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A-stem
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i-stem (strong)
-
i-stem (weak)
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i-stem (two or more vowels)
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What do transitive and intransitive mean?
A transitive verb requires a direct object; a noun or pronoun that follows the verb and completes the phrase
e.g. I like him, I kicked a ball (objects are marked in bold/italic)
Intransitive verbs don't use an object to complete a phrase e.g. I listened, I smiled
Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive depending on the sentence, e.g.
You knew
I knew him
She served
It served them
A transitive verb requires a direct object; a noun or pronoun that follows the verb and completes the phrase
e.g. I like him, I kicked a ball (objects are marked in bold/italic)
Intransitive verbs don't use an object to complete a phrase e.g. I listened, I smiled
Some verbs can be either transitive or intransitive depending on the sentence, e.g.
You knew
I knew him
She served
It served them
These are the 'normal' past tense endings for A-stem verbs. Some verbs in Sindarin can take both transitive endings (they need an object) and intransitive endings (they don't need an object) like the verb Banga- 'to trade'.
We can say both 'I traded' (this is called intransitive) and 'I traded it' (this is called transitive).
The past tense endings in this lesson are used for:
We can say both 'I traded' (this is called intransitive) and 'I traded it' (this is called transitive).
The past tense endings in this lesson are used for:
- The transitive forms of verbs like Banga- that can be used in two ways; when we want to say 'I traded it' we use these endings. When we want to use intransitive forms like 'I traded' you need the endings found in Lesson 19.
- Transitive verbs like Gwathra- that aren't capable of being intransitive (you can say 'It overshadowed us' but not 'It overshadowed').
Pronominal suffixes
1st person 'I...' |
-nnen |
Plural 'We...' |
-nnem |
2nd person formal 'You...' |
-nnol |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
-nnodh |
2nd person informal 'You...' |
-nnog |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
-nnogir |
3rd person 'He/she/it...' |
-nt |
Plural 'They...' |
-nner |
Active participle 'having (been)...' |
-iel |
Plural |
-iel |
Passive participle (adjective) |
-nnen |
Plural |
-nnin |
Active participles: Remove the final -a or -ia from the verb stem before adding the suffix
E.g:
Apha- 'to touch' -> Aph -> Aphiel 'having touched'
Fara- 'to hunt' -> Far -> Fariel 'having hunted'
Cuia- 'to live' -> Cu -> Cuiel 'having lived'
Echuia- 'to awaken' -> Echu -> Echuiel 'having awoken'
Active and Passive participles can pluralise, which mean you need to apply the plural rules from Lesson 6.
e.g. Fara- 'to hunt'.
Singular active participle: Fariel 'having hunted'; remove the final -a and add -iel
Plural active participle: Feriel 'having hunted'; remove the final -a, add -iel and pluralise the word
Singular passive participle: Farannen 'hunted', e.g. 'the hunted man'; remove the final -a, add -nnen
Plural passive participle: Ferennin 'hunted' e.g. 'the hunted Elves'; remove the final -a, add -nnin and pluralise the word
Apha- 'to touch' -> Aph -> Aphiel 'having touched'
Fara- 'to hunt' -> Far -> Fariel 'having hunted'
Cuia- 'to live' -> Cu -> Cuiel 'having lived'
Echuia- 'to awaken' -> Echu -> Echuiel 'having awoken'
Active and Passive participles can pluralise, which mean you need to apply the plural rules from Lesson 6.
e.g. Fara- 'to hunt'.
Singular active participle: Fariel 'having hunted'; remove the final -a and add -iel
Plural active participle: Feriel 'having hunted'; remove the final -a, add -iel and pluralise the word
Singular passive participle: Farannen 'hunted', e.g. 'the hunted man'; remove the final -a, add -nnen
Plural passive participle: Ferennin 'hunted' e.g. 'the hunted Elves'; remove the final -a, add -nnin and pluralise the word
Example: Lasta- 'to listen'
1st person 'I listened' |
Lastannen |
Plural 'We listened' |
Lastannem |
2nd person formal 'You listened' |
Lastannol |
Plural 'You (all) listened' |
Lastannodh |
2nd person informal 'You listened' |
Lastannog |
Plural 'You (all) listened' |
Lastannogir |
3rd person 'He/she/it listened' |
Lastant |
Plural 'They listened' |
Lastanner |
Active participle 'having been listened to' |
Lastiel |
Plural |
Lestiel |
Passive participle 'listened' |
Lastannen |
Plural |
Lestennin |
This is the method most commonly used by Sindarin scholars to form the past tense.
