Lingwa De Planeta (Lidepla) Grammar With Examples

gwo — remote past tense marker (some time ago, earlier in life, have been to somewhere or used to do something)

sal — immediate future marker (to be about to do something.)

yus — immediate past marker (have just done something; the word yus means just)

gei — marks the passive of becoming.

Particles after the verb:

-te — past tense marker

-she — present active participle marker

-yen — verbal adverb marker, "while -ing"

-ney — passive participle marker, or (for intransitive verbs) past active participle marker.

Examples:

chi — to eat

ve chi — will eat

chi-te, he chi — ate or have eaten

zai chi — is eating

ve zai chi — will be eating

zai chi-te — was eating

ve he chi — will have eaten

he chi-te — had eaten

wud chi — would eat

wud chi-te — would have eaten

gei chi — is being eaten

ve gei chi — will be being eaten

gei-te chi — was being eaten

es chi-ney — is eaten

bin chi-ney — was eaten

ve bi chi-ney — will be eaten

chi-she — eating (active part.):

chi-she kota — the eating cat

chi-yen — (while) eating (verbal adverb)

afte chi — having eaten

gwo chi — used to eat, has experience of eating

sal chi — about to eat

yus chi-te — have just eaten.

Future tense

Examples:

me ve shwo — I shall say (speak)

nu ve go — we shall go

ela ve lekti — she will read

yu ve gun — you will work

ve pluvi — it will rain

me bu ve go — I won't go.

Past tense

There are 2 particles for the past tense: he (before verb) means the completed action, -te (after verb) means the past tense for any action, completed or not:

He pluvi. — It has rained (and stopped).

Pluvi-te. — It rained or It has rained or It has been raining.

When -te and he are used together, they are equal to the English past perfect tense:

Wen lu lai-te a dom, ela he kuki-te akshamfan — When he came home, she had cooked supper.

The combination of ve with he is equal to the English future perfect tense:

Wen lu ve lai a dom, ela ve he kuki akshamfan. — When he comes home, she will have cooked supper.

•   The verb "bi" to be is special, and it has the past form bin:

Wo yu bin? — Where were you? Where have you been?

Imperative mode

To stress the imperative meaning, or to make it clearer, the particle ‘ba’ may be used after verb:

Go ba dar! — Go there!

Kan ba hir! — Look here!

Nu go ba! — Let's go!

Nu begin ba! — Let's begin!

Ta lai ba! — Let him come!

There is also the particle ‘hay’ (‘may, let’) expressing a wish or permission:

Hay olo bi hao! — May everything be good!

Hay forsa bi kun yu! — May the force be with you!

Hay oni shwo to ke oni yao. — Let them say what they like.

The negative imperative is formed with 'bu' or with a special particle 'bye':

Bu go! Bu go ba! — Don't go!

Boh bye lasi! — God forbid!

Continuous aspect

It is marked by ‘zai’ before the verb:

Me zai go fon shop. — I am going from the shop.

Nau lu zai gun om se. — Now he is working on this.

Me zai go-te fon shop, wen me miti-te lu. — I was going from the shop when I met him.

Ob yu es libre manya klok dwa? Manya klok dwa me ve zai lekti kitabas in kitabaguan. — Are you free tomorrow at 2? Tomorrow at 2 I shall be reading books in the library.

The use of ‘zai’ is not obligatory. It is used only if the continuous aspect of action should be stressed.

Present active participle

Formed with -she:

Tuza sidi-she in bush ek-salti aus e lopi kway-kway nich kolina. — A hare sitting in the bush jumped out and ran very quickly down the hill.

•   Basically the same meaning is conveyed through the suffix -anta, which some nouns in LdP have:

komersi — to trade

komersanta — trader

kolori — to color

koloranta — colorant

konsulti — to consult

konsultanta — consultant

But these words are not active participles, they are nouns with their own meaning.

•   Instead of active participles, constructions with kel may be used:

Tuza kel sidi in bush. — The hare that is sitting in the bush.

Constructions with kel are preferable when a direct object is involved:

Kota kel chi fish. — The cat that eats fish.

Verbal adverb

This is formed with -yen:

vidi-yen — seeing

jan-yen — knowing.

•   It should be noted that simultaneity of actions may be also expressed through the preposition al (at, in the process of):

Al pasi bus-stopika me he vidi ke ela stan dar. (=Pasi-yen bus-stopika…) — Passing by the bus- stop I saw her standing there.

Al vidi lu me krai-te: Namastee! (=Vidi-yen lu…) — Seeing him I cried: ‘Hello!’

•   Constructions “afte + verb”, “al he + verb” mean “having done something”:

afte vidi — having seen

afte smaili — having smiled

afte audi — having heard

Afte audi om se, me he desidi miti lu. — Having heard about this, I decided to meet with him.

Al he zin shamba, me depon shapa. — Having entered the room, I took off my hat.

Conditional tense