Pashto for dummies

[darwezkhail]

One important thing to notice with the past tense in Pashto is the changing of personal pronouns:

I - Za (in present tense) - Maa (in past tense)
You - Ta - Taa
He - Day - Da
She - Daa - Deh
We - Mujh - Mujh (same)
You (pl) - Tasee - Taasoo
They - Duy/Haghuy - Duy/Haghuy (same)

With that said,

I read a book - Za Ketab lawallam
I read a book (past tense) - Maa Ketab wallwastai
You read a book (past tense) - Taa wallwastai (same verb form)

I eat an apple - Za Manna khorrama
I ate an apple - Maa Manna wakhorral

Note that the past tense of the verb does not change with a changing subject. Maa wakhoral au taa wakhoral has the same verb form. It does, however, change with the gender and quantity of the object.

Manna is feminine, singular -> wakhorrala
Seb is masculine, singular -> wakhorrai
Manneh is feminine, plural -> wakhorraleh
Seboona is masculine, plural -> wakhorral

So, systematically speaking, you (1) drop the ending of the infinitive form of the verb (to eat - khorral) and you (2) add the suffixes that I highlighted in accordance to the gender and quantity of the object you are talking about. You also (3) add the prefix wa- at the beginning


Exceptions are
*Verbs that start with the prefix ra-, you don't add the prefix wa-. So for the verb raniwal (to buy) it would be Maa Manna raniwala, Ma Seb raniway, Maa Manneh raniwaleh, Ma Seboona raniwal. Same suffixes.
*Modal verbs such as to go, to be (which are always irregular):
In these cases, the personal pronouns do not change.

I came - Za raaghlam
You came - Ta raaghleh
He came - Dai raaghlai
She came - Daa raaghla
We came - Mujh raaghloo
You (pl) came - Taasee raaghlast
They came - Dui raaghla

I was - Za wam
You were - Ta weh
He was - Dai woo
She was - Daa wa
We were - Mujh woo (same as he-form)
You (pl) were - Taasee waast
They were - Dui wa (same as she-form)



Bottom line is: Pashto past tense is one of the reasons why Pashto is such a difficult language and you will get it only over time and after a lot of conversations because you have to get a feel for the language and know the gender of each and every noun and know which verbs are conjugated irregularly etc.

Yeah, for "I read a book" another proper verb would be lwalama but it depends on the sentence.

[ScimitarXEdge]

I read a book

(Za) Kitab wyama or (Za) kitab lwestama.



I am reading a book

Its the same: (Za) Kitab Wyama



I climb the mountain

(Za) Pa ghar bande khezhama



I am climbing the mountain

Its the same: (Za) Pa ghar bande khezhama



I climbed the mountain

(Za) Pa ghar bande wokhatama



As you can see, verb conjugation is a matter of memorization in many cases.

Question:

I'm confused on your conjugation of Lwastana


I thought Lwast was a transitive

so shouldn't it be "ma kitab" or "kitab mi lwasteh"?


correct me if I am wrong, I mess up my grammar all the time, even my dad says so.

[darwezkhail]

Question:

I'm confused on your conjugation of Lwastana


I thought Lwast was a transitive

so shouldn't it be "ma kitab" or "kitab mi lwasteh"?


correct me if I am wrong, I mess up my grammar all the time, even my dad says so.

^ I think I misinterpreted the English. I thought it was present tense.

For past tense, what you said is correct.

[unknownprince]

Manana everyone

[unknownprince]

I asked my father these questions, but he doesn't know what I mean by verb conjugations.

[کیش]

So the preposition can come in the middle of a noun
Pe pekhawer ke
Before a noun
La Abdullah. Also la Abdullah Sara
After noun
Mez bande. Also pe mez bande

So where do we throw the adjectives correctly?

[graveyardofempires]

One important thing to notice with the past tense in Pashto is the changing of personal pronouns:

I - Za (in present tense) - Maa (in past tense)
You - Ta - Taa
He - Day - Da
She - Daa - Deh
We - Mujh - Mujh (same)
You (pl) - Tasee - Taasoo
They - Duy/Haghuy - Duy/Haghuy (same)

With that said,

I read a book - Za Ketab lawallam
I read a book (past tense) - Maa Ketab wallwastai
You read a book (past tense) - Taa wallwastai (same verb form)

I eat an apple - Za Manna khorrama
I ate an apple - Maa Manna wakhorral

Note that the past tense of the verb does not change with a changing subject. Maa wakhoral au taa wakhoral has the same verb form. It does, however, change with the gender and quantity of the object.

