In this post, we look at dza, today's past tense.
dza, today's past tense
When to use it
Today's past tense is used for anything which happened today, meaning from late evening yesterday until now.
The tense marker for today's past tense is -dza-. Just like -na-, it goes in between the subject concord and the verb:
| ni-dza-gula | I bought (today) |
| u-dza-rya | You ate (today) |
| a-dza-hendza | She liked (today) |
| fu-dza-nena | We said (today) |
| hu-dza-gonya | We finished (today) |
| mu-dza-toa | You stayed (today) |
| ma-dza-richa | They left (today) |
Exceptions
Kwenda
With the verb kwenda, to go, you keep the kw- as well as the tense marker dza:
nidzakwenda
udzakwenda
adzakwenda
fudzakwenda
hudzakwenda
mudzakwenda
madzakwenda
Kudza
With the verb kudza, to come, you do not repeat the dza: *nidzadza. Instead, you drop the last -a and stick -ire on the end:
nidzire
udzire
adzire
fudzire
hudzire
mudzire
madzire
ka, "and then"
If you are telling a story, you do not keep repeating "-dza-...-dza-...-dza-...". After the first time, you switch to using ka:
Nidzakwenda duk'ani, nikagula maizu, nikarya maizu.
I went to the shop, I bought bananas, I ate bananas.
Short form
You can drop the first person marker "ni-" off the ka- forms:
Nidzakwenda duk'ani, kagula maizu, karya maizu.
I went to the shop, I bought bananas, I ate bananas.
Because you have to start with the -dza- form, nidzakwenda duk'ani, the listener already knows it was you who was doing things, so there shouldn't be any confusion.
Nidzakwenda duk'ani, kenda baharini, kenda kanisani.
I went to the shop, I went to the sea, I went to church.
Instead of ka-enda, you smoosh it together into kenda in the 'consecutive' form.
Kenda
Kwenda is, again, a bit weird:Nidzakwenda duk'ani, kenda baharini, kenda kanisani.
I went to the shop, I went to the sea, I went to church.
Instead of ka-enda, you smoosh it together into kenda in the 'consecutive' form.
