Phi practice Tense and aspect in Phi

Reading 11 of 12

Part 10

Exercises

Answers follow at the end. Before checking any form, say aloud what the sentence claims: when, and what view.

Part AName the marking

For each sentence, give the tense, the view, and the claim in plain English.

  1. phao moru si shiroka.
  2. mia napa to ki pharelo.
  3. wheo to ro meliho.
  4. lo pelori so pa meliho.
  5. lopia sui philo to wile.

Part BBuild the clause

Render each English sentence in Phi.

  1. Rain fell.
  2. You will come.
  3. The child is playing.
  4. The guests have eaten.
  5. The sun begins to rise.
  6. The elder rises habitually.

Part CRepair or defend

Some items are ungrammatical, some are grammatical but claim the wrong thing for the stated intent, and some are fine. Judge each.

  1. mia sileta nila. intended as "I saw the sun."
  2. *shia si to meliho. intended as "they were singing."
  3. mia ki theo. intended as "I have read."
  4. *lopia pa ki wile. intended as "the child began and finished playing."
  5. misheko si nulae. intended as "the cat sleeps, as cats do."

Part DTwo views, two clauses

Each item holds two claims. Give each claim its own clause.

  1. They began to sing, and then they were singing.
  2. I stopped reading; by night the reading stood complete.
  3. The child plays regularly; right now the child is sleeping.
  4. We will begin to sing, and we will sing regularly.

Part ETranslate

  1. mia so ki nila.
  2. wheo sui horathe ro whunei.
  3. lohau to si wishe.
  4. melu wireo philo so kamo.

Check your workAnswer key

AnswersPart A

  1. Present, in progress: the parent is repairing the wall, mid-work as we speak.
  2. Past, complete at the past reference: I had cooked the bread; the loaf was already done when the story looked in.
  3. Past, recurring: the elder sang habitually then; a pattern of an earlier span.
  4. Future, beginning: the birds will begin to sing; the first note lies ahead.
  5. Past, no view chosen: the child played during the day, the time phrase naming the span and to giving the direction.

AnswersPart B

  1. pheralu to lepa.
  2. thia so shua.
  3. lopia si wile.
  4. lo phemi ki nuola.
  5. sileta pa rihe.
  6. wheo ro rihe.

AnswersPart C

  1. Grammatical but wrong for the meaning: the unmarked verb is present, so it says "I see the sun." The past claim carries to: mia sileta to nila.
  2. Ungrammatical: aspect stood before tense. The Slot 1 order is fixed: shia to si meliho.
  3. Correct, defend it: bare ki completes at the present, which is exactly what "have read" claims.
  4. Ungrammatical: two aspect particles in one clause. Two views take two clauses: lopia to pa wile. lopia to ki wile.
  5. Grammatical but wrong for the meaning: si catches one nap in progress. The custom takes ro: misheko ro nulae.

AnswersPart D

  1. shia to pa meliho. shia to si meliho. The onset is one claim, the flow another.
  2. mia to te theo. mia sui shero to ki theo. The ceasing stands alone; the completion arrives later, with its own time phrase and its own particle.
  3. lopia ro wile. lopia si nulae. Both are true at once, which is the whole lesson: the pattern holds between its instances while a different verb flows.
  4. lo mia so pa meliho. lo mia so ro meliho. The arrangement begins once, then stands; future tense carries both claims forward.

AnswersPart E

  1. I will have seen. Future reference point, event complete at it.
  2. The elder breathes at dawn, as a practice: every dawn finds the elder at it, and one clause holds the arrangement.
  3. The dog was swimming: past, mid-stroke.
  4. Tomorrow the friend will arrive: the day named by the noun, the direction set by the particle.