Unit 9 – Verbs with Objects

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9.1 Dialogue (Theresa Thorne and Hazel Good)

A.ni’ ’u ch wulh ’ulhtun?“Did you already eat?”
ni’ tsun qw’ulut kwthu suplil.I baked some bread.”
B.hay ch q’a’.“Thank you.”
’i tsun tuw’ kw’ekw’i’.“I’m a little hungry.”
ni’ tsun thuyt kwthunu se’wun ’i’ ni’ yuhw hwi’ kwunutus kwthunu sqe’eq.“I made my lunch but my little brother must have taken it.”
A.tl’lim’ qul.“Too bad.”
ch’ukwxt tsun tse’ kw’ sqewth.I’ll fry you some potatoes.”

9.2 Vocabulary: verbs with objects.

kwunut“take it”
lhumts’t“pick it”
qwalst“boil it”
thuyt“make it”, “build it”, “fix it”
q’a’t“add it”
maluqwut“mix it”
q’put“gather it”
yakw’ut“break it”
lheyxt“eat it”
qw’ulut“cook it”
ch’ukwxt“fry it”
ts’uy’hwt“dry it”
’etth’ut“wipe it”
xul’ut“write it”
hwtqet“close it”
hwyaxwut“open it”
tl’ukw’unt“turn it off”
thuyqwt“dig it”
punut“bury it”, “plant it”
’iluqut“buy it”
lemut“look at it”

9.3 Transitive verbs.

Form a transitive verb (a verb with a subject and an object) by adding the suffix -t or -ut.

q’a’“get added”q’a’t“add it”
maluqw“get mixed in with”maluqwut“mix it”
qw’ul“get cooked”qw’ulut“cook it”
q’up“get gathered”q’put“gather it”

9.4 First and second person subjects.

First and second person subjects of transitive verbs are exactly the same as with intransitive verbs. Use the pronouns tsun “I”, tst “we”, ch “you”, tseep “you (pl)”. Place the pronoun after the first auxiliary or verb of the sentence.

9.5–9.8 Pattern practices

We took it.ni’ tst kwunut.
made
ate
cooked
dried
added
broke
boiled
Did you take it?ni’ ’u ch kwunut?
make
gather
break
eat
cook
You (pl) come take it.m’i tseep kwunut.
dig
gather
buy
plant
cook
I will take it.kwunut tsun tse’.
make
eat
cook
look at
buy

9.9 Vocabulary: mealtime objects and foods.

la’thun“plate”
lupat“cup”
shuptun“knife” (Chemainus, Nanoose)
’uxtun“knife” (Nanaimo)
xe’luw’“(wooden) spoon”, “ladle”
ts’qw’alstun“fork”
situn“basket”
qwthalus“platter”
shhw’i’lhtun’“dishes”
shtth’axwwil’s“dishpan”
shhw’e’tth’wil’s“dish towel”
stseelhtun“salmon”
mousmus“cow”, “beef”
kwushou“pig”, “pork”
tth’utth’uxals“egg”, “eggs”
’iiks“egg”, “eggs”
suplil“bread”
squw“Indian-style bread”
slhap’“soup”
tl’elhum“salt”
qa’“water”
sqewth“potato”
tih“tea”
tl’ikw’un’“peas”
shewuq“carrot”

9.10 Transitive commands.

It is easy to form a command with a transitive verb. The verb may be followed by the pronoun ch or tseep and then by the object noun phrase.

kwunut ch tun’ kapou!“Take your coat”
lemut tseep tun’ pipu!“You (pl) look at your paper”
tl’ukw’unt tthu huy’qwiin’!“Turn off the light” (Nanaimo)
tl’ukw’unt tthu huy’qwoon’!“Turn off the light” (Chemainus, Nanoose)

9.11 Pattern practice.

Add the egg!q’a’t tthu tth’utth’uxals!
mix
break
boil
eat
fry

9.12 kw’ “some”.

Use the article kw’ to indicate “some”.

qwul’st ch kw’ qa’!“Boil some water!”
punut ch kw’ sqewth!“Plant some potatoes!”
q’put ch kw’ tth’utth’uxals!“Gather some eggs!”

