INTRODUCTION TO
THU GRAMMAR
Eric Tudor
1
Chapter 1: Sentence Structure
Subject, Verb, and Object
Languages can be categorized in grammar using the letters S (Subject), V
(Verb), and O (Object). This determines the order of sentence parts in a sentence.
Take for example this sentence:
The dog ate the food.
“Dog” is the subject (whom or what the sentence is about), “ate” is the verb (a
word that represents an action), and “food” is the object (the receiving end of the
verb). Therefore, the sentence pattern is SVO. This is the sentence pattern English
follows.
Thu, however, follows the pattern VOS. Here is an example of a sentence in
Thu, translated literally into English:
Ate food dog.
The verb and direct object come before the subject in a regular Thu sentence.
This pattern, however, is different in more complex sentences, but this will be
mentioned more about later on. For now, just remember this structure when
making a sentence.
2
Articles
You may have noticed that in the second example on page 1, the word “the”
was omitted. This is because there is no definite article in the Thu language. There
are, however, indefinite articles. They are “tah” (singular), and “teh” (plural).
“Teh” is used in Thu the same as “unos” or “unas” in Spanish. It can be
translated as “some” or “a few”.
Notice some examples of how the indefinite articles can be used.
Tah men (an apple)
Teh mene (some apples, a few apples)
You can see the ways “tah” and “teh” are used. We will discuss more words
and plurality later on. For now, here is a list of nouns and their plurals.
Noun
men
chir
caie
vot
vurbu
chin
chit
matziva
Plural
mene
chis
caien
vote
vurbe
chine
chite
matzive
Meaning
Apple(s)
Key(s)
House(s)
Water(s)
Dictionary(s)
Pencil(s)
Pen(s)
Milk(s)
Quick Note
The word meaning “Thu” in Thu is “thub” (pronounced “thoob”). In English,
words relating to Thu are Thuban, ex. Thuban language.
Quick Note
When referring to edible fluids in Thu (such as water or milk), the plural
form is usually used. Singular form is only used when referring to a certain type.
For example, you would say “I want some waters” rather than “I want water”, but
you would still say “I want that water brand”.
3
Numbers & Plurality
The following is a list of numbers up to 10.
ITEM
one
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
NEEDED
uno
iki
uscie
apat
do
liu
ciu
famania
naiva
dice
To use these numbers, it is necessary to know plurals. There are four rules in
making words plural. If the word ends in a consonant other than “r”, simply add an
“e” to the end. If the word ends with “r”, change the “r” into an “s”. If the word ends
with a vowel other than “e”, change the vowel to an “e”. Finally, if the word ends
with “e”, simply add an “n” to the end.
“Chit” changes to “chite”.
“Chir” changes to “chis”.
“Matziva” changes to “matzive”.
“Caie” changes to “caien”.
Unlike in English, when indicating that there is zero amount of something,
the singular form of the word is still used.
4
Verb Conjugation
In this lesson, we will talk about verb conjugation. Verb conjugation is
changing the verb to fit whoever or whatever is doing the action. A verb that is not
conjugated is known as an infinitive.
The best example of in English is the infinitive “to be”. The first person
singular form is “am”, the second person singular and plural, third person plural,
and first person plural form is “are”, and the third person singular form is “is”. This
conjugation is illustrated by the chart below.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
am
are
is
Plural
are
are
are
To conjugate verbs in Thu, first take the infinitive. All infinitives in Thu end
with the letter “e”. Change the infinitive according to the following table.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
change “e” to “u”
change “e” to “a”
change “e” to “at”
Plural
change “e” to “um”
change “e” to “am”
change “e” to “ata”
For an example, take the infinitive “gine”, which means “to run”. Again, a
chart demonstrates the rule.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
ginu
gina
ginat
The next lesson will talk about pronoun usage.
Plural
ginum
ginam
ginata
5
Pronouns and Forms of “To Be”
Pronouns are words that replace nouns and are essential to avoid being
redundant. Words like “he”, “she”, “I”, and “we” are all pronouns. There are also two
types of pronouns: subject and object. Subject pronouns represent the subject of the
sentence, in other words, who or what is doing the action. Object pronouns receive
the action. Here is a chart of subject pronouns.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
mi (I)
ad (you)
li (he), si (she), ha (it)
Plural
ciu (we)
ade (you [plural] )
le (male), se (female), he
(they)
This is the chart of object pronouns.
Singular
mid
aded
lid (him), sid (her), had (it)
Plural
First Person
ciud (us)
Second Person
adede (you [plural] )
Third Person
led (male), sed (female),
hed (them)
There is one more verb needed for using these pronouns: to be. The infinitive
is sere. Here is the conjugation.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
seru
sera
serat
Plural
serum
seram
serata
Remember the order of words in Thu. The verb and object come before the
subject. Therefore, to say he is a boy, you would say:
Serat tah bino (boy) lid.
We have covered all the basics for communicating in Thu. The next chapter
will elaborate on more complicated sentences, including words such as “because”
and “as”.
6
Chapter 2: Separate Clauses and Special Word Usage
Questions
So far, we have covered simple declarative sentences. We can say simple
things that people and objects are doing. This section will cover forming questions.
First, you must know some question words. Here is a list of the “Five W’s”:
who, what, where, when, and why.
Word
siuto
cato
gido
kada
etansiuto
Definition
what
who
where
when
why
The other thing that is important is placement of the question word. The
word is almost always placed at the end of the sentence in simple questions. To
form interrogative sentences, first form a declarative sentence about what you are
questioning. Then, add a comma at the end of the sentence and add the
interrogative word, followed by a question mark.
