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Unlike most Indo-European languages, verbs are not conjugated. Instead, the verb appears uninflected near the end of a clause, and all information about tense, aspect, or mood follow the verb as separate words. For example ʒɑɣ yŋkɑlĭɑɑ ŭĭr ur means, 'I'm going to go to the castle', but ʒɑɣ yŋkɑlĭɑɑ ŭĭr ɑĭ means 'I went to the castle'. | Unlike most Indo-European languages, verbs are not conjugated. Instead, the verb appears uninflected near the end of a clause, and all information about tense, aspect, or mood follow the verb as separate words. For example ʒɑɣ yŋkɑlĭɑɑ ŭĭr ur means, 'I'm going to go to the castle', but ʒɑɣ yŋkɑlĭɑɑ ŭĭr ɑĭ means 'I went to the castle'. | ||
Usually, the past tense is marked with the word ɑĭ after the verb. However, | Usually, the past tense is marked with the word ɑĭ after the verb. However, t̪rɑ is used in rare cases where the speaker is describing an event they have never experienced. Therefore, t̪rɑ is called the historic past, and is often used when telling stories. | ||
Usually, the present tense is left unmarked, but in younger, vernacular varieties of Shaj, u has come to mean present tense. | Usually, the present tense is left unmarked, but in younger, vernacular varieties of Shaj, u has come to mean present tense. | ||
Shaj splits the future into three parts: far, near, and imminent. The far future corresponds mostly with English's use of 'will', and describes an action that has not yet happened, but is sure to happen sometime. The near future corresponds mostly with English's 'going to', and describes an action that will happen soon, or within a relatively short period of time. The imminent future can be thought of as a subset of the near future, and is used to describe and event that is about to happen imminently or immediately. They are marked vi, ur, and tʃĭ, respectively. | Shaj splits the future into three parts: far, near, and imminent. The far future corresponds mostly with English's use of 'will', and describes an action that has not yet happened, but is sure to happen sometime. The near future corresponds mostly with English's 'going to', and describes an action that will happen soon, or within a relatively short period of time. The imminent future can be thought of as a subset of the near future, and is used to describe and event that is about to happen imminently or immediately. They are marked vi, ur, and tʃĭ, respectively. | ||
=====Aspect===== | =====Aspect===== | ||
======Perfect and Imperfect====== | ======Perfect and Imperfect====== |
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