Apprendre Tamazight Kabyle

Kabyle does not know tenses like English. It uses aspects which indicate whether the action is completed, ongoing / habitual, or to come. This is the most important system of the Kabyle verb.

4.1. The three main aspects

Aspect	Meaning	Example (aru = to write)
Perfective	Completed action	yura — he wrote
Imperfective	Ongoing / habitual action	yettaru — he writes
Future	Action to come	ad yaru — he will write

4.2. The verb "aru" (to write)

Conjugation of the verb aru (to write) in the three aspects

Pronom	Accompli	Inaccompli	Futur
nekk	uriɣ	ttaruɣ	ad aruɣ
kečč	turiḍ	tettaruḍ	ad taruḍ
kem	turiḍ	tettaruḍ	ad taruḍ
netta	yura	yettaru	ad yaru
nettat	tura	tettaru	ad taru
nekni	nura	nettaru	ad naru
kunwi	turim	tettarum	ad tarum
nutni	uran	ttaran	ad arun

4.3. Key takeaways

Perfective: a u often appears just before the last consonant (y-u-ra).
Imperfective: the central consonant is doubled (y-tt-aru).
Future: we add the particle ad before the perfective, but the final vowel changes (yura → ad yaru).
The person is marked on the verb. The pronoun (nekk, kečč…) only serves to insist.

4.4. In context

Yura.

|He wrote.

Yettaru.

|He writes / he writes habitually.

Ad yaru.

|He will write.

4. Verbs: The Aspects

4.1. The three main aspects

4.2. The verb "aru" (to write)

4.3. Key takeaways

4.4. In context

Practice

Practice exercises