 | Chapter 22 - Verbs - The Past Progressive |
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Generalities:
The present progressive in Somali is used to describe actions that had a certain duration in the past. It corresponds to the past progressive in English.
To construct this tense, we take the verbal root (identical to the imperative form) to which we add the endings of the past progressive.
Example: Waan keen-ay-ay -> Waan keenayay = I was taking, I was in the process of taking.
| Formation of the Past Progressive | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verbal root + | -ay | -ay |
| -ay | -say | |
| -ay | -ay | |
| -ay | -say | |
| -ay | -nay | |
| -ay | -seen | |
| -ay | -een | |
Conjugation of the verb "keenid" (= to bring) in the past progressive:
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waan | keen- | -ay- | -ay | I was bringing |
| Waad | keen- | -ay- | -say | You were bringing |
| Wuu | keen- | -ay- | -ay | He was bringing |
| Way | keen- | -ay- | -say | She was bringing |
| Waynu | keen- | -ay- | -nay | We were bringing (inclusive) |
| Waannu | keen- | -ay- | -nay | We were bringing (exclusive) |
| Waydiin | keen- | -ay- | -seen | You were bringing |
| Way | keen- | -ay- | -een | They were bringing |
- Waan / waad / wuu / way / waynuu / waannu / waydiin / way is the subject pronoun.
- keen- is the root of the verb keenid = to bring;
- -ay- is the progressive tense marker;
- -ay / -say / -nay / -seen / -een is the past ending corresponding to the person.
- Translation.
Conjugation of the verb "arag" (= to see) in the past progressive:
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waan | arag- | -ay- | -ay | I was seeing |
| Waad | arag- | -ay- | -say | You were seeing |
| Wuu | arag- | -ay- | -ay | He was seeing |
| Way | arag- | -ay- | -say | She was seeing |
| Waynu | arag- | -ay- | -nay | We were seeing (inclusive) |
| Waannu | arag- | -ay- | -nay | We were seeing (exclusive) |
| Waydiin | arag- | -ay- | -seen | You were seeing |
| Way | arag- | -ay- | -een | They were seeing |
Some examples:
Verb akhris (= to read). Waan akhriyayay = I was reading.
Verb akhris (= to read). Waynu akhriyaynay = We were reading.
Verb cunid (= to eat). Maxamed wuu cunayay = Mohamed was eating.
Verb cunid (= to eat). Maxamed iyo Cali way cunayeen = Mohamed and Ali were eating.
Verb dhisid (= to build). Guriga way dhisayeen = They were building the house.
Verb dhisid (= to build). Guriga waad dhisaysay = You were building the house.
Verb cabid (= to drink). Galas caano iyo timira wuu cabayay = He was drinking a glass of milk with dates.
Verb cabid (= to drink). Galas caano iyo timira way cabaysay = She was drinking a glass of milk with dates.
Negative form:
We use the subjects associated with the negation Ma and the verb conjugated in the negative past progressive form.
The form of the verb in the negative past progressive ends in -nin for all persons.
Example: Keen = to bring -> Anigu Maan keen-ay-nin = I was not bringing.
| Formation of the Negative Past Progressive | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anigu | maan | Verbal root + | -ay | -nin |
| Adigu | waad | |||
| Isagu | muu | |||
| Ayadu | may | |||
| Innagu | maanu | |||
| Anagu | maanu | |||
| Idinku | maydiin | |||
| Iyagu | may | |||
Conjugation of the verb "keenid" (= to bring) in the negative past progressive:
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) | (6) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anigu | Maan | keen- | -ay- | -nin | I was not bringing |
| Adigu | Maad | keen- | -ay- | -nin | You were not bringing |
| Isagu | Muu | keen- | -ay- | -nin | He was not bringing |
| Ayadu | Ma | keen- | -ay- | -nin | She was not bringing |
| Innagu | Maanu | keen- | -ay- | -nin | We were not bringing (inclusive) |
| Anagu | Maanu | keen- | -ay- | -nin | We were not bringing (exclusive) |
| Idinku | Maydiin | keen- | -ay- | -nin | You were not bringing |
| Iyagu | May | keen- | -ay- | -nin | They were not bringing |
(1) Independent pronoun; (2) negative pronoun constructed with Ma; (3) Verbal root; (4) progressive form; (5) negative ending; (6) translation.
Some examples:
Verb akhris (= to read). Anigu maan akhriyaynin = I was not reading.
Verb akhris (= to read). Iyagu may akhriyaynin = They were not reading.
Verb qor (= to write). Ardeydu may qoraynin = The students were not writing.
Verb cunid (= to eat). Anagu maanu cunaynin = We were not eating, we were not in the process of eating.
Verb dhisid (= to build). Guriga may dhisaynin = They were not building the house.
Verb dhisid (= to build). Guriga maad dhisaynin = You were not building the house.
Verb cabid (= to drink). Shaleyto maan cabaynin shaah caano leh. = Yesterday I was not drinking tea with milk.
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