Pashto Basic course discussion topic.

[کیش]

Adjectives come before nouns, so does verbs come after nouns? Because verbs are the last words used in a sentence?

Also if prepositions are used, do they they after the subject? And sandwich the nouns like:
In. pe_ki. په کي
From. Luh na. له-نح

What other prepositions are used commonly?

Dera mañana

[qunduz92]

Adjectives come before nouns, so does verbs come after nouns? Because verbs are the last words used in a sentence?

yes, exactly what you said is true.



Also if prepositions are used, do they they after the subject? And sandwich the nouns like:
In. pe_ki. په کي
From. Luh na. له-نح

What other prepositions are used commonly?

Dera mañana

you don't always have to sandwich nouns if you are speaking abit more indirectly.

you can say for example, "ra na wayekhla" ------> eg. take it from me. ( note the different form of wakhla used because you are referring to the object indirectly)
a simple addition of "dagha"/"da" (i.e. this) on the other hand would be said as -----> dagha ra na wakhla. (and you thus wouldn't need to convert the wakhla into wayekhla)

you could also say, "dagha kitab rana wakhla" ------> eg. take this book from me.

other prepositions or

ye ta na ---> i.e. from you

de ta na --> i.e. from you

sta na ---> i.e. from you

[the above three may all be chosen to be used at any time]

war na ---> i.e. from it

( warsha ye ma [or zma instead of ye ma] payse berta war na wakhla) = go get my money back from him/her (the implication of the usage of war na connotes it is meant to be from a third person him/her).

ra ta ....> to me

ma ta ---> also to me

(hagha yaw bad saray ra ta khkari) = he appears a bad man to me. (in english it may sound a tad awkward)

dar ta ---> i.e. for you

(dagha ghwar bad di derta)= this oil is bad for you

there is more too but i am kinda tired..

i hope what i gave you are really prepositions though, i am not so familiar with these grammatical terms. i hope it helped you anyway.

[qunduz92]

oh by the way ,

ta, ke, na are i believe the only words existing and all you have to do is choose the suitable pre fix for either such as ra, dar, pa, haghe, daghe, hagha, dagha, hogho, dogho, la, ye, etc. each of which may be compounded with ta ke or na according to what is desired to be spoken..

[Badlun]

Adjectives come before nouns, so does verbs come after nouns? Because verbs are the last words used in a sentence?

Also if prepositions are used, do they they after the subject? And sandwich the nouns like:
In. pe_ki. په کي
From. Luh na. له-نح

What other prepositions are used commonly?

Dera mañana

Dera manana Babo for the explanation. Yes you have given enough examples of prepositions in Pashto.

Adjectives Come before nouns as dang(chag) halak-tall boy dang comes before halak. This tall boy reads a book. da dang halak kitab lwali(wayee)
Here fisrt comes adjective, then noun and then verb at the end. I there is an adjective then it will come before the noun and the verb is always at the end. If there is no adjective in the sentence then the SOV pattern,

Prepositions are words which establish relationship between noun or pronoun with any other part of speech in the sentence or beween two words. For example da waney lande mez, table under the tree. landey shows relationship between wana and mez.
mez da waney da landey prot dey. table is under the tree. In this sentence we dont have the usuaL SIMPLE SOV arrangement but because of the preposition LANDEY the pattern changes. Its not exactly as we see in English.
Table is under tree-mez dey landey waney....is not correct but mez da waney landey dey.=table-of-tree-under-is

Preposition is often the most difficult part of speech to use in a sentence. Each language has its own way of using prepositions. For example Trust in God wont be pa khudey ke bawar but pa khudey bawar kawa, literally trust ON God not in God.

