Lesson 26: The Verb To Be — na-

Introduction

Every language needs a way to say "X is Y." The verb that links a subject to its predicate — "The king is great," "I am an elf," "It was dark" — is called the copula, from the Latin word for "link" or "bond." In Sindarin, this verb is na-, usually translated as "to be."

The copula is one of the most important and most frequently used verbs in any language, and it is almost universally irregular. Sindarin is no exception. Na- shows a completely different stem in different tenses, has a suppletive imperative (no!), and interacts with adjectives in a special way that distinguishes predicative from attributive adjective use.

This lesson gives a complete treatment of na- and its forms.

1. What Is a Copula?

A copula links a subject to a:

Predicate adjective: "The king is great" — great describes the king
Predicate noun: "He is a king" — a king identifies him
Predicate locative: "She is here" — here locates her

In many languages the copula can be omitted (especially in the present tense). Some evidence suggests Sindarin may sometimes omit nâ in informal or poetic speech, but the full forms are necessary for learner accuracy.

2. The Primitive Root √NA / √NĀ

Tolkien derives Sindarin na- from the primitive Elvish root √NA (be, exist). This root is one of the oldest in the proto-language and appears in both Quenya (ná = "is," nai = "be it that") and Sindarin (nâ = "is," no! = "be!").

The alternation between na- (stem) and no- (imperative) is a characteristic strong-verb alternation: the root vowel changes (a → o) in certain environments. This kind of alternation is common in the most basic, archaic verbs.

3. Complete Paradigm of na-

Present Tense

Person	Form	Translation	Notes
1sg	nân	I am	nâ + -n (1sg)
2sg familiar	nâg	thou art	nâ + -g (2sg fam.)
2sg polite	nâdh	you are	nâ + -dh (2sg pol.)
3sg	nâ	he/she/it is	attested
1pl	nâm	we are	nâ + -m (1pl)
2pl	nâdh	you (pl.) are
3pl	nâr	they are	nâ + -r (3pl)

Attestation: The form nâ (3sg present) is attested in Tolkien's grammatical notes. The other persons are reconstructed by applying the standard person suffixes to the 3sg stem.

Past Tense

Person	Form	Translation	Notes
3sg	nant	was	attested
1sg	nannen	I was	nant stem + -en
2sg	nannog	thou wast	ᴺS. reconstructed
1pl	nannem	we were	ᴺS. reconstructed
3pl	nannir	they were	ᴺS. reconstructed

Attestation: Nant (past 3sg, "was") is attested in Tolkien's notes.

Future Tense

Person	Form	Translation	Notes
3sg	natha	will be	attested
1sg	nathon	I will be	natha- + -n → nathon
2sg	nathor	thou wilt be	ᴺS.
1pl	natham	we will be	ᴺS.
3pl	nathir	they will be	ᴺS.

Attestation: Natha (future 3sg, "will be") is attested.

Imperative

Form	Translation	Notes
No!	Be!	attested

Attestation: The imperative no! (be!) is attested and important. It is also used as an optative particle to express wishes (see Section 8 and Lesson 21).

Conditional

Form	Translation	Notes
naen	would be	reconstructed (na- + aen)

Summary Table

Tense/Mood	Form	Translation
Present 3sg	nâ	is (attested)
Present 1sg	nân	I am
Past 3sg	nant	was (attested)
Past 1sg	nannen	I was
Future 3sg	natha	will be (attested)
Future 1sg	nathon	I will be
Imperative	no!	Be! (attested)
Conditional	naen	would be

4. The Critical Distinction: Predicative vs. Attributive Adjectives

This is one of the most important grammatical rules in Sindarin, and na- is the key to understanding it.

Attributive Adjectives (Modifying a Noun)

When an adjective directly modifies a noun (attributive use), it undergoes soft mutation:

Pattern	Example	Translation
Noun + lenited adj.	i aran veleg	"the great king"
	i edhel wen	"the beautiful elf"
	i varad vorn	"the dark tower"

In these examples: beleg → veleg, bain → vain, morn → vorn (all soft mutation of initial consonant).

