The conjugation of Sardinian verbs are mainly divided according to infinitives into -are, -ere, and -ire verbs in north-central dialects (including the Limba Sarda Comuna) for regular verbs, similar to the tripartite systems of Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian (all involve infinitives with thematic vowels -a-, -e-, and -i-). In southern dialects (including Campidanese dialect), these infinitives above change to -ai, -i, and -iri, respectively. Irregular verbs also exist as well. Many Sardinian conjugated forms were similar and conservative phonologically to Classical Latin, although the number of tenses were greatly reduced and the remaining tenses rely on periphrasis.
The conjugation of Sardinian verbs split into its own article due to possible diversity. The conjugations here are currently based on Limba Sarda Comuna,[1] Logudorese dialect,[2] [3] [4] and Campidanese dialect.[5]
Like other Romance languages, Sardinian verbs have a high degree of inflection. However, Sardinian conjugation is rather diverse, but less diverse compared to that of Occitan. Additionally, the indicative and subjunctive imperfect tenses of Campidanese come from Latin indicative perfect and subjunctive pluperfect, respectively. Also, the Latin indicative perfect evolved to poetic preterite in Logudorese dialect, the endings are (from > > > > >) -esi, -esti, -esit, -èsimus/-emus, -ezis, and -èsint. Sardinian once also preserved the Latin conjugation of the indicative pluperfect (e.g. sc. derat from lat. dederat, sc. fekerat / fecherat from Lat. fecerat, sc. furarat from VL. *furaverat, etc.), but has long fallen out of use.[6] The tenses include (periphrases are in
green):Similar to Portuguese and Spanish, imperative forms can only exist in and, but other forms (except) are supplied by present subjunctive forms.
The forms are mostly pronounced as they written, with the exception of forms ending in consonants are pronounced with an epenthetic vowel same as the last vowel next to the consonant (echo vowel), with the final unvoiced consonant being voiced intervocalically and voiced stops were further lenited also intervocalically to fricatives (cantas → càntasa pronounced as /sc/, cantet → càntede pronounced as /sc/). Therefore, it is normally not reflected in the orthography, although the forms cantan, càntana, cantant, or càntanta of the ending in Logudorese are all acceptable (forms in -nt is used here).
| Infinitive | tènnere | pronounced as /[ˈtɛnːɛɾɛ]/ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerund | tenende | pronounced as /[tɛˈnɛɳɖɛ]/ | |||||
| Past participle | tentu | pronounced as /[ˈtentu]/ | |||||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
| Present | tèngio tenes tenet tenimus tenides tenent | pronounced as /[ˈtɛndʒɔ]/ pronounced as /[ˈtɛnɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[ˈtɛnɛðɛ]/ pronounced as /[teˈnimuzu]/ pronounced as /[teˈniðɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[ˈtɛnɛn(t)ɛ]/ | tèngia tèngias tèngiat tengiamus tengiais tèngiant | pronounced as /[ˈtɛndʒa]/ pronounced as /[ˈtɛndʒaza]/ pronounced as /[ˈtɛndʒaða]/ pronounced as /[tɛnˈdʒaːmuzu]/ pronounced as /[tɛnˈdʒajzi]/ pronounced as /[ˈtɛndʒan(t)a]/ | tene tengiais | pronounced as /[ˈtɛːnɛ]/ pronounced as /[tɛnˈdʒajzi]/ | |
| Imperfect | tenia tenias teniat tenìamus teniais teniant | pronounced as /[teˈniː.a]/ pronounced as /[teˈniː.aza]/ pronounced as /[teˈniː.aða]/ pronounced as /[teˈniː.amuzu]/ pronounced as /[teˈniː.ajzi]/ pronounced as /[teˈniː.an(t)a]/ | tennere tenneres tenneret tenneremus tennereis tennerent | pronounced as /[tɛˈnːɛɾɛ]/ pronounced as /[tɛˈnːɛɾɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[tɛˈnːɛɾɛðɛ]/ pronounced as /[tenːeˈɾeːmuzu]/ pronounced as /[tenːeˈɾejzi]/ pronounced as /[tɛˈnːɛɾɛn(t)ɛ]/ | |||
| Infinitive | appèrrere | pronounced as /[aˈpːɛrɛɾɛ]/ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gerund | apperende | pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾɛɳɖɛ]/ | |||||
| Past participle | appértu / apperta | pronounced as /[aˈpːertu]/ / pronounced as /[aˈpːɛrta]/ | |||||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | |||||
| Present | apperjo appéris appérit apperimus apperìes appérin | pronounced as /[aˈpːɛɾjɔ]/ pronounced as /[aˈpːeɾizi]/ pronounced as /[aˈpːeɾiti]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾimuzu]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾi.ɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[aˈpːeɾini]/ | apperja apperjas apperjat apperjamus apperjazes apperjan | pronounced as /[aˈpːɛɾja]/ pronounced as /[aˈpːɛɾaza]/ pronounced as /[aˈpːɛɾata]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾjamuzu]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾjadzɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[aˈpːɛɾjana]/ | appéri apperìe | pronounced as /[aˈpːeɾi]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾi.ɛ]/ | |
