Pashto Basic course discussion topic.

[Badlun]

how do I say I am new here in Pashto?

za dalta Pashto ke nawi yam(female)
za dalta Pashto ke nawey yam(male)

[Badlun]

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.

She changes in haghey in some sentences specially in past tenses.
He wrote a letter. Hagha yaw khat uliko
She wrote a letter. Haghey khat uliko

Other wise its the same Hagha for both she and he and we understand whether its male or female from the context, speaker, name(pragmatics).Situation makes it clear as hagha is a pronoun and definitely a noun is used before we replace it with the pronoun.And from the name we can determine the gender. Language is as it is and some times rules or logic or reason does not work.

[Shlombay]

what do you call a speaker in pashto?

[Roshina]

how do I say I am new here in Pashto?

I am new [in] here = Za dalta ke nawey yam.

It wouldn't be wrong if you said, Za dalta nawey yam, though.

[meerza]

what do you call a speaker in pashto?

ويونكى/ خبرى كوونكى

xburee kawoonkey/ waiyoonkey

[Badlun]

Conjugation-gardan of the verb Awredal-to hear or to listen
Present Simple
za awram
mong awro
hagha awri
haghoi awri
ta awrey
taso awrai
Present Perfect
ma awredali di
mong awredali di
hagha awredali di
haghey awradeli di
haghoi awredali di
ta awredali di
taso awredali di

Past simple
ma wawredalo
mong wawredalo
hagha wawredalo
haghey wawredalo
haghoi wawredalo
ta wawredalo
taso wawredalo

Past perfect

ma awredali wo
mong awredali wo...and so on

Future Simple
za ba awram
mong ba awro
hagha ba awri
haghoi ba awri
ta ba awrey
taso ba awrai

Future Perfect
ma ba awredali wi
mong ba awredali wi and so on.......

For details on the object whether to be plural or singular or feminine or masculine please see the above the discussion specially for perfect tenses as

ma yawa kisa awredali da but
ma dwa kisey awredali di
ma yaw khabar awredaley day
ma der khabruna awredali di

[pashtotv]

Dear Brother or Sister,

I am pleased to share with you this link that can help you teach pashto:
http://www.showanzi.com/buttons_new.swf

I hope this help. Khay Chari.

[Mohsinkhan]

waah... der kha... I really appreciate your work. But I have some questions in my mind Past Tences. I'll ask here.
How to say?
I was going to home
I was listening Pashto song.
Translate to Pukhto please.

[MohannaD]

Thank you so much dear , I liked the style .

[Pukhtoon]

Defining Pashto tenses in English

I was curious as to how someone might define the following sentences in Pashto:

1. Ze dodaiy rowril = I was bringing food.

^^Would this be considered the present continuous tense or something else?

1. Ze dodaiy ra-wurray woo = I had brought food.

^^Would this more accurately be considered the Pluperfect or Past perfect tense? I have seen this type of sentence defined in either way and understand past perfect and pluperfect are now used interchangeably (although Past perfect more commonly) but was wondering if maybe one or the other better reflects the Pashto tense.

If anyone has any relevant thoughts or ideas I would appreciate it if you could provide a reliable reference.

And if further possible, the proper tense name in Pashto, i.e., ساده ماضی , ماضی مکمل, etc. Manana.

[Badlun]

There is a detailed discussion on Pashto tenses here

http://www.pashtunforums.com/showthread.php?t=1301

Your both sentences are grammatically incorrect.

Ze dodaiy rowril = I was bringing food.

^^Would this be considered the present continuous tense or something else?NO

This is neitherr Prsent Progressive (continuous )
tense nor any other tense . Rowrhal is infinitive=to bring
Present progressive will be za lagya yam doday rawrham=I am bringing meal/bread
Present Indefinite(simple) tense will be za dodai rawrham=I bring meal

Ze dodaiy ra-wurray woo = I had brought food.

