Ask and Answer Questions
This unit gives you some more vocabulary to practice asking and answering questions.
Adjectives
Remember that Klingon does not have adjectives as a separate class of words; instead, it has verbs which mean things such as "be handsome", "be smart", or "be big". A sentence such as val torgh "Torg is smart" has the same grammar (verb + subject) as yaj torgh "Torg understands", even though one sentence has an adjective in English and the other an active verb.
However, sometimes in English we don't connect a verb to a subject using "is" – sometimes we use an adjective to directly modify a noun to create a noun phrase, like "a big ship". The Klingon verbs that describe states or conditions, like English adjective, can also be used in this kind of adjectival manner by placing the verb after the noun it is modifying or describing.
When such a verb is used after a noun, it acts like an attributive adjective: for example, from Duj "a ship" and tIn "big", we can make Duj tIn "a big ship", and from qach "a building" and 'IH "beautiful", we can make qach 'IH "a beautiful building".
This can't be interpreted as object + verb word order, because such verbs can't take an object — they cannot mean "it bigs the ship" or "it beautifuls the building".
Compare:
tIn Duj "the ship is big"
Duj tIn "the big ship"
'IH qach "the building is beautiful"
qach 'IH "the beautiful building"
Verbs vs. Nouns
As mentioned above, Klingon has no adjectives. All English adjectives are either verbs or nouns in Klingon. If they are verbs, to use them adjectivally, you place them after the noun they are describing. If they are nouns, you place them before the noun they are describing.
While practicing Klingon, you may get in the habit of placing the describing verb after the noun it is describing, especially since that continues the reversed order of words that we often see between English and Klingon. However, if you are using a noun to describe another noun, then it's acting a little more like a category that the main noun belongs to and can resemble a possessive construction.
In the English phrase "Klingon warrior", Klingon is acting adjectivally, but in Klingon it is only a noun, so it goes before the noun it is modifying: tlhIngan SuvwI'. Note that in this case, the order matches English. The noun phrase tlhIngan SuvwI' can be translated as "Klingon warrior", "the Klingon's warrior", "a warrior of the Klingons", etc.
Separating two sentences with "but"
In the previous skill you learned that sentences are combined by placing 'ej ("and") between the sentences. Sometimes you want to introduce a sentence that contrasts with the previous sentence, rather than combines with it. For Klingon, you can use the word 'ach ("but") for this purpose.
The word 'ach is placed between the sentences to show this contrast. For example, you can contrast "I run" (jIqet) with "you jump" (bISup) as "I run, but you jump" (jIqet 'ach bISup).
In communicating with Klingon speakers you will sometimes also see this as just 'a. This shorter version has exactly the same meaning and use with no other implications. The Duolingo course will accept either word, but will only ever show you the longer 'ach.
Vocabulary
Hegh – die (v)
vum – toil, work (v)
yIn – life (n)