9.13 Pattern practice.

You (pl) buy some eggs!’iluqut tseep kw’ tth’utth’uxals!
bread
salmon
beef
potatoes
salt

9.14 Fill in the blank and then translate.

  1. qw’ulut ch tthu suplil!
  2. thuyt ch ______________ !
  3. ______________ ch kw’ sqewth!
  4. q’put ______________ tthu shhw’i’lhtun’!
  5. qwul’st ch kw’ ______________ !
  6. ______________ kw’ sqewth!
  7. q’a’t tthu ______________ !
  8. lhuyxt ______________ kw’ stseelhtun!
  9. hwtqet ch ______________ shelh!
  10. ______________ tseep tthu situn!
  11. kwunut ch ______________ !

9.15 Translation.

  1. hwyuxwut tun’ poukw!
  2. q’put tthu pulipu!
  3. kwunut tun’ xul’tun!
  4. hwtqet tthu shelh!
  5. hwyuxwut tthu xthum!
  6. Wipe the table!
  7. Close your book!
  8. Write the word!
  9. Take your book!
  10. Look at my paper!

9.16 Translation.

  1. ni’ ’u tseep ts’uy’hwt tthu stseelhtun?
  2. ni’ tst q’put tthu s’itth’um.
  3. ni’ tsun lhumts’t kw’ tl’ikw’un’.
  4. Did you make a house?
  5. We added some salt.

9.17 Questions and answers.

Change each of the following sentences. If it is a question, change it into a statement. If it is a statement, change it into a question. Then translate.

  1. 1. ni’ ’u ch qw’ulut tthu suplil?
    “Did you bake the bread?”
    ni’ tsun qw’ulut tthu suplil.
    “I baked the bread.”
  2. ni’ ’u tseep kwunut tthu kaa?
  3. ni’ tsun ch’ukwxt kw’ sqewth.
  4. ni’ ’u ch hwtqet tthu shelh?
  5. ni’ tst ’iluqut kwthu stseelhtun.
  6. ni’ tsun lhuyxt kw’ tth’tth’uxal’s.

9.18 -us third person transitive subject.

When there is a transitive verb with a third person subject, the suffix -us appears on the verb.

9.18a The suffix -us can be translated as “he”, “she”, or “it”.

ni’ kwunutus.“He/she/it took it.”
ni’ thuytus.“He/she/it made it.”
ni’ yakw’utus.“He/she/it broke it.”

9.18b The suffix -us can also be translated as “they”. The particle ’eelhtun can be used after the verb to help convey the meaning of a plural subject.

ni’ kwunutus (’eelhtun).“They took it.”
ni’ qw’ulutus (’eelhtun).“They cooked it.”
ni’ q’putus (’eelhtun).“They gathered it.”

9.18c The object noun phrase can follow the verb. When there is just one noun phrase following the verb, it is always interpreted as the object of the sentence, not as the subject.

ni’ yakw’utus tthu la’thun.“He/she broke the plate.”
ni’ qw’al’stus tthu qa’.“He/she boiled the water.”
ni’ thuyqwtus tthu speenhw.“He/she dug the camas.”

9.18d Both a subject and an object noun phrase can follow the verb. Word order does not really matter. The object noun phrase can precede the subject noun phrase. Speakers know the meaning of a sentence from the context in which it is used.

ni’ kwunutus kwthu swiw’lus kwthu snuhwulh.“The boy took the canoe.”
ni’ qw’ulutus lhu slheni’ kwthu suplil.“The woman baked the bread.”
ni’ thuytus ’eelhtun kwthu lelum’.“They built the house.”

9.19 Pattern practice.

He dug the potatoes.ni’ thuyqwtus kwthu squwth.
planted
ate
fried
took
bought

9.20 Substitution drill.

The boy took the canoe.ni’ kwunutus kwthu swiw’lus kwthu snuhwulh.
I
they
the man
my little brother
we
he
my son
you (pl)
my uncle
you

9.21 Translation.

  1. Will you (pl) take the car?
  2. Did they take the car?
  3. I already took it
  4. Did he take it?
  5. Did you (pl) take it?
  6. Are you (pl) going to take it?
  7. He’s going to take the car.
  8. We indeed took it.
  9. I’m going to take the car.
  10. They must have taken it.

9.22 Reading lesson.

’ilhe nem’ tth’oom (tth’umum). nem’ tst tse’ kwunut tthu situn. nem’ tst tse’ lhumts’t tthu sqw’iil’muhw . sitst tse’ ’uw’ qwul’st tthu stth’oom/stth’umum. sutst tse’ ’uw’ thuyt kw’ cheem. qw’ulut tst tse’ kw’ suplil.

Let’s go berry picking. We’ll take the basket. We will go pick blackberries. And then we will boil the berries. And then we will make some jam. We’ll bake some bread.