Tenses
Ismael Isikel Edited 3/10/2017
The Kuanua past tense depends on
how long ago an event took place. The recent past (tar, itar) and the past past (ga,
iga) are the two groups of tenses used.
For the recent past tar and itar are used. The past past in Kuanua
is three days ago and beyond where ga and
iga begin to be employed to describe
past past events. tar , itar, ga, and
iga are not added to a word like the ed in English to change the form to
past tense. Of course some English words do not require the ed to change the form to past tense. The
spelling is changed, for example, eat to
ate. In Kuanua they are placed
before the verb as separate words as shown in the table below with English
Translations.
The first two or three letters
of a verb is repeated to change its form to present continuous as you see in
the table of tenses.
Table: Tenses
Present Tense Past
Tense Present continuous
wana go Itar
wana, iga wana, wanawana, going
warwut run Itar warwut, Iga warwut warwarwut,
running
rabai weed Itar
rabai, Iga rabai rabarabai, weeding
tutun cook Itar
tutun, Iga tutun tututun, cooking
raut cut Itar
raut, Iga raut raraut, cutting
(cut as in cutting grass)
tata talk Itar tata, Iga tata tatata, talking
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| Kaugu robong diga piria mara mapina ul.(My basket was woven from coconut frond.) |
Note the word 'diga' in the caption of the of the picture.In this case it means 'it was'.
