Time Without a Verb Ending

In Standard Nigerian Yoruba, a bare action predicate commonly describes a past event. A time expression such as lánàá ‘yesterday’ makes that interpretation explicit. Bare states, including desire predicates, can describe a present situation.

Preverbal ń presents an ongoing or imperfective situation; context can locate it in the present or past. ti presents a completed or already reached situation, while yóò supplies a future frame. These markers express different meanings. The verb does not acquire person or number endings.

In the first three examples, ra remains unchanged while the time frame changes. Preserve the syllabic nasal and its high tone in ordinary spelling ń; this is not pronunciation-only notation.

• Mo ra ata lánàá. — I bought peppers yesterday. The time expression explicitly locates the purchase in the past.
• Mo ń ra ata. — I am buying peppers. The action is presented as ongoing.
• Mo yóò ra ata ọ̀la. — I will buy peppers tomorrow. The future marker precedes the verb.
• Wọ́n ti ra ẹja. — They have bought fish. The purchase is already accomplished.
• Mo fẹ́ omi. — I want water. This bare desire predicate has a present reading.