Examples PA-on, at pa dwa bajet rasha,come at two oclock.
KE-in pa kor ke, in the house
LANDEY-under da waney landey-under the tree
bandey,pasa,porta, bara, da pasa, la pasa-on, upon , on the earth=pa zmaka bandey

Follwing is a list of Pashto prepositions.

about-mutaliq, pa larh key, pa bara key, pa haqla,
above-la pasa, da pasa, bara, porta,
across-mamkha makh, pa bala gharha
after-wrosta, pasta,
against-pa zad, pa khilaf,
along-sara, warsara, malgarey
amid-pa myanz key
among-pa myanz key
anti-pa khilaf
around-chapera
as-laka, laka sanga che, pa shan, ghundey
at-pa, key
before-makhkey, makhta,wrhandey, wrhambey. lumrhey
behind-pa sha, pa wrosta, wrosta
below-landey, khkata, khkeney, lar
beneath-landey
beside-warsara. ghbarg
besides-ilawa. baghair or pa ghair
between- pa myanz ke
beyond-larey, porey
but-likn, magar, agar,kho
by-pa
concerning-mutaliq, pa haqla,
considering-da ghawar landey, da fikar landey, pa fikar key,
despite-bawajood. da dey sara,
down-landey
during. -pa dawran ke
except-ilawa
excepting-pa ghair
excluding- watali. westali, ilawa
following-landeney
for-da para, la para
from-na, da
in-ke. pa key
inside-danana. inana
into-warkey
like-pa shan, ghundey
minus-kam, lag
near-nizdey
of-na, da
off-band, larey
on- pas, da pasa.
onto-pas
opposite-makha makh. khilaf
outside-warchaney, bahar
over-da pasa, bara, porta
past-ter shawey
per-pa, ke
plus-jama
regarding-mutaliq, pa haqla
round-chapera
save-pa ghair
since-na
than-na
through.pa
to-ta
toward-taraf ta, arhakh ta
towards-war rawan, taraf ta
under-landey
underneath-landey
unlike-pa khilaf, pashan na, ghundey na
until-porey
up-pas
upon-pasa, bara,
versus-pa khilaf. pa zed
via-pa, pa taraf
with-sara, war sara
within-.ke
without-pa ghair

[کیش]

Thanks everyone for the preposition listens!
Know let's move on to the conjunctions, A conjunctions connects Parts of a sentence.

Common conjunctions are:

And او
But لاقن غو
Or ىا
Yet
For
Nor
So

Can someone finish the rest! Also share some more?

And when, and where do we out conjunctions in the object part of a sentence?

Dera mañana

[qunduz92]

some are identical to english, most aren't

[qunduz92]

For but its the same as english

I want to go somewhere but I don't have a car.
Za ghwrama che yaw cheri lara shama kho motar na larema.

For yet its the begining of the sentence

Yet - tar wosa > tar wosa me hets nade tre awredali. I havent heard anything from (him/her) yet.

Beginning again

for- la para > Sta la para me dagha zenzer wakhesta. (I bought this chain for you)

Nor - Na > goes in the beginning too.

Same as english (beginning)

So- Khay ? Khay no sa ghware che wake? So what do you want to do ?

[Badlun]

Conjunctions are used to join two parts of sentences or two words. These are used according to its function and place in a sentence and has no exact relationship with the object part of the sentence.

For example
Arsalan aw Aymal malgari di..Arsalan and Aymal are friends. Here AW joins Arsalan and Aymal. I came but you were not present. za raghlam kho ta na wey. Here kho joins two predicates(parts of sentence)

List of Conjunctions in Pashto
Coordinating
And-aw
Or-ya
But-kho, liken, magar,
Nor-na
So-no
For-da para, la para
Yet-bya hum

Others

After-pa sat, wrosta,
Although-agar che
As-laka,
As If--laka che
As Long As-tar tso porey che
Because-pa de waja, da dey da kabala, zaka che
Before-makhkey, makhta
Even If-bya hum, agar che bya hum
Even Though-agar che
Once-yaw zal, yawa pera
Since..tar, na, da
So That-no zaka
Though-agar
Till-porey
Unless-tar de, porey
Until-porey
What-tsa
When-kala che
Whenever-kala hum
Wherever-har zaye
Whether-aya
While..kala

[Badlun]

Past Perfect Tense

So far we have discussed 5 important tenses of Pashto

following is a summary of these tenses
verb likal to write
Present indifinite tense
zah likam, mong liko, hagha kikee, haghoi likee, tah likey, taso likai

