.g. _u'm wan_,
he does not come. It follows the sign of the future, e.g. _phi'n y'm
man_, you will not come. _Shym_ and _pat_ are neptive particles, and
are used with _negative verbs_ in the past tense, e.g. _u'm shymla
man_, he did not come.

_The use of the word "jing."_--One of the most striking features
of the language is the use of the word _jing_, which is employed to
create a verbal noun out of a verb: for instance, take the verb _bam_,
to eat; if we prefix _jing_ we have _jingbam_, food. _Bat_, to hold;
_jing-bat_, a handle. The use of the word _nong_ has already been
noticed under the heading "verbs." As an example of another common
prefix, it may again be mentioned here. Thus, _nong-ai-jingbam_ means
a table servant, literally one who gives food. Again, _nong-bat_,
a holder, literally, one who holds.

_Syntax_.--The order of words in the sentence is usually (1) subject,
(2) verb, and (3) object, in fact, the same as in English, and in this
respect it differs entirely from the order in the languages derived
from Sanskrit, and that of the languages of the Thibeto-Burman group,
as far as I have been able to ascertain. For instance, in the Kachari
or Boro language the order in the sentence is (1) subject, (2) object,
(3) verb. In Khasi when emphasis is needed, however, the object
occasionally precedes the berb, e.g. _ia u soh u la die_, he has
sold the fruit, literally, the fruit he has sold. As stated before,
adjectives follow the nouns they qualify, e.g. _u lum bajyrong_,
a high mountain, literally, the hill that is high. Interrogative
adverbs may either precede or follow the verb, e.g. _naei phi wan_,
or _phi wan naei_, where do you come from?

No account of the Khasi language would be complete without some
reference to the adverbs which are so very numerous in Khasi. U
Nissor Singh, in his admirable little book of "Hints on the Study of
the Khasi Language," writes, "Adverbs are so numerous in the Khasi
language that I shall not attempt to enumerate them all in this small
book. Many of the adverbs, indeed, belong to the untranslatables
of the language. We are never in want of a specific term to express
the appropriate degree of any quality." To learn how to use the right
adverb at the right time is one of the niceties of the language. There
is a peculiarity about some of the adverbs of place which should
be mentioned: e.g. _Hangto_, there (within sight); _hangne_, here;
_hangta_, there (out of sight); _hang