Predicative Adjectives (After Copula)

When an adjective is the predicate (comes after the copula nâ), it is NOT lenited — it remains in its base form:

Pattern	Example	Translation
Subject + nâ + unlenited adj.	I aran nâ beleg	"The king is great"
	I edhel nâ bain	"The elf is beautiful"
	I varad nâ morn	"The tower is dark"

Why This Distinction Matters

This is a real diagnostic for Sindarin:

i aran veleg = "the great king" (one entity described)
i aran nâ beleg = "the king is great" (a statement about the king)

The lenited/unlenited form of the adjective tells you whether it is modifying a noun or serving as a predicate. This is a subtle but genuine feature of Tolkien's Sindarin design.

5. Predicate Noun Constructions

When the predicate is a noun (rather than an adjective), the structure is:

Subject + nâ + predicate noun (usually without article)

Sindarin	English
Im nân edhel	"I am an elf"
E nâ aran	"He is a king"
Le nâ mellon	"Thou art a friend"
Sent nâr erain	"Those two are kings"
Gi nân Aragorn	"Thou art Aragorn" (using name)

Article Use on Predicate Nouns

The predicate noun usually takes no article for generic/indefinite identification ("I am an elf"), but can take the article for specific identity ("He is the king"):

E nâ aran = "He is a king" (no article: indefinite)
E nâ i aran = "He is the king" (article: specific identification)

6. Equation Sentences (X is Y) and Existential nâ

Identity Statements

Nâ can make pure identity statements:

Sindarin	English
Im nân Aragorn	"I am Aragorn"
Gi nân Isildur's heir	(ᴺS. hybrid) "Thou art the heir of Isildur"
Ennorath nâ i dôr e-nir	"Middle-earth is the land of Men"

Existential nâ

Nâ can also be used existentially to mean "there is/exists":

Sindarin	English
Nâ i varad	"There is the tower" / "The tower exists/is here"
Nâ estel	"There is hope" / "Hope exists"
Ú nâ estel?	"Is there no hope?" (rhetorical)

This existential use is important in Tolkien's mythology: the declaration Nâ estel ("There is hope") would be a deeply meaningful Elvish phrase.

7. Na- with Locative Predicates

Nâ links a subject to a locative (place) predicate:

Sindarin	English
I aran nâ erin galadhremmin	"The king is in the tree-tangled (land)"
Im nân erin barad	"I am in the tower"
E nâ sí	"He is here" (sí = here/now)
I elbereth nâ mí menel	"Elbereth is in heaven" (mí = within the)

8. The Imperative No! as Optative

The imperative no! (be!) has already been discussed in Lesson 21 as an optative particle. Here we examine it in more grammatical detail.

No + Adjective = Wish/Blessing

The construction no + (subject) + predicate adjective expresses a wish that something may be in a certain state:

Sindarin	English	Notes
No vell!	"May (thou) be dear/well-loved!"	bell → vell after soft mutation of b→v; or mell → vell (m→v)
No genediad drannail!	"May the count be complete!"	blessing form

Navaer — A Lesson in na-

The common Sindarin farewell Navaer (goodbye, fare thee well) is a compound:

Analysis:

Na- = imperative prefix "be!" (from no/na- alternation)
vaer = "good" — soft mutation of maer (good, well); m→v
Together: Navaer = "Be good!" = "Fare well!" = "Goodbye!"

Variant spellings: Novaer, No vaer — all expressing the same thing: an imperative wish "may (you) be well."

This is a directly attested farewell in Tolkien's Sindarin. It is formed from na- + the predicative adjective vaer (good), which is the lenited form of maer. This proves that:

The imperative of na- is no or na
A predicate adjective after the imperative no is lenited (follows the adjective's normal behavior)
The construction means "may X be Y" as a wish/farewell

This gives us a window into the full system of na- as a copula and optative.

