#grammar

So me and Dave is going down the road and this geezer come up and he goes: ‘I seen you in the Ally Pally last Tuesday. You done real good there mate.’ And I goes, 'What you on about?’

Could you understand that little anecdote? I bet you could if you’re a native English speaker, and probably if English is your second language, too. If you live in London or the South East of England, you may well have heard people talking like that. (Perhaps not these days. It’s a long time since I lived in London and vernacular language changes.)

Yet it plays havoc with the supposed rules of grammar. It 'should’ read like this:

Dave and I were going down the road when a geezer came up and went, 'I saw you in the Ally Pally last Tuesday. You did really well there, mate,’ and I went, 'What are you on about?’

If you also wanted to satisfy standards of vocabulary, you might have to change it to this:

David and I were going along the road when a man came up and said, 'I saw you in the Alexandra Palace last Tuesday. You did really well there, friend,’ and I replied, 'What do you mean?’

So now imagine that you were sitting with some cockney costermongers in an East London pub, telling your tale. Which version do you think would be more appropriate to that setting? (I know the cockneys have all moved out to Essex and they don’t mong coster any more, but you get my point.)

I’ve seen lots of people asking 'Is such-and-such correct English?’ on forums around the Web, and while I understand what they are asking, I often think that it’s the wrong question. A better one would be 'What kind of impression would such-and-such make on a certain audience?’ Usually, the audience they have in mind is what could loosely be called the well-educated reader. That class of people have a set of shared standards for language and often use adherence to those standards as a way of judging a person. I’m not the one to go into how this works within society, but it strikes me that really nothing much has changed since Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion (though he was concerned with accents as well as grammar). The powerful tend to apply the standards of the educated reader.

English grammar, in the real sense of the structural rules that allow our brains to analyse sentences so we can extract meaning from them, is very flexible and forgiving. It’s not easy to construct a sentence that doesn’t make any sense at all just by breaking structural rules. Jerry Lewis was good at doing this to comic effect. A certain politician, who shall remain nameless, provided a more recent example. Within the framework of those rules, though, exist several different sets of restrictions, which are more appropriately called 'language etiquette’. These rules, the ones that tell you to say 'Dave and I’ instead of 'me and Dave’, and so on, are nothing to do with language processing, but serve a cultural purpose.

In saying all that, though, I am not suggesting that any utterance that can be understood is always valid. Context is everything. There may not be any fundamental basis for many rules, but you are writing within a culture dominated by a certain set of them, and you will be expected to follow them most of the time. Most of us adapt our language to the expectations of our audience – this might be by breaking their rules as well as by following them. When you ask 'Is such-and-such correct?’ what you are really asking is 'Is such-and-such acceptable to educated readers/people in a position to pass judgement?’ Most of the time this is a good question to ask, but you don’t always have to live up to their expectations. To give just one example, Damon Runyon made a career out of writing in a Brooklyn dialect that bears as little resemblance to approved English as the mock cockney I began with.

It isn’t even the case that all educated readers agree on every detail of grammar. Some will maintain that observing the distinction between willandshall is essential; others will tell you that it doesn’t much matter any more, and use the contracted form for both. And the 'Oxford comma’ remains a source of lively dispute.

You shouldn’t place too much faith in software to help you. I tried my first paragraph on a couple of programs. Grammarly congratulated me on being 'very engaging’ (they were on the edge of their seats) while flagging five 'errors’, but I reckon it missed at least two. Hemingway Editor flagged 'Pally’ as an adverb.

nepalgo:

INTRODUCTION

Past tense is one of the three tenses in Nepali, used to denote or express actions that happened or occurred in the past. It can also be used to denote a state that existed. Nepali also uses this tense to describe a past habitual action, and to express one’s unawareness of a scenario. In Nepali, the past tense is called भूत काल (bhūt kāl). For example, statements below in English all denote actions that happened or states that existed (verbs in italics):

Johnate the cake.
Marywas going to an adventure.
Iwas a doctor.

In addition, Nepali also uses two additional aspects to denote either unawareness or past habituality:

Johnwasa doctor, I didn’t know that. [In Nepali, this phrase is conjugated into the verb itself]
Johnused to be a doctor.

Thus, the past tense is used to denote a sense of the ‘past’ time. There are five aspects of past tense:

• Past indefinite tense
  
• Past progressive tense
  
• Past perfect tense
  
• Past unknown tense
• Past habitual tense

Now, we shall see how verbs will conjugate according to the grammatical person used.

