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Lesson 7

Simple Present Tense



    The simple present expresses habitual action, or every day action. 
    The verb is the simple present form , but of course should be in 
    agreement with the subject i.e singular vs plural and feminine vs 
    masculine. Let us take a few examples

         n'ush Abe       the young grows older or old. Abe is the 
                         present form. The past is Aba.

                         [ Note : Abe is also used as a male personal name. 
                                  One of the known Tigre traditional 
                                  singers is Abe Abdela] 

         Harestay Hars   The farmer farms

         sheqalay rekb 	 The worker gains.  rekb also have the meaning
                         of finding a lost item or object or person.
                         The past form is rekba. eg. 

        ako senet Huhu rekba	= after a year his brother he found.[He found 
                              his brother after a year.]

         kelb nebeH        the dog barks.

         nway seAr beleE  cattle eats grass.

         Note that the order of the words is subject-->object--->verb.

Proverb 1:  Hguz Amsat hade = A needy man marries a pregnant woman 
                  [ meaning: a needy man has no choice ]
                  hade is the present form of hada.

Example 7.1:
         arhiet abuha tfete= Arhiet loves her father. 
				Remember the "t" in tfete is almost silent. 

         mesmer abuhu fete = Mesmer loves his father.

         Ali we mesmer abuhom fetu = Ali and Mesmer love their father.

         arhiet we amna abuhen fetya= Arhiet and Amna love their father.

         Let us see into the conjugation of the present form of the verb 
         fete = love 

          ana abuyie efete 		I love my father
          enti abuki tfeti 		you (f) love your father
          enta abuka tfete 		you (m) love your father
          hta abuha tfete 		she loves her father
          htu abuhu fete 		he loves his father
          Hna abuna enfete ( nfete ) 	we love our father
          entn abukn fetya 		you(p,f) love your father
          entum abukum fetu 		you(p,m) love your father
          hetn abuhan fetya 		they(p,f) love their father
          hetom abuhom fetu 		they(p,m) love their father 

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 Today we have learned the following new words

          Harestay     farmer
          Hars         farms
          sheqalay     worker
          rekb         gain, find
          kelb         dog
          nebeH        barks
          nway         cattle
          seAr         grass
          beleE        eats, 
          Hguz         needy, one in need
          Amsat        pregnant
          hade         marries
          ab           father
          fete         loves   ( love(n) = fti )
      ******************************************************************
                    End of Lesson 7


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