Step One: Find the stem vowel
The stem vowel is the middle vowel, e.g. E in Ped-. If your i-stem verb has two or more vowels (e.g. Adleg-) click on the tab above to see how to deal with these verbs.
Place a copy of this vowel at the beginning of the stem, e.g.
Ped- take another E and place it at the beginning -> EPED
Car- take another A and place it at the beginning -> ACAR
Tog- take another O and place it at the beginning -> OTOG
Mab- take another A and place it at the beginning -> AMAB
Ped- take another E and place it at the beginning -> EPED
Car- take another A and place it at the beginning -> ACAR
Tog- take another O and place it at the beginning -> OTOG
Mab- take another A and place it at the beginning -> AMAB
Step Two: Apply soft mutation
Apply soft mutation to the first consonant in your new stem:
EPED - we apply soft mutation to P -> EBED
ACAR - we apply soft mutation to C -> AGAR
OTOG – we apply soft mutation to T -> ODOG
AMAB – we apply soft mutation to M (which remains M) -> AMAB
If the first consonant had been a G, e.g. from Gir- ‘to shudder’ or Gal- 'to shine'
IGIR – we apply soft mutation to G which disappears leaving us with I’IR
We then collapse the identical vowels leaving us with a new stem of IR
AGAL - we apply soft mutation to G which disappears leaving us with A'AL
We then collapse the identical vowels leaving us with a stem of AL
EPED - we apply soft mutation to P -> EBED
ACAR - we apply soft mutation to C -> AGAR
OTOG – we apply soft mutation to T -> ODOG
AMAB – we apply soft mutation to M (which remains M) -> AMAB
If the first consonant had been a G, e.g. from Gir- ‘to shudder’ or Gal- 'to shine'
IGIR – we apply soft mutation to G which disappears leaving us with I’IR
We then collapse the identical vowels leaving us with a new stem of IR
AGAL - we apply soft mutation to G which disappears leaving us with A'AL
We then collapse the identical vowels leaving us with a stem of AL
Step Three: Check the final consonant in the new stem
Now we need to look at the final consonant. If it ends in B, D, DH or G skip to Step Four.
All other stems now need to go through a slight change.
Find your original stem vowel, e.g.
AGAR – the original stem vowel is the final A (left to right)
We now lengthen this vowel according to the table below.
All other stems now need to go through a slight change.
Find your original stem vowel, e.g.
AGAR – the original stem vowel is the final A (left to right)
We now lengthen this vowel according to the table below.
Original vowel |
Changes to (in 3rd person forms of one syllable) |
Changes or lengthens to (when pronominal suffixes are attached) |
A |
AU |
O |
E |
I |
Î |
I |
I |
Î |
O |
U |
U |
The 3rd person forms of one syllable are uncommon and generally arise from verbs like Gir- or Gal- that have collapsed, e.g.
AL from Gal- (AGAL, soft mutation removes the G, A’AL collapses to AL). This stem is a single syllable so for the 3rd person singular past tense form we need to lengthen A to AU, giving us AUL = he shone, it shone.
It is the final column that you will mostly use, as the ‘pronominal suffixes’ are all the endings indicating ‘I, we, you’ etc.
AGAR – we’ve already found the original stem vowel, which is an A. We now lengthen this to O, giving us AGOR. This stem is now ready for us to attach whatever ending we like to it.
AL from Gal- (AGAL, soft mutation removes the G, A’AL collapses to AL). This stem is a single syllable so for the 3rd person singular past tense form we need to lengthen A to AU, giving us AUL = he shone, it shone.
It is the final column that you will mostly use, as the ‘pronominal suffixes’ are all the endings indicating ‘I, we, you’ etc.
AGAR – we’ve already found the original stem vowel, which is an A. We now lengthen this to O, giving us AGOR. This stem is now ready for us to attach whatever ending we like to it.
