Lingwa de planeta/Verb particles

In this lesson you will learn:

• 15 verbs (kan, slu, telefoni, weiti, miti, klosi, ofni, begin, fini, stopi, chi, pi, bikam, repeti, maini)
• 8 nouns (dwar, leta, versa, kafee, aiskrem, chay, vino, dela)
• 10 particles (ba, bye, hay, magari, nomagari, wud, he, sal, zai, gwo)
• 6 affixes (en-, ek-, fa-, mah-, -(i)fi, -(i)si)
• 1 conjunction (si)
• 4 useful words (shayad, mogbi, yo, haishi)
• 3 etiquette words (plis, danke, skusi)

Total 47 vocabulary units ( + 167 from lessons 1-3 = total 214 units)

Expression of commands, requests, wishes

The basic form, used without a subject, expresses the imperative mood:

Jawabi!	Answer!

To express a request, they usually add plis (please) or bi karim (be kind).

Helpi (a) me, plis.	Help me, please.

(if there is obviously only one indirect object with the verb, the preposition can be omitted: helpi a me = helpi me)

To explicitly express the imperative (imperative mood), you can add the particle ba:

Shwo ba!	Speak!
Plis, bu ofni ba sey dwar.	Please, don't open this door.

To express the imperative in the negative form, the particle bye (in this case, the particle ba is not needed) is also used:

Bye klosi dwar!	Don't close the door!

The meaning of "let's (do something)" can also be expressed using the particle ba:

Nu go ba!	Let's go!
Ta go ba!	Let them go!

The wish can also be expressed using the following particles (placed at the beginning of the phrase):

• hay (let)
• magari (if only)
• nomagari (I wish not).

Hay ta lai!	Let them come!
Magari ela shwo om me!	If only she could talk about me!
Nomagari li kwesti om se!	I hope they don't ask about this!

After these particles, not only the main form of the verb can be used.

Magari ta he kwesti om to!	If only they had asked about that!

(desire for the action to happen)

Translation exercise

English	Lidepla
Please don't run: I can't understand what you're telling me.
Give me my flower, please. It is there.
Please read this book for me: I want to listen (hear) how you read.
If only they understood me!
Just don't believe them!
Wait here for me please.
Let them tell him about me.

Condition and convention

When answering a request, sometimes the word "would" is needed: wud.

Me wud helpi yu, bat me bu mog: me mus go.	I would help you, but I cannot: I must go.

And the word "would" is closely related to the word "if": si (dan - then).

Me wud mog helpi yu si yu wud pregi.	I could help you if you asked.
Si yu wud pregi dan me wud mog helpi.	If you asked, then I could help.

The word (conjunction) "if" can, of course, be used without "would":

Si yu pregi, (dan) me ve helpi.	If you ask, I will help you.

Translation exercise

English	Lidepla
If you don't believe me, I won't come.
If you want to play, not work, don't come.
Would you be able to sleep if we sang and danced here?
I would answer you, but I don't understand what you're asking about.

Action time specification

When you answer a request, explain something in the answer, sometimes it is necessary to specifically indicate that some action is happening right now, will be happening very soon, or, on the contrary, has recently ended.

There are special clarifying particles in Lidepla for this:

• zai ("be doing")
• sal ("to be about to")
• he ("already completed")
• yus he ("just completed").

Me bu mog jawabi nau: me zai chi.	I can't answer now: I'm eating.
Me bu mog lai: nu sal chi deyfan.	I can't come: we're about to eat dinner.

The particles wud and he can be used together before the verb when it comes to the assumption about the past:

Si yu wud he kwesti, me wud he jawabi. Bat yu bu he kwesti e me bu he jawabi.	If you had asked, I would have answered. But you didn't ask and I didn't answer.

Please note that some verbs can participate in the construction of verb sequences:

go somni	go to sleep
begin shwo	begin talking
stopi gani	stop singing

Translation exercise

English	Lidepla
I have come, I'm eating and about to go sleep.
They just finished dancing.
They're about to begin playing.
I would've spoken to you, but you didn't come.