Your this sentence is also not correct. Pluperfect or Past perfect which are used interchangeably will be
MA DODAI RAWARHI WA =I had brought meal

names of Pashto tenses
sada,(simple) rawan/jari(continuous), mukamal (perfect)
osaney(hal),=present
tera shawi (mazi)=past
ratloonki(mustaqbil)=future

[Pukhtoon]

What your mention is way off from what I've read in many Pashto textbooks, maybe this is proper written form but in spoken I hear these constantly and never "ligya" yum and even where I have read about it is very seldom used. What you corrected translate to different things in English entirely. I'm bringing and I was bringing are very different - maybe just a language barrier in English or dialectical differences. In any event, though, thanks anyways.

There is a detailed discussion on Pashto tenses here
http://www.pashtunforums.com/showthread.php?t=1301

Your both sentences are grammatically incorrect.

Ze dodaiy rowril = I was bringing food.

^^Would this be considered the present continuous tense or something else?NO

This is neitherr Prsent Progressive (continuous )
tense nor any other tense . Rowrhal is infinitive=to bring
Present progressive will be za lagya yam doday rawrham=I am bringing meal/bread
Present Indefinite(simple) tense will be za dodai rawrham=I bring meal

Ze dodaiy ra-wurray woo = I had brought food.

Your this sentence is also not correct. Pluperfect or Past perfect which are used interchangeably will be
MA DODAI RAWARHI WA =I had brought meal

names of Pashto tenses
sada,(simple) rawan/jari(continuous), mukamal (perfect)
osaney(hal),=present
tera shawi (mazi)=past
ratloonki(mustaqbil)=future

[Badlun]

What your mention is way off from what I've read in many Pashto textbooks, maybe this is proper written form but in spoken I hear these constantly and never "ligya" yum and even where I have read about it is very seldom used. What you corrected translate to different things in English entirely. I'm bringing and I was bringing are very different - maybe just a language barrier in English or dialectical differences. In any event, though, thanks anyways.

If you read the discussion I recommended above you will come to know that in Pashto, continuous tenses do not exist as such as simple(indefinite) tenses are used in place of continuous(progressive) tenses . For eaxmple

I bring water and I am bringing water will be translated as za oba rawrham. In very rare cases and for emphasis za lagya yam can be used for continuous tenses.

I fully understand that I am bringing a book is present continuous tense which can be translated as za yaw kitab rawrham(for emphasis on the action of bringing=za lagya yam yaw kitab rawrham)

I was bringing a book is past continous tense and can be translated as simple past tense= ma yaw kitab rawarh or za lagya wum yaw kitab me rawarh(for emphasis)

These are the four important tenses in Pashto(Indicative mood)

Simple Present tense :Za yaw kitab rawrham=I bring a book
Simple Past tense: Ma yaw kitab rawarh=I brought a book
Present Perfect tense: Ma yaw kitab rawarhey dey=I have brought a book
Past Perfect tense: Ma yaw kitab rawarhey woo=I had brought a book

Subjunctive mood

Present: I wish you bring a book=za ghwarham che ta yaw kitab rawrhey
Past: I wished you would have brought a book= ma ghukhtal che ta yaw kitab rawarhey wey

[Pukhtoon]

If you read the discussion I recommended above you will come to know that in Pashto, continuous tenses do not exist as such as simple(indefinite) tenses are used in place of continuous(progressive) tenses . For eaxmple

I bring water and I am bringing water will be translated as za oba rawrham. In very rare cases and for emphasis za lagya yam can be used for continuous tenses.

