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In this lesson, we will learn about several helping (i.e. auxiliary) verbs.

The following shows the common use of some auxiliary verb-construction (in English auxiliary verbs are usually followed by the infinitive, like in I want to cry). In K’iche’ a second full verb is often used after the auxiliary.

Kowinik “to be able to”: The main verb follows a form of “kowinik,” with which it agrees in person and aspect.

Aj “want” (vtr): In a construction with the verb aj “want” the following main verb does not have to agree in person with –aj-.

Kawaj ka-w-aj I want (it)	Kaqaj Ka-q-aj We want (it)
Kawaj k-aw-aj You want (it)	Kiwaj k-iw-aj You (pl) want (it)
Kaj la K-Ø-aj la You (formal) want (it)	Kaj alaq k-Ø-aj alaq You (formal, pl) want (it)
Karaj ka-r-aj He/she wants (it)	Kakaj ka-k-aj They want (it)

[sc_embed_player fileurl=”https://tzij.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/auxiliar_15_ex-kawaj-kimbe-pa-tinamit.mp3″]Kawaj kimb’e pa tinamit. Ka-w-aj k-im-b’e pa tinamit. INC-1sin-want INC-1sing-go loc. town I want to go to town

Rajawaxik “it is necessary”, “to need”: The irregular passive stem (ajawaxik) of the verb aj “want” becomes the base for the phrase rajawaxik “it is necessary.” The subject and nature of the need is expressed in a following verb. “Rajawaxik” may also be used as a noun: a necessary thing.

Tajin : describes an ongoing action or an event happening at the same time as another (“progressive” English: I am/was talking). In K’iche this idea is expressed by the word katajin(ik), which is the followed by a transitive or intransitive verb in the incompletive aspect (with proper person). In colloquial speech katajin is shortened to tajin.

Progressive action in incompletive: katajin + verb in incompletive: Katajin ku’l le winaq chanim. The people are arriving now. Progressive action in completive : katajin + verb in incompletive; context makes it clear that event is in the past time: Katajin kajosq’ix le ulew aretaq xinopan chi la’. The land was being cleaned when I arrived there. Progressive in future time: katajin + verb; context makes it clear that event takes place in the future: Katajin kewa’ le winaq aretaq xujok pa ja. The people will be eating when we enter the house.

Here are a few more examples:

 

k’ulanem	wedding
ab’ix	cornfield, milpa
eleb’al	bathroom
uwach ulew	the (face of the) Earth
sutz’	cloud
b’inel ja’	river
k’is(o) (vtr)	to finish, to run out
tzaj(ik) (vit)	to dry up
b’in(ik) (vit)	to walk, (to go, to move)
k’iy(ik) (vit)	to grow (plants)

Translate the following phrases into English:

1. La kakowin alaq kab’e alaq pa le nuk’ulanem?
2. We kawaj kab’ano, katkowinik kab’ano.
3. Sib’alaj kakowin le ali kaxojowik.
4. Rajawaxik le jab’ arech kak’iy le ab’ix.
5. Rajawaxik kinb’e pa le eleb’al.
6. Rajawaxik kinb’e pa ro’ch le a Wel.
7. Rajawaxik kaqachajij le uwach ulew.
8. Katajin kab’in le sutz’ chwach le kaj.
9. Katajin katzaj taq le b’inel taq ja’ pa iximulew.
10. Katajin kak’is le che’ pa we qatinamit.

Answers

1. Can you all (formal) come to my wedding?
2. If you want to do it, you can do it.
3. The young woman can really dance.
4. Rain is needed so that the cornfield can grow.
5. I need to go to the bathroom
6. I need to go to Manuel’s house.
7. We need to protect the world.
8. The cloud is walking across the sky.
9. The rivers are drying up in Guatemala.
10. The jail is being finished in our town.

