Tongan verb conjugation

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In Tongan verbs do not change their own form when conjugated. Each verb has only one form*. Thus, to show the tense we have to put a specific word, called a “tense marker� or “tense sign� before the verb. Then goes the pronominal pronoun and then the verb. Here’s the conjugation of the verb “tala� (to tell):

	Present	Past	Perfect	Future
1st pers. Sing.	‘oku ou tala	na‘á ku tala	kuó u tala	te u tala
2d pers. Sing.	‘okú ke tala	na‘á ke tala	kuó ke tala	te ke tala
3d pers. Sing.	‘okú ne tala	na‘á ne tala	kuó ne tala	te ne tala
1st pers. Pl. incl.	‘oku tau tala	na‘a tau tala	kuo tau tala	te tau tala
1st pers. Pl. excl.	‘oku mau tala	na‘a mau tala	kuo mau tala	te mau tala
1st pers. Dual incl.	‘okú ta tala	na‘á ta tala	kuó ta tala	te ta tala
1st pers. Dual excl.	‘okú ma tala	na‘á ma tala	kuó ma tala	te ma tala
2d pers. Pl.	‘oku mou tala	na‘a mou tala	kuo mou tala	te mou tala
2d pers. Dual	‘okú mo tala	na‘á mo tala	kuó mo tala	te mo tala
3d pers. Pl.	‘oku nau tala	na‘a nau tala	kuo nau tala	te nau tala
3d pers. Dual	‘okú na tala	na‘á na tala	kuó na tala	te na tala

• There are some verbs that have two forms. One for the singular persons and one for dual and plural. They are:
  

‘alu (sing.), Å? (pl. and dual) - to go

ha‘u (sing.), Å? mai (pl. and dual) - to come

tokoto (sing.), tÄ?koto (pl. and dual) - to lie down

nofo (sing.), nofo or nonofo (pl.and dual) - to stay, to reside

kai (sing.), kai or keinanga (pl.and dual) - to eat

tu'u (sing.), tu'u or tutu'u (pl. and dual) - to stand

tupu (sing.), tupu or tutupu (pl.and dual) - to grow

kata (sing.), kata or kakata (pl. and dual) - to laugh

pekia (sing.), pekia or pēkikia (pl. and dual) - to die

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