Ever and Never Tenses in Rukiga
Ever and Never Tenses
This page provides the basic details of the ever and never tenses in Rukiga relevant for a beginner. Throughout the page, we use verbs that start in the “ku-” form, the basic Rukiga verb form.
Rukiga uses different tenses to convey both the sense of “ever” but also “never”. You can think of the “ever” tense as the positive version to the “never” tense’ negative version, similar to how the English words are constructed.
The modified verb stem is used for the ever tense. More information can be found here.
Construction:
The basic formula to the ever tense is:
Subject Prefix (SP) + “ra” + Modified Verb Stem (MVS) (sometimes + “ho”)
The basic formula for the never tense is:
Negative Prefix (“Ti”) + Subject Prefix (SP) + “ka” +Verb Stem (VS) (sometimes + “ho”) + “ga”
– In Rukiga, usually both suffixes are used + “hoga”, while in Runyankore sometime only + “ga” is included. Also, in some dialects, + “gaho” is preferred over + “hoga”. It is important that this is remember by new learners as you engage a multitude of different Rukiga-Runyankore speakers.
Some examples:
(Relevant verbs are italicized)
“I have ever eaten fish but I have never tasted silver fish.”
Ndariire ekyenyanja kwonka tinkaryahoga mukene.
“I have never cooked cowpeas but I have ever eaten them”
Tinkateekagaho amashaza kwonka ndagariireho.
They have ever learnt languages but they have never learnt French
Bareegireho endimi kwonka tibakeegagaho rufaransa.
