Nahuatl Lesson 11

Lesson 11: Tenses

Nahuatl has several verb forms that indicate time or mood. The most commonly met are the "present" form that you have seen so far, the "preterit" or past, and the "future." For purposes of this brief introduction, these are the only forms we will consider. (the remaining forms are covered in the Inadequate Nahuatl Reference Grammar if you get curious or have need.

How the preterit and future are formed depends on the type of verb, illustrated by the four examples below.

Table of Verb Forms
Type	Example	Singular	Plural	Aide-Memoire
1	chöca Vi1	chöca = he cries	chöca.h = they cry	base form
		chöca.c = he cried	chöca.queh = they cried	add -c
		chöca.z = he'll cry	chöca.z.queh = they'll cry	add -z
2	yöli Vi2	yöli= he lives	yöli.h = they live	base form
		yöl = he lived	yöl.queh = they lived	drop final vowel
		yöli.z = he'll live	yöli.z.queh = they'll live	add -z
3	ältia Vt3	ältia = he bathes	ältia.h = they bathe	base form
		älti.h = he bathed	älti.h.queh = they bathed	drop -a, add -h
		älti.:z = he'll bathe	älti.:z.queh = they'll bathe	drop -a, add -:z
4	cua Vt4	cua = he eats	cua.h = they eat	base form
		cua.h = he ate	cua.h.queh = they ate	add -h
		cua.:z = he'll eat	cua.:z.queh = they'll eat	add -:z

The assignment of a verb to a verb type is largely regular, but the rules are complex. For purposes of this introductory course, I will simply indicate the type number for each verb: Vt2, Vi3, &c.

Notes on this table:

In this table, the colon in the suffixes of type 3 and 4 verbs represents the lengthening of the previous vowel. It is represented this way because it is part of the suffix.
In the interest of simplicity, the table omits the object prefixes required by transitive verbs.

Simplifying things to remember:

Verbs of types 2 and 3 are most common.
All verbs belonging to type 3 end in two vowels —nearly always oa or ia— and drop the second one when they make the past or future.
Present-tense plural verbs add a final -h to show plurality; past and future plural verbs add -queh.
In the singular and/or before the plural marker:
1. No present verb ends in a consonant.
2. No past verb ends in a vowel.
3. All future verbs end in z.

Irregularities:

A few verbs are past in form but present in meaning. To produce the past meaning, they assume a "pluperfect" form, not discussed here.
The syllable ö is sometimes added before a preterit verb, either written as a separate word or used as a prefix.
A very few verbs are irregular.

Challenge: Very few Nahuatl dictionaires designate a verb with a type number as I have done here (Vt3, Vi2, etc.) Instead, it is conventional to list a preterit form after the entry. For example, Molina's dictionary of 1571 has the following entries on p. 97:

Temo.ni descendir o abaxar. Pre. onitemoc
Temo Vi descend or go down. Preterit: o nitemoc (= Type 1)

Temoa.nitla buscar algo, o inquirir de algun negocio. Pre. onitlatemo
Temoa Vt seek or inquire after. Preterit: onitlatemo (= Type 3)

The "ni" means the verb is intransitive. Otherwise Molina would have used "nite" or "nitla" with the dummy objects showing that it is transitive. The verb class is illustrated by the preterit. We know temo is type 1 because in the preterit it drops its final vowel. We know temoa is type 3 because of its two vowels it drops the second in the preterit. (It is homonymous with temohua, but if that were the correct spelling the preterit would in theory be temouh. This is one of the ways that we can "correct" early spellings.)

For each of the following verbs from the entries earlier on this page, how would a dictionary entry look that used this traditional notation rather than such codes at "Vt3"?

ahci (Vi1)
tlachia (Vt3)
yöli (Vi2)
miqui (Vi2)

Lesson 11: Tenses

Examples