VOCABULARY

खानु (khānu) = To eat
रोक्नु (roknu) = To stop
म (ma) = I
हामी (hāmī) = We
तँ (tam̐) = You (low respect)
तिमी (timī) = You (medium respect)
तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) = You (high respect)
ऊ (ū) = He/ She (neutral respect)
उनी (unī) = He/ She (medium respect)
उहाँ (uhām̐) = He/ She (high respect)
उनीहरू (unī-harū) = They (medium respect)

EXTRACTING THE ROOT OF THE VERB

We first get the lemma, or the basic form of the verb. Now, we simply remove the -नु (-nu) from the verb to obtain the root of the verb. For example:

खानु (khānu) > खा (khā) [Root ending in a vowel sound] /to eat/
रोक्नु (roknu) > रोक् (rok) [Root ending in a consonant sound] /to stop/

EXCEPTIONS

The verb हुनु (hunu) or ‘to be’ in Nepali is irregularand thus does not follow the conjugation rules given below (except for past habitual tense). Thus, you should not try to conjugate this verb. Another verb, जानु (jānu) or ‘to go’, also behaves slightly differently in past aspects (other than past progressive and past habitual). The root ग (ga) should be used instead of जा (jā) for the indefinite, perfect and unknown aspects.

Other verbs are regular and you can apply the rules below for all the other verbs. High honour forms may take different conjugations.

PAST INDEFINITE TENSE

Thepast indefinite tense, also known as simple past tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that happened at a specific time. In Nepali, it is called सामान्य भूत काल (sāmānya bhūt kāl). For example in English, a statement in past indefinite tense would be:
Johnate the cake.

Steps

1. If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. If the root is polysyllabic (i.e. has more than one syllable) and ends in an -a or an -i sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), discard that sound as well. E.g. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्स् (birs). Otherwise, skip this step. Example: आउ(āu) > आ (ā)
   
2. Add the required suffix (or ending) to the modified root obtained in step 1. depending on the grammatical person. Remember that adding a vowel to a consonant sound creates a syllable. Example: न् (n) + ए (e) = ने (ne) 
   

I: म (ma), add एँ (em̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एँ (em̐) = रोकेँ (rokem̐)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एँ (em̐) = खाएँ (khāem̐)
आउनु (āunu) = आ (ā) + एँ (em̐) = आएँ (āem̐)

We: हामी (hāmī), add यौँ (yaum̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + यौँ (yaum̐) = रोक्यौँ (rokyaum̐)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + यौँ (yaum̐) = खायौँ (khāyaum̐)

You (low respect): तँ (tam̐), add इस् (is)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + इस् (is) = रोकिस् (rokis)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + इस् (is) = खाइस् (khāis)

You (medium respect): तिमी (timī), add यौ (yau)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + यौ (yau) = रोक्यौ (rokyau)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + यौ (yau) = खायौ (khāyau) 

He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add यो (yo)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + यो (yo) = रोक्यो (rokyo)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + यो (yo) = खायो (khāyo)

She (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add ई (ī)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + ई (ī) = रोकी (rokī)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ई (ī) = खाई (khāī)

He/She/They (medium respect): उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add ए (e) if masculine or इन् (in) if feminine

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + ए (e) = रोके (roke)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ए (e) = खाए (khāe)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + इन् (in) = रोकिन् (rokin)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + इन् (in) = खाइन् (khāin)

You/He/She/They(high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the basic form intact and add भयो (bhayo)[EXCEPTION]

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + भयो (bhayo) = रोक्नुभयो (roknubhayo)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + भयो (bhayo) = खानुभयो (khānubhayo)

PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE

Thepast progressive tense, also known as past continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that was happening as of then. In Nepali, it is called अपूर्ण भूत काल (apūrṇabhūtkāl). For example in English, a statement in past progressive tense would be:
Johnwas eating the cake.

Steps

1. If the root ends in a syllable or a vowel sound, add ँ (m̐) to the last syllable. If the root ends in a consonant sound, skip this step. For example: खा (khā) + ँ (m̐) = खाँ (khām̐)
   
2. Add दै (dai) to the end of the modified root obtained in step 1.
3. Add a space ( ).
4. Now add थि (thi).
5. Concatenate the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 4 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are identicalto the ones in past indefinite tense. Note that these suffixes or endings are really just different forms of the verb ‘thiyo’.

The below are demonstrations on how you can carry this out.

I: म (ma), add (थि)एँ ((thi)em̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + [थि (thi) + एँ (em̐)] = रोक्दै थिएँ (rokdai thiem̐)
खानु (khānu) = [खा (khā) + ँ (m̐)] + दै (dai) + [space] + [थि (thi) + एँ (em̐)] = खाँ (khām̐) + दै (dai) + [space] + थिएँ (thiem̐) = खाँदै थिएँ (khām̐daithiem̐)

He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add (थि)यो ((thi)yo)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + दै (dai) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = रोक्दै थियो (rokdai thiyo)
खानु (khānu) = खाँ (khām̐) + दै (dai) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = खाँदै थियो (khām̐dai thiyo)

You/He/She/They(high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the verb intact, then add -हुँदै थियो (-hum̐dai thiyo) [EXCEPTION]

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + हुँदै थियो (hum̐dai thiyo) = रोक्नुहुँदै थियो (roknuhum̐dai thiyo)
खानु (khānu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + हुँदै थियो (hum̐dai thiyo) = खानुहुँदै थियो (khānuhum̐dai thiyo)

PAST PERFECT TENSE

Thepast perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied. In Nepali, it is called पूर्ण भूत काल (pūrṇa bhūtkāl). For example in English, a statement in past perfect tense would be:
Johnhad eaten the cake.

