Difference between revisions of "Verbs - past continuous tense"
From Setswana
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| Dipodi di ne di sa fule kwa thabeng || the goats weren't grazing at the mountain | | Dipodi di ne di sa fule kwa thabeng || the goats weren't grazing at the mountain | ||
| + | |} | ||
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| + | === Past Continuous of "to be" (Copulative)=== | ||
| + | This is formed using "le" for the verb in the positive | ||
| + | * ke ne ke le kgosi = I was a chief | ||
| + | * o ne o le kgosi = you were a chief | ||
| + | |||
| + | In the negative, "se" is used | ||
| + | * ke ne ke se kgosi = I wasn't a chief | ||
| + | * o ne o se kgosi = you weren't a chief | ||
| + | |||
| + | {| style="color:green;background-color:#ffffcc;" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" border="1" | ||
| + | | ke ne ke le kgosi ngwaga e e fetileng || I was the chief last year | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | ke ne ke se kgosi ngwaga e e fetileng || I wasn't the chief last year | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | go ne go le tsidi maabane || it was cold yesterday | ||
| + | |- | ||
| + | | go ne go se tsidi maabane || it wasn't cold yesterday | ||
|} | |} | ||
Revision as of 11:04, 17 May 2007
The past continuous tense is used for an action which was in progress at a point in the past. For example "he was going to Gauteng". In Setswana, this is formed by using an "auxiliary verb" (ne). Both the verb ne and the original verb take the object marker.
Past Continuous positive
- ke ne ke ithuta Setswana = I was learning Setswana
- o ne o ithuta Setswana = you were learning Setswana
- o ne a ithuta Setswana = she was learning Setswana
| ke ne ke nna kwa Kanye ngwaga e e fetileng | I was staying in Kanye last year |
| o ne o tshameka sentle thata | you were playing very well |
| Mosidi o ne a opela monate | Mosidi was singing nicely |
| re ne re ithuta go bala le go kwala | we were learning (how) to read and write |
| Bo-rra, a lo ne lo bua kaga dikgomo ? | Gentlemen, were you talking about cattle ? |
| Dikgomo di ne di nwa metsi kwa sedibeng | @@@ |
| Dipodi di ne di fula kwa thabeng | the goats were grazing at the mountain |
Past Continuous negative
An additional "sa" is placed just before the verb to make it negative, and the end of the verb is changed to -e
- ke ne ke sa ithute Setswana = I wasn't learning Setswana
- o ne o sa ithute Setswana = you weren't learning Setswana
- o ne a sa ithute Setswana = she wasn't learning Setswana
| ke ne ke sa nne kwa Kanye ngwaga e e fetileng | I wasn't staying in Kanye last year |
| o ne o sa tshameke sentle thata | you weren't playing very well |
| Mosidi o ne a sa opele monate | Mosidi wasn't singing nicely |
| re ne re sa ithute go bala le go kwala | we weren't learning (how) to read and write |
| Bo-rra, a lo ne lo sa bue kaga dikgomo ? | Gentlemen, weren't you talking about cattle ? |
| Dikgomo di ne di sa nwe metsi kwa sedibeng | @@@ |
| Dipodi di ne di sa fule kwa thabeng | the goats weren't grazing at the mountain |
Past Continuous of "to be" (Copulative)
This is formed using "le" for the verb in the positive
- ke ne ke le kgosi = I was a chief
- o ne o le kgosi = you were a chief
In the negative, "se" is used
- ke ne ke se kgosi = I wasn't a chief
- o ne o se kgosi = you weren't a chief
| ke ne ke le kgosi ngwaga e e fetileng | I was the chief last year |
| ke ne ke se kgosi ngwaga e e fetileng | I wasn't the chief last year |
| go ne go le tsidi maabane | it was cold yesterday |
| go ne go se tsidi maabane | it wasn't cold yesterday |
