Negatives
To make verbs negative, we use a negative block.
-
نه - nú (not)
- مه - mú (don't) (for imperative
verbs)
The negative goes in front of the verb block at the end of a VP.
زه ښار ته نه ځم
zu xaar ta nú dzum
I'm not going to the city
هغه عربي نه زده کوي
haghá arabee nu zda kawee
He's not learning Arabic
With the perfective roots and stems, if we have a perfective head of و - oo or وا - waa, the نه - nú (not) always goes after the perfective head block.
زه ورسره وغږېدم
zu wăr-sara óoghuGedum
I talked with him
زه ورسره ونه غږېدم
zu wăr-sara oo-nú ghuGedum
I talked with him
negative block always goes after the perfective head
ما کتابچه واخسته
maa kitaabchaa wáakhista
I took the booklet
ما کتابچه وانه خسته
maa kitaabchaa wáa-nu khista
I didn't take the booklet
negative block always goes after the perfective head
But if it's one of those verbs that don't take the و - oo prefix where the perfective head is made from splitting off the first syllable of the word, you can put the negative after the perfective head or before it.
هغه کور ته لاړه
haghá kor ta láaRa
She went home
هغه کور ته لانه ړه
haghá kor ta laa-nú-Ra
She didn't go home
negative block after the perfective head
هغه کور ته نه لانه ړه
haghá kor ta nú laaRa
She didn't go home
negative block before the perfective head
زه دلته کېنم؟
zu dălta kenúm?
Do I sit here? (present)
زه دلته کېنم؟
zu dălta kénum?
Should I sit here? (subjunctive)
زه دلته نه کېنم؟
zu dălta nú kenum?
Do I not sit here? (present)
no perfective head, negative block before verb block
زه دلته نه کېنم؟
zu dălta nú kenum?
:Should I not sit here? (subjunctive)
negative block before the perfective head
زه دلته نه کېنه نم؟
zu dălta ke-nú num?
Should I not sit here? (subjunctive)
Notice how with verbs like کېناستل - kenaastúl the only thing indicating a difference between the perfective and imperfective forms is the accent, and therefore when we add the نه - nú we have no way of telling if a verb was perfective or imperfective, because the نه - nú took over the accent.
With stative compounds the complement and verb are considered one or two blocks depending on the aspect.
With the imperfective aspect, the complement and verb are fused together and considered one indivisable block, so the negative goes before that whole verb block.
ما پښتو نه زده کوله
maa puxto nú zda kawula
I wasn't learning Pashto
هغه ما نه ستړی کوي
hagha maa nú stuRay kawee
He's not making me (m.) tired
In the perfective aspect, however the complement breaks out and acts as a perfective head, so the negative goes after it.
ما پښتو زده نه کړه
maa puxto zda nú kRa
I didn't learn Pashto
چې هغه ما نه ستړی نه کړي
che haghá maa stuRay nú kRee
I hope he doesn't make me (m.) tired