Karthassa - doing

In Konkani, the present tense is used to describe actions happening right now, habitual actions, or things that are generally true. It's straightforward, and the system is easy to grasp for speakers who are familiar with other languages that use similar structures, such as Hindi or English.

The key here is the suffix -assa. When you add -assa to the verb stem, it indicates an ongoing or habitual action in the present. For example, the verb stem kartha gets the suffix -assa and the conjugated form reads karthassa.

This -assa is more than just a simple suffix — it's tied to the idea of existence, showing that the action is happening in the present as part of the ongoing reality, just like the verb "to be" is used in English to show something’s state of being.

  1. Haav Karthassa (hahv kar-thus-suh) - I am doing

    Haav (hahv) = I

  2. Tho Vathassa (tho vuh-thus-suh) - He is going

    Tho (tho) = He

  3. Thi Yethassa (thi yay-thus-suh) - She is coming

    Thi (thi) = She

  4. Tuv Kathassa (thoov kah-thus-suh) - You are eating

    Tuv (thoov) = You

  5. Te Pithassa (the pi-thus-suh) - It is drinking

    Te (the) = It

Note: In informal Romanized Konkani, the suffix -assa may be written as -asa for ease of typing, especially when texting. So, for example, Karthassa may be written as Karthasa, Vathassa as Vathasa, etc. This is a practical simplification and doesn't affect the pronunciation or meaning.

Kartha na - not doing

In Lesson 1 of this chapter you learnt that the opposite of assa is na. Existence = Assa and non-existence = Na. Similarly, Konkani has an easy way of conjugating the state of not doing a verb.

  1. Haav Kartha na (hahv kar-tha naa) - I am not doing

  2. Tho Vatha na (tho vuh-tha naa) - He is not going

  3. Thi Yetha na (thi yay-tha naa) - She is not coming

  4. Tuv Katha na (thoov kah-tha naa) - You are not eating

  5. Te Pitha na (the pi-tha naa) - It is not drinking