🧰 Intro to Verbs
Why Bother With Verb Grammar? 🧐
In any language we have different verb forms that are used for different reasons. For example, in English here are some different verb forms:
- I am going
- I go
- I'll go
- I'll be going
- I went
- I was going
- I've gone
- I'll have gone
These different verb forms are like tools 🔨🔧✂ that you can use in different situations.
Here's the trick: ⚠ Different languages have different sets of tools that are used in different ways. When learning a new language it's important to remember that you are getting a totally new toolbox full of new tools 🆕🧰🗜⚒✨
When you get a new set of tools you need to make sure you understand:
- What they are
How to make the verb forms and recognize them - When to use them
What they mean and what situations they're used in
If we don't think carefully about this, 🤔 we will often just assume that we can use the new tools (verb forms) just like we did in our first language, and then we have problems. As adults, there is a massive temptation to try to use the tools like we did before in our native language. We can think we know the tool, but because it's actually different we end up using it wrongly.
For example, you may have met a German who's learned excellent English, but when the doorbell rings they jump up and say, "I get the door!" 🔔🚪🏃♂️. In English you have to use a different verb form and say, "I'll get the door." So why do they make this mistake when they seem so fluent in English? Let's look at the different tools/verb forms we have in English in German:
| English | German |
|---|---|
I'll open the door (right now)
Simple Future | Ich öffne die Tür
Präsens |
I open the door (always, it's my job)
Present Simple |
See what's happening to the German speakers? 🧠 Their brain wants to use the same categories/tools for things that they grow up with, and so they use the English present form in both situations. They're so used to using their present tense for everything that it still "feels right" for them to use it for everthying while speaking English. But new languages come with new tools, and we need to be careful to learn what they are and when they are used. 🧰🤓👍
Another example...
Not understanding how to use your new verb form tools may make you sound funny,
but sometimes it can make you sound downright rude! 😯 For example, in languages
like Urdu or Korean you have different imperative verb forms. You can make commands
nicer by adding extra endings to make sure that you are sounding polite and considerate.
But English doesn't have this feature. A command is just a command, with all of
it's harshness. So sometimes when these people speak English they will make very
rude-sounding commands like "Give me some water!" because they assume that they
should use the imperative like they do in their own language, instead of using
a question like, "Could I please have some water?"
In the chapters ahead we will try to explain what the different forms of the verbs are and when to use them. But first, it's important to understand a little bit about something very important in Pashto: verb aspect.
You can read about how verbs are made and used in the following articles: