The malagasy tenses : Learn malagasy

The malagasy present tense

In the negative form, the auxiliary “tsy” is put before the verb (in the active, passive..). Tsy means no, not, without

In the interrogative and interro-negative forms, the interrogative particle “ve” is put before the subject

Affirmative form	Negative form	Interrogative form (interro-negative form)
Mihira izy. He sings/he is singing Mihinan-kanina izy He eats food. He is eating food.	Tsy mihira izy. He doesn’t sing/ He isn’t singing Tsy mihinan-kanina izy. He doesn’t eat food. He isn’t eating food.	(Tsy) Mihira ve izy? (doesn’t) Does he sing? (isn’t) Is he singing? (Tsy) Mihinan-kanina ve izy? (Doesn’t) Does he eat food? (Isn’t) is he eating food?

The pronunciation and the places of the stresses in the sentence:

Dans" 'mihira izy": the stress of the sentence is on the first word:

izy is in the weak form [iz]

the stress of the word mihira is on I, h is not pronounced : mi(h)Ir'iz

Tsy is is in the strong form in the negative form [ ‘tsy miir’iz]

Ve is stressed also: [ miira ve izy?] but not in the interro-negative: [ts' miira v' izy?' ]

Mihinan-kanina is pronounced [Minakan iz] the stress on the complement hanina

stress on tsy and kan, for the negative, [Tsy minakan iz],

on ve for the interrogative: [Minakan ve iz],

on kanina and izy for the interro-negative [Ts' minakan v' izy?]

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The malagasy past and future tenses

M=> N

man, mi, mana, maha, miha=> nan, ni, naha, niha...

THE PAST TENSE

Affirmative form	Negative form	Interrogative form (interro-negative form
Nihira izy.	Tsy nihira izy.	(Tsy) Nihira ve izy?.
Nihinan-kanina izy	Tsy nihinan-kanina izy	(Tsy) Nihinan-kanina ve izy?

M=> H

THE FUTURE TENSE

man, mi, mana, maha, miha=> han, hi, haha, hiha...

Affirmative form	Negative form	Interrogative form (interro-negative form
Hihira izy.	Tsy hihira izy.	(Tsy) hihira ve izy?
Hihinan-kanina izy	Tsy hihinan-kanina izy	(Tsy) hihinan-kanina ve izy?

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Exercise 1

Put in the present, past, future tenses with mi, man,

1-afina (to hide)

2-adina (to inquire)

3-sazy (penalty)

4- vily (to pilot)

Answers

1-manafina, nanafina, hanafina (transitive verb: to hide smth)

miafina, niafina, hiafina (intransitive: to hide oneself)

2-manadina, nanadina, hanadina (transitive verb: to question someone)

miadina, niadina, hiadina (transitive verb: to make someone sit for an exam)

3-manasazy, nanasazy, hanasazy (transitive verb: to punish)

4-mamily, namily, hamily (transitive verb: to pilot)

mivily, nivily, hivily ( intransitive verb: to pop somewhere)

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Alban RAMIANDRISOA RATSIVALAKA, comics DODA sy LEZO.

Exercise 2:

Put the verbs in the past tense: Look at the pictures, and fill the gaps accordingly (active, passive forms).

I Doda sy i Lezo

1-(tapaka) hazo i Doda sy i Lezo omaly.

Lehibe sady vaventy ilay hazo.

I Doda aloha no 2-(tomboka), izay vao 3- (ampy) i Lezo.

Rehefa reraka i Doda dia 4- (ome) an’i Lezo ny famaky.

Dia 5- (tapaka) ny hazo koa i Lezo. Fa tsy 6-(haino) tsara an'i Doda izy.

Ka loza fa diso ambonimbony kokoa no 7- (tapaka) n ’i Lezo ny hazo ka tsy 8- ( zera) ilay izy.

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answers:

1-nanapaka -2-nanomboka-3-nanampy- 4-nomeny 5-nanapaka-6-nihaino-7-nanapahan'-8-nianjera

Translation

Nanapaka hazo i Doda sy i Lezo omaly.

Yesterday, Doda and Lezo cut down a tree.

Lehibe sady vaventy ilay hazo.

It was huge and large.

I Doda aloha no nanomboka, izay vao nanampy i Lezo.

Doda began the cutting, and then Lezo gave a hand.

Rehefa reraka i Doda dia nomeny an’i Lezo ny famaky.

When Doda was tired he gave the axe to Lezo.

Dia nanapaka ny hazo koa i Lezo. Fa tsy nihaino tsara an'i Doda izy.

So Lezo cut down the tree also. But he hadn't listened to Doda's intructions.

Ka loza fa diso ambonimbony kokoa no nanapahan ’i Lezo ny hazo ka tsy nianjera ilay izy.

So unfortunately the two cuts did not meet because he had cut higher on the trunk. Finally the felling of the tree failed.