Thursday, May 15, 2014

Tigrigna Verb ኢዩ - to be

Usage: The verb ኢዩ is to be used when you are defining a person or object. The closest English equivalent is the verb "to be." This verb (like all Tigrigna verbs) is divided by person, number and gender.
ኢዩ

Singular Plural
3rd ኢዩ he is ኢዮም they are
ኢያ she is ኢየን they are (f)
2nd ኢኻ you are (m) ኢኹም you are
ኢኺ you are (f) ኢኽን you are (f)
1st እየ I am ኢና we are
Here are some Tigrigna examples of the verb ኢዩ with their English translations (the verbs are underlined in each one):

ትግርኛ Transliteration Translation
a) "ንሱ ሓያል ኢዩ" a) "he strong is" a) "He is strong"
b) "ንሳ ሓጻር ኢያ" b) "she short is" b) "She is short"
c) "ንስኻ ሃካይ ኢኻ" c) "you lazy are" c) "You are lazy"
d) "ንስኺ ሓሳዊት ኢኺ" d) "you liar are" d) "You are a liar"
e) "ኣነ ተኣማሚነ እየ" e) "I confident am" e) "I am confident"
f) "ንሶም ጽሉላት ኢዮም" f) "they crazy are" f) "They are crazy"
g) "ንሰን ትግረ ኢየን" g) "they Tigre are" g) "They are Tigre"
h) "ንስኹም መንእሰያት ኢኹም" h) "you young are" h) "You are young"
i) "ንስኽን ጽብቃት ኢኽን" i) "you pretty are" i) "You are pretty"
j) "ንሕና ጉሁያት ኢና" j) "we sad are" j) "We are sad"

Explaining grammar terms

1. A verb is a very simple concept to describe; it is an action word. An example of a verb in a sentence would be: "John grabbed the keys." In English, the verb ('grabbed') always goes after the subject ('John'). Word order: [Subject] [Verb] [Object].
This is different in Tigrigna, where the verb always goes after the object. Word order: [Subject] [Object] [Verb].
2. What is an object? The object of a sentence, is the word that is being 'acted upon.' In the above example of: "John grabbed the keys." The word 'keys' is the object.
Note - Please remember, from the lesson subject pronouns, that the subject of a sentence is the word that is 'committing the action.' This will contrast nicely with the definition of object

You will quickly find that there are few rules and a lot of exceptions when using verbs or Tigrigna in general, however here are a few recommendations to help you. 
  1. All verbs go at the end of a statement
    Unlike in English where verbs are placed in the middle of a statement ([Subject] [Verb] [Object]), Tigrigna places it's verb at the end ([Subject] [Object] [Verb]); observe the correct and incorrect examples.
    Correct:
    ትግርኛ: እዚ መጽሐፍ ኢዩ
    Transliteration: this book is
    Translation: "This is a book"
    Incorrect:
    ትግርኛ: እዚ ኢዩ መጽሐፍ
    Transliteration: this is book
    Translation: "This is a book"
  2. ኢዩ is used for defining something, not for its location.
    In English the verb "to be" can be used for describing something, and for the location of it; in Tigrigna there are two separate verbs for these purposes. ኢዩ is only used for defining something.
    Correct:
    ትግርኛ: ንሱ ወዲ ኢዩ
    Transliteration: he boy is
    Translation: "He is a boy"
    Incorrect:
    ትግርኛ: ኣብ ቤት ትምህርቲ ኢዩ
    Transliteration: at school he is
    Translation: "He is at school"
  3. Conjugate for person, number, and gender
    Like with subject pronouns, Tigrigna verbs are conjugated to agree with the subject in person, number, and gender.
    Correct:
    ትግርኛ: እዚኣ ጓል ኢያ
    Transliteration: this girl is
    Translation: "This is a girl"
    Incorrect:
    ትግርኛ: እዚኣ ጓል ኢዩም
    Transliteration: this girl are
    Translation: "This are girl"
     Source: http://www.memhr.org

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