Lesson 18: Verbs — Past Tense
Sindarin past tense formation: strong past (vowel change + nasal infixion) for primary verbs and weak past (-ant suffix) for A-stem verbs, with all 6 persons.
Two Past Tense Systems
Sindarin's past tense divides along the same class lines as the present tense: primary verbs form the past tense one way (strong past), and A-stem verbs form it another (weak past). This parallels the distinction in English between strong verbs ("sing → sang") and weak verbs ("walk → walked").
| Class | Past Formation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Primary verbs | Nasal infixion (+ sometimes vowel change) | tir- → tirn- → tirnant |
| A-stem verbs | Suffix -ant | linna- → linnant |
Strong Past Tense: Primary Verbs
The Nasal Infix
The key marker of the strong past tense is the insertion of a nasal consonant (n or m) immediately before the final consonant of the verb stem. This is called nasal infixion (inserting a consonant inside the stem, not adding it at the end).
Nasal infixion rules:
- Before most consonants: insert n: tir- → tirn- (n before r)
- Before b, p, m: insert m (labial assimilation): cab- → camb-
- Before gw: insert ng: dagw- → dangw-
After nasal infixion, the personal suffixes are attached to the resulting stem.
Personal Suffixes for Past Tense
The past tense uses the same personal suffix set as the present, but attached to the infixed stem:
| Person | Suffix |
|---|---|
| 1st sg. | -on |
| 2nd sg. fam. | -og |
| 2nd sg. pol. | -odh |
| 3rd sg. | -ant (or bare infixed stem) |
| 1st pl. incl. | -om |
| 1st pl. excl. | -onc |
| 3rd pl. | -ir |
The 3rd singular past is the diagnostic form — it shows the nasal infix clearly.
Primary Verb tir- (to watch) — Strong Past
Infixed stem: tirn- (n inserted before r)
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | tirnon | I watched |
| 2nd sg. fam. | tirnog | thou watchedst |
| 2nd sg. pol. | tirnodh | you watched |
| 3rd sg. | tirnant | he/she watched |
| 1st pl. incl. | tirnom | we watched |
| 1st pl. excl. | tirnonc | we watched (excl.) |
| 3rd pl. | tirnir | they watched |
Primary Verb ped- (to speak) — Strong Past
Infixed stem: penn- (n inserted, plus assimilation: ped- → pend- → penn-)
Actually: ped- → nasal infix before d: pend- → with final d + n, the cluster assimilates in some analyses to penn- or stays pend-.
Using the simpler analysis: ped- + nasal infix → pend-:
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | pendon | I spoke |
| 3rd sg. | pendant | he/she spoke |
| 3rd pl. | pendir | they spoke |
Primary Verb cab- (to leap) — Strong Past
Before b, the nasal is m (labial): cab- → camb-:
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | cambon | I leaped |
| 3rd sg. | cambant | he/she leaped |
| 3rd pl. | cambir | they leaped |
Weak Past Tense: A-Stem Verbs
A-stem verbs form the past tense by adding the suffix -ant (or -nt after a vowel) to the verb stem. The thematic -a- remains and the suffix follows.
A-Stem Verb linna- (to sing) — Weak Past
Past stem: linnant- (linna- + -nt suffix → linnant)
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | linnannon | I sang |
| 2nd sg. fam. | linnannog | thou sangst |
| 2nd sg. pol. | linnannodh | you sang |
| 3rd sg. | linnant | he/she sang |
| 1st pl. incl. | linnannom | we sang |
| 1st pl. excl. | linnannonc | we sang (excl.) |
| 3rd pl. | linnannir | they sang |
How to form: A-stem (e.g., linna-) + -nt = past 3sg (linnant); for other persons, the past stem is linnan- (the -ant + personal suffix blend: linnant → linnan- + suffix).
A-Stem Verb sogo- (to drink) — Weak Past
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | sogannon | I drank |
| 3rd sg. | sogant | he/she drank |
| 3rd pl. | sogannir | they drank |
A-Stem Verb teitho- (to write, to draw) — Weak Past
Past 3sg: teithant
This form is directly attested in Tolkien:
Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin "Celebrimbor of Eregion drew these signs"
- teithant = past 3sg of teitho- (to draw/write)
- i thiw hin = "these signs" (thiw = pl. of têw "sign/letter"; i = the; hin = these)
This is one of the most important attested past-tense forms in all of Tolkien's Sindarin.
