Verbs are the foundation of any language. Interslavic verbs have (like in English) three persons, singular and plural (can be dual) number, imperative, participles, conditional and three tenses (present, past and future) extendable to the total number of six tenses. From this perspective, Interslavic does not differ from any other Indo-European language. The difference with English is that all these verbal forms are formed by adding endings to the word stem (root). Therefore, Neoslavonic is much more similar to Greek or Romance languages.
Fortunately verb system is not so difficult to learn as inflection. With just a few exceptions, Neoslavonic edition of Interslavic has only two verb classes. Like inflection, we have two patterns: hard and soft. This means that it is enough to learn these two sets of endings and apply them to each verb.
hard conjugation pattern (-eš verbs)
verb dělati (to do) - possible optional set of endings of the same example
verb pisati (to write) - an example of softer present verb stem
It is obvious that the endings (-u, -eš, -e, -emo, -ete, -ut) are identical for both longer or softer (or unchanged, of course) present stems. Please note that modern western and southern Slavic languages tend to shorten longer forms by removing syllable -je- (e.g. děla-je-š→děla-š, děla-je-mo→děla-mo, ...). In Neoslavonic it is not so much recommended because this phenomenon is not widespread in the same way in all Slavic languages. You can but meet with it. Try to conjugate these additional verbs:
soft conjugation pattern (-iš verbs)
possible optional set of endings of the same example
Good message is, that all verbs in this soft pattern (-ju/-im, -iš, -i, -ime, -ite, -et) have identical past and present stems. But unlike in the hard pattern they can be affected by euphony from the 1st lesson (c-ju→č-u, s-ju→š-u, z-ju→ž-u) in order to improve the final form as follows:
verb prositi (to please) - an example of possible optional set of endings without need to apply euphony
There is the question which option (-u/-ju or -em/im) to choose. Eastern Slavic languages (e.g. Russian) prefer ending (-u/-ju or similar), but western and southern Slavic languages (e.g. Slovak or Croatian) tend to prefer ending (-em/im or similar). Decide yourself what is the best for you. Try to conjugate these additional verbs:
irregular verbs byti = to be, věděti = to know, dati = to give, idti = to go, jesti = to eat Every spoken language has many exceptions to the verbs. We have reduced then to the absolute minimum in Neoslavonic in order to keep understandability to Slavic speakers. This is why we have only three irregular verbs. They are byti (to be), věděti (to know), dati (to give), idti (to go) and jasti (to eat). You have already learned the verb byti. Remember it and learn the next two in addition.
Please remember, that some other verbs also follow these irregular patterns. They are miscellaneous derivatives of them:
examples Idete li autom? Do you (pl.) go by a car (I)? - note instrumental case without preposition. Moj prijatelj meso na jade, on jest vegetarian. My friend (m.) does not eat meat, he is a vegetarian. Moja prijatelica meso na jede, ona jest vegetarianica. My friend (f.) does not eat meat, she is a vegetarian. Kaku knigu čitaješ? What book do you (sg.) read? Prošu/prosim, kdě jest stanica autobusa? Please where is the bus station? Vidimo veliky dom. We (can) see a big house. Koliko plaču/platim? How much do I need to pay? Ne možeš iti od nas. You cannot go from us. Idete li do kina? Do you (pl.) go to cinema? Da, idemo. Yes, we do. (We go.) Piješ li pivo? Do you (sg.) drink beer? Ne, pivo ne piju. No, I do not drink beer. Hočete li něčto kupiti? Do you (pl.) want to buy something? Tutoj gospod vse plati. This gentleman is paying for everything. Prosimo Vas, čto tamo vidite? Please, what can You (pl.) see there? Moj prijatelj mně ne hoče prodati svoje auto. My friend does not want to sell me his car (e.g. a car of my friend). |
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