Verbs 2
Dothraki 1
Course 1 · Chapter 7 · Verbs 2: Past, Future and Commands
In Chapter 6 you built the present tense. This chapter adds the other two tenses, shows how negation changes across all three, and introduces the imperative, the form used to give commands and make requests. Most of it is simple, because the past and future are made from forms you already know.
The Past Tense
The past tense is very light. For a singular subject it is simply the bare stem: remove -(l)at from the infinitive, and sometimes an -e is added for the sake of pronunciation. The past does not change with the person, so one form serves for "I", "you" and "he". For a plural subject the sources add -(i)sh.
The negative past singular replaces the final vowel of the stem with -o (and the negative plural uses -osh), and a negative word (vos in the example above) stands before the verb. A past plural built from essa by the rule above would be essash, but that form is built by rule here, not quoted from a source.
The Future Tense
The future is the present tense with a prefix:
- a- before a verb whose stem begins with a consonant: dothrak "I ride" becomes adothrak "I will ride".
- v- before a verb whose stem begins with a vowel: astak "I say" becomes vastak "I will speak".
The negative future changes the prefix a- to o-, and vowel-initial verbs keep v-. One sourced example: Anha vos odothrok "I will not ride".
Negation at a Glance
| Tense | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Present | -ak, -aki, -i, -a ... (consonant stem) | -ok, -oki, -o, with vo / vos |
| Past, singular | bare stem: essa | final vowel becomes -o, with vos |
| Past, plural | stem + -(i)sh | stem + -osh |
| Future | prefix a- or v- | prefix o- or v- |
The Imperative: Commands and Requests
Dothraki has two imperatives, one friendly and one formal:
| Kind | Used for | Ending |
|---|---|---|
| Informal | requests, to someone you know | -(a)s (negative -os, with an o replacing a final vowel) |
| Formal | commands, to someone you address as a superior or stranger | consonant stem + -i; vowel stem: just the stem (negative: -o) |
The sources give one full example: Vo lekhos jin mawizze "Don't taste this rabbit". It shows the negative informal ending -os (on lekhos), the negative word vo before the verb, and the demonstrative jin "this" from Chapter 5 placed before its noun.
Hands-On Exercises
From essalat "to return", write the past singular and say how you know. Then write "It did not return" using the pattern of the sourced example.
📄 View solutionTurn Anha dothrak into the future and then into the negative future. Then do the same with Anha astak (use the vowel-initial prefix rule).
📄 View solutionBreak down Vo lekhos jin mawizze word by word, naming the part that makes it negative and the part that makes it a command. Which imperative is it, formal or informal?
📄 View solutionChapter 7 Quick Reference
- Past: bare stem (singular), stem + -(i)sh (plural); negative: final vowel to -o / -osh
- Future: prefix a- (consonant start) or v- (vowel start); negative o- or v-
- Imperative: informal -(a)s (neg. -os); formal consonant stem + -i, vowel stem bare (neg. -o)
- Negative words: vo, vos