Mirad Grammar/Lesson 3

= Lesson 3: Where do you live? =
 * In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate verbs in the basic tenses.

Conjugating Simple Active Verbs

 * You've seen some uses of the verb ser (to be) in the previous lessons. In this dialog, you see that same verb used in other tenses, aspects, and moods beside the simple present active indicative (is/am/are).  In this lesson, you are going to learn that by changing the er ending of the infinitive to one of the vowels a, e, o, and u, you can conjugate any verb in three simple, active tenses plus one other tenseless form that can act as a conditional or imperative.  The following chart shows these tenses (first the simple aspect tenses) and how ending are suffixed to the verb stem:


 * Note 1: These are TENSELESS forms.


 * These are called simple aspect tenses and refer to habitual states and actions. In the dialog, the verb form xeye is in the progressive aspect (I am in doing something, as oppposed to I do something as a habitual action), which will be discussed in a later lesson.


 * Verb forms do not change for person and number:
 * At xe ....I do 
 * Et xe ....you do 
 * It xe ....he does 


 * The plural pronouns begin with a y:
 *  Yat xe.... We do
 *  Yet xe.... You (pl.) do
 *  Yit xe.... They (pl.) does


 * Notice that the verb form does not change from person to person or from singular to plural.
 * Take note also, that the above pronouns are genderless. So it xe can mean he does or she does.  The singular pronouns can be marked for specific gender, but we'll get to that in a later lesson.  Also, be aware that these personal pronouns do not change form whether they are the subject or object of a verb.

The Conditional and Imperative

 * If the verb form ends in -u, it is in the tenseless hypothetical mood. It can act as a conditional verb form or an imperative verb form.  It acts as a conditional if the subject is present and it is functioning in a main clause:
 * Hus su fia.....That would be good.


 * If the -u verb form has no subject, it can usually be interpreted as a command (= imperative):
 *  Su baka!.... Be well!
 *  Xu has hij!.... Do it now!

Omitting Prepositions after Certain Verbs

 * Certain verbs contain inherent positionality or directionality and therefore can be followed by an direct object without a preposition. This is done in English a lot with expressions like go home or come this way or live downtown (instead of go to home or come toward this way or live in downtown).  Here are some common examples of this omission:
 * Upu ha nam hej.....Come (to) the store sometime.
 * At tambese zedom.....I live (in) the downtown.
 * Du at eta dyun.....Tell (to) me your name.

Quiz on Simple Active Verbs
{Fill in the blanks with the Mirad equivalents of the underlined English verb forms: (Note: upper/lower case is significant.) 1. At { so _2 } hum.....I will be there. 2. { Xu _2 } eta yex hij..... Do your work now. 3. Duhom et { tambesa _7 }?....Where did you live? ( = Say where you live ) 4. Hot { upo _3 } bay et.....Who will come with you? 5. Duhos et { xe _2 } hij?....''What do you do now? ( = Say what you do now?)'' 6. Hus { su _2} fia.....That would be good.
 * type="{}"}

Deictic Adverbs

 * In the dialog, you see words like hoyen? (how), hij (now), and him (here). These are called deictic adverbs, because they point to the context of manner, time and place.  This chart shows a few of these forms, which are correlated:


 * There are quite a few more types that can be correlated this way, but you will learn them in future lessons.
 * Examples of usage:
 *  Duhom yit se?.... Where are they?
 * Yit tambesa him .....They lived here .
 * Yat tambeso hem .....We will live somewhere .
 * Ha tuxut upo hum .....The teacher will come there .
 * Upu hij !....Come now !
 *  Duhoj et upo?.... When will you come?
 *  Duhoyen et xeye?.... How are you doing?
 * At tambesa hum .....I lived there .


 * A complete list of deictic adverbs can be found in the chapter on Determiners.

Quiz on Deictic Adverbs
{Fill in the following blanks with deictic adverb equivalents underlined in English: 1. { Duhom _5 } et tambese?.... Where do you live? 2. { Duhoyen _7 } et xeye?.... How are you doing? 3. Upu { him _3}!....Come here ! 4. Yat upo zedom { hej _3}.....We will come downtown sometime . 5. At xo has { heyen _5}.....I will do it somehow .
 * type="{}"}

Forming Adverbs

 * Adverbs can be formed from descriptive adjectives by adding -y to the end of the adjective:
 * jesta....diligent --> jestay....diligently (or hard as in to work hard)
 * baka....healthy --> bakay....healthily
 * fia....good --> fiay....well
 * fua....bad --> fuay....poorly
 * via....beautiful --> viay....beautifully
 * There are words in Mirad that are inherent adverbs and do not required a change of form, such as:
 * yub....near
 * yib....far
 * gla....very
 * duhom?....where (and all of the other deictic adverbs)
 * The adverbs yub and yib can be used in the following prepositional phrases, using bi (of, from):
 *  yub bi ha dom.... near the city
 *  yib bi ha tolnam.... far from the grocery store
 * These two adverbs can also be converted to adjectives with the suffixation of -a:
 * ha yuba tam....the nearby house
 * hua yiba nam....that faraway store
 * These two adjectival derivatives and be further adverbialized to produce two words with special meanings:
 * It se yubay him.....He (or she) is almost (=nearly) here.
 * Hus voy se yibay fia.....That is not remotely good.

Lesson 3 Vocabulary

 * Nouns:
 * zedom....downtown  (ze = middle + dom = city)
 * yizdom....suburb  (yiz = beyond + dom = city)
 * yex....work
 * tam....house
 * jeb....season
 * tolnam....grocery store  (tol = foodstuffs + nam = store)
 * uj....end  (vs. ij = beginning)
 * Adjectives:
 * baka....healthy, well  (vs. boka....ill)
 * jesta....diligent
 * Verbs:
 * xer....to do
 * tambeser....to live, reside  (tam = house + beser = to stay)
 * yexer....to work
 * uper....to come
 * hoyder....to say goodbye  (hoy = bye + der = to say)
 * Adverbs:
 * jestay....diligently, earnestly
 * yub....near, nearby  (yubay....almost)
 * yib....far, far away  (yibay....remotely)
 * gla....very  (vs. glo....not very)
 * duhom?....where?
 * duhoj?....when?
 * duhoyen?....how?
 * hem....somewhere
 * hej....sometime
 * heyen....somehow


 * Pronouns:
 * hyas....everything (vs. hyos....nothing; see Determiners).
 * Prepositions and conjunctions:
 * bi....of, from  (vs. bu....to)
 * ja....before  (je....during, jo....after)
 * ja his....before this (jo his....after this)
 * ju....until  (vs. ji....since)
 * av....for  (vs. ov....against)
 * av hus (or: husav) ....for that (reason), so