7.3a An adjective can come before a noun to make a noun phrase.
’uy’ mustimuhw
“good person”
qul stl’i’tl’qulh
“bad child”
thi qwlhey’shun
“big shoes”
7.3b Adjectives can also be used as predicates. No copular verb (like English is or are) is used. Simply place the adjective at the beginning of the sentence and then follow it with a noun phrase.
thi tthunu mun’u.
“My son is big.”
tsaakw kwthun’ lelum’.
“Your house is far.”
thuthi’ tun’ sqwal.
“Your words are correct.”
7.4 Pattern practice.
Your car is good.
’uy’ tun’ snuhwulh.
big
small
ugly
new
old
7.5 Fill in the blank and translate.
______ kwthunu lelum’.
______ thunu sta’lus.
______ kwthu stl’i’tl’qulh.
______ thunu kapou.
______ tthu poukw.
______ thunu snuhwulh.
7.6 Answer and translate.
xew’s ’u tun’ snuhwulh? “Is your car new?” ’uwu, s’eluhw tthunu snuhwulh. “No, my car is old.”
qul ’u kwthun’ mun’u?
’i ’u qulama’ lhun’ shuyulh?
thi ’u kwthun’ situn?
’i ’u stutes kwthun’ lelum’?
xwum ’u kwthun’ wech?
7.7 Pattern practice.
We went to a new restaurant.
ni’ tst nem’ ’u kwthu xew’s ’ulhtun’ew’t-hw.
far house
big store
nearby schoolhouse
old church
new bank
7.8 Pattern practice.
I’m looking for a little dog.
’i tsun sew’q’ ’u kwthu ’uhwiin’ sqwumuy’.
big car
old book
new house
long coat
rich wife
7.9 Qualifiers and intensifiers.
tl’ulim’, tl’lim’
“really”
’uw’…’ul’
“just”
tuw’
“a little”
(’uw’) nan ’uw’
“very, too”
7.9a Place the qualifier or intensifier before the adjective.
tl’lim’ (’uw’) ’uy’ skwuyul
“really nice day”
’i ’uw’ ’uy’ ’ul’
“quite all right”
tuw’ q’aq’i
“a little bit sick”
nan ’uw’ ’ayum
“too slow”
7.9b You can qualify or intensify a predicate adjective. Place the qualifier or intensifier before the adjective and follow the adjective with a noun phrase.
tl’lim’ ’uw’ thi tun’ lelum’.
“Your house is really big.”
’i ’uw’ ’uhwiin’ ’ul’ tthunu kaa.
“My car is quite small.”
tuw’ s’eluhw tthu poukw.
“The book is a little old.”
nan ’uw’ ’ayum tthunu sqe’eq.
“My little brother is too slow.”
7.10 Translation.
My baby is really good.
Your house is too big.
Is your watch a little slow?
My girl baby is too small.
My mother is really busy.
7.11 Third person possession.
There are two different ways of expressing third person possession, depending on if the possessor is a common noun or a proper noun.
7.11a If the possessor is a common noun, then the suffix -s is added to the possessed word. The possessor follows the possessed word.
kwthu lelum’s kwthu swuy’qe’
“the man’s house”
tu poukws kwthunu sta’lus
“my husband’s book”
7.11b If the possessor is a proper noun, then no suffix is used on the possessed word. Instead, the possessed noun is followed by ’utl’ and the possessor.
kwthu lelum’ ’utl’ John
“John’s house”
tu poukw ’utl’ Mary
“Mary’s book”
7.12 Translation.
Mary’s car is big.
My daughter’s house is near.
The man’s shoes are new.
Is John’s canoe big?
John’s mother is really beautiful.
7.13 Amount words.
Two more words for describing things are the amount words qux “a lot”, “many” and tl’am “enough”, “sufficient”. These are used like other descriptive words to start a sentence.
qux
“a lot”, “many”
qux tun’ me’mun’u.
“Your children are many.” / “You have a lot of children.”
qux tthu poukws.
“His books are many.” / “He has a lot of books.”
tl’am
“enough”, “sufficient”
tl’am tthu poukw tst.
“Our books are sufficient.” / “We have enough books.”
Note that there is no direct equivalent in Hul’q’umi’num’ for the English word “have”. Instead of saying something like “I have a big house”, you would say, “My house is big.”
thi kwthunu lelum’.
“My house is big.”
tl’am tthu poukw tst.
“Our books are sufficient.” / “We have enough books.”
I’m going on a trip. I’m going to visit my older brother. His house is far. He lives in the States. His house is new. It’s big and beautiful. He has a lot of children. I’m going to stay there a long time.