In this lesson we will learn to speak about events and experiences in the past. In K’iche’ these are expressed using the completive aspect, which is comparable, though not the same as the past tense.

wa’kat(ik)	to stroll, to take a walk
q’ij	day
amaq’	country
k’a te k’u ri’	then, after
E-uk’	with (E=ergative)
oq'(ik)	to cry
ul(ik)	to arrive (here)
kolotaj(ik)*	salvation
kos(ik)	to be tired, to tire
muq(ik)*	to bury
jiq'(ik)	to suffocate
qatat, qanan; qati’t, qamam	our ancestors (literally: our fathers, our mothers; our grandmothers, our grandfathers)
tukinel(ab’)	destroyer(s)
sokotajik*	to be wounded
ch’o’jin(ik)	to fight
uxlab’	breath
tz’olq’omij	remorse, penance, regret
b’uk’uwem	the beating of the earth
matam	late
aretaq	when

*These are in a grammatical form that we have not studied yet, where the root of a verb is used to make a noun. We will learn this form later.

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Xinwa’kat pa le juyub’ iwir.
2. Matam xatwa’lij kamik.
3. Xki’kot le al Maria aretaq xulik.
4. La xatb’e pa le tyox iwir?
5. La xixkos pa le ichak?
6. Xojb’e pa le amaq’ Estados Unidos.
7. -La xixul pa le tijob’al? -Je’, xojulik.
8. La xwar le tijoxel pa le tijonik?
9. Xojch’awik.
10. Xch’aw le ajtij ruk’ le al We’l.

Answers

1. I walked through the mountain yesterday.
2. You got up late today.
3. Maria was happy when she arrived here.
4. Did you go to church yesterday?
5. Did you all get tired at work?
6. We went to the country of the United States.
7. Did you all arrive here at the school? Yes, we arrived here.
8. Did the student fall asleep in class?
9. We talked.
10. The teacher spoke with Manauela.

So far you have learned how to use possession markers, the existential particle k’o, and pronouns. In this lesson, you will explore non-verbal sentences, a syntactic category that works differently from English or Spanish because K’iche’ does not have an equivalent of English ‘to be’.

Phrases with k’o describe existing things in a place or location. Often a prepositional phrase (K’o oxib’ ixoqib’ pa k’ayib’al atz’yaq) (There are three women at the clothing store) is used.

Translate the following sentences.

1. Nim le tijob’al
2. Q’e’l le ratz’yaq le ak’al.
3. Paqal rajil le nupo’t.
4. K’o uxajab’ le ixoq.
5. K’o nuchak pa tijob’al.
6. K’o uchikopil le che’.
7. Tat Wel k’o pa le ro’ch le nuchaq’.
8. K’o upo’t le al We’l.

Answers

1. The school is big.
2. The boy’s clothes are old.
3. My huipil (woven blouse) is expensive.
4. The woman has shoes.
5. I have my job at the school.
6. The tree has animals.
7. Mr. Manuel is at his younger brother’s house.
8. Manuela has a huipil (woven blouse).

Form stative sentences from the following word pairs, then translate them into English.

Example: atz’yaq/q’e’l: Q’e’l le atz’yaq. The clothing/clothes are old.

1. Tz’i’/nim
2. Nupo’t/q’e’l
3. Saq’ul/q’an
4. Qachakub’al/nim
5. Atz’ib’ab’al/kaq
6. Chikop/nitz’
7. Wuj/utz
8. Ich’ich’/nim
9. B’e/k’ak’
10. Qawa/utz

Answers

1. Nim le tz’i’. (The dog is big.)
2. Q’e’l le nupo’t. (My huipil is old.)
3. Q’an le saq’ul. (The banana is yellow.)
4. Nim le qachakub’al. (Our office is big.)
5. Kaq le azt’ib’ab’al. (The pencil is red.)
6. Nitz’ le chikop. (The animal is small.)
7. Utz le wuj. (The book is good.)
8. Nim le ich’ich’. (Your car is big.)
9. K’ak’ le b’e. (The road is good.)
10. Utz le qawa. (Our food is good.)

In this unit, you will learn about K’iche’ pronouns. We will start with personal pronouns and how to use them in conversation. Next, you will learn how to report the location of people and objects.

