Lao
verbs (ກະລິຍາ, ) are not conjugated for
tense,
mood, or
person. Tense is indicated by using time reference words, such as
yesterday,
next year,
just now or by certain particles. Nouns that begin with ການ ( ) or ຄວາມ ( ), often nominalised verbs, become verbs again when those particles are dropped.
Copula Lao has two forms of the verb
to be, ເປັນ ( ) and ແມ່ນ ( ) which are somewhat interchangeable. As a general rule, the latter is not used to describe people. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Tense In a general, in a short Lao sentence, the verb is often not marked for tense and can be taken from context, with words such as
yesterday,
tomorrow,
later, etc. If the subject of when the events occurred is already known, they can also be left out and inferred from dialogue. However, there are several ways to mark tense in Lao:
Past The most common way to indicate a completed action is to end a statement with ແລ້ວ ( ). That can also be used to indicate events that occurred in the recent past. One can also use the particle ໄດ້ ( ) preceding the verb, alone or in conjunction with ແລ້ວ, although this is less common and often used in negative statements and never for a continuous action. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Future There are two markers used to indicate actions to be completed in the future, ຊິ ( ) and ຈະ ( ). Both of these always precede the verb. To indicate that something is just about to happen, one can say ກຳລັງຈະ ( ). {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Progressive Although no particle is generally needed to mark a
present progressive statement, Lao uses three, ພວມ ( ) and ກຳລັງ ( ) before the verb, ຢູ່ (yu ) after it. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Modal verbs Modal or
auxiliary verbs (ວິກະຕິກະລິຍາ, vikatikaligna) are verbs that serve auxiliary function, such as want, obligation or need like English
ought to,
should,
must,
can, etc.
Obligation ຄວນ ( )
Should, ought to {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:|glossing=no abbr {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Need ຕ້ອງ ( )
to need, must. When the need is a noun, ຕ້ອງການ ( ) is used instead. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Want ຢາກ, ,
to want, to desire Used to express a want or desire. When this is a noun, then the form ຢາກໄດ້ (yak dai ) or the common verb ເອົາ (ao ) is used instead, but the latter is not as polite. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|glossing4=yes|number=ex:
Can, be able to ໄດ້ ( )
to get, to have, to be able to That is used to indicate the ability to do something. It is the closest Lao word for the English verb
can and in requests when English speakers would use
may. When used in that sense, it follows the verb; before the verb, the meaning changes to
to get or
to have. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: ເປັນ ( )
to be, to be able to In addition to being a verb for the copula, it can also be used to indicate that one can do something because of knowing how to do it. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: ສາມາດ...ໄດ້ ( )
to be able to, to be possible It functions much like
can but with the sense of being physically possible to do. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Enter, join ເຂົ້າ, ,
to enter, to join, to participate Used to indicate movement from one place to another inside, such as a house or building. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex:
Recipiency ໃຫ້,
to give, to permit, to let Used to indicate that the verb is intended for someone or something else or to express a desire, a wish, or a command. {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: {{fs interlinear|lang=lo|number=ex: ==Affirmation and negation==