Language/Wolof/Grammar/Regular-Verbs
As a Wolof language teacher with over 20 years of experience, I am excited to help you learn how to form the past tense for regular Wolof verbs. This lesson is designed for complete beginners and will guide you step-by-step through the process of conjugating regular verbs in the past tense. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to confidently talk about past events in Wolof!
Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: Future Tense & Gender.
Forming the Past Tense
In Wolof, the past tense is formed by adding a suffix to the verb. For regular verbs, the suffix is -ëj, which is added to the root form of the verb.
Let's take the verb "bëgg" (to want) as an example:
| Wolof | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| bëgg | bég | want |
To form the past tense of "bëgg," we simply add the suffix -ëj to the root form of the verb: bëggëj. So "I wanted" would be "mi bëggëj," "you wanted" would be "ñu bëggëj," and so on.
Here are a few other regular verbs and their past tense conjugations:
| Wolof | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| teg | tééj | arrive |
| jëf | jëfëj | call |
| léyeen | léyeenëj | sleep |
Note that the root form of the verb remains the same in the past tense. Only the suffix changes.
Here are a few sample sentences using regular verbs in the past tense:
- Dama tegëj (I arrived)
- Gaaw jëfëj (He called)
- Mutul léyeenëj (They slept)
Negation in the Past Tense
To form the negative past tense, we simply add the negative particle "mën" before the verb. For example:
- Dama mën tegëj (I did not arrive)
- Gaaw mën jëfëj (He did not call)
- Mutul mën léyeenëj (They did not sleep)
Interrogative Form
To form a question in the past tense, we simply invert the subject pronoun and the auxiliary verb. For example:
- Am nga tééj? (Did you arrive?)
- Tey jëfëj? (Did he call?)
- Mutul léyeenëj nga? (Did they sleep?)
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have now learned how to form the past tense for regular Wolof verbs. Practice these conjugations with different verbs and in different contexts to solidify your understanding. In the next lesson, we will cover irregular verbs in the past tense.
Impressive work on finishing this lesson! Explore these additional pages to enhance your understanding: How to Use Be & Nouns.
Other Lessons
- Conditional Mood
- Questions
- Pronouns
- Pronouns and How to ask questions
- Indirect Object Pronouns
- Notable characteristics
- Conjugation
- Future Tense
- Question Formation
- Irregular Verbs
Sources
- Modern Wolof Verbs: Master the simple tenses of the Wolof ...
- Wolof language - Wikipedia
- Notes on Wolof Grammar by William A. Stewart