Independent pronouns Independent pronouns–equivalent to English personal pronouns–are used in K’iche’ as subjects of non-verbal predicates as well as for emphasis or topicalization (for example, “As for me, I am sure I’ll learn K’iche’”). They are used more sparsely than in English, however. Non-verbal predicates include stative phrases denoting states, conditions or qualities. Unlike Spanish or English, K’iche’ does not have a verb equivalent to ‘to be’. You will notice that the English translations of the example sentences below require the verb ‘to be’ as copula. In pronominal, non-verbal sentences in K’iche’, independent pronouns occupy the first slot followed by the predicate as in the following examples:

1. [sc_embed_player  fileurl=”https://tzij.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/pronouns_04_in-ajtij.mp3″]In ajtij. I teacher I am a teacher.
2. [sc_embed_player  fileurl=”https://tzij.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/pronouns_04_at-rajkun.mp3″]At r-ajkun le nu-nan. You her-doctor art. my-mother You are my mother’s doctor.
3. [sc_embed_player  fileurl=”https://tzij.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/pronouns_04_are-le-utat.mp3″]Are le u-tat le al Ska’. He art. her-dad- art. class. Francisca He is Francisca’s dad.
4. [sc_embed_player  fileurl=”https://tzij.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/pronouns_04_oj-ajxojolob.mp3″]Oj ajxojolob’ pa Awas Q’ij. We dancers prep. Holy Week We are dancers on Holy Week.
5. [sc_embed_player  fileurl=”https://tzij.coerll.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/pronouns_04_are-ral.mp3″]A’re e r-al le nan We’l. They her-children art. class. Manuela They are the children of mrs. Manuela.

Look at the table of independent pronouns. Note that the pronouns are not marked for gender like in the third person in English (in other words, there is no difference between the pronoun for she and he).

in	I	oj/uj	we
at	you	ix	you (pl)
lal	you (formal)	alaq	you (pl, formal)
are(’)	he/she/it	a’re(’)	they

The glottal stop after “are(‘)” and “a’re(‘)” appears when phrase final. We have already seen these pronouns, for example, in greetings:

1. La utz awach? – Utz maltyox, e k’u ri at? – Utz maltyox. How are you? – Well, thank you, and you?– Well, thank you.
2. La utz wach la? – Utz maltyox, e k’u ri lal ? – Utz maltyox. How are you (formal) – Well, thank you, and you (formal)?– Well, thank you.

Let’s look at more examples:

1. In ajtij. I teacher I am a teacher.
2. At tijoxel You student You are a student.
3. Are utz u-na’oj He/she/it good his-knowledge He is a good man/woman (she/he has good character/ buena gente).
4. Lal k’amal b’e you (formal) leader You (formal) are a leader.

Locative sentences Locative sentences, as the name suggests, describe the location of the subject. In K’iche’, locative sentences consist of independent pronouns in the first slot followed by the existential particle k’o and its locative complement, in other words, the place where the subject is. As we have seen in stative phrases, we use the verb “to be” when glossing the sentence in English. Note that if a third person subject is plural the form e k’o is used (we will discuss plurals in more detail in lesson 9). If a third person is explicit, it precedes the existential k’o as well. Let’s look at the following examples:

1. At k’o pa swan! at k’o pa swan You ex. prep. ravine You are in the ravine!
2. Oj k’o pa le r-o’ch le a Wel. we ex. prep. his-house Manuel We are at Manuel’s house.
3. In k’o pa le u-k’isb’al cholaj. I ex. prep. its-last row/lane I’m in the last row.

If the subject of the sentence is the third person singular pronoun, the particle k’o stands alone.

1. K’o pa tijob’al Ex. prep. school He/she/it is at school.

If the subject of the sentence is the third person plural pronoun, e precedes the particle k’o:

1. E k’o pa tijob’al They ex. prep. school They are at school.
2. E k’o keb’ u-k’ajol le tat Xwan They ex. two his-sons art. class. Juan Mr. Juan has two sons.

Emphasis, topicalization, and independent pronouns When the subject is topicalized or emphatic contrast is stressed, independent pronouns are copied in sentence-initial position.

