| PRESENT INDICATIVE. | |||
| I am, | ain in, or ain inen | We are, | ao, or aoia |
| Thou art, | aia | You are, | ae, or aeie |
| He is, | ahu | They are, | aehu |
| IMPERFECT. | PERFECT. | ||
| I was, | ain took | I have been, | ain hi |
| PLUPERFECT. | |||
| I had been, | ain tokem | ||
| FIRST FUTURE. | SECOND FUTURE. | ||
| I shall be, | in abenelem, or ain loiem | I shall have been, | ain lohi |
| IMPERATIVE. | |||
| Be, | a u ia | ||
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB XTALEM, TO LOVE.
| PRESENT INDICATIVE. | |||
| I love, | ain tzum chim xtalem | We love, | tzum ko xtalem o |
| Thou lovest, | tzum xtalem a | You love, | tzum che xtalem e |
| He loves, | tzum xtalem hu | They love, | tzum che xtalem hu |
| IMPERFECT. | |||
| I loved, | tzum tok chim xtalem | ||
| PERFECT. | |||
| I have loved, | ini xtalim, uni xtale, ma chim xtalim, | ||
| ma ni xtale, or ma uni xtale | |||
| PLUPERFECT. | |||
| I had loved, | ixtok chim xtalim | ||
| FIRST FUTURE. | |||
| I shall love, | uni xtalibetz, or ain chim xtalem | ||
| SECOND FUTURE. | |||
| I shall have loved, | ain lo in xtalem | ||
| IMPERATIVE. | |||
| Love thou, | ixtalin o ia | ||
| Let him love, | ixtalin o hu | ||
| Let us love, | ko ixtalin o | ||
| Love you, | ixtalin ke ie | ||
| Let them love, | ixtalin ke hu[XI'-7] | ||
Of the Quiché, there is an abundance of material. The letters used are;—a, b, c, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, t, u, v, x, y, z, tz, tch. Gender is expressed by prefixing the noun ixok, woman, to the word, as;—coh, lion; ixok coh, lioness; mun, slave; ixok mun, female slave. The sound ish expressed by the letter x denotes inferiority, and is therefore frequently used to express the feminine of inferior beings. U in the Quichè and ru in the Cakchiquel are either possessive pronouns or denote the possession of the word which follows. The particles re and ri are at times used for the same purpose;—u chuch ahpop, the mother of the prince; qui quoxtum tinanit, the ramparts of the town. Before the vowels a, o, and u, they are changed to c; and before e and i, to qu. Derivatives are formed with the preposition ah, either prefixed or affixed to the primitive noun;—car, fish; ahcar, the fisherman; tzih, word; ahtzih, the speaker; etc. No positive rule can be given for the formation of the plural, as there are several different methods in use. The most common appears to be by the affixes ab, eb, ib, ob, ub;—beom, merchant; plural, beomab; ixok, woman; plural, ixokib; ahau, lord; plural, ahauab. In the Cakchiquel language the last letter b is omitted, as;—ixokib, women, in Quiché, is ixoki in Cakchiquel. With adjectives the syllables ak, tak, ic, tic, etc., are used instead;—nim, great; nimak ha, great houses; rihi, old; rihitak vinak, old people; utz, good; utzic va, good eatables. Adjectives are always placed before the substantives;—zak, white; zaki ha, white house. Substantives are formed from adjectives by adding one of the particles, al, el, il, ol, ul;—nim, great; nimal, the greatness; zak, white; zakil, the whiteness; utz, good; utzil, the goodness. These same substantives can be turned into adjectives again by adding the particle ah;—nimalah mak, great sin; utzilah achi, good man. In the same manner all substantives may be turned into adjectives by adding one of the particles alah, elah, ilah, olah, ulah, etc.; ahau, king or lord; ahaualah, royal.
To express the comparative, the present participle of the verb iqou, to surpass, which is iqouinak, is used, and sometimes also the word yalacuhinak, from yalacuh, to exceed. For example;—nim, great, comparative, iqouinak chi nim, he who surpasses in greatness; iqouinak chi nim u hebeliquiil ka xokahau Gapoh maria chiqui vi conohel ixokib, (literally) surpasses in great beauty our Lady the Virgin Mary all other women. The superlative is expressed by the syllable maih, very great or much; nim, great or greatly; tih, xoo, quï, much; all of which are placed before the word and are followed by the syllable chi;—maih chi nim, very great; maih chi hebel, very fine; maih chi tinamit, very great city; xoo qatan, very great heat; tih nima ha, very great house. The adverb lavolo or lolo is also used for the same purpose—lavolo or lolo cou ch' a bana, hold it strong.
The names of colors are duplicated to express the superlative, as;—rax rax, very green; zak zak, very white.
The reverential syllables in use are lal and la—lal nu cahau, your excellency is my father; in alcual la, I am the son of your excellency.
QUICHÉ PRONOUNS.
PRONOUNS.
| I, or me | in, nu, nuv |
| Thou | at, a |
| He | are, ri, r' |
| Myself | xavi in |
| Thyself | xavi at |
| Himself | xavi are |
| We | oh |
| You | yx |
| They | e, he |
| Ourselves | xavi oh |
| Yourselves | xavi yx |
| Themselves | xavi e, he |