Steps

1. If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. If the root is polysyllabic (i.e. has more than one syllable) and ends in an -a sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), turn that into an -i sound, i.e. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्सि (birsi). If else the root ends in a consonant or syllable sound, skip this step. For example: आउ (āu) = आ (ā)
   
2. Add एको (eko)/ एकी (ekī)/ एका (ekā) to the end of the modified root obtained in step 1. The first for neutral/masculine singular, the second for feminine singular and the third for plural cases. Remember that the consonant will take on a diacritic while taking up the vowel sound.
3. Add a space ( ).
4. Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 3 depending on the grammatical person. These suffixes are identical to the ones in past progressive tense, along with the थि (thi). Note that these suffixes or endings are really just different forms of the verb ‘thiyo’.

I: म (ma), add (थि)एँ ((thi)em̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + थिएँ (thiem̐) = रोकेको थिएँ (rokekothiem̐)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + थिएँ (thiem̐) = खाएको थिएँ (khāekothiem̐)
आउनु (āunu) = आ (ā) + एको (eko) + [space] + थिएँ (thiem̐) = आएको थिएँ (āeko thiem̐)

He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add (थि)यो ((thi)yo)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एको (eko) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = रोकेको थियो (rokeko thiyo)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एको (eko) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = खाएको थियो (khāekothiyo)  

You/He/She/They(high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the verb intact, add भ (bha), then add एको (eko) [or its forms], and finally add थियो (thiyo) [EXCEPTION]

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + भ (bha) + एको (eko) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = रोक्नुभएको थियो (roknubhaeko thiyo)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + भ (bha) + एको (eko) + [space] + थियो (thiyo) = खानुभएको थियो (khānubhaeko thiyo)

PAST UNKNOWN TENSE

Thepast unknown tense is a tense used to describe actions which occurred in the past but the event remains unknown prior to the speaker’s awareness. In Nepali, it is called अज्ञात भूत काल (ajñāt bhūtkāl) [pronounced agyāt]. For example in English, a statement in past unknown tense would be:
Johnate the cake, it seems.

If you notice a pattern, the conjugations are mostly the same as for present indefinite tense, except you need to add an ए (e) before it.

Steps

1. If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. If the root is polysyllabic (i.e. has more than one syllable) and ends in an -a or an -i sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), discard that sound as well. E.g. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्स् (birs). If the root ends in a consonant or syllable sound, skip this step. For example: आउ (āu) = आ (ā)
2. Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 1 depending on the grammatical person. Remember to change the vowel sound as well, if necessary.

I: म (ma), add एछु(echu)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एछु (echu) = रोकेछु (rokechu)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एछु (echu) = खाएछु (khāechu)
आउनु (āunu) = आ (ā) + एछु (echu) = आएछु (āechu)

We: हामी (hāmī), add एछौँ (echaum̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एछौँ (echaum̐) = रोकेछौँ (rokyaum̐)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एछौँ (echaum̐) = खाएछौँ (khāyaum̐)

You (low respect): तँ (tam̐), add एछस् (echas) ifmasculine or इछेस् (iches) if feminine

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एछस् (echas) = रोकेछस् (rokechas)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एछस् (echas) = खाएछस् (khāechas)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + इछेस् (iches) = रोकिछेस् (rokiches)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + इछेस् (iches) = खाइछेस् (khāiches)

You (medium respect): तिमी (timī), add एछौ (echau)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एछौ (echau) = रोकेछौ (rokechau)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एछौ (echau) = खाएछौ (khāechau)

He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add एछ (echa)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एछ (echa) = रोकेछ (rokecha)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एछ (echa) = खाएछ (khāecha)

She (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add इछे (iche)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + इछे (iche) = रोकिछे (rokiche)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + इछे (iche) = खाइछे (khāiche)

He/She/They (medium respect): उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add एछन् (echan) if masculine or इछेन् (ichen) if feminine

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एछन् (echan) = रोकेछन् (rokechan)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एछन् (echan) = खाएछन् (khāechan)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + इछेन् (ichen) = रोकिछेन् (rokichen)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + इछेन् (ichen) = खाइछेन् (khāichen)

You/He/She/They(high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the basic form intact and add भएछ (bhaecha)[EXCEPTION]

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + भएछ (bhaecha) = रोक्नुभएछ (roknubhaecha)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + भएछ (bhaecha) = खानुभएछ (khānubhaecha)

PAST HABITUAL TENSE

Thepast habitual tense is a tense used to describe actions that used to occur or happen in the past repeatedly or as a habit, but may not now. In Nepali, it is called अभ्यस्त भूत काल (abhyasta bhūtkāl). For example in English, a statement in past unknown tense would be:
Johnused to eat the cake. 

