ə̑•l'e
{verb form} {particle} 1. (there) was, (there) were
♢ tu•što šu•ko ka•lə̑k ə̑•l'e {sentence} there were many people here
♢ oksa• u•ke ə̑•l'e {sentence} there was no money
♢ žape•m u•ke ə̑•l'e {sentence} I didn't have time
2. (he/she/it) was
♢ Iβu•k č́e•rle ə̑•l'e {sentence} Ivuk was sick
3. (used to form compound past tenses marking continuous, repeated actions)
♢ o•žno ti•de βe•rə̑šte peš kugu• pü•nč́ö-βlak ku•škə̑t ə̑•l'e {sentence} earlier, very large pine trees grew on this spot
♢ mə̑j ja•lə̑šte ilə̑me•m go•də̑m č́odə̑ra•š košta•š jörate•m ə̑•l'e {sentence} when I lived in the country I used to like to go to the forest
♢ mə̑j kniga•m luda•m ə̑•l'e, ti•de ža•pə̑šte šo•l'ə̑m to•lə̑n pu•rə̑š {sentence} I was reading a book when my brother came in
♢ Anu•š pasu•š kaja•š le•ktə̑n ə̑•l'e, βara• sa•βə̑rnə̑š da brigadi•r dek ka•jə̑š {sentence} Anush was on her way out to the field, but then she turned around and headed to the team leader
4. would, had (used in counterfactual conditional clauses)
♢ Ana• se•rə̑šə̑m nale•š ə̑•l'e gə̑n, peš jə̑βə̑rta• ə̑•l'e {sentence} if Ana got a letter, she would be happy; if Ana had gotten a letter, she would be happy; if Ana had gotten a letter, she would have been happy
♢ tu•do jü•štö βü•də̑m ok jü gə̑n, ok č́erla•ne ə̑•l'e {sentence} if (s)he had not drunk cold water, (s)he would not have gotten sick
5. (used to mark polite suggestion, reproach)
♢ keč́ tə̑•jže mə̑la•m saj kaŋa•šə̑m pue•m ə̑•l'e {sentence} if you could only give me a good piece of advice
♦ ə̑•l'e šol {phrase} that's unfortunate
--"PARENT"--> ula•m