It may also happen that you will need to say that the action in principle took place, sometime, no matter when. Or it never happened at all. There is a gwo particle for this:

Me gwo visiti ela. Me bu yao go adar snova.	I visited her. I don't want to go there again.
Me bu gwo shwo kun ela.	I haven't spoken to her (not once in my life).

Translation exercise

English	Lidepla
They said they've just arrived and therefore (because of that) they can't read the letter (leta) right now.
He didn't understand that she had never seen him and won't come unless (without that) I talk with her.
I had to work today, because of this I just came home, I'm eating and talked with the kids about me not knowing why in America (Amerika) there are no crocodiles (krokodil).
I won't open the door (dwar) of my house, whoever comes and whatever they say.
I won't come because she doesn't want to open the door for me.

Aspect prefixes

Often, especially when telling a story, when it matters how the actions are connected to each other, it is important to show that the action began, or that it was abrupt, brief, single. For this, there are the following verb prefixes:

• en- (beginning of action)
• ek- (one time or suddenly)

Nu promeni e ta en-gani.	We walk, and they start to sing.
Nu audi ke koywan ek-krai.	We hear someone scream.

With the help of these prefixes, you can also form verbs corresponding to Russian perfective verbs:

jan (know)	en-jan (get to know, learn)
krai (cry)	ek-krai (cry out)

Translation exercise

русский	лидепла
begin to want
get up
recall
stir
fall sleep

Transition particles

Many verbs in Lidepla can be used with or without an object:

Dwar ofni.	The door opens.
Me ofni dwar.	I open the door.

However, in some cases it is necessary to emphasize the absence of an object (intransitiveness of the verb). This can be done with the particle fa-:

Ela fa-astoni.	She is surprised.
Oni mog audi musika. Musika fa-audi.	You can hear music. Music is heard.

Using the particle mah-, you can emphasize transitivity or form a transitive verb:

astoni (astonish, amaze)	mah-astoni (surprise)
remembi (remember)	mah-remembi (remind)
chi (eat)	mah-chi (feed)

Translation exercise

English	Lidepla
make drink
seat
be seen

The same particles are used with adjectives to report a change in some quality:

• mah- do or do something
• fa- become or become something

(written before an adjective with a hyphen)

syao (small)	mah-syao (reduce)
gran (big)	fa-gran (grow)

It should be noted that these verbs primarily denote change of quality. There is also a verb bikam to report on the establishment of a new quality - to become:

Kinda sal bikam aika gao.	The child will soon be quite tall.

You can also use suffixes to form verbs (from adjectives or other verbs):

• -(i)fi (synonym for fa)
• -(i)si (synonym for mah):

klare (clear)	klarifi (grow light(er), grow/become clear, clear up)	klarisi (clarify, make clear)

The particle fa- can also be used with nouns denoting, for example, the time of day:

dey (day)	fa-dey (it is dawning, day is breaking)

Conjecture expression

You can express your guess with the words

• shayad (perhaps, probably)
• mogbi (maybe)
• musbi (it must be)

(after these words, the main form of the verb is usually used if the assumption refers to the future):

Shayad ta bu lai sedey.	They probably won't come today.
Mogbi li he lai?	Maybe they (already) came?

In such sentences, the words yo (already) and haishi (still, still) can come in handy:

Shayad yur kinda haishi bu janmog shwo.	Your child may not be able to speak yet.
Mogbi yur kinda janmog gani yo?	Maybe your child already knows how to sing?

Translation exercise

English	Lidepla
I'm waiting for her. Why hasn't she come yet?
Maybe she doesn't remember that we are supposed to meet today?
Perhaps she doesn't know that I'm waiting for her.
I could call her. But I will wait.
Let her call me!
If only she came!
We would go to a cafe (kafee), eat ice cream (aiskrem) and drink tea (chay).
Or maybe not tea, but wine (vino)?
I have come to her house.
She opened the door for me (for me), and I could look at her, talk to her...
Then I drew her, read to her (for her), danced with her, sang about her...
I used to write letters (leta) with poems (versa) for her. She liked my poetry.
If only she hadn't forgotten about me!
If only she would understand that I am waiting for her, that I want to see her, that I love her!

