1. The verb 'to be': asonk -- Present

Just like in other languages, in Konkani there are regular and irregular verbs. As a rule, the most commonly used verbs tend to be irregular. My intention is to fully cover only the most fundamental verb, i.e., the verb to be or asonk. All other irregular verbs will then be treated together in one go under the heading, “Other Irregular Verbs” and will be individually covered as part of the vocabulary. Finally, we shall deal with the regular verbs under their respective conjugations.

The Portuguese language has left its footprints on Konkani, some of which have been deeply embossed and embedded into the framework of our language. One of these is verb number one: to be. If you are familiar with Portuguese or Spanish you are certainly aware of the two verbs that stand for ‘to be‘: estar and ser. The verb estar is used the location and other temporary features of persons or things , whereas the verb ser is used to denote their essential or permanent properties. For instance, when you ask someone, “how are you”, i.e., about the state of his health which can change from time to time, you use the verb estar. On the other hand, when you ask a person who he is, i.e., his name, you would use the verb ser.

We follow a similar practice in Konkani. And the reason why I feel that this has been influenced by close coexistence with Portuguese is that such is not exactly the case in Marathi. The Konkani verb that corresponds to estar is asonk.

What about the corresponding Konkani verb for ser then? In days gone by, Catholic preachers used to convey the sense of ser with the verb vortonk, which is never used today even by the old time preachers. Instead, in formal speech some use another form, zaun asonk, which is a compounded verb. In normal parlance, however, the verb is just dropped, specially when it is used in the present and often in other tenses as well. For instance, if you want to ask, “Who are you?”, you just drop the verb and ask, “Tum konn?” which is equivalent to “You who?” I would like to add here, that although the verb can be dropped in Marathi as well, it can however be used in Marathi, while it just cannot be used in Konkani. Thus even though in Marathi one would say, “तू कोणॽ”, one could instead say, “तू कोण आहेसॽ”, and it would still be correct. But if you say that in Konkani, “Tum konn ahai?”, it would certainly be wrong.

Let us then start with the simple present of asonk:

Affirmative

S i n g u l a r P l u r a l Written/formal Spoken Written/formal Spoken Hanv asam = I am Hanv aham Ami asanv = We are Ami ahanv = We are Tum asai = You (s.) are Tum ahai Tumi asat = You (pl.) are Tumi ahat To, ti, tem asa = We are To, ti, tem aha Te, teô, tim asat = They are Te, teô, tim ahat

Negative