tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 26 16:00:20 1998

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Before and After



: >>"The targ caught the ball, then ate it," would NOT be a good
: >>use of the word {vaj} as a conjunction.
: >>
: >>charghwI'
: >
: >How would you express doing A then later doing B?
: >
: >(When the targ had caught the ball, it ate it)
: >In this case how could you express doing A then B then C?
: >
: >qelayn
: 
: The targ caught the ball.  He ate it.
:                         ^      ^
:                         |       \
:                    [a period]    [second sentence]
: 
: Use two sentences and no [vaj]
: 
: DloraH

If you *insist* on stating the sequence of events in one sentence, it can be
done using -pa' or -DI':

  moQ SuqDI' targh, Sop.
  After the targ caught the ball, he ate it.  (or, "as soon as")

  moQ Soppa' targh, Suq.
  Before the targ ate the ball, he caught it.
 
I'm using Suq for "catch" for lack of a better word.  Also, adding a
perfective suffix to one or both of the verbs might fine-tune your meaning
even further. See, for example:

  'uQ wISoppu'DI' maja'chuq 
  We will talk after dinner.  (PK)

Here, "then" could have been added to the English ("When we've eaten dinner,
then we'll talk") even though there is no such word in Klingon.  Still,
DloraH's is the best (and simplest) approach.


Voragh






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