| Imperfect | apperìo apperìas apperìat apperiabamus apperiabazes apperìan | pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾi.ɔ]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾi.aza]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾi.ata]/ pronounced as /[apːɛɾi.aˈβamuzu]/ pronounced as /[apːɛɾi.aˈβadzɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈɾi.ana]/ | apperrère(po) apperreres apperreret apperrerémus apperrerezes apperreren | pronounced as /[apːɛˈrɛɾɛ(pɔ)]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈrɛɾɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈrɛɾɛtɛ]/ pronounced as /[apːɛrɛˈɾemuzu]/ pronounced as /[apːɛrɛˈɾɛdzɛzɛ]/ pronounced as /[apːɛˈrɛɾɛnɛ]/ | |||
Both verbs are highly irregular, they contain subjunctive forms in the imperative forms (in Campidanese, the verb ai is missing the past participle and imperative forms). Like other descendants of Latin verb sum (see also Romance copula), the verb èssere is suppletive, consisting of Latin verbs of (already suppletive) sum "I am" in remaining forms, and stō "I stand" in the past participle. The verb àere is only used as an auxiliary verb, the meaning of "to have" otherwise is by the verb tènnere, in central-southern dialects (see § Irregular verbs). In Logudorese dialect, the preterite (see § Overview) forms of èssere is fui, fusti/fisti/fis, fuit/fit, fimus/fimis, fustis/fizis, and fuint/fint, similarly, the preterite stem of àere is app-.
| èssere | ||||
| Gerund | essende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | istadu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | so ses est semus seis sunt | sia sias siat siamus siais siant | sias siais | |
| Imperfect | fia fias fiat fiamus fiais fiant | essere esseres esseret esseremus essereis esserent | ||
| èssere | ||||
| Gerund | essende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | istàu / istada | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | soe ses est semus sezis sun | sìa sìas sìat siamus siazes sìan | Replaced by istare: ista, istàe | |
| Imperfect | fippo fis fit fimus fizis fin | essere(po) esseres esseret esseremus esserezes esseren | ||
| essere | ||||
| Gerund | essende, sende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | istadu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | so ses est semus seis sunt | sia, sie sias, sies siat, siet siamus, siemus siades, siedas, siezis, siezas siant, sient | sias, sies siazes, siezes | |
| Imperfect | fia, fio fias, fist fiat, fit fimus fizis fin | essére esséres esséret esséremus essérezis, essérezez essérent | ||
| essi | ||||
| Gerund | sendi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | stètiu, stau | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | seu ses est seus seis sunt, funt | sia sias siast siaus siais siant | siast siais | |
| Imperfect | fia, femu fiast fiat, fut fiaus, femus fiais, festis fiant | fessi fessis fessit fèssimus fèssidis fessint | ||
| àere | ||||
| Gerund | aende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | àpidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | apo as at amus ais ant | apa apas apat apamus apais apant | apas apais | |
| Imperfect | aia aias aiat aìamus aiais aiant | aere aeres aeret aeremus aereis aerent | ||
| àere | ||||
| Gerund | aènde | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | àppiu/àppia | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | appo as at amus azes an | appa appas appat appamus appazes appan | ||
| Imperfect | aìo, aìa aìas aìat abamus, ajabamus abazes, ajabazes aìan | aere(po) aeres aeret aeremus aerezes, aerezis aeren | ||
| àere | ||||
| Gerund | a(pp)ende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | appidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | appo as at amus ais ant | appa appas appat appamus appades, appazes appant | a appades | |
| Imperfect | aia, aio aias aiat aì(a)mus ai(a)zis aiant | a(pp)ere a(pp)eres a(pp)eret a(pp)eremus a(pp)erezes a(pp)erent | ||
| ai | ||||
| Gerund | endi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | tentu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | apu as at eus eis ant | apa apas apat apaus apais apant | (missing) | |
| Imperfect | ia, emu iast iat iaus, emus iais, estis iant | essi essis essit èssimus èssidis essint | ||
For verbs with the auxiliary verb èssere, the past participle agrees with gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the subject, for example (in and) apo àpidu; amus àpidu; but so istadu, -a; semus istados, -as.[8] The verbs èssere and àere always use auxiliary verbs same as theirselves.
