LESSON 75

Immediate Past

Vocabulary

inkuru - news	kubakara (ye) - sad, to suffer, be sorry
kubabara (ye) (or, amakuru) - to be angry	kuryama (mye) - to lie down, go to bed
kwitaba (bye) - to answer when called	gucucuma (mye) - to mash
gukora (ze) umugati - to make, knead bread

150. The immediate past tense is formed by the personal prefix + -ra- + the past stem, thus: a-ra-giye - he has gone (just now). The conjugation:

ndagiye - I have gone	turagiye - we have gone
uragiye - you have gone	muragiye - you have gone
aragiye - he, she has gone	baragiye - they have gone

Note: In appearance this is just like the stative, but this tense is normally used for action verbs, while the stative is for a state of being,

151. The use of this tense is to express that which has happened just now, or is about to happen in a moment. e.g. Aragiye - he has just now gone. Often it is used when he is just now doing it. You call a person and he answers, “Ndaje”, though he hasn’t started to move yet. He means, “I’m just coming”, though he says “I have come.”

152. In the negative of this tense and in dependent clauses the -ra- drops out. Usually if there is an object or phrase after the verb, the -ra- is dropped. e.g. Mbonye umwana - I’ve just seen the child.

Exercises: (Can you recognize in these exercises which verbs are stative and which are immediate past?)

I. Translate into English:

: 1. Twumvise inkuru nziza; turanezerewe kuzumva. 2. Wahamagaye Samweli? Yee, aritabye. 3. Umwigisha arahana umuhungu; ararakaye cyane. 4. So ari he? Araryamye mu nzu. 5. Umwana arwaye malaria; ararembye cyane. 6. Paulo, ngwino. Yee, ndaje. 7. Wumvise inkuru? Yee, Yohana araziimbgiye. 8. Umugati urahari? Yee, ndawukoze ubu. 9. Abasore bemeye gufasha kiwubaka ishuri. 10. Mushiki wanjye araje; arampamagaye.

II. Translate into Kinyarwanda:

: 1. I have just gone to bed because I am sick. 2. John’s father has heard bad news and he has gone (just now). 3. Did you call the names just now? Yes, all have answered. 4. The men went just now to begin their work. 5. The woman has a bad ulcer on her leg; she is suffering a lot (much). 6. It’s getting late, I can’t see well. Yes, I just lit a lamp. 7. What are the workmen doing? They’ve just gone home. 8. When will you make bread? I’ve just finished making it. 9. My mother is preparing tea; the water has just boiled. 10. This morning I saw that the floor was very dirty in your room. I know, but I just swept it.