Neo-Quenya/Past Tense

< Neo-Quenya

Regular formation

The basic ending to form the Past Tense is \5$ -në.


Following verbs follow the regular formation:

A-stem verbs with a long central syllable that do not end on \hÍE -ya
  • 9.D1E\ hauta- "stop" → `B `Vm# 9.D1E5$ i elda hautanë "the elf stopped"
  • j&,D\ lussa- "whisper" → j&,D5$t:$ lussanemmë "we both whispered"
  • t~N1E\ móta- "labour" → t~N1E5$j´$ mótanelyë "you laboured"
  • `Cq1E\ apta- "deny" → `Cq1E5$5Ì$ aptanenyë "I denied"


U-stem verbs with a long central syllable:
  • 5&7;U\ nurru- "grumble" → 5&7;U5$5 nurrunen "I grumbled"


Primitive verbs on \6 \5 \t -r, -n or -m:
  • 1T6\ tir- "watch" → 1T65$8 tirnes "he watched"
  • 1Et\ tam- "tap" → 1Et5$1R8 tamnentes "they tapped it"
  • aF5\ cen- "see" → aF5:$5 `B `Cm# cennen i alda "I saw the tree"

Primitive verbs

Nasal inversion

The primitive verbs that end in \1= \a= \q= \j= \z- -t, -c, -p, -l, -qu undergo the so called nasal inversion because the \5 -n of the past ending is placed before these consonants
(the reason is that the clusters: 15= a5= q5= j5= z5- tn, cn, pn, ln, cwn are not allowed in Quenya).


When a primitive verb ends in q p, Quenya/Phonology dictates that 5q np changes to r mp:

  • 1Yq\ top- "cover" → 1Yr$ tompë "covered"


And 5j nl changes into j° ll:

  • nTj\ wil- "fly" → nTj°$ willë "flew"


There is one final group that undergoes nasal inversion, these are the verbs on -d. In modern Quenya, a single d changes into 7-6 r. Careful consideration is needed when we meet a primitive verb on \6 -r, because if this r descends from a d, its past tense changes into 2 nd (otherwise the past tense is regular, see above).


Following verbs belong to this group:


Vowel lengthening

The primitive verbs that end in \y -v or \8 -s do not get the regular ending \5$ -në, but instead lengthens the central vowel and gets the ending \`V -ë:


A-stems/U-stems with short central syllable

These verbs can be conjugated by the regular formation, but most of the time their final \`C -a or \`M -u is dropped and they are conjugated as if they were primitive verbs:


These two verbs can never be conjugated by the regular ending:


The verbs on \nE -wa only apply in this case:


And verbs on \dE -ha are always regular:

Note: the central syllable in 5#a|D\ maxa- "cook" and 7Ua|D\ ruxa- "crumble" is long as a| x is short for the consonant combination cs.


A-stem verbs on -ya

These verbs have two different past tenses which are used depending on whether it is used transitively or intransitively.


A verb is used transitively when it has a direct object, and intransitively when it doesn't have a direct object.


So we have three cases:

Transitive verbs which require a direct object, these are always regular:
  • 9C7ÎE\ harya- "have, possess" → 9C7ÎE5$ haryanë "had, possessed"
  • 9C7ÎE5$8 7Ya;Y haryanes rocco "he had a horse"


Intransitive verbs (these cannot have a direct object), they are always conjugated as primitive verbs:
  • j#tÌ#\ lamya- "sound" → j#t5$ lamnë "sounded"
  • `B 5Ì$j°% j#t5$6 i nyelli lamner "the bells sounded"


Transitive verbs that can be used intransitively, these verbs have two forms in the past tense:
  • `Mj´#\ ulya- "pour, overflow" → `Mj´#5$ ulyanë "poured" and `Mj°$ ullë "overflowed"
  • `B 5~B8 `Mj´#5$ 5~V5 i nís ulyanë nén "the woman poured water"
  • `B 8~B7R `Mj°$ i sírë ullë "the river overflowed"


  • hÍR7ÎE\ yerya- "wear out, get old" → hÍ7ÎE5$ yeryanë "wore out" and hÍR65$ yernë "got old"
  • `B 5~V6 hÍR7ÎE5$ `B aYj°# i nér yeryanë i colla "the man wore the cloak out"
  • `B 5~V6 hÍR65$ i nér yernë "the man got old"


Irregular Past Tenses

Some verbs are completely irregular:


Two verbs have both an irregular and a regular form:


However, the latter is said to be a difference in conjugation between intransitive "rise" and transitive/causative "raise" homonyms, thus:


The irregularities of some special verbs can be found on a separate page.


>> Neo-Quenya >> Verbs >> Past Tense

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