10.1....AUXILIARY VERBS IN GENERAL: In declarative sentences, the auxiliary verb is the second major constituent in the clause, while the main verb occurs as an infinitive at the end of the clause. Auxiliary verbs include passive ?sienen,? perfective ?haben,? and the modal verbs.
10.2....PERFECT ASPECT: This is conveyed with the auxiliary ?haben,? which corresponds to German ?haben? and English ?to have.?
| 10.2-1 |
Dus frauzu the woman |
habit has |
teubrata sandwich |
skarfen eat (infinitive) |
| correctly: The woman has eaten a sandwich. | ||||
| 10.2-2 |
Hue they |
habeus had |
venden go (infinitive) |
| correctly: They had gone. | |||
| 10.2-3 |
De kat the cat |
habyl will have |
styrven die (infinitive) |
| correctly: The cat will have died. | |||
10.3....PASSIVE VOICE: Passive voice is conveyed with the passive infinitive. In the absence of other auxiliairies, the passive auxiliary is ?sienen.?
| 10.3-1 |
De kueke the cookie |
sienit is |
skarfivez eat (passive infinitive) |
| correctly: The cookie is being eaten. | |||
a) An agent in a passive clause is denoted by a prepositional phrase with ?durx? taking a genitive object.
| 10.3-2 |
Jeu you |
sienist are |
durx unsyr by us |
baidaugivez watch (passive infinitive) |
| correctly: You are being watched. | ||||
b) Sentences with object complements can be passivized even without agents.
| 10.3-3 |
Hue they |
sienoom were |
groos big |
macivez make (passive infinitive) |
| correctly: They were made big. | ||||
| 10.3-4 |
Hue they |
sienoom are |
lervyrue teachers | make (passive infinitive) |
| correctly: They were made teachers. | ||||
| 10.3-5 |
Hue they |
sienoom are |
frood wise |
lerivez teach (passive infinitive) |
|
correctly: They have been taught (and thereby made) wise. |
||||
c) The passive auxiliary ?sienen? is used only when other auxiliaries are not being used. For instance, perfective ?haben? obviates passive ?sienen? in this example:
| 10.3-6 |
Teubrat sandwich |
habit has |
durx frauzoes by a woman |
skarfivez eat (passive infinitive) |
| correctly: A sandwich has been eaten by the woman. | ||||
10.4....MODAL AUXILIARIES: These are as follows:
darfen....This translates as ?be allowed to? or (in present tense) ?may.?
| 10.4-1 |
Jeu you |
darfoos were allowed to |
dat bueka the book |
haben have (infinitive) |
| correctly: | ||||
| 10.4-2 |
Jeu you |
darfist can, are allowed to |
dat bueka the book |
haben have (infinitive) |
|
correctly: You may have the book. You are allowed to have the book. |
||||
| 10.4-3 |
Jeu you |
darfyl will be able to |
dat bueka the book |
haben have (infinitive) |
| correctly: You will be allowed to have the book. | ||||
fyrgen....This indicates possibility, and often translates as ?might have? in past tense, ?might be __-ing? in present tense, or ?might? in present or future tense.
| 10.4-4 |
Hetre it |
fyrgeus might have |
in dais hausai in the house |
sienen be (infinitive) |
| correctly: It might have been in the house. | ||||
| 10.4-5 |
Hetre it |
fyrgit might (present) |
in dais hausai in the house |
sienen be (infinitive) |
| correctly: It might be in the house (now). | ||||
| 10.4-6 |
Hetre it |
fyrgyl might (future) |
in dais hausai in the house |
sienen be (infinitive) |
| correctly: It might be in the house (in the future). | ||||
gonen....This means ?intend to.?
| 10.4-7 |
Ik I |
gono intend |
spaugoozuen socks |
biegen buy (infinitive) |
| correctly: I intend to buy socks. | ||||
kanen....This means ?be able to,? and often translates as ?can? in present tense, and ?could? in past tense.
| 10.4-8 |
Hue they |
kanoom were able to |
eeta food |
huem to them |
geben give (infinitive) |
| correctly: They were able to give food to them. | |||||
| 10.4-9 |
Hue they |
kanant can/are able to |
eeta food |
huem to them |
geben give (infinitive) |
| correctly: They can/are able to give food to them. | |||||
| 10.4-10 |
Hue they |
kanyl will be able to |
eeta food |
huem to them |
geben give (infinitive) |
| correctly: They will be able to give food to them. | |||||
musen....This means ?to have to? or ?to be obligated to,? and often translates as ?must? in present tense.
| 10.4-11 |
Dues barnue the children |
musoom had to |
at beda to bed |
venden go (infinitive) |
| correctly: The children had to go to bed. | ||||
| 10.4-12 |
Dues barnue the children |
musant must, have to |
at beda to bed |
venden go (infinitive) |
| correctly: The children must/have to go to bed. | ||||
| 10.4-13 |
Dues barnue the children |
musyl will have to |
at beda to bed |
venden go (infinitive) |
| correctly: The children will have to go to bed. | ||||
naigen....This means ?to tend to.?