1. In in k’o pa tijob’al! I am the one who is at school!
2. At at le utaqo’n le q’atal tzij! You are the one who is the judge’s messenger!
3. Are le Tu’r le loq’omanel! Venturo is the one who is the buyer!
4. Oj oj wokol ja! We are the ones who are construction workers!
5. Ix ix e’laq’omab’! You all are the ones who are thieves!

tz’ib’ab’al	pencil, pen, chalk
wuj	book
uxaq wuj	piece of paper
wanke’t	table, desk
tem	chair
chim	bag, backpack
rax	green, blue
q’eq	black
q’an	yellow
saq	white
kaq	red
ajtij	teacher
tijoxel	student
tikonel	farmer (someone who plants)
ajtij	teacher
ajkun	doctor
pare’	priest
kojol b’aq	nurse, pharmacist
chakunel	worker
k’amal b’e	leader; president; traditionally a person who is an expert in ceremonial speech, for example for weddings
ajanel	wood worker, carpenter
ajq’ij	calendar specialist, daykeeper, shaman
Ajik’	maid, domestic worker (someone who is paid by the month – ik’)
b’insanel ch’ich’	driver
b’anal si’	someone who gets and sells firewood
b’anal ch’ajo’n	somebody who does laundry for a living
b’anal wa	cook
wokol ja	handyman/woman; construction worker
alkalte’	mayor

Translate the following phrases into English.

1. Oj k’o pa Iximulew.
2. In ixoq.
3. Alaq k’o alaq pa juyub’.
4. A’re’, utz kina’oj.
5. Rax le nuchim.
6. La utz wach alaq?
7. K’o jun tz’i’ pa le nuchakub’al.
8. In in k’o pa ja.
9. Are’ le wajtij.
10. Ix k’o pa le nimatijob’al.
11. Le qab’ix k’o chila’.
12. Are’ k’o wuk’.
13. A’re’ le tijoxelab’.
14. Oj k’o pa b’e.
15. K’o jun chi tzij pa le cholaj tzij.

Answers

1. We are in Guatemala.
2. I am a woman.
3. You all are on the mountain.
4. They have a good character (good-natured).
5. My bag is green.
6. How are you all?
7. There is a dog in my office.
8. I am at home.
9. He/she is my teacher.
10. You all are at the university.
11. Our cornfield is over there.
12. He/she is with me.
13. They are the students.
14. We are on the road.
15. I have another word in the sentence.

Translate the following phrases into K’iche’.

1. I have a bag.
2. I am a teacher.
3. He is a student.
4. They are thieves.
5. They are the ones who are thieves! (focus)
6. I have two children.
7. The cook is at Ernesto’s house.
8. They have shoes.
9. The priest is at the church.
10. How is your mom?

Answers

1. K’o jun nuchim.
2. In Ajtij.
3. Are jun tijoxel.
4. Ri a’re elaq’omab’.
5. A’re le e winaq le elaq’omab’.
6. E k’o keb’ nuk’ajol.
7. K’o le b’anal wa pa le ro’ch tat Ernesto.
8. A’re k’o kixajab’.
9. K’o le pare’ pa le tyox.
10. La utz uwach le anan?

K’iche’ does not have verbs equivalent to English ‘to have’ and ‘to be’, which introduce existential sentences or possession clauses such as “There is maize in the kitchen” or “I have a mean dog.” In K’iche’, as in most Mayan languages, possession and existence are denoted with a special particle called an “existential” (k’o in K’iche’). The existential k’o often appears in sentence or phrase initial position. In sentence-final position it is replaced with k’olik. In this unit you will learn how to use k’o and its use in conversations.

 

Possession The particle k’o followed by a possessed noun indicates possession (which in English is expressed with the verb “to have”), as we see in the examples below:

Ex. 1 K’o nuwuj k’o nu-wuj Ex my-book I have a book.	Ex.2 K’o nuwa chi’. k’o nu-wa chi’ Ex my-food here I have food here.
Ex. 3 K’o uxajab’ ri ak’al. k’o u-xajab’ ri ak’al Ex his-sandals det child The child has sandals.	Ex. 4 K’o qo’ch chila’ Nawalja’. k’o q-o’ch chila’ Nawalja’ Ex our-house there Nahualá We have a house in Nahualá.
Ex. 5 K’o iwab’ix pa juyub’. k’o iw-ab’ix pa juyub’ Ex y’all’s-cornfield loc hill You all have a cornfield in the forest/mountain/hill.	Ex. 6 E k’o kik’ajol le a’chijab’. e k’o ki-k’ajol  le  a’chij-ab’ PL ex their-son (of man) det men-PL The men have sons.

