Perfect vs Imperfect
If you look at the examples from the last page, you might notice that the verb is being used in its plain form, while in English, the suffix -ing is being used.
The plain form in English is called the Perfect, and the -ing form is called the imperfect.
The imperfect is used to say that an action is happening, while leaving out details on whether or not the action has ended. For example, if I say, "I was eating," that just means that at that time, I was in the process of eating.
On the other hand, the perfect is used to talk about the action as a whole, meaning that the action is complete. If I say, "I ate," that pretty strongly implies that I have finished eating.
In English, the plain, unmarked version of a verb is the perfect, while the imperfect is marked with the verb "to be" followed by the verb with the -ing suffix.
Vocab: - Sa - I, Me - Irau - To sleep
In Euðeň, the unmarked form of the verb is the imperfect.
"Sa irau" means "I am sleeping," not "I sleep." To make the verb perfect, you add the prefix "ð(u)-".
The parenthesis means you only put the (u) there if the verb starts with a consonant. If the verb already starts with a vowel, you don't want to put another vowel there, so you just put the "ð". Because of this, "Irau" would become "Ðirau", not "Ðu-irau".
Vocab: Tau - to eat
This distinction also applies in the past.
Present:
Sa tau - I am eating.
Sa ðutau - I eat.
Past:
Sa tauka - I was eating.
Sa ðutauka - I ate.
The suffix -ka is used to say that something happened in the past.
Recap: Perfective verbs: An action was occurring. Sa tauka - I was eating. Imperfective verbs: An action happened. (Start to finish) Sa ðutauka - I ate.