Part 1: Tenses

Simple tenses

Pwekish has 5 basic tenses: present tense, past tense, future tense, continuous tense and habitual tense. Let's start with the simpler ones.

Simple present tense

Every verb by default is in present tense. We use the base form of verb directly. For example, the sentence "I eat" is translated to "Ņra dip". "Dip" is the base form without any modification.

Simple past tense & Present perfect tense

We form a verb in past tense by adding the prefix "hwi-" /hʷi/ . Like "hwidip" means "ate". In Pwekish, we do not distinguish past tense and present perfect tense. So, the sentences "I ate an apple" and "I have eaten an apple" both translates to "Ņra bimbo hwidip".

Simple future tense

We form a verb in future tense by adding the prefix "nis-" /nis/ . Like "nisdip" means "will eat".

PVIM and tenses

Before moving on to the next tense, there is something important to mention.

We should apply PVIM to the verb after adding the prefix for tenses.

For example, when we say "it ate" in Pwekish, it should be "nhwidip". "hwidhip" would be incorrect.

Simple tenses (cont.)

As we said before, Pwekish has 5 basic tenses: present tense, past tense, future tense, continuous tense and habitual tense. We have learnt the present tense, past tense and future tense. So now, let's move on to talk about the remaining two.

Continuous tense

There are 3 types of continuous tense in Pwekish, the present continuous tense, past continuous tense and future continuous tense. Same as before, we add prefixes to verbs for conjugation.

Present continuous tense: "kut-" /kut/

Past continuous tense: "hwikut-" /ˈhʷikut/

Future continuous tense: "niskut-" /ˈniskut/

For example, "I am running" is translated to "Ņra kutteptep"

Habitual tense

Habitual tense is used when talking about an action that you always do. We also have 3 types of habitual tense, the present habitual tense, past habitual tense, and future habitual tense.

Present habitual tense: "mol-" /mol/

Past habitual tense: "hwimol-" /ˈhʷimol/

Future habitual tense: "nismol-" /ˈnismol/

For example, "He always drinks" is translated to "Nrow hmoldipxek". "I used to eat fish" is translated to "Ņra sewu hwimoldip."

Volitional form

Volitional form is used when making suggestions for both the listener and speaker. It is equivalent to "let's" in English.

Volitional form is actually not a tense but it works like tenses. So, we include it in this lesson. We make a verb volitional by adding the prefix "byu-" /bʲu/

For example, "byumor" means "let's go". Volitional form is always used in present tense without PVIM.

Mixed tenses

Apart from the basic tenses we mentioned above, we have mixed tenses in Pwekish. Though, they are not as common as those. We can summaries all the prefixes for the tenses in Pwekish in a table below.

* Past future tense describes a future event from a past perspective. Equivalent to English "would" or "was/were going to".

** Perfect continuous tense is rarely used in Pwekish.

Verb to be

The tense conjugation for the verb "to be" is irregular and requires rote memorization.

Exercise

1. Translate the following sentences into English.

a. Ņra nismasul.
b. Má baln nkutbal.
c. Ntyu skod hhwisano.
d. Maw sewu hmoldip.
e. Ņra dos hwiņwip.

Show Answers

a. I will sleep.
b. My mum is reading a book.
c. You had a pen.
d. The cat always eats fish.
e. I had been being a plant.

2. Translate the following sentences into Pwekish.

a. He is a human.
b. She liked the dog.
c. You were running.
d. I used to work.
e. I was going to play.

Show Answers

a. Nrow nur npe.
b. Nrow awú nhwinuke.
c. Ntyu hhwikutteptep.
d. Ņra hwimolyesi.
e. Ņra hwiniskoko.