View source for Lojban grammar examples

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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="2" valign="top" | "verb" forms
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a dunda<br />ko'a dunda ko'e<br />ko'a dunda ko'e ko'i'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He gives.<br />He gives it.<br />He, gives it to her.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a se dunda'''
| ''It is a gift.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a te dunda'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He is a recipient.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a ca dunda<br />ko'a pu dunda<br />ko'a ba dunda'''
| ''He now gives.<br />He gave.<br />He will give.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a pu pu dunda<br />ko'a ba pu dunda'''

| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He had given.<br />He will have given.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a ca ca'o dunda'''
| ''He is now giving.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a pu ca'o dunda'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He has been giving.''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
|- valign="top"
| Lojban grammar derives great flexibility and variety from manipulation of [[cmavo|tense particles]] that do much of its work. as demonstrated here, it is the particles that determine whether a predicate—a term of extralinguistic reference, such as '''dunda''' and '''bajra'''—is to serve in a given statement as a noun, verb, adjective or adverb, as in more familiar grammars. thus '''pu''' (''before''), '''ca''' (''now'') and '''ba''' (''after'') give the predicate '''dunda''' (''to give'') the function of a verb  (upper left)  and "conjugate" it through the future, present and past tense. compound forms of these operators yield the compound tenses. for example, '''pu pu''' (''before-before'') indicates the pluperfect tense. in such combinations they not only duplicate all of the familiar grammatical forms but go far beyond to express relationships that can be only clumsily approximated in the natural languages, as is indicated by the translation of the compound operator '''ba zi ze'u''' at center left. the flexibility of the system is suggested further by the transformations of '''dunda''' (in this table ''give'', ''giver'', ''gift'', ''generous'', ''generously'', ''generosity'', and so on) in accord with its association with operators and connectives or its place in a multiple predicate.
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | "adverb" forms
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a ro roi dunda<br />ko'a so'e roi dunda<br />ko'a so'o roi dunda'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''She always gives.<br />She usually gives.<br />She sometimes gives.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a pu zi dunda<br />ko'a pu zu dunda<br />ko'a ba zi dunda'''
| ''She recently gave.<br />She gave long ago.<br />She will soon give.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a vi dunda<br />ko'a va dunda<br />ko'a vu dunda'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''She gives here.<br />She gives there.<br />She gives over there.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a bu'u ro da dunda'''

| ''She gives everywhere (in all places).''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a ba zi ze'u vi dunda'''

| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''Soon she will be giving here for a long time.''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | negatives
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a na ku dunda<br />na ku da dunda<br />no ko'a dunda'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He doesn't give.<br />It is false that anyone gives.<br />None of them gives.''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | "noun" forms
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''lo prenu<br />lo vi prenu<br />lo va prenu'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''a person<br />this person<br />that person''
|- valign="top"
| '''lo ro prenu<br />lo so'e prenu<br />lo so'i prenu'''
| ''all people<br />most people<br />many people''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''no lo prenu<br />lo pa prenu<br />lo re prenu'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''none of the people<br />a person, one person<br />two people''
|- valign="top"
| '''ro lo ci prenu'''

| ''all of the three people''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | abstract "nouns"
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''lo nu dunda<br />lo nu bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''a/the giving<br />a/the run''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | "adjective" forms
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''lo laldo prenu<br />lo dunda prenu'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''an old person<br />a giving person''
|- valign="top"
| '''lo melbi verba zdani<br />lo verba melbi zdani'''
| ''a pretty-child home<br />a childishly pretty home''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''lo prenu poi laldo<br />lo prenu poi na'o dunda<br />lo prenu poi na'o dunda gi'e laldo'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''a person who is old<br />a person who is generous<br />a person who is generous and old''
|- valign="top"
| '''lo prenu poi dunda ko'e<br />lo prenu poi dunda ko'e ko'i'''
| ''a person who gives it<br />a person who gives it to him''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''lo laldo prenu poi pu dunda ci ko'e lo ze vi bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''the old person who gave three of them to these seven runners''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | identities
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a du la djon<br />ko'a du lo nanmu<br />ko'a du lo laldo nanmu poi pu dunda ci ko'e lo ze vi bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He is John.<br />He is the man.<br />He is the old man who gave 3 of them to these 7 runners.''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | compound forms
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a bajra gi'a cadzu<br />ko'a bajra gi'e cadzu'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He runs or walks.<br />He runs and walks.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a a ko'e bajra<br />ko'a e ko'e bajra'''
| ''He or she runs.<br />He and she run''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ko'a bajra i ja ko'e cadzu<br />ko'a bajra i je ko'e cadzu<br />ko'a cadzu i janai ko'e bajra<br />ko'a bajra i jo ko'e cadzu'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''He runs or she walks.<br />He runs and she walks.<br />If he runs then she walks.<br />He runs if and only if she walks''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a bajra ki'u lo nu ko'e cadzu<br />ko'a bajra tai lo nu ko'e cadzu'''
| ''He runs because she walks.<br />He runs like she walks.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ki'u lo nu ko'a cadzu vau ko'e bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''Because he walks, she runs.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ko'a bajra ca lo nu ko'e cadzu<br />ko'a bajra ba lo nu ko'e cadzu<br />ko'a bajra bu'u lo nu ko'e cadzu'''
| ''He runs when she walks.<br />He runs after she walks.<br />He runs where she walks.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ca lo nu ko'e cadzu vau ko'e bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''When she walks he runs.''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | universals
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''ro bajra cu cadzu<br />ko'a bajra ca ro nu ko'e cadzu<br />ko'a bajra bu'u ro nu ko'e cadzu<br />ro dunda cu dunda da'''

| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''Anyone who runs walks.<br />She runs whenever he walks.<br />She runs wherever he walks.<br />Everyone who gives gives something.''
|}
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{| class='wikitable' width=50%
! Colspan="3" valign="top" | attitudinal forms
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" |'''le'o ko'a bajra<br />ue ko'a bajra<br />oinai ko'a bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" |''What! She runs? [anger]<br />Well! So she runs. [surprise]<br />How nice that she runs! [pleasure]''
|- valign="top"
| '''xu ko'a bajra<br />ma bajra<br />bu'u ma ko'a bajra'''
| ''Does she run?<br />Who runs?<br />Where does she run?''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''je'u ko'a bajra<br />la'a ko'a bajra<br />ju'o cu'i ko'a bajra<br />je'u nai ko'a bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''Yes; she runs.<br />She probably runs.<br />Perhaps she runs.<br />No, she doesn't run.''
|- valign="top"
| '''ai mi bajra<br />au mi bajra<br />a'o mi bajra<br />e'u do bajra'''
| ''I'm going to run.<br />I want to run.<br />I hope to run.<br />I suggest you run.''
|- valign="top"
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | '''e'i mi bajra'''
| bgcolor="#ffefcc" width="50%" | ''I must run.''
|}
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