Verb Conjugation: Irrealis Mood

INTRODUCTION

Imagine if the whole world was a lie and for once, think that the world is being run by lizard people. I mean, there might be some truth to that statement, but for all purposes, which I am definitely not being forced upon telepathically by lizard people to say, who do not definitely exist, there are certain things that may not be truths, or known when it exactly happened. So far, we have seen how verbs work in realis mood i.e. indicative, declarative and so on. However, what if we want to express irrealis-ly? But first, what is realis/irrealis mood?

Realis moods are moods that are used when you want to show a statement is a fact. In other words, the event might be current, or planned to occur, or happened as a matter-of-fact. With realis moods, you know that the event occured or occurs definitely at some time, or that it is real. Now, with irrealis moods, you don’t know if the event happened or will happen. The event is unreal (irreal?). Thus, we can now say that irrealis moods are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened at the moment the speaker is talking. They are used to describe wishes, doubts, possibilities, hopes etc. I didn’t totally copy that from Wikipedia, mind you.

Thus, this is the difference between “Had you been a bit smarter…” (irrealis) and “You are smarter than me” (realis). There are three irrealis moods in Nepali:

• Possibilitative mood
• Imperative mood
• Optative mood

For example, statements below in English all denote actions whose mood can be described with the irrealis (verbs in italics):

• John may eat the cake.
• Mary, go to an adventure!
• May the force be with you.

What do they describe? Carry on!

VOCABULARY

EXTRACTING THE ROOT OF THE VERB

We first get the lemma, or the basic form of the verb. Now, we simply remove the -नु (-nu) from the verb to obtain the root of the verb. For example:

Root ending in a vowel sound | खानु (khānu) > खा (khā) | to eat

Root ending in a consonant sound | रोक्नु (roknu) > रोक् (rok) | to stop

EXCEPTIONS

The verb हुनु (hunu) or ‘to be’ in Nepali is irregular and thus does not follow the conjugation rules given below. Thus, you should not try to attempt conjugating this verb.

POSSIBILITATIVE MOOD

The possibilitative mood describes actions that the speaker may have doubt whether it occurs or not. In simplest terms, it is used to denote the possibility, uncertainty or chance of an event occurring, or a state that may or may not exist. In Nepali, it is called सम्भावनार्थ (sambhāwanārtha). For example in English, a statement in the possibilitative mood would be:

John might eat the cake.

The possibilitative mood can also be used to indicate a request to do something, especially with second person pronouns. This is seen as a less direct (or gentler) alternative to the imperative mood.

Steps

1. If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. Example: आउ (āu) > आ (ā). If the root is polysyllabic (i.e. has more than one syllable) and ends in an –a or an –i sound, e.g. बिर्स (birsa), discard that sound as well. E.g. बिर्स (birsa) > बिर्स् (birs). These types of roots need additional sound modifications depending on the subject as well, thus they will be marked by double asterisks (**). If the root ends in a consonant or syllable sound other than -a or -i, skip this step.
2. Add the required ending to the modified root obtained in step 3 depending on the grammatical person. Remember that the consonant will take on a diacritic while taking up the vowel sound.

I: म (ma), add उँला (u~lā) if masculine or उँली (u~lī) if feminine

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + उँला (u~lā) = रोकुँला (roku~lā)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + उँला (u~lā) = खाउँला (khāu~lā)
आउनु (āunu) | आ (ā) + उँला (u~lā) = आउँला (āu~lā)

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + उँली (u~lī) = रोकुँली (roku~lī)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + उँली (u~lī) = खाउँली (khāu~lī)
आउनु (āunu) | आ (ā) + उँली (u~lī) = आउँली (āu~lī)

Note | First person feminine forms are rarely used in speech.

For roots that end with an –a or –i sound, add औँला (au~lā) if masculine or औँली (au~lī) if feminine instead.

**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + औँला (āu~lā) = बिर्सौँला (birsau~lā)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + औँली (au~lī) = बिर्सौँली (birsau~lī)

Note | The reason why this happens is due to a complex system of sound merger rules called sandhi. In this case, the vowel “a” merged with “u” to create “au”. Just for reference, the form for सम्झिनु (samjhinu) would be सम्झौँला (samjhau~lā). I will not bother you with the details, as frankly it is not necessary to know.

We: हामी (hāmī), add औँला (au~lā)

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + औँला (au~lā) = रोकौँला (rokau~lā)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + औँला (au~lā) = खाऔँला (khāau~lā)
बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + औँला (au~lā) = बिर्सौँला (birsau~lā)

You_[lr]: तँ (ta~), add लास् (lās) if masculine or लिस् (lis) if feminine

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + लास् (lās) = रोक्लास् (roklās)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + लास् (lās) = खालास् (khālās)

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + लिस् (lis) = रोक्लिस् (roklis)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + लिस् (lis) = खालिस् (khālis)

For roots that end with an –a or –i sound, add एलास् (elās) if masculine or एलिस् (elis) if feminine instead.

