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Lesson X.
43
past tense.
The common signs of the Past Tense are 有 ũ and 甞 chêng, and are employed chiefly in asking questions and in giving answers, but seldom when a subject is simply being spoken of, viz.—
- 伊分我
- I pun uá
- He gave me.
- 伊昨日來
- I tsa-jít lâi
- He came yesterday.
- 伊昨日有來或無
- I tsa-jít ũ lâi a-bô?
- Did he come yesterday or not?
- 伊昨日不甞來。伊昨日無來
- I tsa-jít m̄-chêng lâi, or i tsa-jít bô-lâi
- He did not come yesterday.
- 我昨日甞來。我昨日有來
- Uá tsa-jít chêng--lâi, or uá tsa-jít ũ--lâi
- I did come yesterday.
perfect tense.
The chief signs of the Perfect Tense are 了 lióu, 正 chiàⁿ, 識 pat, 有 ũ, 未 būe, and 亞未 a-būe.
Lióu[1] 了 (finish) can only be used to subjects being spoken of, and cannot be used in asking questions, viz.—
- 伊來了
- I lâi--lō
- He has come.
- 阮知了
- Ún tsai--lō
- We have known.
- 因到了
- In kàu--lō
- They have arrived.
- ↑ This word is so unaccented, that it is always sounded lō instead of lióu, when it comes after a Double hyphen.