Step Four: For stems that end in B/D/DH/G
Now we make the changes to those stems that end in B, D, DH or G. These verbs do not go through Step Three.
EBED – because the stem ends in a D we change the D to either NN or NTH (personal preference) giving us EBENN or EBENTH
If your verb stem ends in DH, treat it identically to D above
ODOG – because the stem ends in a G we change the G to either NG or NCH giving us ODONG or ODONCH
AMAB – because the stem ends in a B we change the B to MM or MP(H) giving us AMAMM or AMAMP(H). The H isn’t needed for 3rd person forms but it is needed when we put endings onto this root.
Now all our roots are ready for us to attach pronominal endings to them.
*The attested example 'Echanthel = You fashioned' from a 1969 document indicates that instead of changing to MM/NN/NG, the verbs would inflect somewhat differently and change to MPH/NTH/NCH. As not everyone uses this approach I leave it up to you as to which version you would prefer to use.
EBED – because the stem ends in a D we change the D to either NN or NTH (personal preference) giving us EBENN or EBENTH
If your verb stem ends in DH, treat it identically to D above
ODOG – because the stem ends in a G we change the G to either NG or NCH giving us ODONG or ODONCH
AMAB – because the stem ends in a B we change the B to MM or MP(H) giving us AMAMM or AMAMP(H). The H isn’t needed for 3rd person forms but it is needed when we put endings onto this root.
Now all our roots are ready for us to attach pronominal endings to them.
*The attested example 'Echanthel = You fashioned' from a 1969 document indicates that instead of changing to MM/NN/NG, the verbs would inflect somewhat differently and change to MPH/NTH/NCH. As not everyone uses this approach I leave it up to you as to which version you would prefer to use.
Step Five - Pronominal suffixes
1st person 'I...' |
-en |
Plural 'We...' |
-em |
2nd person formal 'You...' |
-el |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
-edh |
2nd person informal 'You...' |
-eg |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
-egir |
3rd person 'He/she/it...' |
See notes below |
Plural 'They...' |
-er |
Active participle 'having been...' |
Follow the same rule as for the Weak Past Tense |
Plural |
-iel |
Passive participle (adjective) |
Follow the same rule as for the Weak past tense |
Plural |
-in |
3rd person singular forms:
If the verb went through Step Three (i.e. it doesn't end in a B, D, DH or G) then the form you have at the end of Step Three is the 3rd person form, e.g. Aul = It shone; îr = it shuddered (from Gir- 'to shudder') or Agor = He did, she did.
If the verb went through Step Four (it does end in a B, D, DH or G) then the form you have at the end of Step Four is the 3rd person form, e.g. Ebenn = He spoke, she spoke; Odong = He led, she led
If the verb went through Step Three (i.e. it doesn't end in a B, D, DH or G) then the form you have at the end of Step Three is the 3rd person form, e.g. Aul = It shone; îr = it shuddered (from Gir- 'to shudder') or Agor = He did, she did.
If the verb went through Step Four (it does end in a B, D, DH or G) then the form you have at the end of Step Four is the 3rd person form, e.g. Ebenn = He spoke, she spoke; Odong = He led, she led
Passive participles
Refer to the table under the Weak Past Tense tab to alter the final consonant in your stem. Then add -en. For plurals treat it as any other word and use the rules in Lesson 6.
e.g.
1. Find the final consonant (e.g. in Ped 'to say, speak' it is D)
2. Alter it as per the table (D -> NN)
3. Add -en. (Pennen).
e.g.
1. Find the final consonant (e.g. in Ped 'to say, speak' it is D)
2. Alter it as per the table (D -> NN)
3. Add -en. (Pennen).
Example: Car- 'to do, make'
1st person 'I...' |
Agoren |
Plural 'We...' |
Agorem |
2nd person formal 'You...' |
Agorel |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
Agoredh |
2nd person informal 'You...' |
Agoreg |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
Agoregir |
3rd person 'He/she/it...' |
Agor |
Plural 'They...' |
Agorer |
Active participle 'having been...' |
Agoriel |
Plural |
Egeriel |
Passive participle (adjective) |
Carnen |
Plural |
Cernin |
Exceptions to the rules
If we put the verb Tol- 'to come' through the Strong past tense, it would come out as
Odulen = I came, Odulel = You came, and so on.
However, because the original stem vowel of the root is U (see here) some scholars prefer to conjugate Tol- like this in the past tense instead, where the verb form after Step Three is UDUL not ODUL:
Udulen = I came, Udulel = You came, etc.
Odulen = I came, Odulel = You came, and so on.
However, because the original stem vowel of the root is U (see here) some scholars prefer to conjugate Tol- like this in the past tense instead, where the verb form after Step Three is UDUL not ODUL:
Udulen = I came, Udulel = You came, etc.
Irregular example: Saf- 'to have, own, possess'
I possessed/had |
Awen |
We had |
Awem |
You possessed (formal) |
Awel |
You all had (formal) |
Awedh |
You possessed (informal) |
Aweg |
You all had (informal) |
Ewigir |
He/she/it possessed |
Aw |
They had |
Ewir |
Passive participle |
Awen |
Plural |
Ewin |
Remember to use i-mutation when dealing with i-stem verbs
There are two paradigms for forming the past tense of i-stem verbs in Sindarin. This is the Noldorin past tense of the Etymologies which treats the Weak past tense as the regular way of conjugating the past tense and treats the conjugations of verbs like Bal-, Men- and Car- as irregulars. The paradigm found in the tab to the left is to treat the Strong past tense conjugations of verbs like Bal-, Men- and Car- as the regular conjugations applied to all i-stem verbs.
These verbs are attested to use the strong past tense and should always be formed thusly. Regardless of which version of the past tense you prefer, always use the Strong past tense with these verbs and never the Weak.
Bal- 'to rule'
Car- 'to do, make'
Caw- 'to taste'
Dag- 'to slay'
Dew- 'to fail, miss'
Men- 'to go'
Nidh- 'to intend'
Nor- 'to run'
Bal- 'to rule'
Car- 'to do, make'
Caw- 'to taste'
Dag- 'to slay'
Dew- 'to fail, miss'
Men- 'to go'
Nidh- 'to intend'
Nor- 'to run'
This version of the past tense is based on the idea that as in English there are a small number of 'irregular' verbs that take a strong past tense using internal vowel changes (the English examples would be 'I drank', 'I taught' 'I swam') and the majority of verbs take a weak past tense (in English these end in an 'ed', e.g. 'I braked', 'I jumped').
Step One: Find the final consonant and change it according to the table below.
Final consonant (from the stem) |
Becomes in 1st person, 2nd person and the passive participle |
Becomes in 3rd person singular (nothing further is added) |
B |
-MM- |
-MP |
D |
-NN- |
-NT |
DH |
-NN- |
-NT |
G |
-NG- |
-NC |
L |
-LL- |
-LL |
M |
-MM- |
-MP |
R |
-RN- |
-RN |
V/F |
-MM- |
-MP |
W |
-WN- |
-WN |
Step Two
Now we apply i-affection to the vowels in the stem UNLESS we want the 3rd person singular ‘he did, she fashioned, it threw’ or the singular passive participle (the released arrow, the caught ball). The former doesn't need anything else added to it e.g. Hemp = He kept, Gant = She threw and the latter's suffix doesn't contain an 'i' so it doesn't trigger i-affection.
Vowel |
Changes to |
a |
e |
e |
e |
i |
i |
o |
e |
Step Three: Pronominal suffixes
1st person 'I ...' |
-in |
Plural 'We...' |
-im |
2nd person formal 'You...' |
-il |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
-idh |
2nd person informal 'You...' |
-ig |
Plural 'You (all)...' |
-igir |
3rd person 'He/she/it came' |
See table in Step One |
Plural 'They...' |
-ir |
Active participle 'having xyz' |
See table below in Step Four for stem vowel change -iel |
Plural |
-ir |
Passive participle (adjective) |
-en* |
Plural |
-in |
If the verb stem ends in -TH (Reth- 'to remain in one place, be patient) or -CH (Hich- 'to vomit') we need to form the passive participle differently. See the guide at the bottom of this page.