1. If the root ends in a syllable (consonant-vowel), add न् (n). If the root ends in a single vowel sound, add ँ (m̐) to that vowel instead. If the root ends in a consonant sound, skip this step. For example: खा (khā) + न् (n) = खान् (khān) and आउ (āu) + ँ (m̐) = आउँ (āum̐)
   
2. Add the required suffix (or ending) to the modified root obtained in step 1. depending on the grammatical person.

I: म (ma), add थेँ (them̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थेँ (them̐) = रोक्थेँ (rokthem̐)
खानु (khānu) = [खा (khā) + न् (n)] + थेँ (them̐) = खान्थेँ (khānthem̐)
आउनु (āunu) = [आउ (āu) + ँ (m̐)] + थेँ (them̐) = आउँथेँ (āum̐them̐)

We: हामी (hāmī), add थ्यौँ (thyaum̐)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थ्यौँ (thyaum̐) = रोक्थ्यौँ (rokthyaum̐)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + थ्यौँ (thyaum̐) = खान्थ्यौँ (khānthyaum̐)

You (low respect): तँ (tam̐), add थिस् (this)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थिस् (this) = रोक्थिस् (rokthis)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + थिस् (this) = खान्थिस् (khānthis)

You (medium respect): तिमी (timī), add थ्यौ (thyau)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थ्यौ (thyau) = रोक्थ्यौ (rokthyau)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + थ्यौ (thyau) = खान्थ्यौ (khānthyau) 

He (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add थ्यो (thyo) 

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थ्यो (thyo) = रोक्थ्यो (rokthyo)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + थ्यो (thyo) = खान्थ्यो (khānthyo)

She (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add थी (thī)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थी (thī) = रोक्थी (rokthī)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + थी (thī) = खान्थी (khānthī)

He/She/They (medium respect): उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add थे (the)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + थे (the) = रोक्थे (rokthe)
खानु (khānu) = खान् (khān) + थे (the) = खान्थे (khānthe)

You/He/She/They (high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the basic form intact and add हुन्थ्यो (hunthyo) [EXCEPTION] 

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + हुन्थ्यो (hunthyo) = रोक्नुहुन्थ्यो (roknuhunthyo)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + हुन्थ्यो (hunthyo) = खानुहुन्थ्यो (khānuhunthyo)

SUMMARY

• Thepast tense is used to denote or express actions that happened or occurred in the past.
• There are five aspects: indefinite,progressive,perfect, unknown andhabitual.
  
• Therootcan be extracted by removing the -nufrom the lemma.
  
• To this root, we add various suffixesaccording to the grammatical person.
  
• The high respect form are exceptionsas in, they do not usually follow the standard method. Also, the verbs hunu(to be) and jānu (to go) conjugate differently, as in they use different roots for certain aspects.
• Thepast indefinite tense, also known as simple past tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that happened at a specific time.
  
• Thepast progressive tense, also known as past continuous tense, is a tense used to describe actions in past time that was happening as of then.
• Thepast perfect tense is a tense used to describe actions completed prior to some past point of time specified or implied.
  
• Thepast unknown tense is a tense used to describe actions which occurred in the past but the event remains unknown prior to the speaker’s awareness.
  
• Thepast habitual tense is a tense used to describe actions that used to occur or happen in the past repeatedly or as a habit, but may not now.

–exercises later–

tiantianxuexi:

I encountered the character 著 as zhe for quite awhile before finding its other half, zháo. They both appear following verbs, so just skimming wont always help, but here’s a quick rundown that maybe will!

著 (zhe) 

This pronunciation is used to mark an open-ended or continuous action.

狐狸流著口水…
húlí liúzhe kǒushuǐ… 
The fox drooled…

接上站著很多人 
Jiē shàng zhànzhe hěnduō rén
There are a lot of people standing in the street.

it’s also sometimes used for commands but y'know I don’t really know why.

吃著！
Eat!

坐著!
Sit!

著 (zháo)

This is the resultative compliment version and means the action was done successfully.

猜著
cāizháo
To guess successfully

睡(不／得)著覺
Shuì (bù/dé) zháo jiào  
To (not) fall asleep successfully

and so that’s that. 

My test for the correct use of “who” or “whom” in a relative clause…

The Comma Queen’s Lesson on “Who” Versus “Whom”