bread and your water”, because su links buga with tu nima. Correct is mi name buga, su tu name nima. or two sentences. A short sentence keeps its type: ka tu mo? is a question, ja. a statement.

Several main clauses

In the lessons: Lesson 14: Linking sentences

• The sentence-type word at the beginning applies to the whole sentence, including all main clauses joined with su, jo or ho: ka tu name, su lo sene? = Are you eating, and is he speaking?
• Main clauses of different types never stand in one sentence, but in two sentences.
• A sentence may begin with su, jo or ho; it then continues the previous sentence. A sentence-type word follows it, as with de ka: ho ka tu name? = But are you eating?

Subordinate clauses

In the lessons: Lesson 14: Linking sentences · Lesson 21: Paraphrase instead of a rule

Subordinate clauses always come after the main clause and begin with their conjunction; the word order in the subordinate clause is the same as in the main clause.

The sentence-type words ka and vo also work at the beginning of a subordinate clause; no separate word for “whether” is needed.

A ka after a word belongs to the clause it stands in. In a de clause this gives an indirect question; the main clause stays a statement: mi sene, de tu name nama ka. = I say which food you are eating. “Do you know which …?” begins with ka and contains the indirect question in the de clause.

• ka only occurs in the main clause and in the de clause. Other subordinate clauses and relative clauses have no ka; such questions are asked with two sentences.
• vo may introduce any subordinate clause with a conjunction: mi name, ke vo mi name. = I eat because I am supposed to eat. A relative clause always begins with je, so never with vo.
• A de clause always stands in the object position of the verb before it, even with verbs that otherwise take no object: mi vubale, de … = I am sad that …
• fi only means “if” (condition). Temporal “when”, “as soon as” or “while” is said with time phrases (di nama = during the meal) or with two sentences. “Whenever” = nalo + fi clause.
• Scope: a ke or fi clause applies to all main clauses before it, like a prepositional phrase applies to the whole sentence: mi name, su tu lape, fi ma mi bure duranama. = I eat and you drink when we are hungry. A de clause stays the object of the last verb. If a ke or fi clause is to apply to one main clause only, the other one becomes a sentence of its own.
• End: a subordinate clause, like a relative clause, runs to the end of the sentence. Whatever follows with su, jo or ho, and any further subordinate clause, belongs to it: mi name, ke mi bure duranama, su tu sene. = I eat because I am hungry and you are speaking. Whatever belongs to the main clause comes before the subordinate clause or in a new sentence, which may begin with su or ho: mi name, ke mi bure duranama. su tu sene. = I eat because I am hungry. And you speak.

Relative clauses

In the lessons: Lesson 15: Relative clauses

The relative clause comes directly after its noun and begins with je. je stands for the noun and is either the subject or the object in the relative clause:

• If the verb follows je directly, je is the subject. If a noun comes first and then the verb, je is the object.
• Other roles (“in which”, “to whom”, “whose”) do not exist; they are paraphrased (see “Paraphrases”).
• End: a new verb always belongs to the innermost clause that does not have one yet. A relative clause on the subject therefore ends at the verb of the main clause: namara je name nama di dova sene. = The eater who eats food in the house speaks.
• A relative clause on a later noun runs to the end of the sentence: mi rave sena je namara sene. = I learn the language that the eater speaks. Everything that belongs to the main clause comes before it; if that is not possible, the sentence is split.
• A subordinate clause directly after a relative clause belongs to the relative clause. The same end applies to subordinate clauses with a conjunction (see “Subordinate clauses”).
• This applies to everything up to the end of the sentence, including direct speech (re) and clauses with su, jo or ho. Whatever belongs to the main clause goes into a new sentence; it may begin with su or ho (see “Several main clauses”).

Joining with su, jo and ho

In the lessons: Lesson 14: Linking sentences · Lesson 24: At the market

su, jo and ho always join whole groups: a noun with everything that specifies it, a verb with its object, or whole sentences. Whatever stands before or after does not apply to both parts. ma dova biri su namara = big houses and an eater; if the quality applies to both, it is repeated. ho joins like su: mi dure nama ho lapa ne = I want to eat, but not to drink.

• Preposition: a preposition is the head word of its group and applies to all joined nouns after it: ko vupila su duranama = from poverty and hunger, di seta kira su beku lahu setisa = at 3:15. Quantity words and adjectives still apply only to their own part.
• Lists: su stands between all items, never a comma: bafeva su dova nali su dova dosi = the kitchen, the whole house and the second house. Without su the noun chain “dova nali dova dosi” would result.

Who is meant?

In the lessons: Lesson 16: Comparing and “self”

lo stands for every third person and every thing. Where that would be unclear, the adjective luti (same) helps:

• lo luti (he himself, the same) points to the nearest subject before it that is a third person or a thing. The subject of its own clause counts, unless lo luti is that subject itself.
• lo vuluti = someone other than this one.
• A plain lo fixes nothing; whatever the context shows applies.
• Or direct speech: lo sene re „mi name.“ always means he himself.
• “Each other” is the adverb from “to exchange”: ma lo vese seremo. = They see each other.

How to find whom lo luti means: go left from the lo luti and take the first subject that is a third person or a thing.

Direct speech

In the lessons: Lesson 17: Telling

The short word re introduces direct speech. It is spoken, because quotation marks cannot be heard. In writing, every quoted sentence is also put in quotation marks: „ directly after re, “ at the end of the quoted sentence. This is only a reading aid; the grammar depends on re alone.

• In direct speech the person words speak from the point of view of the person quoted: mi means him, not the narrator. That is why the boundary has to be audible.
• Direct speech always comes at the end of the sentence, like a subordinate clause. It ends with the sentence; no closing word is needed. Everything else that belongs to the sentence comes before re.
• If the quotation runs over several sentences, every further quoted sentence begins with re and has its own quotation marks. A sentence without re no longer belongs to the quotation.
• After re comes a complete sentence; as always, its type is shown by the first word (re „ka …“ = quoted question). A short sentence counts as a sentence too, so single words can be quoted: re „nama“. = the word “nama”.
• No direct speech inside direct speech: if someone is quoted again within it, this is done indirectly with de.

Paraphrases

In the lessons: Lesson 21: Paraphrase instead of a rule

Whatever can be paraphrased with the rules gets no rule of its own (principle 8). The usual paraphrases:

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