8. Verbs

Verbs are unchanging in Pandunia. Things like person, number, time and mood are indicated by separate words, not by changing the form of verbs as in English and other languages.

Person and number

Person and number are indicated by the subject. For example, the verb es ('to be') has the same form in all persons.

mi es frende. – I am a friend.
tu es frende. – You are a friend.
hi es frende. – He/she is a friend.
vi es frende. – We are friends.
yu es frende. – You are friends.
de es frende. – They are friends.

Also a noun can serve as subject.

mau es hevan. – The cat is an animal.

Voice, time and mood

Verb tenses, moods and voices are expressed with auxiliary verbs, which come first in the verb phrase. The order of the auxiliaries is tense, mood and aspect. The tense marker is first, the mood marker is next, and the aspect marker is last.

Tense

Tense is a property that expresses time reference. The main tenses are the past, present, and future. The marker did indicates the past tense, nun indicates the present tense, and vil indicates the future tense. More specific time references are expressed with various time expressions, like yesterday, tomorrow or one hour ago.

man did yam ban. – The man ate (or did eat) bread.
man nun yam ban. – The man eats bread (now).
man vil yam ban. – The man will eat bread.

It is also possible to express the future in the past with a combination of two tense markers.

man did vil yam ban. – The man was going to eat bread.

Aspect

Aspect expresses how an action or event extends over time. There are two aspect markers in Pandunia, bi and hav.

The marker bi indicates that the action or event is on-going or in progress at the time, which the speaker is talking about. The time can be indicated with a tense marker.

man bi yam ban. – The man is, was or will be eating bread.
man did bi yam ban. – The man was eating bread.
man nun bi yam ban. – The man is eating bread.
man vil bi yam ban. – The man will be eating bread.

The marker hav indicates that the action or event is completed and its results still has an effect at the time, which the speaker is talking about. The time can be indicated with a tense markers.

man hav yam ban. – The man had, has or will have eaten bread.
man did hav yam ban. – The man had eaten bread.
man nun hav yam ban. – The man has eaten bread.
man vil hav yam ban. – The man will have eaten bread.

Mood

The conditional mood is used for anything that could take place. It indicates that the realization of an action or event depends on another condition. The conditional mood is expressed with the auxiliary verb vud ('would'). This marker is used in both main and subordinate clauses.

mi vud van yam. – I would like to eat.
mi vud go to Dubai. – I would go to Dubai.
mi vud go, if tu vud las mi. – I would go if you would let me.
tu no vud es suka, if mi vud go. – You would not be happy, if I would go.

The auxiliary verb shud ('should, ought') indicates some kind of expectation like duty, obligation, requirement, desire, advisability or likelihood.

ma voka vi. vi shud go. – Mother called us. We should go.
hi shud hav kom pre nun. – He should have come by now.
evri von shud vote. – Everyone should vote.

The imperative mood is used to form a command or request. In Pandunia, the imperative is created with the auxiliary verb shal. It can be used to give commands to any person, not just "you".

vi shal go! – Let us go! ~ Let's go!
de shal kurse! – Let them run!

shal can be used to give commands also to the second person, but it is common to drop both the personal pronoun and the auxiliary verb in order to give the command more force.

tu shal kom! = kom! – Come!
yu shal kom! = kom! – Come (you all)!

Passive clause

The passive clause expresses that the subject undergoes the action or has its state changed. In other words, the subject has a passive role. This contrasts with the active clause where the subject is the agent or the doer of the action. In Pandunia, the passive clause is constructed with the help of the auxiliary verb ben.

Active: de yam piza. – They eat pizza.
Passive: piza ben yam. – Pizza is eaten.

The agent of the action can be expressed also in passive clauses by using the preposition be.

mi's kar did ben bate be tren. – My car was hit by a train.

Summary of verb forms

Active

	Past	Present	Future	Conditional
Simple	hi did yam 'he ate ~ did eat'	hi yam 'he eats'	hi vil yam 'he will eat'	hi vud yam 'he would eat'
Perfect	hi did hav yam 'he had eaten'	hi hav yam 'he has eaten'	hi vil hav yam 'he will have eaten'	hi vud hav yam 'he would have eaten'
Progressive	hi did bi yam 'he was eating'	hi bi yam 'he is eating'	hi vil bi yam 'he will be eating'	hi vud bi yam 'he would be eating'
Perfect progressive	hi did hav bi yam 'he had been eating'	hi hav bi yam 'he has been eating'	hi vil hav bi yam 'he will have been eating'	hi vud hav bi yam 'he would have been eating'
Imperative		yam! 'Eat!'

Note! In the above table, hi is translated only 'he' instead of the usual 'he or she' in order to save space.

Passive

	Past	Present	Future	Conditional
Simple	hi did ben yam 'it was eaten'	hi ben yam 'it is eaten'	hi vil ben yam 'it will be eaten'	hi vud ben yam 'it would be eaten'
Perfect	hi did hav ben yam 'it had been eaten'	hi hav ben yam 'it has been eaten'	hi vil hav ben yam 'I will have been eaten'	hi vud hav ben yam 'it would have been eaten'
Progressive	hi did bi ben yam 'it was being eaten'	hi bi ben yam 'it is being eaten'	hi vil bi ben yam 'it will be being eaten'	hi vud bi ben yam 'it would be being eaten'
Perfect progressive	hi did hav bi ben yam 'it had been being eaten'	hi hav bi ben yam 'it has been being eaten'	hi vil hav bi ben yam 'it will have be being eaten'	hi vud hav bi ben yam 'it would have been being eaten'
Imperative		ben yam! 'Be eaten!'

Transitivity

In general, there are three types of verbs.

1. Transitive verbs need a direct object, which is the target of the action.
2. Intransitive verbs don't accept an object. Then the action is directed to the subject.
3. Ambitransitive verbs can be both transitive and intransitive.

Pandunia verbs are typically ambitransitive i.e. they may or may not require an object depending on the sentence structure. When there is an object, the verb is transtive, and when there isn't an object, the verb is intransitive.

mi bule sui. – I boil water. (transitive sentence)
sui bule. – Water boils. (intransitive sentence)
baker bake ban. – The baker bakes bread. (transitive sentence)
ban bake in tanur. – Bread bakes in the oven. (intransitive sentence)

Serial verb construction

Serial verb construction is a string of verbs that share the same subject, which is before the verbs. In serial verb constructions the verbs are interpreted so that the first verb (an auxiliary verb) is something that the subject possesses and the second verb is something that the subject does (when there is an object in the end) or experiences (when there is no object).

mi kan kitab da javab.
≈ I have the ability to write the answer.
– I can write the answer.
mi halal kitab da javab.
≈ I have the permission to write the answer.
– I may write the answer.
mi mus kitab da javab.
≈ I have the compulsion to write the answer.
– I must write the answer.

Note that the same auxiliary verbs can be used alone as transitive verbs in the pivot construction.

guru halal mi kitab da javab. – The teacher permits me to write the answer.
guru mus mi kitab da javab. – The teacher compels me to write the answer.