Breton/Level 2/Lesson 3

{| cellpadding="10" cellspacing="5" style="width: 99%; background-color: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"
 * style="background-color: #87e990; border: 1px solid #777777; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 8px;" colspan="2" |

Personal form & impersonal form
The Present Tense and the Continuous Tense have two forms : the personal form and the impersonal form.

These two forms allow to insist upon either the subject (impersonal form) or the complement, the attribute, the object (personal form).

For example :

The english sentence "I am wise" may be translated in two ways :


 * Me a zo fur (impersonal form) to insist upon the subject (Me). Since the subject already gives the notion of person, it is useless to give a personal form to the verb. Therefore the verb is invariant (here : a zo) and this form is called the impersonal form.


 * Fur ez on (personal form) to insist upon the attribute (Fur). Here the verb varies according to the person since the notion of person is not present otherwise.

Continuous Tense
The Continuous Tense is used for repetitive or continued actions.

If we take the same example :


 * Fur ez vezan means "I am usually wise".

When translating from Breton to English allow your native language instinct to sort out in which case the simple present (I speak Breton) or the present continuous (I am speaking Breton) is more appropriate and idiomatic.

Situation Tense
The Situation Tense is used to indicate the place (in space or time) where the subject is or, in a wider meaning, its position (social, etc.).

Example :


 * Er skol emaon means "I am at school".

Impersonal passive
This mode is used when the subject is not known or not precisely defined. In English, this would often be translated by "they".

For instance, "e oar" would give "they are".

Personal form & impersonal form
The Present Tense and the Continuous Tense have two forms : the personal form and the impersonal form.

These two forms allow to insist upon either the subject (impersonal form) or the complement, the attribute, the object (personal form).

Auxiliary form
A verb can also be used with an auxiliary (most often the verb Ober to do) to insist upon the action itself.

For instance, skrivañ a ran ul levr (I write a letter) will be used to insist upon the verb skrivañ (to write).

Progressive Form
To create the progressive form, add the continuous particle o (H!). Careful it causes hard mutation:

(H!) Hard Mutation Following letters are affected:

B    becomes	P

D    becomes	T

G    becomes	K

Here are some verbal nouns:

kaozeal             speak/ing

komz             chat/ting, speak/ing

skrivañ              write/ing

ober               work/ing

chom               dwell/ing

gwerzhañ             sell/ing

mond                 go/ing

kemer             take/ing

degemer           receive/ing

deskiñ               learn/ing

kas;daveiñ              send/ing

Now all you need to do is put them together following this pattern:

{present of bezañ} + {o (H!)} + {verbal noun}

ez on o kaozeal Brezhoneg.

I speak Breton./I am speaking Breton.

ez on o skriva ul lizer.

You (sg.) write a letter./You are writing a letter.

emañ eñ o teskiñ Kembraeg.

He learns Welsh./He is learning Welsh.

Caution :

The progressive form may not always be translated by the construction "o" + (verbal noun).

In some cases, other constructions are more appropriate :

1/ To mark intention : Dre + (verbal noun)

By reading lots of good books, will you become a "champion" in Breton language. By dipping my finger in the soup, I would have understood that I had to wait before eating it.
 * Dre lenn kalz a levriou mad e teui eur maout war ar yez.
 * Dre soubañ va biz enni am-bije merzet ne oa ket evid beza lonket ken buan ha tra.

2/ Unexpected result : En eur + (verbal noun)

When reading this book, I noticed that the writer was a good man. When eating my soup, I noticed that the soup was boiling hot.
 * En eur lenn al levr-se am-eus merket e oa an oberour eun den a-zoare.
 * En eur lonka va soubenn am-eus merket e oa tomm bero.

3/ Evolution : Mont war + (verbal noun) / To go toward + verbal noun

In the following sentences, this yields : war (verbal noun) ez a ...


 * war = toward


 * ez a = goes

Prices are increasing. The weather is getting worse.
 * War gresk ez a ar prizioù.
 * War fallaad ez a en amzer.

Negations
Since you want to be able to make negative statements as well as ask questions, here’s what you need to do: Take the long present tense of bezañ (to be) and replace the particle ez with ne (or ned or n' before a vowel) and add ket after the verb in order to make a negative statement:


 * ez on 		       I am
 * ned on ket 		I am not
 * or n'on ket
 * n'out ket 		you (sg.) are not

The 3rd person singular in negative statements has two special verb forms:


 * n'eus ket ...		there is not ...


 * n'eo ket ... 	       he (she) is not ...


 * ar c'hi n'eo ket ... 	the dog is not ...


 * ar vugale n'int ket ... the children are not ...


 * n'omp ket 	we are not


 * n'oc'h ket 	“you (pl.) are not


 * n'int ket 		they are not

Now put the sentences together according to the template given above:

N'on ket o komz Brezhoneg.

I don’t speak Breton./I am not speaking Breton.

N'out ket o skrivañ ul lizer.

You (sg.) don’t write a letter./You are not writing a letter.

N'eo ket o teskiñ Kembraeg.

He is not learning Welsh.

Questions
To formulate a question simply use the affirmation form :

ez on?		am I?

ez out? 		are you (sg.)?

'''ez eus? '		is there?''

ez eo? 		is he?

ez eo? 		is she?

ez eo ar c'hi? 	is the dog?

ez omp? 		are we?

ez oc'h? 	are you (pl.)?

ez int? 		are they?

ez int ar vugale? 	are the children?

Ez on o komz Brezhoneg?

Do I speak Breton?/Am I speaking Breton?

Sometimes, a question will be preceded by "Ha" (And) or even, when insisting, by "Daoust ha" (equivalent to "Is is true that ..."). Ha is replaced by Hag before a vowel.

Hag ez out o skrivañ ul lizer?

Do you write a letter?/Are you writing a letter?

Daoust hag ez eo o teskiñ Kembraeg?

Does he learn Welsh?/ Is he learning Welsh?

To ask a negative question use the same principles:

Ha n'on ket o komz Brezhoneg?

Don’t I speak Breton?/Am I not speaking Breton?

Ha n'out ket o skrivañ ul lizer?

Don’t you write a letter?/Are you not writing a letter?

Ha n'eo ket o teskiñ Kembraeg?

Doesn’t he learn Welsh?/ Is he not learning Welsh?

Self training

 * Listen to the following dialogs which shows :


 * Imperative form
 * Auxiliary form
 * Progressive form



Now you have seen how its done.
 * Let's continue

Take the verbs from Level 2 and write them down if you haven't already.

Now change them into their Present tense.

Now underneath, make some sentences up for each verb. EG. Me a zesk kembraeg er skol (I learn Welsh in school).

Quiz
Go to the Quiz


 * }