Lesson 31

Adverbs of Doubt

There are certain adverbs that are used to express doubt by the speaker. Such adverbs in English would be words like " perhaps, may be, possibly", etc

1. kendo':
The exact meaning of this word is close to " I don't know", but more correctly it means " I am not sure".

It is given in response to a question, when one is not sure of the answer or does not know the answer.

Example 31.1:

       
        eli nay men tu ? =  whose is this ?  
        kendo' .         =  I don't know / I am not sure.
             
       eli Kadija amSa'atu ma saAdia ? = Who brought this, Kadija or 
                                         Sadia  ? 
 
       kendo' aya mnen km anSatu.      = I am not sure who of them 
                                         brought it.

2. men amr:
This is a complete sentence by it self. It means who knows ?

Example 31.2:

          
         men amr    msl abuha       giesat  geb'e.
         who knows, with her father she went may be.
         [ Who knows, may be she went with her father.]

3. geb' : may be
Example 31.3

           le enas shqul rekba geb'. 
            may be the man found (got) a job. 
 
            esitu    male      weldet      geb'.
            His wife yesterday gave birth  may be,          
            [ May be his wife gave birth yesterday.]

4. labd : also has the meaning of perhaps/may be/ more likely
Example 31.4

        
          le kl'e   Hawu    ltArew labd.
          The two  brother will perhaps reconcile.

          le mdr male zalm geb' labd.
          perhaps it rained yesterday.

5. yemkn:
Has the meaning of "probably" or "perhaps". This word is adapted to Tigre from Arabic and it is widly and very frequent used.

Example 31.5:

             
       saAt kem taAqabl ?       = what time do you come back ?
       yemkn saAt seles.        = perhaps at 3 o'clock.

       men hala mslu ?          =  who is with him ?
       yemkn emu.               =  probably his mother. 

       m bielet ?               =  what did she say ?
       "yemkn fejr Aqabl" bielet. = " Perhaps I will return 
                                      tomorrow" she said.
                   
                     
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End of Lesson 31 

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