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Internet Quechua Lesson 1: Simple Conjugation

Bolivian Quechua Version

Soon to be reformatted and edited for better presentation

  • Personal Pronouns

    Quechua is conjugated for seven persons; there are seven corresponding personal pronouns: noqa, qan, pay, noqayku, noqancheq, qankuna, and paykuna.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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)
    ............................................................................
    2nd person: QAN          2nd person plural: QANKUNA
        you / tú                you all / ustedes
    ............................................................................
    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:
    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Noqa: -NI  			 Noqayku:   -YKU
          rini: I go / voy                      riyku: we go / vamos
             	                 Noqancheq: -NCHEQ
    					    rincheq: we go / vamos
    .................................................................
    Qan:  -NKI                       Qankuna:   -NKICHEQ
          rinki: you go / vas                   you all go / uds. van
    .................................................................
    Pay:  -N                         Paykuna:   -NKU
          rin: he/she goes / va                 rinku: they go / van
    ------------------------------------------------------------------ 
    
  • 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
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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