Ginu ad. (You run)
Ginu ad, etansiuto? (Why do you run?)
Of course, to answer a question such as this one, you need to know the word
“because”. In Thu, it is “kunki”. However, using this word requires knowledge of
verb usage that will be covered later in the chapter. For now, just familiarize
yourself with the question words and forming questions.
Quick Note
In English, you would normally say “why are you running” as opposed to
“why do you run”. In English, the form of verbs using “ing” is known as the
progressive tense. The progressive tense is not used as often in Thu, meaning “why
do you run” is a more typical question to ask.
7
Adjacent Infinitives
This section may be unfamiliar to you at first, as this section covers a rule
that does not exist in English. It is grammatically incorrect to have two conjugated
infinitives directly next to each other.
One way of illustrating this rule is with the infinitive “piaghe”, which means
“to like”. It is conjugated just like any other verb.
“Piagho mene” means “I like apples”.
One thing to notice in this sentence in Thu specifically is the lack of a stated
subject. Because verbs in Thu are conjugated for every subject, directly stating one
is not needed in the present tense. The future and past tenses will be discussed in
Chapter 3.
However, you can also use “piaghe” to state your like of doing actions. This is
where the adjacent infinitive rule comes in to play. Let’s say you like to run.
Saying…
Piagho ginu
…is incorrect. Instead, the word “gine” should be left in its infinitive form.
Piagho gine.
…is correct. However, sometimes you will need to use the preposition “ga”,
which means “to”. If the infinitive will be followed directly by the conjugated verb,
“ga” is not needed, unless the infinitive gives a reason for the prior action. In most
other cases, though, “ga” should be used.
Ginu ga sere santo (healthy).
…is an example of when “ga” should be used, because “to be healthy (sere
santo)” gives a reason for running.
8
Prepositions & Travel
Sometimes, you will need to talk about travelling. The infinitive for “to go” in
Thu is “ciufe”. It is conjugated just like any other verb in Thu. However, in order to
use this verb, we will need to know some prepositions, or words that describe
location.
Word
ga
zai
siung
har
faoi
olter
sopar
aroo
Definition
to
in
on
across
under
over
above
around
“Ciufu ga cafe (café)” means “I go to the café”.
“Ciufum aroo kopek (dog)” means “We go around the dog”.
This verb ties in with the rule of adjacent infinitives. If you want to say that
you are going to do something and want to express physically going somewhere, you
can use the form “ciufe ga (inf.)”. Simply conjugate “ciufe”, add “ga”, and then add
the infinitive for what you are going to do.
You may be surprised at how often you use this verb. It is very important to
practice this as much as possible.
Quick Note
The word “kopek”, meaning “dog”, can also be used as a verb with the
infinitive “kopeke”. It can mean “to annoy” and often is used when someone irritates
you.
9
Chapter 3: Past, Present, and Future
Simple Future Tense
In regular speech, we use the future tense more often then we realize it. It is
essential to know this form in Thu. To speak in the future tense, first take the
infinitive of the verb and change it according to the following chart.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
Singular
add “ru” to end
add “ra” to end
add “rat” to end
Plural
add “rum” to end
add “ram” to end
add “rata” to end.
“Sereru” means “I will be”.
“Ginerata” means “They will run”.
In English, when we talk about the future and what we will do, we often say
we are going to do something. One way of expressing this in Thu is by using the
term “za (inf.) sere (conj.). To use this form, simply conjugate sere and add “za” and
the infinitive before.
“Seru za gine” means “I am going to run”.
“Seru za sere” means “I am going to be”.
Alternatively, you could use a form of “to go” followed by the preposition “to”
and then the infinitive as a more literal translation.
10
Simple Past Tense
We also use the past tense of verbs a significant amount of the time in
speaking. It is just as important to know how to use the past tense in Thu.
Just like how in English we use the word “will” for speaking in the future
tense, in Thu you can use the word “avua” to talk in the past tense. Just like in any
other Thu conjugation, first take the infinitive. However, instead of changing the
infinitive in six different ways, simply add a “ka” to the end of the word. Then, add
the word “avua” before.
“Avua gineka mi” means “I ran”.
“Avua sereka tah bino li” means “He was a boy”.
Sometimes in speaking we use the word “just to describe what has recently
happened. In Thu, you can use the word “doar” just after the word “avua”.
“Avua doar gineka ciu” means “We just ran”.
“Avua doar sereka tah bino li” means “He was just a boy”.
Unlike in the present and future tenses, the subject needs to be directly
stated in the past tense to clarify.
There are many different uses for the past and future tenses. However, there
are still more forms to learn about the verb tenses. The next few chapters will talk
about the perfect tenses of verbs.
11
Future Perfect Tense
The future tense is not one that is used often in everyday speech, but is still
important to know. In English, the future perfect tense is stating what will have
happened. The following are all examples of the perfect future tense.
I will have built this birdhouse by tomorrow.
They will have eaten the cake by three o’clock.
The future perfect tense in Thu is very similar to the regular past tense. To
use the future perfect tense, first take the regular past tense. Then, simply change
the word “avua” to “avuara”. No other change in verb tense is necessary; doing so
would be grammatically incorrect.
“Avuara gineka si” means “She will have run”.
“Avuara sereka he” means “They will have been”.
Granted, it may seem as if you won’t this verb form much. However, you
might be surprised how many situations could come up involving the future perfect
tense.