Table of Contents
Present Tense: Singular
In this lesson, Nomi uses the present tense to express what she and her friends are doing now. In subsequent lessons you will see how the present tense is also used to express what is done regularly, and what will certainly be done in the future.
*These sentences have been translated in the present continuous according to the context of the movie. Note that איך שרײַב may also be translated "I write" or "I do write," depending on the context.
To form the present tense, add endings to the base form of the verb. (On the base form see 2.1 נאָך פּרטים.)
Here is the conjugation of the verbs שרײַבן (shraybn), לײענען (leyenen), הערן (hern) and טאַנצן (tantsn):
A Spelling Rule
When the base form ends with the letter ס, a second ס is not added in the דו (du)-form:
When the base form ends with the letter ט, a second ט is not added in the ער/זי/עס (er/zi/es)-form:
The Irregular Infinitive טאָן
The base form טו (tu) has an irregular infinitive, טאָן (ton). (On irregular infinitives see also 2.3 נאָך פּרטים.)
Yiddish words deriving from loshn-koydesh (Hebrew and Aramaic)
Yiddish words that derive from loshn-koydesh (the holy language, that is: the languages of traditional Jewish prayer and study, Hebrew and Aramaic) are spelled as in the original Hebrew/Aramaic and not according to the Yiddish phonetic system. Six letters in the alef-beys are only found in loshn-koydesh derived words: ח, בֿ, כּ, שׂ, תּ, ת.
We learned one of the six in this lesson: the letter ח. It is found in the words חבֿרטע, חבֿר and לחײם.
You will find בֿ, כּ, ת in lesson 2.4 and שׂ, תּ in lesson 3.5.
The pronunciation of loshn-koydesh words has to be learned. You can hear the pronunciation in the vocabulary movies and in װערטער.
Loshn-koydesh derived words that we have already learned:
נעמי (1.1) - Nomi
חבֿר/חבֿרטע (1.1) - khaver/khaverte
פּנים (1.2) - ponem
אַ סך (1.3) - a sakh
לחײם (1.3) - lekhayim
הפֿסקה (2.1) - hafsoke
