Subordinate clauses
A whole sentence can be the object of a verb. Put it after a; nothing else changes.
I want you to come.
Eko ri vori a tu ri veni.I think this week will be easy.
Eko ri pensa a tis senseyan ri nonsorin.No extra marking is needed, because only one ri is allowed per clause. So a second one after a signals a subordinate clause.
Clauses chain
Each one binds to the verb directly on its left.
| Pikotika | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Eko ri tentar a impar a tu tikamoto. | I'm trying to learn your language. |
| Eko ri kusta a kitavite a piturmurkarta. | I like to read comic books. |
A clause runs to the end
It stops at the next a or at the end of the sentence — so anything else has to come before a, not after.
I ask the cook to make it not spicy.
Eko ri voritika ver komivakeomo a tis ri tiven non wosapor.The phrase naming the cook sits ahead of the clause, because once the clause opens there is no way back out of it.
The consequence: break the sentence to join on
For the same reason, a clause you mean to add with kum (and), sive (or) or sets (but) cannot just follow after a comma — it would be swallowed into the object clause. End the sentence with a period or semicolon, and open the next one with the joining word.
I hope I can find it, or else I'll have to buy a new one.
Eko ri vori a eko ri kan repetoma a tis; sive eko ri neses kompar a nova kosa.Written with a comma, that sive clause would be part of what is hoped for — ‘I hope that I can find it, or that I must buy a new one’ — which is not the meaning at all.
Try it yourself
- Ri tika a tempo ri moni.
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‘They say time is money.’
- Tu ri sape a rinekaro ri eksire in kerora, ker?
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‘Do you know when the train leaves?’ The question word sits inside the embedded clause, in the slot the answer would fill — nothing moves.
- Why can't ‘I want you to come, and I want him to eat’ be one sentence
with a comma?
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Because the kum half would be read as part of what you want. Break it: Eko ri vori a tu ri veni; kum eko ri vori a tisomo ri komi.