Upper Sorbian Grammar

Under construction!

The present tense


To put a verb into the present tense, we use the present stem of a nonperfective verb. Perfective verbs are not used in the present tense.

The following table shows the endings used to make the present tense forms:

numberperson-e- stems -i- / -y- stems -a- stems
sing.1.-u-”u-a-m
2.-’e-š-i-š (-y-š)-a-š
3.-’e-i (-y)-a
du.1.-’e-moj-i-moj (-y-moj)-a-moj
2.-’e-tej-i-tej (-y-tej)-a-tej
3.-’e-tej-i-tej (-y-tej)-a-tej
pl.1.-’e-my-i-my (-y-my)-a-my
2.-’e-će-i-će (-y-će)-a-će
3.-’e-ja-”a-a-ja

The palatalising -’e-, -”u- and -”a- endings


A single apostrophe before an ending indicates that some of the final consonants of the verb stems before such an ending alternate according to the following table:

consonant changeexample
1.sing > 2.sing
meaning
d > du > I go > you go
t > ćpletu > plećI knit > you knit
k > čpjeku > pječI bake > you bake
n > njsunu > sunjI glide > you glide
r > rjbjeru > bjerjI take > you take

A double apostrophe before an ending indicates that some of the final consonants of the verb stems before such an ending alternate according to the following table:

consonant changeexample
3.sing > 3.pl.
meaning
s > šnosy > nošahe carries > they carry (walking)
z > žwozy > wožahe carries > they carry (by vehicle)
b > bjdyrbi > dyrbjahe must > they must
p > pjćerpi > ćerpjahe suffers > they suffer

The 2nd and 3rd person dual ending


In the 2nd and 3rd person dual forms, when an action is performed by two male persons (ie. when a virile noun in dual is used as the subject of a sentence) we can facultatively use an eniding containing -taj instead of -tej, for instance:

Dwaj bratraj čitatej/čitataj knihu.
Two brothers are reading a book.

In any other case only the endings with the -tej element may be used:

Dwě sotře čitatej knihu.
Two sisters are reading a book.


Examples:


An -e- stem verb

njesć njese impf. to carry (while walking)

pers.singulardualplural
1njesunjesemojnjesemy
2njesešnjesetejnjeseće
3niesenjesetejnjeseja

An -i-/-y- stem verb

kónčić kónči impf. to finish

pers.singulardualplural
1kónčukónčimojkónčimy
2kónčiškónčitejkónčiće
3kónčikónčitejkónča

An -i-/-y- stem verb

prosyć prosy impf. to ask

pers.singulardualplural
1prošuprosymojprosymy
2prosyšprosytejprosyće
3prosyprosytejproša

An -a- stem verb

pisać pisa impf. to write

pers.singulardualplural
1pisampisamojpisamy
2pisašpisatejpisaće
3pisapisatejpisaja

Irregular verbs


być je impf. to be

pers.singulardualplural
1symsmójsmy
2systejsće
3jestejsu

hić dźe impf. to go (on foot)

pers.singulardualplural
1dudźemojdźemy
2dźešdźetejdźeće
3dźedźetejdu (literary)
dźeja (colloquial)

jěć jědźe impf. to go (by vehicle), to ride

pers.singulardualplural
1jědujědźemojjědźemy
2jědźešjědźetejjědźeće
3jědźejědźetejjědu (literary)
jědźeja (colloquial)



Back to the contents
We use cookies on this site. We do this for two purposes:

1. to allow to save the results obtained by the user in the game Words & Pictures on the user’s device and to display the results statistics on the page Your results; information about these results is not available to other users, we do not store them, analyze them nor give them to other persons,

2. to display Google ads. Read the following information about Google’s cookies for EEA and non-EEA users (scroll down).

Users from the European Economic Area

Google ads displayed on our site for users from the EEA are not personalized. Although these ads don’t use cookies for ads personalization, they do use cookies to allow for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, and to combat fraud and abuse.
Read more about Google cookies.

Users from outside the European Economic Area

For non-EEA users, we use Google cookies to personalize ads. We also share information about your use of our site with Google.
Read more about Google cookies

Blocking cookies

If you do not agree to our use of cookies, you should disable cookies in your browser settings or not use our site.

If you disable cookies, some options of the game Words & Images will not be available.
OK, I understand.


Copyright © 2015–2022 BALTOSLAV.
All rights reserved.