We already know the way to talk about things that happened in the past using the past
of the verb to do / make (ren), or in the case of the irregular verbs with their
own individual past tenses.
Ren mee fakin baatey - I did see a boat (I saw a boat)
Honnick mee baatey - I saw a boat
not to be confused with Va mee fakin baatey - I was seeing a boat
Ren and Va can be used with almost any verb, however as with the irregular verbs,
the regular verbs also have a true past form of their own. You will often hear people
using them in conversation, so it is worth learning the simple rules to convert a
normal verb (e.g. Troggal) into its past tense (Hrogg).
Find the Root
The root of a regular verb can be found by taking the normal present form of the verb
and removing the ending. The ending may be any one of;
al, ail, ey, agh, aghey
or there may be no removeable ending at all (e.g. cloie). Another good way of checking
the root of the verb is to look at Cregeen's dictionary. You will often find the
root of a verb marked near the present tense form of the verb with an asterisk.
Once you have found the root, it is mutated in the normal way as follows.
t,th -> h b,m -> v qu -> wh g -> gh
s,sh -> h bw,mw -> w g -> yi f ->
ch -> h p -> ph c,k -> ch
Initial vowels are prefixed with a 'd' or 'j'. Where the original verb had an -agh
or -aghey ending add -ee to the root.
Present Root Past
e.g.
Troggal Trogg Hrogg Hrogg mee - I built
Jeigh Jeigh Yeigh Yeigh shin - We shut
Baghey Bagh Vagh Vagh eh - He lived
Roie Roie Roie Roie ee - She ran
Faagail Faag Daag Daag ee - She left
Cloie Cloie Chloie Chloie shin - We played
Drappal Drapp Ghrapp Ghrapp ee - She climbed
Eeastagh Eeastee Deeastee Deeastee ad - They fished
Obbraghey Obbree Dobbree Dobbree shiu - You worked
Kionnaghey Kionnee Chionnee Chionnee mee - I bought
Note that to ask if something happened in the past the form of the verb is the same
as when making a statement. Simply use the intonation of the voice.
Hrogg mee - I built Cha hrogg mee - I did not build
Hrogg mee ? - Did I build ? Nagh hrogg mee ? - Didn't I build?
Now translate these examples into Manx without using
Ren
(if possible).
1 He built his house.
2 My dog did not run in the house.
3 Did the boys play in his boat ? Yes.
4 Did the little horse work today ? Yes.
5 Didn't you climb those trees ? No.
6 They didn't make the cheese on Thursday. Didn't they ?
7 You didn't shut your window.
8 We didn't fish is this river.
9 They didn't live in that town.
10 You didn't buy that boat at all.
11 He didn't shut the door again.
12 Didn't you build your house ? No.
13 We bought this dog yesterday.
14 We climbed up that hill.
15 They ran home from the school.
16 He lived with his mother in Douglas.
17 She left her father on the boat.
18 We didn't build the castle in a day.
19 Didn't you shut the door last night ?
20 We bought three little trees in Ramsey yesterday.
21 They played here on Tuesday.
22 I fished in the sea this morning.
23 I didn't work in my house this morning.
24 I saw the boat leaving Douglas.
25 You said that yesterday.
26 He took the book home with him.
27 You heard the story on Tuesday.
28 I was building the shop this morning.
29 Were you living in Castletown last week ?
30 We were playing on the boat.