Verbs under this group are verbs whose the infinitive ends in -are, or -ai in southern dialects (incl. Campidanese). This group is derived from the Latin first conjugation infinitive, -āre.
| cantare "to sing" | ||||
| Gerund | cantende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | cantadu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | canto cantas cantat cantamus cantades cantant | cante cantes cantet cantemus canteis cantent | canta cantade | |
| Imperfect | cantaia cantaias cantaiat cantaìamus cantaiais cantaiant | cantare cantares cantaret cantaremus cantareis cantarent | ||
| domare "to tame" | ||||
| Gerund | domande | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | domàu / domada | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | domo domas domat domamus domàes doman | dome domes domet domémus domedas domen | doma domàe | |
| Imperfect | domabo domabas domabat domabamus domabazes domaban | domàre(po) domares domaret domarémus domarezes domaren | ||
| cantare "to sing" | ||||
| Gerund | cantande | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | cantadu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | canto cantas cantat cantamus cantades cantant | cante cantes cantet cantemus cantedes cantent | canta cantade | |
| Imperfect | cantaìa cantaìas cantaìat cantaiamus cantaiazis cantaiant | cantere canteres canteret canteremus canterezis cantèrent | ||
| cantai "to sing" | ||||
| Gerund | cantendi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | cantau | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | cantu cantas cantat cantaus cantais cantant | canti cantis cantit canteus canteis cantint | canta cantai | |
| Imperfect | cantamu cantàst cantàt cantamus cantastis cantànt | cantessi cantessis cantessit cantèssimus cantèssidis cantessint | ||
| Past | ||||
Verbs under this group are verbs whose the infinitive ends in -ere, or -i in southern dialects. There are slight orthographic irregularity due to being accented in the infinitive and past participle (tìmere, tìmidu) but unaccented elsewhere due to default penultimate syllable stress (timo, times). This group is derived by the merger of the Latin second and third conjugation infinitives, (a)-ḗre and (á)-ere, respective, with the infinitive form favored the third one. Similar mergers also occurred in many Romance languages.
| tìmere "to fear" | ||||
| Gerund | timende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | tìmidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | timo times timet timimus timides timent | tima timas timat timamus timais timant | time timide | |
| Imperfect | timia timias timiat timìamus timiais timiant | timere timeres timeret timeremus timereis timerent | ||
| fàchere "to do" | ||||
| Gerund | fachende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | fattu / fatta | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | faco faches fachet fachimus fachìes fachen | faca facas facat facamus facades facan | fache fachìe | |
| Imperfect | fachìo, fachìa fachìas fachìat fachiabamus fachiabazes fachìan | fachère(po) facheres facheret facherémus facherezes facheren | ||
| tìmere "to fear" | ||||
| Gerund | timende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | tìmidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | timo times timet timimus timides tìment | tima timas timat timamus timades tìmant | time timide | |
| Imperfect | timia timias timiat timiamus timiazis timiant | timere timeres timeret timeremus timerezis timèrent | ||
| prandi "to have lunch" | ||||
| Gerund | prandendi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | pràndiu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | prandu prandis prandit prandeus prandeis prandint | pranda prandas prandat prandaus prandais prandant | prandi prandei | |
| Imperfect | prandemu prandiast prandiat prandemus prandestis prandiant | prandessi prandessis prandessit prandèssimus prendèssidis prendessint | ||
Verbs under this group are verbs whose the infinitive ends in -ire, or -iri in southern dialects. This group is derived from the Latin fourth conjugation infinitive, -īre. Unlike French (all pure -ir verbs are now irregular), Catalan, Romanian, or Italian; Sardinian does not make distinctions between verbs in pure -ire and inchoative -ire (whose some forms infixed with Latin once-inchoative infix -ēscō).
