{"id":644,"date":"2019-12-23T15:16:58","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T21:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aprenderquechua.com\/?p=644"},"modified":"2020-03-23T14:09:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T20:09:12","slug":"verb-kay-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aprenderde.com\/quechua-cusco\/english\/grammar\/verb-kay-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammar 8: The verb ‘Kay’ (to be), the main Quechua verb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n
<<<<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Lessons<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
>>><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The verb Kay is probably the most important and most used verb of Quechua, as we saw in lesson 3, this verb can have several meanings (to be, to have) how to know what it means? It all depends on the context of the sentence and there are also fixed structures that will help you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most commonly, the verb ‘kay<\/span><\/strong>‘ means ‘to be<\/strong><\/span>‘.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can<\/span><\/strong> be used for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Describing someone or something, to indicate identity, qualities, defects, occupation, condition (I am Maria: Noqan kani Maria; you are a teacher: Yachachiq kanki)<\/li>
  • Showing that something exist.<\/li>
  • Giving a fact or your opinion about something.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    It can not<\/span><\/strong> be used for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

    • Showing where someone or something is.<\/li>
    • Showing how old is a person.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      It can<\/span><\/strong> be used as an auxiliary verb<\/strong> in the following situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • To form verbs in potential mode.<\/li>
      • To form verbs in mandatory mode.<\/li>
      • For being used with the past participle of other verbs to form the passive voice.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        It can not<\/span><\/strong> be used as an auxiliary verb<\/strong> in the following situations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        • For being used with the continous form of other verbs to describe actions that are or were still happening (I am doing, you were doing)<\/li>
        • For being used with other verbs to describe actions that will happen in the future (I am going to travel next week)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          The verb ‘to have<\/strong> [something]’ itself does not exist in Quechua, but there are 2 ways to express the possession of something, and in one of them the verb kay intervenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          The verb ‘to have<\/strong>‘ in Quechua is not used as in English, where, for example, it is used for the present perfect: ‘I have \u2026’, ‘you have \u2026’, etc., but we will talk about it in another lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. Conjugation of the verb Kay (to be)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n<\/ins>\n