Verb Class I: Basic Tenses

Class I verbs have a short root vowel and end in one consonant.

They form their basic tenses through ablaut, which means that the vowel inside the root changes.

Class I verbs use dependent agreement endings. These endings attach directly to the verb stem and show the subject of the verb.

What is Class I?

A verb belongs to Class I when its root has:

Feature	Value
root vowel	short
final setting	one consonant

Examples:

Root	Vowel	Final consonant	Infinitive	Meaning
gar	a	r	ym gara	to go; to move forward
gun	u	n	ym guna	to eat
ben	e	n	ym bena	to exist; to be there
drer	e	r	ym drera	to kill
ban	a	n	ym bana	to be in danger

These roots are Class I because they contain a short vowel and end in one consonant.

Dependent agreement endings

A finite Maþal verb must show who or what its subject is.

In Class I, this is done with a dependent agreement ending.

The ending shows:

Category	Meaning
person	1st, 2nd, or 3rd person
gender/class	common or neuter
number	singular or plural

The agreement ending is attached directly to the verb stem.

Dependent agreement table

Person	Gender / Class	Number	Pronoun	Ending
1st	common	singular	míne	-em
1st	common	plural	vído	-of
2nd	common	singular	dúle	-et
2nd	common	plural	týro	-ot
2nd	neuter	singular	kóri	-ik
2nd	neuter	plural	gainu	-uk
3rd	common	singular	reise	-er
3rd	common	plural	nágo	-on
3rd	neuter	singular	púvi	-ip
3rd	neuter	plural	lábu	-ul

The dummy subject has its own ending:

Subject type	Pronoun	Ending
dummy subject	ðása	-aþ

The ending does not mean an object like “me” or “him.” It marks the subject of the verb.

For example:

Form	Meaning
gar-em	I go
gar-et	you go
gar-er	he/she goes
gar-ip	it goes
gar-on	they go

Class I ablaut

Class I verbs form tense by changing the vowel inside the root.

This vowel change is called ablaut.

Tense	Vowel source
present	original short root vowel
past	second ablaut row
future	third ablaut row

Class I ablaut rows

Present vowel	Past vowel	Future vowel
a	í	øi
e	á	yi
i	é	ou
o	ý	au
u	ó	ei
y	ǿ	oi
ø	ú	ai

So a Class I root does not add a separate tense suffix. Instead, the root vowel changes.

Examples:

Root	Present stem	Past stem	Future stem
gar	gar	gír	gøir
gun	gun	gón	gein
ben	ben	bán	byin
drer	drer	drár	dryir
ban	ban	bín	bøin

Finite mood markers

Finite verbs also need a mood marker.

The mood marker stands before the verb.

Mood	Marker	Basic use
indicative	a’	real, stated, factual
subjunctive	u’	wished, possible, required, imagined, dependent

The indicative is used for ordinary statements.

The subjunctive is used for meanings such as possibility, wish, requirement, uncertainty, or dependent verbal meaning.

Examples:

Mood	Form	Meaning
indicative	a’garem	I go
subjunctive	u’garem	that I go; I may go; I should go

The exact English translation of the subjunctive depends on context.

Basic tense formation

Class I finite verbs are built like this:

Structure
mood marker + tense stem + dependent agreement ending

The tense stem is created through ablaut.

Tense	Structure
present	mood + present stem + dependent ending
past	mood + past stem + dependent ending
future	mood + future stem + dependent ending

Example with gar “to go”:

Tense	Parts	Form	Meaning
present	a’ + gar + -em	a’garem	I go
past	a’ + gír + -em	a’gírem	I went
future	a’ + gøir + -em	a’gøirem	I will go

The same pattern works with the subjunctive:

Tense	Parts	Form	Approximate meaning
present	u’ + gar + -em	u’garem	that I go; I may go
past	u’ + gír + -em	u’gírem	that I went; I might have gone
future	u’ + gøir + -em	u’gøirem	that I will go; I should go later

Full paradigm: gar

The root gar means “to go” or “to move forward.”

Its three tense stems are:

Tense	Stem
present	gar
past	gír
future	gøir

Indicative forms

Subject	Present	Past	Future
I	a’garem	a’gírem	a’gøirem
we	a’garof	a’gírof	a’gøirof
you	a’garet	a’gíret	a’gøiret
you, plural	a’garot	a’gírot	a’gøirot
you, neuter singular	a’garik	a’gírik	a’gøirik
you, neuter plural	a’garuk	a’gíruk	a’gøiruk
he/she	a’garer	a’gírer	a’gøirer
they, common	a’garon	a’gíron	a’gøiron
it	a’garip	a’gírip	a’gøirip
they, neuter	a’garul	a’gírul	a’gøirul

Subjunctive forms

Subject	Present	Past	Future
I	u’garem	u’gírem	u’gøirem
we	u’garof	u’gírof	u’gøirof
you	u’garet	u’gíret	u’gøiret
you, plural	u’garot	u’gírot	u’gøirot
you, neuter singular	u’garik	u’gírik	u’gøirik
you, neuter plural	u’garuk	u’gíruk	u’gøiruk
he/she	u’garer	u’gírer	u’gøirer
they, common	u’garon	u’gíron	u’gøiron
it	u’garip	u’gírip	u’gøirip
they, neuter	u’garul	u’gírul	u’gøirul

Pronouns and verb endings

Because the dependent agreement ending already marks the subject, the independent subject pronoun is not always required.

With pronoun	Without pronoun	Meaning
Míne a’garem.	a’garem.	I go.
Dúle a’garet.	a’garet.	You go.
Reise a’garer.	a’garer.	He/she goes.
Púvi a’garip.	a’garip.	It goes.
Nágo a’garon.	a’garon.	They go.

The pronoun can still be used for clarity, contrast, or emphasis.

Example:

Maþal	Meaning
Míne a’garem, ika dúle.	I go, not you.

Example sentences

Maþal	Meaning
Míne a’garem.	I go.
Míne a’gírem.	I went.
Míne a’gøirem.	I will go.
Dúle a’gunet.	You eat.
Reise a’góner.	He/she ate.
Púvi a’geinip.	It will eat.
Ðása a’fjúnaþ.	It rains.

Class I with voice prefixes

Voice prefixes do not change the verb class.

A Class I root stays Class I even when ska-, sma-, or sva- is added.

The voice prefix stands after the mood marker and before the root.

Structure
mood marker + voice prefix + tense stem + dependent agreement ending

Example with ban “danger”:

Voice	Present	Meaning
default	a’baner	he/she is in danger
agentive	a’ska-baner	he/she endangers; he/she puts in danger
patientive / eventive	a’sma-baner	he/she is endangered
resultant state	a’sva-baner	he/she remains endangered; he/she is left in danger

The tense pattern stays the same.

Voice	Present	Past	Future
default	a’baner	a’bíner	a’bøiner
agentive	a’ska-baner	a’ska-bíner	a’ska-bøiner
patientive / eventive	a’sma-baner	a’sma-bíner	a’sma-bøiner
resultant state	a’sva-baner	a’sva-bíner	a’sva-bøiner

The voice prefix changes the relationship between the subject and the root meaning, but it does not change the Class I tense formation.