Personal Pronouns
Quechua is conjugated for seven persons; there are seven corresponding
personal pronouns: noqa, qan, pay, noqayku, noqancheq,
qankuna, and paykuna.
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1st person: NOQA 1st person plural exclusive: NOQAYKU
I / yo we (and not you) / nosotros (sin ud. o uds.)
1st person plural inclusive: NOQANCHEQ
we (you and I or us) / nosotros (tu o uds. y yo)
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2nd person: QAN 2nd person plural: QANKUNA
you / tú you all / ustedes
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3rd person: PAY 3rd person plural: PAYKUNA
he, she / él, ella they / ellos, ellas
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* NOQAYKU does not include the person or people being spoken to.
NOQANCHEQ includes the listener(s).
"Simple Present" Tense Conjugation
Simple present tense conjugation is formed by adding a personal suffix to the
verbal root. These suffixes and example conjugation of the verb RIY are given
below:
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Noqa: -NI Noqayku: -YKU
rini: I go / voy riyku: we go / vamos
Noqancheq: -NCHEQ
rincheq: we go / vamos
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Qan: -NKI Qankuna: -NKICHEQ
rinki: you go / vas you all go / uds. van
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Pay: -N Paykuna: -NKU
rin: he/she goes / va rinku: they go / van
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Some Verbs and Examples
To finish this first lesson, I'll give some verbs and a few examples.
The infinitive of a verb ends in -Y, and the root is the infinitive without
the -Y suffix.
Verb root translation example translation
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mikhuy mikhu to eat / comer noqa mikhuni I eat / yo como.
parlay parla to speak / hablar parlancheq We talk / hablamos.
waqay waqa to cry / llorar waqanku They cry / lloran.
puriy puri to walk / caminar David purin Dave walks / David camina.
kawsay kawsa to live / vivir kawsayku We live.
yachay yacha to know / saber yachankicheq You all know / uds. saben.
That should be enough for now. Until next time...
-Barry Brian Werger