10: Verbs: Simple - Perfective

The vast majority of Ge’ez verbs are triliteral i.e. they have three root letters and a fair amount are quadriliteral i.e. they have four root letters. A small minority of verbs has two or five root letters. All verbs fall into three broad categories or stems. The best way to think of these stems is as vowel templates in which the root-letters are fixed. Unlike other Semitic languages, these stems in Ge'ez are not derivative from each other i.e. most roots appear in only one stem.

The majority of verbs appear in the simple stem or the basic stem [B-stem], which correlates with the G-stem in Aramaic (קטל); the Pa'al in Hebrew (פעל) and Form-I in Arabic (فعل).

«The Perfective = The Past Tense»

With three letter roots (R¹R²R³) the Simple stem has two slight variations in the perfective aspect. The perfective aspect denotes completed actions i.e. usually it correlates to what we would think of as the past tense.

R¹eR²eR³e – usually used for action verbs e.g. ሐነጸ (ḥeneşe = to build)

R¹eR²R³e – usually used for stative verbs e.g. ፈርሀ (ferhe = to be afraid)

There are many exceptions to these generalizations, and for the most part in classical Ge'ez the difference in meaning of these two variations has become blurred. In any case, this difference in form is slight and is only even noticeable in the 3^rd person perfective forms. Here are the conjugation charts:

ሐነጸ [ḥeneşe = to build] – B-stem¹, Perfective:

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
1st Person	ሐነጽኩ	ḥeneşku			ሐነጽነ	ḥeneşne
2nd Person	ሐነጽከ	ḥeneşke (m.)			ሐነጽክሙ	ḥeneşkəmu (m.)
	ሐነጽኪ	ḥeneşki (f.)			ሐነጽክን	ḥeneşkən (f.)
3rd Person	ሐነጸ	ḥeneşe(m.)			ሐነጹ	ḥeneşu (m.)
	ሐነጸት	ḥeneşet(f.)			ሐነጻ	ḥeneşa (f.)

ገብረ [gebre = to do] – B-stem², Perfective:

	SINGULAR			PLURAL
1st Person	ገበርኩ	geberku			ገበርነ	geberne
2nd Person	ገበርከ	geberke (m.)			ገበርክሙ	geberkəmu (m.)
	ገበርኪ	geberki (f.)			ገበርክን	geberkən (f.)
3rd Person	ገብረ	gebre(m.)			ገብሩ	gebru (m.)
	ገብረት	gebret(f.)			ገብራ	gebra (f.)

Here’s a list of some common B-stem verbs for you to get started with. From now on, I’ll put [B] next to new verbs that occur in this stem.

ነበረ	nebere	to live, to sit, to remain	ነበርኩ፡በዛሀገር። I lived in this city.
ሐነጸ	ḥeneşe	to build, to construct	ሐነጸ፡ንጉሥ The king built…
ወረደ	werede	to descend, to go down	ወረደ፡እምዲበ፡ድብር። He came down from on the mountain.
ረከበ	rekebe	to find, to acquire	ረከብኪ You [f.] found…
ሰበከ	sebeke	to preach	ሰበክነ፡በዋንጌል። We preached the Gospel.
ጸሐፈ	şeḥefe	to write, to compose	ጸሐፈ፡ጸሓፌ፡ንጉሥ The king’s scribe wrote…
ኅለፈ	xelefe	to pass	ኀለፍኩ፡ምስለ፡ሀገር። I passed through the town.
ሰአለ	se’ele	to ask, to inquire	ሰእሉ: ሊቃነ፡ሀገር The elders of the city asked…
ገብረ	gebre	to do, to act, to create	ገብረ፡እግዚአብሔር God created…
በጽሐ	beşḥe	to arrive	በጽሓ They [f.] arrived…
ወፅዐ	weðºe	to depart	ወፅዑ፡ካህናት። The priests derparted.
መርሐ	merḥe	to guide, to lead	መረሕክሙ You all [m.] guided…
መጽአ	meş’e	to come	መጽአነ፡እምዛሀገር። We came from this city.
ሖረ	ḥore	to go	ሖሩ፡ወሉደ፡ንግሥት፡ለሀገር። The queen’s son went to the city.
ረእየ	re’ye	to see	ረእየ፡ብእሲ The man saw…
ሰምዐ	semºe	to hear	ሰምዐት፡ብእሲት The woman heard…
ኮነ	kone	to become	ኮነ፡ካህን The priest became…
ሞተ	mote	to die	ሞተት፡ንግሥት። The queen died.