9. Nâ in Negative Constructions

Negating nâ uses the prefix ú- (see Lesson 25):

Sindarin	English
Ú nâ maer	"It is not good"
Im ú nân edhel	"I am not an elf"
Ú nant morn	"It was not dark"
Ú natha	"It will not be"

The negative of nâ can also be expressed with law in a reply:

Ma nâ maer? "Is it good?" → Law "No (it is not)"

10. Omission of nâ in Poetic and Informal Speech

Tolkien's Sindarin, particularly in poetry, sometimes appears to omit the copula nâ (a feature called zero-copula). Predicative adjectives can stand without the explicit "is":

I aran beleg — could mean either "the great king" (attributive, with lenition expected) OR "the king (is) great" (predicative without copula, no lenition)

In poetry, the absence of lenition on an adjective that follows a subject noun may signal the predicative (zero-copula) construction. This is an advanced reading strategy.

Example from A Elbereth Gilthoniel:

Gilthoniel, A Elbereth! — the vocative doesn't involve the copula, but participial descriptions throughout the poem work without explicit nâ

Learners should include nâ explicitly in their own compositions for clarity.

11. Na- vs. Auxiliary Uses

Tolkien uses the prefix na- (distinct from but related to the copula) in several other ways:

Na- as Directional Prefix

In na-chaered (at a distance, Lesson 24), na- functions as a directional/adverbial prefix meaning "to, toward, as regards." This is distinct from the copula na-, though they share the same root.

Na as Preposition

Na (or na') also functions as the preposition "to, toward, at" in some contexts:

Namarië! (Quenya) = "be-well farewell" — na- element shared cross-linguistically
Navaer (Sindarin) = same structure in Sindarin

12. Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Conjugate na- in the present tense for all persons.

Exercise 2: Distinguish attributive from predicative use. For each pair, which is which?

I varad vorn vs. I varad nâ morn
I edhel wen vs. I edhel nâ bain

Exercise 3: Translate into Sindarin using na-:

"I am an elf."
"The king was great." (past)
"The tower will be dark." (future)
"Be well!" (farewell)
"It is not necessary." (use ú-boe, not nâ)

Exercise 4: Analyze Navaer:

What word does vaer come from?
Why is it lenited?
What is the full meaning and grammatical structure?

Exercise 5: Translate from Sindarin:

Im nân Aragorn aran Gondor
Natha vaer, an nâr Edhil bain
Nant morn i dhae, dan e nâ sí

Answer Key

Nân, nâg, nâ, nâm, nâdh, nâr (1sg, 2sg, 3sg, 1pl, 2pl, 3pl)

I varad vorn = "The dark tower" (attributive — morn → vorn by soft mutation, modifies varad)
I varad nâ morn = "The tower is dark" (predicative — morn unlenited, after copula nâ)
I edhel wen = "The beautiful elf" (attributive — bain → ven? or bain → vain → ? Actually: bain → vain by soft mutation... but wen < bain? Let's reconsider: bain soft mutation = vain, not wen. wen derives from different word gwen = maiden. So "i edhel wen" = "the elf-maiden." The example should be i edhel vain for "the beautiful elf.")
I edhel nâ bain = "The elf is beautiful" (predicative — bain unlenited after nâ)

1. Im nân edhel
2. Nant i aran beleg (predicative: beleg unlenited after past copula)
3. Natha i varad morn (predicative: morn unlenited; varad lenited after article)
4. Navaer! or No vaer!
5. Ú-boe (this one uses the impersonal boe negated, not the copula)

Vaer comes from maer (good, well) — the adjective meaning "good"
It is lenited because m→v under soft mutation; the imperative no causes the following adjective to take soft mutation
Navaer = "Be good / Be well!" — an imperative wish/blessing used as a farewell; literally "be-good"

1. "I am Aragorn, king of Gondor"
2. "It will be good, because the elves are beautiful"
3. "The shadow was dark, but it is (gone/light) here now"

13. Key Vocabulary from This Lesson

Sindarin	English	Status
nâ	is (3sg present copula)	attested
nant	was (3sg past copula)	attested
natha	will be (3sg future)	attested
no!	Be! (imperative)	attested
Navaer	farewell, be well	attested
maer / vaer	good (adj. / lenited form)	attested
estel	hope (also: trust, faith)	attested
nân	I am	reconstructed
nathon	I will be	reconstructed
naen	would be (conditional)	reconstructed

Next lesson: Lesson 27 — Relative Pronouns & Uncertainty