title: Verbs
aliases: [Verbs and Aspect]
tags: [grammar, verbs, aspect]

Verbs

Verbs are the action words — eat, drink, go, sit — and the quickest way into OVP, because a single verb is already a sentence. On its own, tüka is the command "Eat!" To say instead that someone is eating, ate, or will eat, you add a suffix that marks when and how the action happens. Learn a few verbs, then the handful of suffixes that bring them to life.

A few core verbs

The simplest sentence: a command

On its own, with no suffix at all, a verb is a command:

tüka → "Eat!"

hibi → "Drink!"

katü → "Sit!"

mia → "Go!"

To talk about an action instead of ordering it (to say someone is doing it, did it, or will do it), you add one of the verb suffixes below.

The verb suffixes

We'll start with four verb endings. OVP actually has a wealth of verb suffixes, but these four alone already let you say a lot about an action. Between them they carry both tense (when something happens) and aspect (how it unfolds: ongoing, finished, still-relevant). Attach them to the end of any verb:

The pattern is completely regular. Swap the verb, keep the suffix:

Tense and aspect, intertwined

In OVP a single ending often carries both kinds of information at once. Take -ti (continuous): it tells you the action is ongoing (aspect) and that it isn't in the future (tense). So tüka-ti is "is eating" or "was eating," but never "will eat."

English bundles the two together as well ("was eating" = past + ongoing), so this isn't as foreign as it first looks. The thing to take away: don't expect each ending to be purely when or purely how and notice that OVP has no dedicated past-tense ending of its own.

-ku vs. -pü: done, vs. done and it matters

Both -ku and -pü describe finished actions, but they are different:

• -ku (completive): the action is done.

  Nüü tüka--ku → "I ate."

• -pü (present perfect): the action is done and the result still matters now.

  Nüü tüka--pü → "I have eaten" (...so I'm not hungry).

Use -pü when a past action explains the present:

"Why aren't you hungry?" → Nüü tüka-pü ("I have eaten.") "Where is she?" → Uhu mia-pü ("She has gone.")

What's next

If you're following the suggested reading path, the next step is Pronouns (I, you, she, they), the little words that say who is doing it: nüü tüka-ti ("I am eating"), uhu mia-ti ("she is going").