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Lessons 31-40
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- 31 - Plurals (3): Class plurals
- 32 - Possessive, singular and diminutive suffixes
- 33 - Comparatives & Superlatives
- 34 - Abstract Suffix
- 35 - Further suffixes
- 36 - How to make names (1)
- 37 - How to make names (2)
- 38 - Gondorian & Mirkwood Sindarin
- 39 - Doriathrin Sindarin
- 40 - Liquid and Stop mutations
- Lessons 41 onwards >
- Resources
Siron: Ivrinel, melethenin, gerin mabeded angin
Ivrinel: Man?
Siron: Thî i lû tollen goston den mabeded... Ivy, nin bastathog?
Ivrinel: Ai! Athon!
Siron: Ivrinel, my love, I have a question for you
Ivrinel: What?
Siron: Now the time has come I fear to ask it... Ivy, will you marry me?
Ivrinel: Ah! Yes, I will!
Ivrinel: Man?
Siron: Thî i lû tollen goston den mabeded... Ivy, nin bastathog?
Ivrinel: Ai! Athon!
Siron: Ivrinel, my love, I have a question for you
Ivrinel: What?
Siron: Now the time has come I fear to ask it... Ivy, will you marry me?
Ivrinel: Ah! Yes, I will!
There are three different ways of expressing future intent in Sindarin -
The suffix -atha 'will'
The auxiliary verb Tol- 'going to'
The auxiliary verb Nidh- 'to intend to'.
The suffix -atha 'will'
The auxiliary verb Tol- 'going to'
The auxiliary verb Nidh- 'to intend to'.
'Will'
This form of the past tense is created using an old verb Atha-. This verb was originally free, but over time it became permanently attached to the verb stem and is no longer separable apart from the previously mentioned forms Athon = I will and Athof = We will. You came across these in Lesson 2.
I-stem verbs - simply attach these endings to the verb stem. You do not need to change the vowel in the verb stem.
A-stem verbs - remove the final -a of the verb stem and then attach these endings.
I-stem verbs - simply attach these endings to the verb stem. You do not need to change the vowel in the verb stem.
A-stem verbs - remove the final -a of the verb stem and then attach these endings.
1st person 'I will...' |
-athon |
Plural 'We will...' |
-atham |
2nd person formal 'You will...' |
-athol |
Plural 'You will all...' |
-athodh |
2nd person informal 'You will...' |
-athog |
Plural 'You will all...' |
-athogir |
3rd person 'He/she/it will...' |
-atha |
Plural 'They will...' |
-athar |
I-stem verb example
Cen- to see
1st person 'I will see' |
Cenathon |
Plural 'We will see' |
Cenatham |
2nd person formal 'You will see' |
Cenathol |
Plural 'You will all see' |
Cenathodh |
2nd person informal 'You will see' |
Cenathog |
Plural 'You will all see' |
Cenathogir |
3rd person 'He/she/it will see' |
Cenatha |
Plural 'They will see' |
Cenathar |
A-stem verb example
Aníra- to want/desire
1st person 'I will want' |
Anírathon |
Plural 'We will want' |
Aníratham |
2nd person formal 'You will want' |
Anírathol |
Plural 'You will all want' |
Anírathodh |
2nd person informal 'You will want' |
Anírathog |
Plural 'You will all want' |
Anírathogir |
3rd person 'He/she/it will want' |
Aníratha |
Plural 'They will want' |
Anírathar |
I-stem verbs ending in W
There are three I-stem verbs that end in AW: Caw- = to taste, choose, select, Faw- = to emit breath, puff and Gaw- = to howl. These have their own special future tense conjugations.
Please note that Dew- = to fail, miss conjugates like any other I-stem verb in the future tense, e.g. Dewathon = I will fail, Dewatha = She will fail.
Please note that Dew- = to fail, miss conjugates like any other I-stem verb in the future tense, e.g. Dewathon = I will fail, Dewatha = She will fail.
1st person 'I will choose, taste' 'I will puff' 'I will howl' |
Cauthon Fauthon Gauthon |
Plural 'We will choose, taste' 'We will puff' 'We will howl' |
Cautham Fautham Gautham |
2nd person formal 'You will choose' 'You will puff' 'You will howl' |
Cauthol Fauthol Gauthol |
Plural 'You will all choose' 'You will all puff' 'You will all howl' |
Cauthodh Fauthodh Gauthodh |
2nd person informal 'You will choose' 'You will puff' 'You will howl' |
Cauthog Fauthog Gauthog |
Plural 'You will all choose' 'You will all puff' 'You will all howl' |
Cauthogir Fauthogir Gauthogir |
3rd person 'He/she/it will choose' 'He/she/it will puff' 'He/she/it will howl' |
Cautha Fautha Gautha |
Plural 'They will choose' 'They will puff' 'They will howl' |
Cauthar Fauthar Gauthar |
'Going to'
Tol- as an auxiliary verb
What is an auxiliary verb? The three most common in English are 'be', 'do' and 'have'. They are also known as 'helping' verbs, as they come before the main verb and help form some of our tenses, aspects and moods.
e.g. I was writing, You have been reading, He did call.
Sindarin uses the verb Tol- = to come in a similar way but only for the future tense to mean 'going to'.
e.g.
Tolen maded = I am going to eat
Tolen toled = I am going to come
Tolen nored roch abarad = I am going to ride a horse tomorrow
Tôl lilthad na i maregen = He will be going to dance at your house
Tôl linnad ennas = She will be going to sing there
Telir farad = They will be going to hunt
As you can see, this uses the present tense form of Tol- followed by the gerund of the verb you are going to do.
You should have noticed that the 1st person form is Tolen instead of the normal Telin. We don't know precisely why this is (though it is suspected that it is because this is a different aspect and meaning, perhaps a progressive), but this is what was written by Tolkien. Because we don’t have any other attested auxiliary forms it is prudent to use the normal Tol- conjugation for all other forms.
e.g. I was writing, You have been reading, He did call.
Sindarin uses the verb Tol- = to come in a similar way but only for the future tense to mean 'going to'.
e.g.
Tolen maded = I am going to eat
Tolen toled = I am going to come
Tolen nored roch abarad = I am going to ride a horse tomorrow
Tôl lilthad na i maregen = He will be going to dance at your house
Tôl linnad ennas = She will be going to sing there
Telir farad = They will be going to hunt
As you can see, this uses the present tense form of Tol- followed by the gerund of the verb you are going to do.
You should have noticed that the 1st person form is Tolen instead of the normal Telin. We don't know precisely why this is (though it is suspected that it is because this is a different aspect and meaning, perhaps a progressive), but this is what was written by Tolkien. Because we don’t have any other attested auxiliary forms it is prudent to use the normal Tol- conjugation for all other forms.
'To intend to'
The final way of expressing future intent is the auxiliary verb Nidh- which means 'to intend to'.
Conjugate Nidh- as normal for the present tense, following the rules in Lesson 17. Then, like when using Tol- above, use the infinitive/gerund form of the second verb that you intend to do.
Examples:
Nidhin mened = I intend to go
Nîdh postad = He intends to rest
Nidhim cabed min duin = We intend to jump in the river
Conjugate Nidh- as normal for the present tense, following the rules in Lesson 17. Then, like when using Tol- above, use the infinitive/gerund form of the second verb that you intend to do.
Examples:
Nidhin mened = I intend to go
Nîdh postad = He intends to rest
Nidhim cabed min duin = We intend to jump in the river