**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एलास् (elās) = बिर्सेलास् (birselās)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एलिस् (elis) = बिर्सेलिस् (birselis)

Note | Third person singular feminine forms are rarely used in speech.

You_[mr]: तिमी (timī), add औला (aula)

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + औला (aulā) = रोकौला (rokaulā)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + औला (aulā) = खाऔला (khāaulā)
बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + औला (aulā) = बिर्सौला (birsaulā)

He: ऊ (ū), add ला (lā)

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + ला (lā) = रोक्ला (roklā)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + ला (lā) = खाला (khālā)

For roots that end with an –a or –i sound, add एला (elā) instead.

**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एला (elā) = बिर्सेला (birselā)

She: ऊ (ū), add ली (lī)

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + ली (lī) = रोक्ली (roklī)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + ली (lī) = खाली (khālī)

For roots that end with an –a or –i sound, add एली (elī) instead.

**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एली (elī) = बिर्सेली (birselī)

He_[mr]/She_[mr]/They_[mr]: उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add लान् (lān) if masculine or लिन् (lin) if feminine

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + लान् (lān) = रोक्लान् (roklān) 
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + लान् (lān) = खालान् (khālān) 

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक् (rok) + लिन् (lin) = रोक्लिन् (roklin)
खानु (khānu) | खा (khā) + लिन् (lin) = खालिन् (khālin)

For roots that end with an –a or –i sound, add एलान् (elān) if masculine or एलिन् (elin) if feminine instead.

**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एलान् (elān) = बिर्सेलान् (birselān)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्स् (birs) + एलिन् (elin) = बिर्सेलिन् (birselin)

You_[hr]/He_[hr]/She_[hr]/They_[hr]: तपाईँ (tapāī~) and उहाँ (uhā~), leave the basic form intact and add होला (holā) [EXCEPTION] 

रोक्नु (roknu) | रोक्नु (roknu) + होला (holā) = रोक्नुहोला (roknuholā)
खानु (khānu) | खानु (khānu) + होला (holā) = खानुहोला (khānuholā)
बिर्सनु (birsanu) | बिर्सनु (birsanu) + होला (holā) = बिर्सनुहोला (birsanuholā)

Note | Due to the nasal nature of some of the conjugations, you will often hear the nasalized consonant replaced with an म् (m) sound. For example, रोकौँला (rokau~lā) would be pronounced more like रोकौम्ला (rokaumlā).

An example conjugation chart for रोक्नु (roknu) for the present indefinite:

IMPERATIVE MOOD

The imperative mood is a mood that forms a command or a request. In Nepali, it is called आज्ञार्थ (ājñārtha) [remember that jñ is pronounced as gy (hard g + y)]. For example in English, a statement in the imperative mood would be:

John, (you) eat the cake! [the subject ‘you’ is omitted in English]

Steps

1. If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. Example: आउ(āu) > आ (ā). If the root has more than one syllable and ends in either an अ (-a) or इ (-i) sound [e.g. बिर्सनु (birsanu), सम्झिनु (samjhinu)], these are exceptions and will follow a different conjugation method (marked with double asterisks [**]). However, these both share the same conjugation so I’ll only be elaborating it with बिर्सनु (birsanu).
2. Add the required suffix (or ending) to the modified root obtained in step 1. depending on the grammatical person. Remember that adding a vowel to a consonant sound creates a syllable. Example: न् (n) + ए (e) = ने (ne)

We: हामी (hāmī), add उँ (um̐) if the root is monosyllabic or औँ (aum̐lā) if else

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + औँ (aum̐) = रोकौँ (rokaum̐)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + उँ (um̐) = खाउँ (khāum̐)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्स् (birs) + [अ (a) + औँ (aum̐)] = बिर्स् (birs) + औँ (aum̐) = बिर्सौँ (birsaum̐)

Here, a + au still creates an au.

You (low respect): तँ (tam̐), leave the root intact, or if the root ends in an -a or -i vowel sound, convert it into -ī

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) 
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) 
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्स (birsa) = बिर्सी (birsī)

There are a bunch of others that have different forms. You should memorize these:

आउनु (āunu) /to come/ = आईज (āīja)
लिनु (linu) /to take/ = ले (le) / ली (lī)
दिनु (dinu) /to give/ = दे (de)
पिउनु (piunu) /to drink/ = पिई (pi`ī)

You (medium respect): तिमी (timī), add अ (a) if the root ends in a constant, otherwise add ऊ (ū)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + अ (a) = रोक (roka)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ऊ (ū) = खाऊ (khāū)
आउनु (āunu) = आ (ā) + ऊ (ū) = आऊ (āū)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्स (birsa) +  अ (a) = बिर्स (birsa)

Here, a + a still creates an a. For roots ending in -i, replace it with -a as well.

