Rihan verbs have two simple TENSES: present and past.

The two simple tenses have three ASPECTS: indicative (a simple, non-continuous action in the present or past), continuative (an action taking place in the present that is continuing to take place, or, an action that took place in the past and continued to take place) and perfect (an action begun and completed in the present, or, an action begun and completed in the past).

Verbs also have three VOICES: active, passive and mediopassive (reflexive).

Further, Rihan verbs exist in four MOODS: indicative (statement of fact - I go), negative (I don't go), subjunctive (if I would go), and imperative (you, go!).

Fortunately, despite this array of aspects, Rihan verbs don't change for person and number. They are also very consistent in their conjugation.

For a full listing of Rihan verb forms with English examples, please see the Verb Conjugation Examples page.

Verb Conjugation by Voice

In dictionaries, the present active indicative indicative form of the verb is given, as that is identical to the root form. The passive voice is formed by adding the affix -(a)hr- to the root of the verb, ahead of the active voice suffix. The mediopassive (reflexive) is formed by adding the suffix -(a)hu to end of the active form.

In the charts above, a vowel in parenthesis is only used when the verb root ends in a consonant.

The negative of the subjunctive mood is formed adding the subjunctive suffix to the negative form.

Future Tense

Future tense is expressed with "[present] + a time indicator." The future tense in Rihan reflects the English use of "will/would" and "shall/should" but not "may/might" or "can/could."

When the timing of the future event is either uncertain or unimportant and no time indicator is used, the suffix -'dhohh is added to the present tense verb.

Desiderative

The desiderative in Rihan is represented by the prefix thei'. In English, the desiderative form is "want to," but in Rihan it also extends to the use of "may/might."

Can/Could

The English "can/could" is represented in Rihan by the verb payr [+ infinitive].

Have To

The English phrase "have to [do something]" is represented in Rihan by the verb ærhii, "required," [+ infinitive]. The third person is always used, and what would normally be the subject of the sentence in English becomes the object in Rihan.

Participles

Participles exist in four forms: present active/reflexive (-enh), present passive (-anh), past active/reflexive (-eri), and past passive (-ari). The first vowel of the suffix is generally dropped if the root form of the verb ends in a vowel. However, in writing it must always be present, even if it is becoming slowly acceptable in formal speech as well.

Imperatives

Imperatives exist in three forms:

• nonmodal - used between equals, or when rank distinction is not known, or on the rare occasions when it is not necessary, and between close or intimate acquaintaces - is formed with the suffix -u
• inferior-to-superior is formed with the suffix -n
• superior-to-inferior
• -'e is used if the final letter is a consonant, a, æ or e
• -i is used with a final i or o
• -o is used with final u

Infinitives

Infinitives are conjugated for aspect. The following suffixes are added to the root verb.

• Indicative: -er (e.g., urrier, "to go")
• Continuative: -eri (e.g., urrieri, "to be going/to have been going")
• Perfect: -eir (e.g., urrieir, "to be gone/to have gone")

-hnah

The suffix -hnah means to "engage" or "activate." It is usually added to the end of a noun.

It can also be used as a stand-alone verb in the form of hnahn, meaning "Engage!" or "Do it!"

s'tivh

The verb s'tivh is always followed by an adjective. S'tivh has the general meaning of forcing someone or making someone do something. That something is represented by the adjective, e.g. s'tivh ih'dhuil, "to make (someone) angry," from the adjective ih'dhuil, "angry." The adjective becomes part of the verb itself grammatically, but though s'tivh conjugates in the same manner as do other verbs, its adjective counterpart does not conjugate at all.

The prefix mos- creates the same idea as s'tivh and is the more commonly used of the two forms. The use of s'tivh is actually quite rare these days. Mos-, however, can be used on nouns as well as adjectives.

Derivation of Verbs

New verbs can be created from existing words in several different manners, some of them in ways that are difficult for English speakers to understand. Rihan is a very flexible language that makes use of numerous prefixes and suffixes to change a word's meaning.