I fully understand that I am bringing a book is present continuous tense which can be translated as za yaw kitab rawrham(for emphasis on the action of bringing=za lagya yam yaw kitab rawrham)

I was bringing a book is past continous tense and can be translated as simple past tense= ma yaw kitab rawarh or za lagya wum yaw kitab me rawarh(for emphasis)

These are the four important tenses in Pashto(Indicative mood)

Simple Present tense :Za yaw kitab rawrham=I bring a book
Simple Past tense: Ma yaw kitab rawarh=I brought a book
Present Perfect tense: Ma yaw kitab rawarhey dey=I have brought a book
Past Perfect tense: Ma yaw kitab rawarhey woo=I had brought a book

Subjunctive mood

Present: I wish you bring a book=za ghwarham che ta yaw kitab rawrhey
Past: I wished you would have brought a book= ma ghukhtal che ta yaw kitab rawarhey wey

I guess I'll just agree to disagree because something is definitely amiss. Some of what you mention is completely foreign to me and I have never heard something like ligya yum in spoken Pashto only mentioned in some conjugation charts with a disclaimer that it is very rarely if ever used.

You also said "Maw dodaiy rawurray woo" was grammatically incorrect in your previous post but now you have it listed as an important tense in the indicative mood.

I did read through the link you provided, thank you for that, but in truth, it is a little hard to follow because, with the nature of internet forums being what they are, a lot of it is disjointed because of other people's posts interrupting the natural sequence of the grammar discussion.

In any event, my only disagreements with you are about "I was bringing" and how to label that and also, as to the present perfect, I believe you can say maw ra-wurr as well but that's not a big issue. Aside from this, a few tenses and moods you omitted I think should be mentioned as I think they are equally important, e.g., "Ze bah rowrum," the distinction between ماضی بعید and the normal past, the imperative and "ze rowrum?" (Should I bring).

All in all, though, thanks. Manana.

[Badlun]

Let us clear the miss by asking questions and discussing the grey areas. What ever is foreign to you may be identified specifically and I will try to clarify them

I also said that Ligya yam is used rarely , for emphasis and as you said in conjugations when we compare Pashto tenses with other languages. For example in Pashto there are no continuous tenses so when one has to translate I am going, will have to use ligya yam otherwise in day to day Pashto continuous tenses are expressed by simple tenses.

Please read your fist post and there you had used Za, not MA in your sentence "Maw dodaiy rawurray woo" . But please note that noun agrees with helping verb. As dodai is a feminine word so the helping verb will be wa, not woo.

For example

ma kitab rawarhey woo=I had brought book
Ma dodai rawarhi wa = I had brouught meal.
Note rawarhey, rawarhi, woo and wa, which changes according to the gender of the noun. Kitab is masculine while dodai is feminine.

Similarly the verb changes according to number(singular/plural)
ma kitab rawarhey woo=I had brought a book
ma kitabuna rawarhi woo=I had brought books

Please note the difference of transitive and intransitive verbs.

"I was bringing" is an incomplete sentence as to bring(rawrhal) is a transitive verb and it must be followed by an object as what I was bringing?
I was bringing a book=ma yaw kitab rawarh is a complete sentence.

In Pashto ma yaw kitab rawarh can be labelled both contiuous( I was bringing a book) and simple(I bring a book). As already mentioned in rare and literal translation of I was bringing a book will be labelled as continuous Za lagya wum yaw kitab me rawarh.

The verb RAWRHAL does not change in future tense or interrogative sentences this is why I did not mention them above but Yes they are important tense and sentence in daily use
Future:
-simple.Za ba rawrham= I will bring
Perfect-ma ba rawarhey yee/ma ba rawarhey woo=I will have brought


The distinction between ماضی بعید (Past perfect tense) is Ma yaw kitab rawarhey woo and normal (simple)past is ma yaw kitab rawarh

There is a past called istimrari
I used to bring a book= ma ba yaw kitab rawarh

Imperative or commands, requests , wishes are also important
Bring the book=kitab rawrha
May you live long=ta de der umar jwandey wey

"ze rowrum?" (Should I bring) is a question which can be translated as za rawrham? or aya za rawrham? or ma la pakar di che rawrham(kana)
Intonation is important here to note for asking questions etc.