Step Four: Active participle vowel changes
Stem vowel |
Changes to |
Example |
A |
ó |
Dag- = Dógiel |
E |
í |
Heb- = Híbiel |
I |
í |
Cil- = Cíliel |
O |
ú |
Tog- = Túgiel |
Example: Tol- 'to come'
1st person 'I came' |
Tellin |
Plural 'We came' |
Tellim |
2nd person formal 'You came' |
Tellil |
Plural 'You (all) came' |
Tellidh |
2nd person informal 'You came' |
Tellig |
Plural 'You (all) came' |
Telligir |
3rd person 'He/she/it came' |
Toll |
Plural 'They came' |
Tellir |
Active participle 'having come' |
Túliel |
Plural |
Túlil |
Passive participle 'come' |
Tollen |
Plural |
Tellin |
Verbs ending in -TH or -CH
Verbs ending in -TH and -CH form their passive participles differently. Here they are listed out for you, in both singular and plural forms.
Verb stem |
Singular passive participle |
Plural passive participle |
Ceth- |
Cíthen |
Cíthin |
Gweth- |
Gwíthen |
Gwíthin |
Hich- |
Híchen |
Híchin |
Path- |
Póthen |
Péthen |
Reth- |
Ríthen |
Ríthin |
Step One: Find the final consonant and change it according to the table below.
Final consonant (from the stem) |
Becomes in 1st person, 2nd person and the passive participle |
Becomes in 3rd person singular (nothing further is added) |
B |
-MM- |
-MP |
D |
-NN- |
-NT |
DH |
-NN- |
-NT |
G |
-NG- |
-NC |
L |
-LL- |
-LL |
M |
-MM- |
-MP |
R |
-RN- |
-RN |
V/F |
-MM- |
-MP |
W |
-WN- |
-WN |
Step Two: Apply i-mutation where required
Vowel |
Changes to |
a |
e |
e |
e |
i |
i |
o |
e |
Remember to only apply i-mutation when the pronominal suffix you are attaching has an i in it
e.g. -in 'I' -ir 'they'
e.g. -in 'I' -ir 'they'
If the i-stem verb has two internal vowels, e.g. Echad- = to fashion, make or Adleg- = to release,
i-mutation is usually applied to both vowels where required, e.g.
Edlengin = I released (Adleg- + -in)
Adlenc = He released (because the pronominal suffix does not contain an i, there are no changes needed)
Edlengir = They released (Adleg- + -ir)
Echennin = I fashioned
Echant = He fashioned
Echennir = They fashioned
There are five attested verbs (and some reconstructed ones) that this does not apply to:
Orthel-, Orthor-, Osgar-, Palandir- and Trenar-.
Because the first part of these verbs is a prefix, i-mutation does not apply to the first vowel, e.g.
Orthellin = I roofed, Orthell = He roofed, Orthellir = They roofed
Orthernin = I conquered, Orthorn = He conquered, Orthernir = They conquered
Oscernin = I amputated, Oscarn = He amputated, Oscernir = They amputated
Palandirnin = I watched from afar, Palandirn = He watched from afar, Palandirnir = They watched from afar
Trenernin = I recounted, Trenarn = He recounted, Trenernir = They recounted
i-mutation is usually applied to both vowels where required, e.g.
Edlengin = I released (Adleg- + -in)
Adlenc = He released (because the pronominal suffix does not contain an i, there are no changes needed)
Edlengir = They released (Adleg- + -ir)
Echennin = I fashioned
Echant = He fashioned
Echennir = They fashioned
There are five attested verbs (and some reconstructed ones) that this does not apply to:
Orthel-, Orthor-, Osgar-, Palandir- and Trenar-.
Because the first part of these verbs is a prefix, i-mutation does not apply to the first vowel, e.g.
Orthellin = I roofed, Orthell = He roofed, Orthellir = They roofed
Orthernin = I conquered, Orthorn = He conquered, Orthernir = They conquered
Oscernin = I amputated, Oscarn = He amputated, Oscernir = They amputated
Palandirnin = I watched from afar, Palandirn = He watched from afar, Palandirnir = They watched from afar
Trenernin = I recounted, Trenarn = He recounted, Trenernir = They recounted
