Page:Primary Lessons In Swatow Grammar.djvu/82

62 But, now, if I begin by saying chá-ji̍t uá khṳ̀-Suàⁿ-thâu &c. then the words chá-ji̍t show that I am speaking of what has already taken place, and therefore, the tenses are all past tenses, and the translation should be, Yesterday, I went to Swatow and bought some things, —when I had bought them I came back home and made ready to eat, and having eaten I went to sleep.

On the other hand, if I begin by saying, mùaⁿ-chá úa khṳ̀ Sùaⁿ-thâu &c, then the verbs are all to be understood as having a future tense signification. The translation of the words should be varied accordingly, and should be, ''To-morrow I will go to Swatow and buy some things. When I shall have bought them, I will come back home and make ready to eat, and when I have eaten I will go to sleep.''

III. By the aid of auxiliary particles. Their use is similar to that of the English auxiliaries may, can, shall, will, must, ought, &c. Some of these find their proper place before the verb; others follow it, and some may be used, though with varied meaning, either before or after. Some indicate future tense only, actual or relative, such as àiⁿ, chiang àiⁿ; others past tense only, actual or relative, as keng, íⁿ-keng, &c. Others may still be indefinite so as to require additional helps to clearness.

And here, attention must be called to a striking peculiarity of this great family of auxiliaries. Instead of contemplating primarily the time of an action, as we do in English, the Chinese are prone to consider the process of it. We state the time when, and from that we infer the action is either complete or incomplete. The Chinese consider the action as either complete or incomplete, and from that they infer the time when.

Thus, in the expression, I have eaten the orange, we first note the word “have,” and seeing that used, we infer that the eating process is completed. The Chinese note the fact of the eating being completed, and from that infer past tense. Practically, this amounts to the same thing in the end, only we approach the subject from different sides.

This peculiarity will account for the form of many of these auxiliaries. They indicate not so much, relations of time, as stages of a process. That process may be already past, or it may be in the future, and so the same auxiliaries are found doing service in