Present continuous tense
za lagya yam likam, mong kagya yoo liko, hagha lagya day likee, hagha klagya dah likee, haghoi lagya dee likee, tah lagya ye likey, taso lagya yai likai

Present perfect tense( I have written a letter)
ma yaw khat likalay day, mong yaw khat likalay day, hagha yaw khat likalay day, haghey yaw khat likalay day, haghoi yaw khat likalay day, tah yaw khat likalay day, taso yaw khat likalay day

Past indifinite tense( He wrote a letter )
ma yaw khat ulika, mong yaw khat ulika,hagha yaw khat ulika, haghey yaw khat ulika, haghoi yaw khat ulika, tah yaw khat ulika, taso yaw khat ulika

Past continuous tense
za lagya wum yaw khat me lika, mong lagya woo yaw khat mo lika, hagha lagya woo yaw khat ye lika, hagha lagya wa yaw khat ye lika, haghoi lagya woo yaw khat ye lika, tah lagya wey yaw khat de lika, taso lagya wai yaw khat mo lika

Now past perfect tense
I had written a letter
ma yaw khat likalay woo
mong yaw khat likalay woo
hagha yaw khat likalay woo
haghey yaw khat likalay woo
haghoi yaw khat likalay woo
tah yaw khat likalay woo
taso yaw khat likalay woo

Another example
I had gone
za taley woom
mong talee woo
hagha taley woo
hagha talee wa
hahgoi talee woo
tah taley wey
taso taley wai

Note the difference in this example without an object and the first one with an object, letter

COMPARE THIS TENSE WITH PRESENT PERFECT TENSE, note the endings.....
Ma dodai khwarhaley wa
Hagha dodai khwarhaley wa
Haghey dodai khwarhaley wa
Ta dodai khwarhaley wa
Taso dodai khwarhaley wa
Moong dodai khwarhaley wa
Haghoi dodai khwarhaley wa

General question

What is the best way of learning the different tenses? or the best way of getting good at learning them?

Tenses are just different ways that Pashtuns talk about some thing in a time and space frame work. For example if you want to say
I went then you will say zah larham
I go za zam
I have gone zah talay yam
I had gone zah talay wum
I will go zah ba zam
As in english words change similarly in Pashto and in almost all languages of the world
We need practice
Try to understand these strucures here , these different ways to talk , according to time and tense demand, practice it with some Pashtun friends, listen to Pashto music, read Pashto books, newspapers, listen to Pashto radio stations like BBC, Dewa, VOA, VOICE OF GERMANY, radio Kabul , Peshawer, Quetta, China , Moscow. Pashto programs are almost broadcasted from all major radio stations of the world. You can have CDs, etc too
You may watch Peshawer tv, Kabul tv, Khyber tv, Shamshad tv PTV national etc
You may watch Pashto movies (notorious in past but now there are some good movies too)

Question

I m going to post one sentence for each tense in the first person. Please tell me if they are ok.
Masdar Kherastal (to sit(I think!!))khenastal
present continous; I am sitting;
Za lagya yam Kherastam -khenam
present perfect; I have sat
za kherastalay yam- khenastalay yam or zah nast yam
past indefinite; I sat
za kherastam -khenastam
past perfect; I had sat;
za kherastalay wum- khenastalay
Past continous; I was sitting;
za lagya wum khenastam
Another question;
My friend who is from saleh khana a small village in afganistan, says;
Kirna = sit down khena or kshena
por sar = stand up paca or jag sha
are any of these verbs connected to the verbs udreedal and kher/n astal or are they seperate verbs. If they are seperate do all Pashtuns understand their meanings if spoken to?

I also know that my friend from Peshawar says Kha yam, whereas my friend from Afghanistan says sha yam and rotai khuray instead of dodai khuray.


