4 Simple sentence patterns
Sentences often follow simple patterns. One common pattern consists of a subject and a verb. The SUBJECT is usually a phrase indicating who is doing the action or in a state of being. In Mvskoke, the subject may be marked with -t, especially when it is specific.
| Subject(-t) Verb: | |||
| Mv | sasakwv(-t) | tvmkes. | |
| that | goose (-subject) | is flying | |
| ‘The goose is flying.’ | |||
| Mv | uewvt | morkes. | |
| that | water-subject | is boiling | |
| ‘The water is boiling.’ | |||
| Mv | estucet | ‘punayes. | |
| that | baby-subject | is talking | |
| ‘The baby is talking.’ | |||
The same pattern is used for adjectives like cvmpē ‘sweet’ or enokkē ‘sick’.
| Mv | takliket | cvmpēs. | ||
| that | bread-subject | is sweet. | ||
| ‘The bread is sweet.’ | ||||
| Mv | estucet | enokkēs. | ||
| that | baby-subject | is sick. | ||
| ‘The child is sick.’ | ||||
Subjects are often left out of a sentence when they are clear from the context.
| Tvmkes. | ‘It is flying.’ | |
| Morkes. | ‘It is boiling.’ | |
| ’Punayes. | ‘He/she is talking.’ |
Another common pattern is for a verb to appear with a (direct) object. The OBJECT is usually a phrase that is affected or brought about by the verb. In Mvskoke, an object may be marked with –n, especially when it is specific.
| Subject(-t) Object(-n) Verb: |
|||||
| Mv | sasakwv(-t) | rvron | hompes. | ||
| that | goose (-subject) | fish-object | is eating. | ||
| ‘The goose is eating fish.’ | |||||
| Mv | hoktēt | atvmen | nehses. | ||
| that | woman-subject | car-object | bought. | ||
| ‘The woman bought a car (today/last night).’ | |||||
| Mv | honvnwvt | taklikucen | homipes. | ||
| that | man-subject | biscuit-object | ate | ||
| ‘The man ate a biscuit (today/last night).’ | |||||
Both subjects and objects can be left out when they are clear from the context.
| Mv sasakwv(-t) hompes. | ‘The goose is eating it.’ | |
| Rvron hompes. | ‘It is eating fish.’ | |
| Mv hoktēt nehses. | ‘The woman bought it.’ | |
| Atvmen nehses. | ‘He/she bought a car.’ |
Some verbs may occur with two objects. Both objects may be marked with -n. In fact -n can appear on almost any phrase in a sentence other than the subject.
| Subject(-t) Object(-n) Object2(-n) Verb: | ||||||
| Mv | mvhayvt | mv | hoktucen | svtvn | ehmes. | |
| that | teacher-subject | that | girl-object | apple | gave | |
| ‘The teacher gave the girl an apple.’ | ||||||
| Mary | wakv-pesē | vcvnkvn | vcanes. | |||
| Mary | milk | pitcher-object | is pouring | |||
| ‘Mary is pouring milk into the pitcher.’ | ||||||
When you identify something with a form of ‘be’, you use the verb ometv ‘to be’. In this pattern, both the subject noun phrase and the complement noun phrase are marked with a -t (as though the sentence has two subjects).
| Noun phrase(-t) Noun phrase-t Be: |
||||
| Heyvt | pokkot | os. | ||
| this-subject | ball-subject | is | ||
| ‘This is a ball.’ | ||||
A noun may be modified by an adjective or a number to form a phrase. The order is Noun+Adjective+Numeral. The subject marker -t goes at the end of the subject noun phrase.
| Sasakwv | hvtkē | hvmket | tvmkes. | ||
| goose | white | one | is flying | ||
| ‘One white goose is flying.’ | |||||
The nonsubject marker -n also goes at the end of its phrase.
| Efv | lvstē | hvmket | pose lanē | hokklen | assēces. | ||||
| dog | black | one | cat yellow | two | is chasing | ||||
| ‘One black dog is chasing two yellow cats.’ | |||||||||
