Page:A Concise Grammar of the Malagasy Language.djvu/35



The verbal noun in -ana follows the same rules as the passive verbs in -ana.

The habitual nouns (f and p convey the idea of habituality) are verbal in form, meaning, and government. The habitual nouns of manner, or 'modal nouns,' are so-called because they say be used to express the mode of the action indicated by the verbs from which they are derived. They are usually preceded by a qualifying adjective (as, tsara-filàza, 'good as to the way of speaking,' having a good delivery); and also may denote the customary instrument, agent, or object.

Relative Noun.—f prefixed to a relative verb changes it into a relative noun; and as the meaning is still as wide