Verbs

Verbs do not conjugate for person or number.

Present

The bare root is the ordinary present form.

ik timb — I build
han timb — he builds
de timb — they build

The bare root also follows governing verbs directly:

ik vil far — I want to go
han kan timb hus — he can build a house

Past

-de is the universal past-tense suffix.

• timbde — built
• farde — went
• zinde — saw
• komde — came
• sterfde — died / ceased functioning

There are no irregular past forms and no spelling-repair rules at the suffix boundary.

Present perfect

The present perfect uses:

hav + VERB-de

-de still marks the completed or past event. hav supplies the present connection.

ik hav skrivde — I have written
han hav komde — he has come
mashin hav sterfde — the machine has died / stopped functioning

This does not create a new participle form: the same regular -de form is used.

Future

skal + VERB marks the future.

ik skal timb hus — I will build a house

Copula

ett is the regular copula to be.

han ett timber — he is a builder
han ettde timber — he was a builder
han skal ett timber — he will be a builder

Explicit infinitive

at + VERB forms an explicit infinitive phrase when the verb itself is being treated abstractly or occupies a noun-like syntactic position.

at liv — to live
at sterf — to die

At liv ett at sterf.
To live is to die.

The marker is not inserted into ordinary verb chains and is not a general noun modifier.

ik liv — I live
ik vil far — I want to go

English noun + to-verb constructions are preferably expressed through native compounding when possible: makþingar rather than þingar at mak.

Verb chaining

A governed verb remains bare.

han skal kan timb hus
He will be able to build a house.

Literal English awkwardness is acceptable when the Nordsippisk structure is clear.