3.2 The past copula — "was / were"

3 · The Copula — "am / is / are" (and "was / were") · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar

To move to the past, there's a matching set built on a -va ending:

person	form	meaning
1ms / 1fs	inva	I was
2ms / 2fs	itva	you were
2pl	itunva	you were
3ms / 3fs / 3pl	iva	he / she / they was/were
1pl	ikhva	we were

Notice the past collapses some distinctions the present keeps: the singular "I was" (inva) and "you were" (itva) no longer split by gender, and one form iva covers he/she/they.

Fused onto lakhkha the same way:

Assyrian	English
lakhkheva	he / she / they was here
lakhkhetva	you (m./f.) were here
lakhkhetunva	you (pl.) were here
lakhkhenva	I was here
lakhkhekhva	we were here

So the move from present to past is basically "add -va": lakhkhele "he is here" → lakhkheva "he was here."

Go deeper

Assyrian	English	from
bakhtu raba honanteva	his wife was very clever	A 3:57
e-dana raba kribenva	then I was very angry	A 2:28
khemmeva	it was hot	A 37:21

The copula said on its own, as iva, puts weight on the statement. Khan's example sets two facts side by side:

Assyrian	English	from
tre-menne iva men-Urmi, kha-menne iva men-Maragha	two of them were from Urmi; one of them was from Maragha	B 1:2

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