Chapter 21 - Verbs - The Past General

 General Information: 

The Past General tense in Somali is used to describe actions that have already occurred. It covers the uses of the passé composé and the Past General in French.

To form this tense, the verbal root (identical to the imperative form) is taken, and the endings of the Past General are added.

Example: Waan keen-ay -> Waan keenay = I took.

 Conjugation of the verb "keenid" (= to bring) in the Past General: 

1. Waan / waad / wuu / way / waynuu / waannu / waydiin / way is the verbal subject pronoun.
2. keen- is the root of the verb keenid = to bring;
3. -ay / -tay / -nay / -teen / -een is the ending corresponding to the person.
4. Translation.

 Phonetic Change: 

When in contact with the final vowel -i, it is necessary to add -y- before the following vowel -ay: akhri-y-ay -> akhriyay;
and the -t weakens to -s: akhri-tay -> akhrisay.

 Conjugation of the verb "karid" (= to cook) in the Past General: 

 Other Phonetic Changes: 

1. The t changes to d when it follows the following sounds:

   q, kh, c, x, h, ' (all guttural consonants);

   the d;

   w, y, or any vowel;

   Examples: Waad ka bax-tay -> Waad ka baxday = you left from there; Way qaad-tay -> Way qaadday = she took it; Waad akhri-tay -> Waad akhriday = you read it.

2. The t changes to dh when it follows dh:

   q, kh, c, x, h, ' (all guttural consonants);

   Examples: Way gaadh-tay -> Way gaadhay = she reached it.

3. The n changes to l when it follows l, and changes to r when it follows r.

   Examples: Waannu hel-tay -> Waannu hellay = we found it; Waannu dir-nay -> Waannu dirray = we sent it.

4. When t follows l, the sequence lt is replaced by sh.

   Examples: Waydin gal-teen -> Waydin gasheen = you entered; Waad hel-tay -> Waad helshay = you found it.

5. When a verb ends with a short vowel a followed by a guttural consonant, this vowel changes to e before -een.

   Examples: Way bax-een -> Way bexeen = they have left.

6. For the verb Tegid (= to go): the vowel of its root Tag becomes e before -ay and -een.

   Examples: Waan tegay = I have gone; Way tegeen = they have gone.

 Negative Form: 

There is only one form for all persons!

We use the negation ma followed by the short form of the negative imperative.

Example: Ma + cunin -> Ma cunin = I / you / he / she / we / you / they have not eaten.

To avoid confusion, the complete negative subject is often used instead of the simple negation ma.

Thus, one can say: Maan cunid instead of Ma cunid = I have not eaten; Maad cunid instead of Ma cunid = you have not eaten; May cunid instead of Ma cunid = he/she has not eaten, etc.