Manna is feminine, singular -> wakhorrala
Seb is masculine, singular -> wakhorrai
Manneh is feminine, plural -> wakhorraleh
Seboona is masculine, plural -> wakhorral

So, systematically speaking, you (1) drop the ending of the infinitive form of the verb (to eat - khorral) and you (2) add the suffixes that I highlighted in accordance to the gender and quantity of the object you are talking about. You also (3) add the prefix wa- at the beginning


Exceptions are
*Verbs that start with the prefix ra-, you don't add the prefix wa-. So for the verb raniwal (to buy) it would be Maa Manna raniwala, Ma Seb raniway, Maa Manneh raniwaleh, Ma Seboona raniwal. Same suffixes.
*Modal verbs such as to go, to be (which are always irregular):
In these cases, the personal pronouns do not change.

I came - Za raaghlam
You came - Ta raaghleh
He came - Dai raaghlai
She came - Daa raaghla
We came - Mujh raaghloo
You (pl) came - Taasee raaghlast
They came - Dui raaghla

I was - Za wam
You were - Ta weh
He was - Dai woo
She was - Daa wa
We were - Mujh woo (same as he-form)
You (pl) were - Taasee waast
They were - Dui wa (same as she-form)



Bottom line is: Pashto past tense is one of the reasons why Pashto is such a difficult language and you will get it only over time and after a lot of conversations because you have to get a feel for the language and know the gender of each and every noun and know which verbs are conjugated irregularly etc.

mayani
are you from kandahar?

[ScimitarXEdge]

based on the way she writes she seems like she is probably from Kandahar, Helmand or those places.

[ScimitarXEdge]

^ I think I misinterpreted the English. I thought it was present tense.

For past tense, what you said is correct.

yeah I mess up with transitive and intransitives too

you did khatal right though, nice work

my dad will me impressed at how much my pakhto is improving.

[Mayana]

Question:

I'm confused on your conjugation of Lwastana


I thought Lwast was a transitive

so shouldn't it be "ma kitab" or "kitab mi lwasteh"?


correct me if I am wrong, I mess up my grammar all the time, even my dad says so.

Ketab mi lwastai - I was reading the book
It's the past progressive tense.
Ketab mi walwastai - I read the book (past tense)

mayani
are you from kandahar?

Yes, sir.

[ScimitarXEdge]

Ketab mi lwastai - I was reading the book
It's the past progressive tense.
Ketab mi walwastai - I read the book (past tense)



Yes, sir.

isn't the "wa" more of a formality?

[Mayana]

Nah, it gives it a different meaning..
When you say that "Ketab me lwastai.." that means you were in the progress of reading and maybe another action takes place at the same time, whereas "Ketab me walwastai" means that you read it (past tense) and you're done with that and that the actions take place after one another.

Tsa di kawal? - Ketab mi Lwastai
What were you doing? - I was reading a book

Ketab mi lwastai chi ....
I was reading a book when ...

Ketab mi walwastai bia mi Manna wakhorala
I read a book and then ate an apple.

[*Mahzala*]

As Mayana said, the prefix 'wa/we/wo' indicates the past tense of having done something. For instance:

Shode me wetskele (I drank milk)
Kitaab me woloste (I read a book)
Kaali me waghostel (I wore clothes)

As opposed to present tense

Shode me tsekema (I am drinking my milk)
Kitaab me lwalema (I am reading my book)
Kaali me aghostedi (I am wearing clothes)

[Mayana]

As Mayana said, the prefix 'wa/we/wo' indicates the past tense of having done something. For instance:

Shode me wetskele (I drank milk)
Kitaab me woloste (I read a book)
Kaali me waghostel (I wore clothes)

As opposed to present tense

Shode me tsekema (I am drinking my milk)
Kitaab me lwalema (I am reading my book)
Kaali me aghostedi (I am wearing clothes)

Doesn't "Kaali me aghoste di" literallay translate into something more like "I have put clothes on" so the present tense of aghostal would be, "Kaali aghoondam"? =/

[darwezkhail]

Doesn't "Kaali me aghoste di" literallay translate into something more like "I have put clothes on" so the present tense of aghostal would be, "Kaali aghoondam"? =/

^ You are right. But wouldn't a female say aghondama as opposed to aghondam?