  Existential Sentences The particle k’o also functions as an existential (which in English can be glossed as “There is/There are” or different conjugations of the verb “to be”), as we can see from the examples below:

Ex. 7 K’o jun ala pa tijob’al. k’o jun ala pa tijob’al Ex one boy loc school There is a boy in the school.	Ex. 8 K’o jun tz’i’ pa b’e. k’o jun tz’i’ pa b’e Ex one dog loc road There is a dog on the road.
Ex. 9 At k’o pa swan! at k’o pa swan You Ex. loc ravine You are in the ravine!	Ex. 10 Oj k’o pa le ro’ch le a Wel. Oj k’o pa le r-o’ch le a Wel. we Ex. loc. det his-house det Manuel We are at Manuel’s house.

In the following lesson, we will learn more about how to use the existential particle k’o, and we will also learn about personal pronouns. For now, practice using the possessive and existential phrases we have learned in this lesson.

ab’ix	cornfield, milpa
k’ayib’al	market
swan	ravine
tz’ib’ab’al	pen, pencil
sib’alaj	very, much, a lot
b’e	road, path
t’uy’	pot (for cooking)
chak	work
achi	man
achijab’	men
ixoq	woman
ixoqib’	women
tijonik	class, lesson
rajil	money

Write three sentences using the possessive k’o and three sentences using the existencial k’o.

Translate the following sentences to K’iche’.

1. I have a pen.
2. My friends have a house in Nahualá.
3. There is a cow on the road.
4. My mother has a lot of money.
5. There is a lot of work in the lesson.
6. We are in the K’iche’ class.
7. There is a pot in the kitchen.
8. We have a cornfield in the ravine.
9. Manuela is at Xwan’s house.
10. My dad is at the market.

Answers

1. In k’o nutz’ib’ab’al.
2. Le e wachi’il k’o k’och pa Nahualja’.
3. K’o jun wakax pa le b’e.
4. Sib’alaj k’o urajil le nunan.
5. K’i le chak pa we tijonik.
6. Oj k’o pa le tijonik re K’iche’.
7. K’o jun t’u’y pa le nuk’b’al.
8. K’o qab’ix pa siwan.
9. Al Manuela k’o pa le ro’ch a Xwan.
10. Le nutat k’o pa le k’ayib’al.

In this lesson, you will learn about nominal possession in K’iche’. It is a bit more intricate than English or Spanish as K’iche’ has a very rich word morphology. You will have plenty of examples and drills!

Possession

In K’iche’ nominal possession markers are prefixed on the possessed person/object. Different sets of prefixes are used with consonant-initial nouns and with vowel-initial nouns. The exception is formal address, in which the post-nominal particles la (sing.) or alaq (plural) are used instead of prefixes. See the examples in the table below:

Before a consonant	rajil “money”	Before a vowel	achi’l “friend”
nu-rajil	my money	w-achi’il	my friend
a-rajil	your money	aw-achi’il	your friend
rajil la	your money (formal)	achi’l la	your friend (formal)
u-rajil	his/her money	r-achi’il	his/her friend
qa-rajil	our money	q-achi’il	our friend
i-rajil	your money (pl. informal)	iw-achi’il	your friend (pl.  informal)
rajil alaq	your money (pl. formal)	achi’l alaq	your friend (pl. formal)
ki-rajil	their money	k-achi’il	their friend

Inherent possession (-Vl) A certain class of K’iche’ nouns may take an additional /-Vl/ suffix. This is known as inherent possession and marks a part-whole relationship between possessor and possessed object/person. For example, there is a semantic difference between nub’aq and nub’aqil. The former references bones that are not part of the possessor’s body, chicken bones used to make soup, for example. The latter, in contrast, means “my body” which references the possessor’s own body. Some nouns take only inherent possession markers (wife, husband), others may take both (bone, house). The large majority of nouns do not take inherent possession markers, however. A few nouns take irregular possessed forms such as house (ja when not possessed, -ochoch when possessed).

