conjugation of the verb "to be"
in the present, past, and future tenses:--

Present. Past. Future.
Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural. Singular. Plural.

1 2 3 4 5 6
_Nga long_ _Ngi long_ _Nga la long_ _Ngi la long_ _Ngan long_ _Ngin long_
I am We are I was We were I shall be We shall be

_Me_ (mas.) or _Phi long_ _Me_ or _pha _Phi la long_ _Men_ or _phan _Phin long_
_pha_ (fem.) la long_ long_
_long_
Thou art Ye are Thou wast Ye were Thou shalt be You shall be

_U _(mas.) or _Ki long_ _U _or _ka _Ki la long_ _U'n_ or _ka'n _Kin long_
_ka_ (fem.) la long_ long_
_long_
He or she is They are He or she was They were He or she will They will be
be

The above simple tenses are made definite or emphatic by various
means. _La_, sign of the past, when added to _lah_, sign of the
potential, has the sense of the pluperfect, e.g. _nga la lah long_,
I had been. _Yn_ abbreviated into _'n_ emphasizes the future, the
particle _sa_ also indicates the future; _da_ is the usual sign
of the subjunctive mood, _lada, la, lymda, tad, ynda, ban, da_ are
other signs of this mood. The sign of the infinitive is _ba'n_. The
imperative is either (1) the simple root, or (2) the root compounded
with some word such as _to_.

_Participles_.--The present participle is formed by prefixing _ba_ to
the root, e.g. _ba long_, being. The imperfect participle is formed
by prefixing such words as _ba u, ka da, da kaba_, &c. The perfect
participle is formed by putting such particles as _ba la, haba la,
da kaba la_ before the verb. Verbal nouns of agency are formed by
prefixing _nong_ to the root, e.g. _u nong knia_ (the sacrificer). The
_Passive Voice_ is formed by using the verb impersonally, and putting
the subject into the Accusative case with _ia_.

_Potentiality_ is indicated by the verb _lah_, necessity by the verb
_dei; dang_ and _da_ show the indefinite present.

The _negative_ is indicated by the particles _ym_, contracted into _'m,
shym_, and _pat_. _Ym_ is put before the verb, e.g. _'ym don briew_
= there is no one; with a pronoun it is contracted, e