4.0 A map of the whole verb — what you'll be able to say

4 · Verbs — how the system works · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar

Before diving into the machinery, here's the destination. Take one verb — "to open" (root p-t-kh) — and watch it stretch across every tense and mood you'll actually use. Each row is a full section later on; this is just the tour so you can see where you're headed.

you want to say…	it looks like	when	more in
he opens	patekh	present, plain	Present tense
he's opening (right now)	beptakhele	happening this moment	The participles
he opens (every day)	ki-patekh	habit / general truth	The tense particles
he'll open	bet-patekh	future	The tense particles
he opened	ptekhle	plain past — your workhorse	Past tense
he used to open	patekhva	old habit	The tense particles
he has opened	ptikhele	done, result stands	The participles
he had opened it (then something else happened)	ptekhvale	the earlier event	The tense particles
it had been opened (that was the state)	ptikheva	the standing result	The participles
he may have opened	ave ptikha	guessing about the past	The participles
open!	ptukh	command	Commands
he doesn't / won't / isn't opening	la / le …	any negative	Making verbs negative
he opened it / saw me / gave it to me	ktilale, khezyenle, halle kati	objects on the verb	Object endings, then Objects in full
I have (a thing)	etli	"to have"	"There is" and "to have"

A few things to notice right away, before any tables:

It's the same verb the whole way down. Every form above is p-t-kh wearing a different outfit. Learn the outfits once and they fit every verb.
Two "cores" carry most of it: a present core (patekh-) and a past core (ptikh-). Present-ish meanings grow from the first, past-ish meanings from the second.
Small helper words do the fine-tuning: a ki- for habit, bet- for future, -va for "used to," la/le for "not." You bolt these onto the two cores.
You can hold a real conversation with just three rows: patekh (present), ptekhle (past), and bet-patekh (future). The rest — perfect, progressive, "used to" — are shades you can add later and mostly just need to recognize at first.

Now let's build it from the ground up.

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