I have tried to correct ur sentences above AFTER DASH-
Main problem is the spelling of the word khenastal which is spelt with R

I have explained the difference of kha yam and sha yam above many times , the difference is not that of Afganistan and Pakistan it is that of hard dialect and soft dialect. In hard dialect there is kh and g and in soft dialect it is sh and j but only in pure Pashto words not the words which are taken from other langauges for example khar donkey is khar in both hard and soft dialect it is not shar in Quetta or kharbooza melon is not sharbooza in Qandahar.
hard dialect is used in northern parts both of Afghanistan and Pakistan. for example Peshawer and Jalalabad
soft dialect in southern parts as Quetta. Qandahar, Bannu, Wziristan etc
and the difference of dodai and rotai is only the influence of Urdu on Pashto
The original Pashto word is dodai not rotai which is taken from Urdu
and in Pashto there are many geosynonyms for dodai as in Kohat , Parha chinar you may also hear the word teekalay or in Bannu marhai for dodai
Kirna = sit down khena or kshena
por sar = stand up paca or jag sha
are any of these verbs connected to the verbs udreedal and kher/n astal or are they seperate verbs. If they are seperate do all Pashtuns understand their meanings if spoken to?

These are imperatives/commands, orders/requests , we will discuss these later in detail

for pasa <get up<infinitive is pasedal
and for khena/kshena<sit down< infinitive/masdar is khenastal
and udrega/ja <stand up <is imperative for udreedal
in some areas for stand up instead of pasa , jag sha or also used but almost all of pashtuns now understand each other dialect as now there is more communication among different areas of Pashtuns
now generally a pashtun from Bannu now perfectly understand Peshawri dialect and vice versa
dialect of Peshawar (hard)and Qandahar (soft) are the standard or received(acceptable) pronunciation, accent thorugh out Pashto speaking areas,.
and one must note that written Pashto is almost the same in all Pashto speaking areas in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. PashtO is written in the same way but may be pronounced differently and the main difference is in two letters
kh/sh
and
g/j

Question

I have learnt Spanish and other languages but I cant learn Pashto. What to do

You have learnt many languages do you remeber when u were learning Spanish....... I had tough time to learn Spanish , its more than 14 tenses, it has indicative, subjunctive , imperative moods, its pronouns oh my God what a terrible time that was for me. its irregular verbs like ser, estar, haber, hacer, ir, venir,caber,caer, cerrar, soñar, morir, querer, oler, oir, poder, poner, pider, salir, traer, ver, empezar etc etc were like nightmares.......
and in Pashto there are only 6 important tenses indifinite and perfect of present , past and future , continuous are not that much important from use point of view and continuous are also just to use the verb lagya kaidal in different forms other wise it is like indifinite.
wish u best of luck and if you could learn Spanish, French etc why not Pashto
when there is a will there is a way
main thing is interest and time

One another formula for learning a language or here Pashto for example
now u were thinking
I should take breakfast, i should drink milk, I should take this or that
I m happy........ etc You try to think in Pashto for these things
ask your self
how can I say these things in Pashto ?
and if you know then practice if not ask
some

[کیش]

I would like to do a quick review of a Pashto sentence.

Let's see how you can structure the longest Pashto semtemce possible.

Subject:
Noun, pronoun

Examples:
حغه دغه منږه حغوی زه ته*
Nouns. Gender masculine/feminine

Subject:
Prepositions (sandwiched nouns, sometimes not), noun, conjunctions, pronoun or noun

Verbs:
Depending on subject, will end in (am, ee, oo)

[Badlun]

Examples:
حغه دغه منږه حغوی زه ته*
Nouns. Gender masculine/feminine

Kindly write the Pashto sentence in English letters(transliterate it) I cant understand it. Or write it in correct Pashto script or write its English translation.

[کیش]

Kindly write the Pashto sentence in English letters(transliterate it) I cant understand it. Or write it in correct Pashto script or write its English translation.

For that part I just wrote down the common pronouns used.
Hagha, dagha, mung, haghoy, Za, Ta

[Shlombay]

Idiot I see no mistakes so far sir.

[Parsistani]

how do I say I am new here in Pashto?

[2jan]

Salama

He will write a letter = hagha ba khat liki
She will write a letter = hagha ba khat liki

How will you determine if its a male or female that is writeing the letter as both sentences use hagha.