Page:Adapting and Writing Language Lessons.pdf/283

CHAPTER 5 verb is not the same as the subject of the second. 40/ It is also used after a number of individual words, such as 'necessary' and  'it were better that...' 41/ The noncommittal tense is usually called the 'subjunctive.' It is in fact partly similar to the tenses that go by that name in some European languages. There are differences, however, the most important of which is that the Swahili 'noncommittal tense' is much easier to handle than a French or Spanish 'subjunctive.'

42/ Relative verbs are dependent also, but in a different way. They may be in any of several tenses (par. 29 ), and take the places normally occupied by verbs or adjectives. The characteristic affixes (except one) have the vowel --. 43/ In relative verbs that correspond to the a tense, the relative affix stands at the end of the word. 44/ In all other tenses, it stands between the tense prefix and the object prefix (if there is one). 45/ The future relative has the tense prefix -- instead of --. 46/ The present relative of the verb -- 'be' is irregular. The relative affix stands at the end, as for the tense (par. 43), and the stem is --instead of --. 47/ One-word relative forms exist in the affirmative only for the,  ,  , and  tenses, and in the negative only for the present. For the other tenses (and optionally for these also), relative constructions consist of - plus relative affix, followed by the non-relative verb.

48/ The form by which a Swahili verb is usually cited is called the infinitive. It begins with the prefix, and may have an object prefix, but no subject or tense prefixes. 49/ In its use, the infinitive resembles European 'infinitives,' but when it is used as a noun it takes its own special