You (high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐), leave the basic form intact and add होस् (hos) [EXCEPTION]

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + होस् (hos) = रोक्नुहोस् (roknuhos)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + होस् (hos) = खानुहोस् (khānuhos)
बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्सनु (birsanu) + होस् (hos) = बिर्सनुहोस् (birsanuhos)

OPTATIVE MOOD

The optative mood is a mood that indicates a wish or a hope. This may be wishes, blessings, curses, requests etc. These are not statements or questions, but rather expressions of hope that something may happen. In Nepali, it is called इच्छार्थ (icchārtha). For example in English, statements in the optative mood would be:
May John eat the cake.
God bless you.
May you live a long life.
If only you stop…

Steps

1. If the root ends in a single vowel sound, remove it. Example: आउ(āu) > आ (ā). If the root has more than one syllable and ends in either an अ (-a) or इ (-i) sound [e.g. बिर्सनु (birsanu), सम्झिनु (samjhinu)], these are exceptions and will follow a different conjugation method (marked with double asterisks [**]). However, these both share the same conjugation so I’ll only be elaborating it with बिर्सनु (birsanu).
2. Add the required suffix (or ending) to the modified root obtained in step 1. depending on the grammatical person. Remember that adding a vowel to a consonant sound creates a syllable. Example: न् (n) + ए (e) = ने (ne)

I: म (ma), add ऊँ (ūm̐) 

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + ऊँ (ūm̐) = रोकूँ (rokūm̐)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ऊँ (ūm̐) = खाऊँ (khāūm̐)
आउनु (āunu) = आ (ā) + ऊँ (ūm̐) = आऊँ (āūm̐)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्स (birsa) = बिर्स् (birs) + ऊँ (ūm̐) = बिर्सूँ (birsūm̐)

Here, the vowel (either a or i) is discarded from the root and then conjugated normally.

We: हामी (hāmī), add औँला (aum̐lā)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + औँला (aum̐lā) = रोकौँला (rokaum̐lā)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + औँला (aum̐lā) = खाऔँला (khā`aum̐lā)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) =  बिर्स् (birs) + [अ (a) + औँला (aum̐lā)] = बिर्स् (birs) + औँला (aum̐lā) = बिर्सौँला (birsaum̐lā)

Here, a + au still creates an au.

You (low respect): तँ (tam̐), add एस् (es)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + एस् (es) = रोकेस् (rokes)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + एस् (es) = खाएस् (khāes)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) =  बिर्स् (birs) + [अ (a) + एस् (es)] = बिर्स् (birs) + एस् (es) = बिर्सेस् (birses)

Here, the a sound is turned into an e sound.

You (medium respect): तिमी (timī), add ए (e)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + ए (e) = रोके (roke)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ए (e) = खाए (khā`e)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) =  बिर्स् (birs) + [अ (a) + औला (aulā)] = बिर्स् (birs) + औला (aulā) = बिर्सौला (birsaulā)

Here, a + au still creates an au.

He/She (neutral respect): ऊ (ū), add ओस् (os)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + ओस् (os) = रोकोस् (rokos)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ओस् (os) = खाओस् (khā`os)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्स् (birs) + [अ (a) + ओस् (os)] = बिर्स् (birs) + ओस् (os) = बिर्सोस् (birsos)

Here, a + o still creates an o.

He/She/They (medium respect): उनी (unī) and उनीहरू (unī-harū), add ऊन् (ūn)

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक् (rok) + ऊन् (ūn) = रोकून् (rokūn)
खानु (khānu) = खा (khā) + ऊन् (ūn) = खाऊन् (khā`ūn)
**बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्स् (birs) + [अ (a) + ऊन् (ūn)] = बिर्स् (birs) + ऊन् (ūn) = बिर्सून् (birsūn)

Here, a + ū still creates an ū.

You/He/She/They (high respect): तपाईँ (tapāīm̐) and उहाँ (uhām̐), leave the basic form intact and add होओस् (ho`os) [EXCEPTION]

रोक्नु (roknu) = रोक्नु (roknu) + होओस् (ho`os) = रोक्नुहोओस् (roknuho`os)
खानु (khānu) = खानु (khānu) + होओस् (ho`os) = खानुहोओस् (khānuho`os)
बिर्सनु (birsanu) = बिर्सनु (birsanu) + होओस् (ho`os) = बिर्सनुहोओस् (birsanuho`os)

SUMMARY

• Irrealis Moods are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened at the moment the speaker is talking. 
• There are three main moods: Possibilitative, Imperative and Optative
• The possibilitative mood describes actions that the speaker may have doubt whether it occurs or not
• The imperative mood is a mood that forms a command or a request
• The optative mood is a mood that indicates a wish or a hope
• The root can be extracted by removing the –nu from the lemma
• To this root, we add various suffixes according to the grammatical person.
• The high respect form are exceptions as in, they do not usually follow the standard method.
• There are several exceptions as has been noted individually.

EXERCISES