Topic:Æzu’ä/Level I/Verbs

Courses
1:	Introduction
2:	Level I
3:	Level II
4:	Level III
Lessons
i:	Orthography
ii:	Numbers
iii:	Pronouns
iv:	Verbs
v:	Nouns
vi:	Adjectives
vii:	Adverbs
viii:	Particles

Overview

A verb is a word that conveys an action, occurrence, or state of being. The infinitive of a verb is its base form, such as to be, to have, and to farm. These are translated respectively in Æzu’ä as xätu, hüru, and wäntu. Verbs are conjugated in order to match the subject. They are inflected based on person, number, tense, and aspect. In both languages, person is a reference to a participant of an event, whereas number is the difference between singular, dual, and plural. Dual is absent in English, however, and represents two of something. Therefore, plural only represents three or more of something. The concepts of tense and aspect affect the time and flow of time that an action takes place in. In the following sentences, the verbs are italicized.

• I am a person.
• You are also a person.
• We are both people.
• My dog is not a person; he is an animal.

• They were eating pie.
• The pie was delicious.
• It contained apples and cinnamon.
• Could it be any tastier?

Verbs are conjugated depending on the subject. The verb to be is conjugated in the simple present in three forms: am, are, and is. This is why one says I am but you are and it is. In Æzu’ä, each verb has a different conjugation for each pronoun. An irregular verb is one that does not follow the average rules for conjugation. As shown above, the verb to be is a great example of this. Most verbs in English are regular verbs and do not change conjugation for person or number, except in the 3rd person singular. The letter "s" is added to the end of most verbs, such as when one says it farms, in comparison to we farm. Most verbs in Æzu’ä are regular and follow easy-to-remember patterns.

Person and Number

To conjugate a verb in Æzu’ä, one must first know the person and number of the subject. The following steps shows on how to conjugate a regular verb.

1. Take the infinitive of the verb and remove the final "u". {hüru → hür}
2. Determine whether the subject is in the first, second, or third person, and add the correct ending.
   • If it is in the first person, add the suffix "ï". {hür → vï hürï}
   • If it is in the second person, add the suffix "æ". {hür → æ hüræ}
   • If it is in the third person, add the suffix "œ". {hür → œ hürœ}
3. Verbs are not conjugated by number. {vï hürï → dwavï hürï → srävï hürï}

Xätu is an irregular verb, so the way it is conjugated is unique. It is not formed with the same patterns that other verbs do. Even still, it does have some regular qualities; it is very easy to put any conjugated verb into another tense or aspect. The following graphs show the conjugations for xätu, hüru, and wäntu, in the simple present tense.

Xätu (To Be)

Æzu’ä
			Singular			Dual			Plural
First			vï xätc			dwävï xätc			srävï xätc
Second			æ xäc			dwæ xäc			ipæ xäc
Third			œ xä			dwœ xä			ipœ xä

Hüru (To Have)

Æzu’ä
			Singular			Dual			Plural
First			vï hürï			dwävï hürï			srävï hürï
Second			æ hüræ			dwæ hüræ			ipæ hüræ
Third			œ hürœ			dwœ hürœ			ipœ hürœ

Wäntu (To Farm)

Æzu’ä
			Singular			Dual			Plural
First			vï wäntï			dwävï wäntï			srävï wäntï
Second			æ wäntæ			dwæ wäntæ			ipæ wäntæ
Third			œ wäntœ			dwœ wäntœ			ipœ wäntœ

Tense and Aspect

Tense and aspect are extremely important to learn correctly. The basic conjugation of any verb only means so much. For example, take srävï wäntï, or we farm. It suggests that we farm in a very general sense. How does one say when we farm? Or how about how long we have been farming? By utilizing simple suffixes, it is possible to say much more things. There are four tenses: past, present, future, and conditional. There are also four aspects: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. English and Æzu’ä both have these same tenses and aspects, for a total of sixteen combinations. Utilize the following charts to differentiate between these various forms.

English
	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Past	I farmed	I was farming	I had farmed	I had been farming
Present	I farm	I am farming	I have farmed	I have been farming
Future	I will farm	I will be farming	I will have farmed	I will have been farming
Conditional	I would farm	I would be farming	I would have farmed	I would have been farming

Æzu’ä
	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous
Past	vï wantïf	vï wantïfö	vï wantïfü	vï wantïförü
Present	vï wantï	vï wantï’ö	vï wantï’ü	vï wantï'örü
Future	vï wantïv	vï wantïvö	vï wantïvü	vï wantïvörü
Conditional	vï jäwäntï	vï jäwäntïjö	vï jäwäntïjü	vï jäwäntïjörü

With these charts, it is possible to determine the process of conjugating a verb for tense and aspect. Note that the simple present tense of any verb lacks the apostrophe at the end; words cannot end in one in Æzu’ä. Use the following steps to conjugate verbs for tense and aspect.

1. Conjugate the verb according to person. {hüru → vï hürï}
2. Determine what tense the verb is going to be conjugated in.
3. If it is going to be conjugated in the simple present tense, stop here.
   • If it is in the past tense, add the suffix "f". {vï hürï → vï hürïf}
   • If it is in the present tense, add the suffix "’". {vï hürï → vï hürï’}
   • If it is in the future tense, add the suffix "v". {vï hürï → vï hürïv}
   • If it is in the conditional tense, add the prefix "jä" and the suffix "j". {vï hüri →jähürï}
4. Determine what aspect the verb is going to be conjugated in.
   • If it is in the simple aspect, remove the final "j", if applicable. {vï hürïf → vï hürïf}
   • If it is in the continuous aspect, add the suffix "ö". {vï hürïf → vï hürïfö}
   • If it is in the perfect aspect, add the suffix "ü". {vï hürïf → vï hürïfü}
   • If it is in the perfect continuous aspect, add the suffix "örü". {vï hürïf → vï hürïförü}

Grammatical Voice

Unlike in English, grammatical voice is conveyed in the pronoun in Æzu’ä.