| 10.4-14 |
Dues eufyrue the pigs |
naigoom tended to |
tu too much |
skarfen eat (infinitive) |
| correctly: The pigs tended to eat too much. | ||||
pasen....Independently ?happen,? as a modal auxiliary, it means ?happen to.?
| 10.4-15 |
Ik I |
paseut happened to |
doer here |
lagen exist, be at a place (infinitive) |
| correctly: I happened to be here. | ||||
spoosten....This means ?to be supposed to,? and may indicate that an action is correct, right, or proper; or that an action or state is purported or expected. This verb can also translate as ?should,? and does not occur in future tense.
| 10.4-16 |
Johanu Johan |
spoosteus was supposed to |
at dat cula to the school |
venden go (infinitive) |
| correctly: Johan was supposed to/should have gone to school. | ||||
| 10.4-17 |
Johanu Johan |
spoostit is supposed to |
at dat cula to the school |
venden go (infinitive) |
| correctly: Johan is supposed to go/should go to school. | ||||
veulen....Independently, this means ?want.? As a modal auxiliary, it means ?want to.?
| 10.4-18 |
Ik I |
veulo want |
doot mik myself |
vacen wash (infinitive) |
| correctly: I want to wash myself. I want to wash up. | ||||
a) Modal auxiliaries sometimes occur without infinitive complements. In such contexts, the meanings ?travel,? ?go,? or ?come? are implicit in modal verbs without objects, while the meanings ?do? or ?say? are implicit in modal verbs that have objects.
| 10.4-19 |
Ik kano at dat hausa. I can (travel/go/come) to the house. |
| 10.4-20 |
Jeu musist angyljaka. You must (speak) English. |
| 10.4-21 |
Hue naigant numyrcafta. They tend (to do) math. |
b) Although ?musen? sometimes translates as ?to have to,? negation with ?nik? indicates prohibition rather than freedom from necessity or obligation. The latter concept is often expressed with the phrase ?nik in srienas? (not because of force). Compare these two sentences:
| 10.4-22a |
Jeu you |
musist must |
nik not |
venden go (infinitive) |
| corrrectly: You must not go. | ||||
| 10.4-22b |
Jeu you |
vendylai will go (subjunctive) |
nik in srienas. not because of force. |
| correctly: You don't have to go. | |||
10.5....MORE ABOUT INFINITIVES:
a) A sentence can end in more than one infinitive. When the verb phrase contains both the perfect and modal auxiliaries, the perfect auxiliary serves as the finite verb.
| 10.5-1 |
Ik I |
habo have |
venden go (infinitive) |
veulen want (infinitive) |
| correctly: I have wanted to go. | ||||
| 10.5-2 |
Hue they |
habant have |
lefen leave (infinitive) |
naigen tend to (infinitive) |
| correctly: They have tended to leave. | ||||
| 10.5-3 |
Hue they |
haboom had |
halivez heal (passive infinitive) |
gienen start (infinitive) |
veulin want (infinitive) |
| correctly: They had wanted to start healing. | |||||
b) Goesk infinitives serve as complements for verbs whose English equivalents take gerunds as complements.
| 10.5-4 |
Hue they |
clusoom finished |
skarfen eat (infinitive) |
| correctly:They finished eating. | |||
| 10.5-5 |
Hue they |
gienoom started |
vigen. fight (infinitive) |
|
correctly: They started to fight. They started fighting. |
|||
c) The infinitive complement of ?halten? (stop) must be translated as a gerund to convey the correct meaning. This sentence, for example, means ?The boy stopped sleeping,? NOT ?The boy stopped to sleep.?
| 10.5-6 |
Dus paklinu this boy |
halteus stopped |
drolen sleep (infinitive) |
| correctly: This boy stopped sleeping. | |||
d) When the verb ?nooxen? (stay, remain) may translate as ?keep,? ?continue,? or ?still be? when it takes an infinitive complement.
| 10.5-7 |
Dus meedu the girl |
nooxit remains |
yrnen run (infinitive) |
|
correctly: The girl keeps running. The girl is still running. |
|||
e) Form perfect infinitive phrases with the perfective auxiliary ?haben.?
| 10.5-8 |
Jeu you |
noodoos needed |
ha it |
clusen finish (infinitive) |
haben have (infinitive) |
| correctly: You needed to have finished it. | |||||
f) Linking verbs other than ?sienen? (to be) and ?verden? (to become) can take infinitive complements.
| 10.5-9 |
Hetre it |
cainit seems |
creeden. walk (infinitive) |
| correctly: It seems to walk. | |||
| 10.5-10 |
Hetre it |
nooxit remains |
creeden walk (infinitive) |
| correctly: It still walks. | |||
| 10.5-11 |
Hetre it |
bezaugit looks like |
huen them |
skarfen eat (infinitive) |
| correctly: It looks like it's eating them. | ||||
g) Goesk has no infinitives of purpose. The subordinator ?atec? is used in equivalents to English sentences like ?I ran to get some melons.? (See section 13.3, b).)