Prerequisite: Lesson 16.
New words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| bisa | can, to be able |
| lasim | must, to have to |
Just put the verbs together
| Mi mau kula. | I want to eat. |
| Mi mau kula pan. | I want to eat bread. |
| Yu bisa otur. | You can sit. |
| Yu bisa otur sini. | You can sit here. |
| Ta lasim go skola. | He must go to school. |
| Kita lasim funga libro. | We must close the book. |
There is no word for the “to” of to eat. Nothing goes between the verbs, and neither verb changes. (por is the preposition “to, for”, as in por yu — a different word doing a different job.)
Until now you could only say Mi mau pan — “I want bread”. Now you can want to do things.
Past and future
The time word goes in front of the first verb:
| Mi suda mau kula. | I wanted to eat. |
| Yu saufa bisa kara. | You will be able to read. |
| Ta suda lasim rabota. | He had to work. |
Saying no
no also goes in front:
| Mi no mau kula. | I do not want to eat. |
| Ta no bisa lai. | She cannot come. |
| Yu no lasim go. | You do not have to go. |
| Mi no suda mau studi. | I did not want to study. |
Moving no moves the meaning
You already know no goes in front of what it denies. Put it in a different place and it denies a different thing:
| Mi no mau kula. | I do not want to eat. |
| Mi mau no kula. | I want not to eat. |
Nothing new to learn — the old rule, applied where there are now two verbs.
Three verbs
| Mi mau studi kara. | I want to learn to read. |
| Yu bisa studi katab. | You can learn to write. |
| Kita lasim studi faham. | We must learn to understand. |
There is no limit. The verbs line up, the object goes last.
A conversation
— Salam! Yu mau go market una mi? — Mi no bisa. Mi lasim studi. — Yu studi ke? — Mi studi Amadunia. Mi mau kara libro ini. — Libro cang? — Ya, cang. Mi lasim kara du hora. — Yu bisa kara in dom mi. Ca aur pan situ! — Mersi! Mi saufa lai tena.
Hello! Do you want to go to the market with me? — I can’t. I have to study. — What are you studying? — Amadunia. I want to read this book. — Is the book long? — Yes, long. I have to read for two hours. — You can read at my house. Tea and bread there! — Thanks! I’ll come again.
Practice
- Mi mau nomu ca. — I want to drink tea.
- Anak no bisa lala. — The child cannot sleep.
- Kita lasim anda tena. — We must walk again.
- Yu suda mau kupi libro itu? — Did you want to buy that book?
- Ta bisa sema aur ta bisa kara. — She can speak and she can read.
- Mi no lasim rabota din ini. — I do not have to work today.
What you can already say
Seventeen lessons, 138 roots. Want, can, must — and any verb after any of them. This was the last thing the grammar was missing.
“I want you to eat” — a second subject inside the sentence — turns out to be a clause standing where an object stands, and needs no marker; existence and comparison were settled at the same time. All three are in Lesson 18.