The prefix trick: When a verb has a first or second person indirect object (marked with -vaD), and a third-person object or no object, the indirect object can be shown by using a verb prefix whose object is the appropriate person: eg. SoHvaD paq vInob = paq qanob "I give you a book"; HInob "Give it to me!" [MSN, 6/97]4.2. Verb suffixes
Commentary
Imperatives with stative verbs require the extra suffixes -'eghmoH, eg. yItuj'eghmoH "Warm yourself!" [KGT p.117]4.2.4. Cause Commentary
4.2.5. Indefinite subject/ability
The verb prefix lu- when used with the indefinite suffix -lu' and with plural objects is often omitted, especially in equivalents to English "There is/are" sentences, although this is somewhat ungrammatical, eg. naDev tlhInganpu' tu'lu' "There are Klingons here" [KGT p. 171; HQ v7n3p4]4.2.7. Aspect
The perfective suffixes -pu'/-ta' do not indicate past tense. Klingon has no tenses. They indicate action completed in the time context of the rest of the discourse. The time context may be present, past or future. [CK; HQ v2n1p10; HQ v2n4p11]4.2.9. Syntactic markers
Commentary
4.4. Adjectives
- The placement of verbs with -jaj in the sentence depends on the type of sentence: with formal toasts, the order of the sentence is O-S-V, eg. 'IwlIj jachjaj "May your blood scream" , but in regular sentences, it is the usual O-V-S, eg. jejjaj tajlIj "May your knife be sharp." [KGT. p.25]
- Verbs with -jaj may take Type 7 aspect suffixes (contra TKD), eg. wo' DevtaHjaj ghawran [KGT, p. 25]
- Verbs with -ghach are very rare and highly marked. These nominalized verbs are not generally the equivalent of simple nouns, but of abstracts and process nouns (those in English with suffixes like -ness, -tion), so most examples require another verb suffix in addition to -ghach, such as -taH. These nominalized verbs never take subject/object prefixes. [HQ v3n3p10]
Commentary
- When a noun has more than one adjective, one of the following forms is used: SuD Dargh 'ej wov or SuDbogh Dargh 'ej wovbogh [KGT p.82]
Commentary - Descriptive verbs used adjectivally (i.e. after the noun) we have seen take only the suffixes -qu' (tInqu'), -Ha' (ngaDHa') and -be' (lo'laHbe'). [TKD, KGT, p 150]
Commentary
© 1999 Terrence Donnelly