Preconsonantal	b’aq ‘bone’	Prevocalic	ixoq ‘woman’	–o’ch	‘house’
nu-b’aq-il	my body	w-ixoq-il	my wife	w-o’ch	my house
a-b’aq-il	your body	aw-ixoq-il	your wife	aw-o’ch	your house
b’aq-il la	your body (formal)	ixoq-il la	your wife (formal)	o’ch la	your house (formal)
u-b’aq-il	his/her/its body	r-ixoq-il	his/her wife	r-o’ch	his/her house
qa-b’aqi-il	our body	q-ixoq-il	our wife	q-o’ch	our house
i-b’aq-il	your body (pl.)	iw-ixoq-il	your wife (pl.)	iw-o’ch	your house (pl.)
b’aq-il alaq	your body (pl. formal)	ixoq-il alaq	your wife (pl. formal)	o’ch alaq	your house (pl. formal)
ki-b’aq-il	their body	k-ixoq-il	their wife	ko’ch	their house

Other examples:

kik’ ‘blood’ – nukik’el ‘my blood’

kaq ‘red’ – nukaqal ‘my redness’

q’aq’ ‘fire’ – nuq’aq’al ‘my fever’

suk’ ‘pure’ – nusuk’mal ‘my absence of sin; purity’

 

wuj	book
che’	tree
ja	house (unpossessed)
-o’ch	house (possessed)
-ij	back of… (possessed)
achi’il	friend
-wach	face (possessed
-al	child (of woman)
kaq	red
ch’ich’	metal; car
kik’	blood
xa’r	cup
wakax	cow
q’oq’	chilacayote
oj	avocado
ulew	tierra
b’aq	bone
rajil	money
tijonik	lesson
tz’ib’ab’al	pencil, pen

 

Mark all of the following nouns using the possessive markers for all persons:

1. ch’ich’
2. kik’
3. xa’r
4. wakax
5. q’oq’
6. oj
7. ulew
8. b’aq
9. wuj
10. tijonik
11. tz’ib’ab’al

Answers

1. Nuch’ich’; Ach’ich’; Ch’ich’ la; Uch’ich’; Qach’ich’; Ich’ich’; Ch’ich’ alaq; Kich’ich’
2. Nukik’el; Akik’el; Kik’el la; Ukik’el; Qakik’el; Ikik’el; Kik’el alaq; Kikik’el
3. Nuxa’r; Axa’r; xa’r la; Uxa’r; Qaxa’r; Ixa’r; xa’r alaq; Kixa’r
4. Nuwakax; Awakax; wakax la; Uwakax; Qawakax; Iwakax; wakax alaq; Kiwakax
5. Nuq’oq’; Aq’oq’; q’oq’ la; Uq’oq’; Qaq’oq’; Iq’oq’; q’oq’ alaq; Kiq’oq’
6. Woj; Awoj; oj la; Roj; Qoj; Iwoj; oj alaq; Koj
7. Wulew; Awulew; ulew la; Rulew; Qulew; Iwulew; ulew alaq; Kulew
8. Nub’aqil; Ab’aqil; b’aqil la; Ub’aqil; Qab’aqil; Ib’aqil; b’aqil alaq; Kib’aqil
9. Nuwuj; Awuj; wuj la; Uwuj; Qawuj; Iwuj; wuj alaq; Kiwuj
10. Nutijonik; Atijonik; tijonik la; Utijonik; Qatijonik; Itijonik; tijonik alaq; Kitijonik
11. Nutz’ib’ab’al; Atz’ib’ab’al; tz’ib’ab’al la; Utz’ib’ab’al; Qatz’ib’ab’al; Itz’ib’ab’al; tz’ib’ab’al alaq; Kitz’ib’ab’al