Attested Past Tense Forms from Tolkien
| Past Form | Verb | 3rd sg. Analysis | Translation | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| teithant | teitho- | teitho + -ant | drew, wrote | Fellowship of the Ring (door inscription) |
| agor | car- | irregular; see below | made, did | Tolkien's grammar notes |
| onen | anna- | irregular; see below | gave | PE notes |
| echant | echad- | ech + nasal infix + ant | fashioned, made | Im Narvi hain echant |
| govannen | govad- | past participle; see below | met | Mae govannen! |
| tirnen | tir- | past participle form | watched (pp.) | reconstructed |
| aglar | — | noun/adjective | glory | Aglar'ni Pheriannath |
Analysis: Im Narvi hain echant
From the door inscription of Moria:
Im Narvi hain echant. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin. "I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Eregion drew these signs."
- Im = I (emphatic 1st sg. pronoun)
- Narvi = Narvi (the dwarf smith)
- hain = them (3rd pl. object pronoun)
- echant = made, fashioned — past 3sg of echad- (to fashion, to make by craft) — note: the subject is Im Narvi, but the verb is 3sg? In Sindarin, echant functions as the 3sg or general past; the Im Narvi is placed as an emphatic subject before the verb
Actually the analysis is: Im Narvi hain echant = "I, Narvi, made them" — the echant is the 3sg past of echad- used because in Sindarin, emphatic pronoun + verb sometimes uses 3sg agreement. The -ant is the weak past suffix, which reveals that echad- is treated as a derived (weak) verb.
Irregular Past Tenses
car- (to do/make): Past agor
The verb car- has an irregular past tense agor (3rd sg.). This is a case of vowel ablaut — the root vowel changes completely rather than using nasal infixion:
- car- (a-stem root) → past: agor (the c becomes g and the a shifts to o)
- This parallels similar ablaut patterns in Germanic verbs ("drive → drove")
| Person | Form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | agron | reconstructed |
| 3rd sg. | agor | attested in Tolkien's notes |
| 3rd pl. | agrir | reconstructed |
anna- (to give): Past onen
The verb anna- (to give) has an irregular past:
- anna- → past 1sg: onen (I gave)
- The ann- root shows vowel change: a → o, and -n- shifts
Attested: onen i Estel Edain = "I gave hope to the Dúnedain" — from the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen inscription. Here onen is 1st singular past of anna-.
| Person | Form | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | onen | attested |
| 3rd sg. | aun / anant | reconstructed; uncertain |
Past vs. Perfect
Sindarin does not have a grammatically distinct perfect tense. The same past tense form serves both:
- Simple past: "I watched the tower" → tirnon i varad
- Perfect: "I have watched the tower" → tirnon i varad (same form)
Context (adverbs, particles) disambiguates. A perfect meaning can be emphasized with words like sí (now, already) or ú- constructions.
The Past Participle
The past participle is a verbal adjective expressing a completed state ("watched," "made," "met"). In Sindarin, it is formed with the suffix -nen (or -en in reduced form) attached to a modified stem:
| Verb | Past Participle | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| govad- | govannen | met (as in Mae govannen!) |
| tir- | tirnen | watched, guarded |
| car- | carnen | made, done |
| ped- | pennen | spoken |
| teitho- | teithonnen | written, drawn |
Govannen is the most famous past participle in Sindarin, from the greeting Mae govannen! = "Well met!" It is formed from govad- (to meet) + past participle suffix.
Past participles can function as adjectives: i varad carnen = "the tower (that was) made" = the built tower.
Practice: Past Tense Conjugation
Conjugate each verb in the past tense for 1sg, 3sg, and 3pl:
- cen- (to see)
- men- (to go)
- mato- (to eat, A-stem)
- noro- (to ride, A-stem)
Answers:
1. cen- (nasal infix: cenn-):
- 1sg: cennon (I saw)
- 3sg: cennant (he/she saw)
- 3pl: cennir (they saw)
2. men- (nasal infix: menn-):
- 1sg: mennon (I went)
- 3sg: mennant (he/she went)
- 3pl: minnir (they went) — note: menn- + -ir may have vowel compression
3. mato- (weak past: matant):
- 1sg: matannon (I ate)
- 3sg: matant (he/she ate)
- 3pl: matannir (they ate)
4. noro- (weak past: norant):
- 1sg: norannon (I rode)
- 3sg: norant (he/she rode)
- 3pl: norannir (they rode)