Verb Endings

Present Verb Endings

These endings are added on to the ends of verb stems to make present, subjunctive, and future verbs.

Imperative Verb Endings

These endings are added on to the ends verb stems to make imperative verbs.

Past Verb Endings

These endings are added on to the ends verb roots to make past-tense verbs.

3rd Person Masc. Sing. Past Endings

With all of the verb endings above, you simply attach them to the ends of the roots or stems. But the third person masculine singural (he / it) forms of the past tense are a little tricky! You may see alot of surprising and idiosyncratic forms of verbs in the 3rd pers. masc. sing.

Here are a few rules for 3rd pers masc. singular past endings, although you will find that there will be a lot of variations around these depending on the dialect.

With the long form of the roots (with the ل - ul on the end):

• you can only use the و - o ending.

With the short form of the roots:

• you can use the و - o ending

• you can use the ـه - u ending, but if the previous vowel was a short 'a', then you need to lengthen it to ا - aa, just like with the #4 "Pashtoon" pattern.

• If the short root ends in د - d, ت - t, or ړ - R, you can leave it with no ending at all. But if the last vowel in the root was a short 'a', you need to lengthen it to ا - aa, or و - o.

• there are a bunch of idiosyncratic third person masculine singular forms that you will see for certain common verbs. Here are some examples:

Other notes about past verb endings

• The 3rd pers. masc. plur. form of verbs is the same regardless of whether the short or long roots are used.
• In the Kandahari dialect some different endings are used;
  • 3rd pers. masc. sing.: ـی - ay
  • 3rd pers. masc. plur.: ـله - ulu