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Watch and read: regular verbs

Watch and / or read the explanation and examples on this part of Frisian grammar: regular verbs. Also: learn how to practice Frisian grammar.
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4.9
Conjugation of the regular verb in the present tense. Here you see some sentences with conjugated verbs, like “wenje” in “Ik wenje yn Ljouwert.” – “I live in Leeuwarden.” “Wurkje” in “Wy wurkje hjir.” – “We work here.” “Wurket” in “Sy wurket net.”– “She doesn’t work.” “Hâld” in “Ik hâld fan taal.”– “I like languages.” “Studearret” in “Sy studearret hjir.” – “She’s studying here.” You may already know some verbs, like these common ones. “Prate”, “to talk,” “sjonge”, “to sing,” “komme”, “to come,” “wurkje”, “to work,” “wenje”, “to live,” “studearje”, “to study.” As you can see, there are two categories of regular verbs in Frisian– the ones with an infinitive form ending in -e and the ones ending in -je.
78.5
How should we conjugate these verbs? We start with the infinitive form ending in -e. “Sjonge”. First, we remove the final -e, leaving us with the stem of the verb. Next we add the appropriate personal ending. Here we see the infinitive “sjonge”, “to sing,” and the stem is “sjong”. For the first singular person pronoun, we just leave it that way. For the second person, we add -st. So “ik sjong”, “do sjongst”. For the third person singular, we add a -t. “Hy sjongt, sy/se sjongt, it sjongt”. And now for the easy part– the plural forms. As you can see, we only use one form for all plural subjects. This is the stem plus -e, which in fact is simply just the infinitive.
140.2
When conjugating a verb, the pronoun “jo”, second person singular, formal– always takes the plural form. Now we move on to the infinitives ending in -je. How should we conjugate these verbs? We start with the infinitive form ending in “je.” “Wurkje”. Next, we remove the final “je,” leaving us with the stem of the verb. Then we add the appropriate personal ending. Here we see the infinitive “wurkje”, “to work.” And the stem is “wurk”. For the first singular person pronoun, we add “je,” which in fact is simply just the infinitive form. For the second person, we add -est. So “ik wurkje, do wurkest”. For the third person singular, we add -et. “Hy wurket, sy/se wurket, it wurket”.
207.7
And now for the easy part again– the plural forms. As you can see, we only use one form for all plural subjects. This is the stem plus -je, which in fact is simply just the infinitive.

Watch the video about regular verbs in Frisian and read the explanation below.

Conjugation of the regular verb in the present tense

There are two categories of regular verbs in Frisian, the ones with an infinitive form ending in -e and the ones ending in -je.

We start with the infinitive form ending in -e. In order to conjugate a verb, the endings are fixed to the stem of the verb. The stem can be found by removing the final -e.

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This content is taken from
University of Groningen online course,

Introduction to Frisian

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Singular

ik stem
do stem + st
hy-sy/se-it stem + t

For example: infinitive form: sjonge, the stem is: sjong.

Ik sjong
do sjongst
hy-sy/se-it sjongt

Plural

The plural has the same form as the infinitive.

For example: infinitive form: sjonge

wy/we sjonge
jim sjonge
sy/se sjonge

Now we move on to the infinitives ending on -je. Again, the endings are fixed to the stem of the verb. The stem can be found by removing the final -je.

Singular

ik stem + je
do stem + est
hy-sy/se-it stem + et

For example: infinitive form: wurkje, the stem is: wurk.

Ik wurkje
do wurkest
hy-sy/se-it wurket

Plural

The plural has the same form as the infinitive.

For example: infinitive form: wurkje

wy/we wurkje
jim wurkje
sy/se wurkje

When conjugating a verb, the pronoun jo (second person singular, formal) always takes the plural form: jo sjonge, jo wurkje.

Practise with Quizlet

Would you like to practise Frisian grammar? Please visit our grammar section on regular verbs on Quizlet (you might like to open this link in a new window).

Do you have any questions about Frisian grammar? Share your comments and questions in the discussion below.

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This content is taken from University of Groningen online course
Introduction to Frisian
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