| finire "to finish" | ||||
| Gerund | finende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | finidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | fino finis finit finimus finides finent | fina finas finat finamus finais finant | fini finais | |
| Imperfect | finia finias finiat finìamus finiais finiant | finire finires finiret finiremus finireis finirent | ||
| finire "to finish" | ||||
| Gerund | fininde | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | finìu / finìa | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | fino finis finit finimus finìes finin | fina finas finat finamus finazes finan | fini finìe | |
| Imperfect | finìo, finìa finìas finìat finiabamus finiabazes finìan | finìre(po) finires finiret finiremus finirezes finiren | ||
| partire "to divide" | ||||
| Gerund | partinde | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | partidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | parto partis partit partimus partides pàrtint | parta partas partat partamus partades pàrtant | parti partide | |
| Imperfect | partia partias partiat partiamus partiazis partìant | partire partires partiret partiremus partirezis partìrent | ||
| partiri "to divide" | ||||
| Gerund | partendi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | partiu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | partu partis partit parteus parteis partint | parta partas partat partaus partais partant | parti partei | |
| Imperfect | partemu partiast partiat partemus partestis partiant | partessi partessis partessit partèssimus partèssidis partessint | ||
Only the important ones are listed here, excluding regular alterations of infinitive stems ending in hard -ch/-gh (before front vowels), or -c/-g (before back vowels) to -c/-g before back vowels and -ch/-gh before front vowels, or accented stems as shown at § Verbs in -ere: tìmere. This section excludes the irregular verbs èssere and àere, these verbs are included at the section § Auxiliary verbs: èssere and àere instead.
This verb is the meaning of "to have" when not used as an auxiliary verb (as opposed to ai), in central-southern dialects. The second-person imperative plural form uses the corresponding present subjunctive form. Pònnere "to put" and its derivatives are conjugated similarly to tènnere, but its past participle is postu instead of *pontu.
| tènnere | ||||
| Gerund | tenende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | tentu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | tèngio tenes tenet tenimus tenides tenent | tèngia tèngias tèngiat tengiamus tengiais tèngiant | tene tengiais | |
| Imperfect | tenia tenias teniat tenìamus teniais teniant | tennere tenneres tenneret tenneremus tennereis tennerent | ||
| tenni | ||||
| Gerund | tennendi | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | tentu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | tengu tenis tenit teneus teneis tenint | tenga tengas tengat tengaus tengais tengant | teni tenei | |
| Imperfect | tennemu tenniast tenniat tennemus tennestis tenniant | tenessi tenessis tenessit tenèssimus tenèssidis tenessint | ||
While this verb conjugated similarly to tènnere, some forms has -i-, and the second-person plural imperative does not come from subjunctive present.
| bènnere | ||||
| Gerund | benende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | bènnidu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | bèngio benis benit benimus benides benint | bèngia bèngias bèngiat bengiamus bengiais bèngiant | beni benide | |
| Imperfect | benia benias beniat benìamus beniais beniant | bennere benneres benneret benneremus bennereis bennerent | ||
Pòdere "to be able" is conjugated similarly to fàghere, but the medial consonant of the infinitive is -d- and the past participle was pòdidu (pòtziu in Campidanese). Còghere "to cook" is also conjugated similarly to fàghere, but the present forms containing -tz- is replaced by -g-.
| fàghere | ||||
| Gerund | faghende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | fatu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | fatzo faghes faghet faghimus faghides faghent | fatza fatzas fatzat fatzamus fatzais fatzant | faghe faghide | |
| Imperfect | faghia faghias faghiat faghìamus faghiais faghiant | faghere fagheres fagheret fagheremus faghereis fagherent | ||
| dare | ||||
| Gerund | dende | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | dadu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | dao das dat damus dais dant | dia dias diat diamus diais diant | dae dage | |
| Imperfect | daia daias daiat daìamus daiais daiant | dare dares daret daremus dareis darent | ||
| dare | ||||
| Gerund | dande | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | dau | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | do das dat damus daes dan | dìa, dìe dìas, dìes dìat, dìet diamus, diémus diazes, diezes dìan, dìen | dae daze | |
| Imperfect | dabo dabas dabat dabamus dabazes daban | dare(po) dares daret daremus darezes daren | ||
| donai | ||||
| Gerund | dende, dande | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past participle | dau, dadu | |||
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Imperative | ||
| Present | dongu, dònju donas dònat donaus donais dònant | dona(m)u donast donat donamus donastis donant | - dona donghit don(gh)eus donai don(gh)int | |
| Imperfect | daia daias daiat daìamus daiais daiant | don(gh)essi don(gh)essis don(gh)essit don(gh)èssimus don(gh)estis don(gh)èssint | ||
This verb is normally not suppletive and conjugated regularly as -are verbs in Limba Sarda Comuna, but suppletive similarly to verbs like French aller and Italian andare (all means "to go") in some dialects. In Campidanese and Logudorese, the imperative forms are suppletive, resulting on forms bai / baxi and bae / bazi, respectively.
This verb has irregular -gi- in indicative present (in) and subjunctive present tenses (bàgio; bàgia, bàgias, bàgiat, bagiamus, bagiais, bàgiant). In Campidanese, the -l- instead geminates to -ll- (ballu; balla, ...).