New verbs

kan	look, watch	me bu kan, ob yu bu kan-te? nu bu ve kan
slu	listen	ob yu bu slu? me bu ve slu, yu bu slu-te
telefoni	call, phone	me ve telefoni a yu, ob yu he telefoni? ela bu telefoni a me neva
weiti	wait (for)	ob ela ve weiti? me bu weiti-te, lu bu weiti
miti	meet, encounter	me bu miti, ob yu bu gwo miti mutu? nu ve miti
klosi	close, shut	li klosi-te, me ve klosi, yu bu klosi
ofni	open	me ofni-te, nu ve ofni dwar fo yu, ela zai ofni
begin	begin, commence	nu begin, ob yu begin-te? ob li sal begin?
fini	end, be over, finish	nu fini, li ve fini, me bu he fini shwo
stopi	stop, cease	me stopi, ob yu stopi-te? li bu ve stopi
chi	eat	ob yu zai chi? li chi, nu ve chi
pi	drink	me pi, ob yu pi-te? ta bu ve pi

Text

In a pet shop.

- Ob ye papagay?

- Non, bat yu mog kupi pelatuk (woodpecker).

- Ob ta toshi janmog shwo?

- Non, bat ta janmog yusi Morse-alfabet.

• animal-shop - pet shop
• papagay - parrot
• kupi - buy
• yusi - usi
• Morse-alfabet — Morse alphabet

Etiquette: Thank you! Sorry, what did you say?

In order to express gratitude, the word Danke is used! (thank you) or the expression Danke gro! (Thanks a lot).

You can respond to gratitude with the expression Bi hao! (Please! Cheers! No way!) or Es syao dela. (It's a small thing.)

If you did not hear what the interlocutor said, you can ask again:

Skusi?	Sorry?
Kwo yu he shwo?	What did you say?
Repeti ba, plis.	Repeat, please.

If you have heard, but do not quite understand what it is about, you can ask like this:

Kwo yu maini?	What do you mean?

Language in focus: Arabic

The number of Arabic speakers is estimated at about 250 million people. However, classical Arabic as the language of the Koran is used to a limited extent by adherents of Islam around the world, and this is already more than one and a half billion people.

The appearance in the 7th century of the Koran, written in Arabic, generally became a defining moment in the history of the Arabic language. From that moment, the Arabic script finally took shape, and the standardization of the language (which existed mainly in the form of a set of related dialects) and the development of its literary form began.

Linguists note that the early monuments of the Arabic language testify to a significant number of borrowings from neighboring Semitic and Aramaic languages, from Persian, Greek, Latin, and later also from Turkish.

The next turning point in the development of the Arabic language was the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, when economic contacts between the Arab East and the West intensified. Today, international scientific and technical terms and mass media expressions are actively penetrating the Arabic language, despite the activities of the Arabic language academies, which make every effort to preserve it as unchanged as possible.

An excerpt from The Little Prince in Arabic (transcription reflects the sound only approximately; in Arabic they are written from right to left):

ah, ayyuhaa alamiir assaghiir, maa alwakt kadartu alaa an afham hayaataka alkaiiba, waktan tawiilan mad/saa wa lam tamlik — lita'aasii nafsik — illaa jamaal mash'hid g/huruubi ashams.

amaltu bihaad/saa fii ssabaahi alyawm arraabi.

amaltu bihaad/saa fii alyawmi arraabi indamaa kult :

"anaa uhibbu mashaahid ghuruubi ashams kat/siran, ta'aala, dina nuraakib hidaahaa.

You can see the original text written in Arabic script ЗДЕСЬ.

Lidepla words that are of Arabic origin:

• nouns: salam (peace, hello!), talim (education), kitaba (book), dafta (notebook), kalam (pencil, pen), taraf (side), arda (earth), sabah (morning), bulbul (nightingale), ramla (sand), sahil (coast), saif (summer), fauha (smell), hamsa (whisper)
• verbs: shakwi (complain), jawabi (answer), ahfi (hide), balbati (gurgle), raki (ride), safari (travel)
• adjectives: karim (kind), rahim (merciful), salim (safe), muhim (important), jamile (beautiful), garibe (foreign), swate (black), jatile (intricate, sophisticated)

Keys to translation exercises

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