Dothraki Verb Conjugation

Infinitive

Infinitive is the dictionary form for Dothraki verbs. It ends with the suffix /-at/ if the stem of the verb ends in a consonant and in /-lat/ if the stem ends in a vowel. (For those who are not language fans or linguists, the infinitive form of a verb is the form that means to (verb). )

Examples: samvolat (to break); kaffat (to crush).

A verb stem can end in l, so with /-lat/ ending verbs it's not immediately clear, what a stem of a verb is. The vocabulary informs on this by offering past singulars in addition to infinites.

Example: zalat (to hope) has a consonant ending stem despite the seemingly /-lat/.

You may notice that infinitives are not the most useful form for most verbs. In order to get the more commonly used finite form of the verb, you first remove the infinitive suffix (as explained above) to get the bare stem of the verb. Then, add on the tense/person/plurality/grade suffix needed for the situation. Example: ifat (to walk) first becomes if (walked). The bare stem is the past tense singular, finite form of the verb. In all other cases, you need a suffix for another tense (and the suffixes also vary on the person and number of the subject, and if the sentence is in the negative grade). So, as explained below, the first person, present tense singular form for ifat would be ifak (walk). The first person future tense singular form would be vifak (will walk). If you are seriously interested in learning Dothraki, memorizing these conjugations is very important, as they are somewhat irregular in the way they vary.

Past tense

The past tense singular is generally formed simply by dropping the infinitival suffix -(l)at.

essalat — "to return" → Me essa — "It returned."

However since words are not allowed to end on certain consonants or clusters there is sometimes an -e added to the end. Check the page on epenthesis for more details on this.

In the negative grade the past tense takes on the suffix /-o/ on the stem of the verb. If after removing the infinitival suffix the word still ends in vowel, the /-o/ replaces that vowel.

Me vos esso. — "It didn't return."

The past tense plural has a suffix -(i)sh, and in negative grade -osh.

Mori essash. — "Those returned."

Mori vos essosh. — "Those didn't return."

Present tense

The present tense has more variation between persons.

For verbs where the stem ends on a vowel we have the following forms using the verb dothralat="to ride":

Person	Singular	Plural
First person	dothrak	dothraki
Second person	dothrae	dothrae
Third person	dothrae	dothrae

As you see it's the first person singular and plural that deviate a little from the others.

When a verb stem ends in a consonant the conjugation is a bit different. As an example we'll use the verb astat="to say":

Person	Singular	Plural
First person	astak	astaki
Second person	asti	asti
Third person	asta	asti

Conjugations also agree with the negative grade. This means that there will sometimes be a change in the conjugation when the sentence is expressing a negation. In the negative grade the conjugations are as follows:

For verbs that end in a vowel (-lat verbs), again using dothralat="to ride" as an example:

Person	Singular	Plural
First person	dothrok	dothroki
Second person	dothrao	dothrao
Third person	dothrao	dothrao

And for verbs where the stem ends in a consonant (-at verbs), again using astat="to say" as an example:

Person	Singular	Plural
First person	astok	astoki
Second person	asti	asti
Third person	asto	asti

Future tense

The future tense is formed by adding a prefix to the present tense conjugation. For verbs that begin with a consonant the prefix /a-/ is added and for verbs that begin with a vowel the prefix is instead /v-/. This means that the phrase "I will ride" would be anha adothrak and "you will ride" would be yer adothrae in Dothraki. "I will speak" is said Anha vastak.

In the negative grade the future tense is changed from /a-/ to /o-/. So the sentence "I will not ride" would be Anha vos odothrok. For verbs that in the infinitive begin with a vowel there is no prefix change because of negation. The future negative will still be /v-/.

Imperative moods

The imperative mood expresses commands or requests. In Dothraki there are two ways to express the imperative mood. One conjugation is used for informal requests while the other is used for formal commands.

The informal imperative is expressed using the conjugation /-(a)s/, and in negative tense /-os/, with o replacing the possible final vowel.

Lekhis jin mawizze. — "Taste this rabbit."

Vo lekhos jin mawizze. — "Don't taste this rabbit."

For formal orders or commands the conjugation /-i/ is used instead for verbs that end in a consonant, and for verbs that end in a vowel the formal imperative is just the stem. The /-i/, and in vowel ending stems the final vowel, changes to /-o/ in negative.

Drogo ast ki, "Addrivi tokikes". — "Drogo said, "Kill the fool""

Drogo ast ki, "Vos addrivo tokikes". — "Drogo said, "Don't kill the fool""

Qora mae! — "Seize him!"

Vo Qoro mae! — "Don't seize him!"

There is a special construction when it comes to the impersonal commands and engouragents. It's not verb conjuction in the strictest sense of the word, but in practice the difference is of little consequence. To express impersonal commands we treat the nominative of a verb as if it was an animate noun and put it in the accusative case.

adakhat — "to eat" → Adakhates. — "Let's eat.", Adakhates yalli kimikh. — "Let the children eat dates."

dothralat — "to ride" → Dothralates. — "Let's ride.", Dothralates mori — "Let them ride."

Participle

Participle is an adjective-like verb form; participles even decline the same way as any adjective. For the dothraki language of our time frame it is an archaic verb form and is almost never used outside of some specifically established cases, in which the participles are just treated as independent adjectives. These are listed in the vocabulary. Nevertheless, a participle form of any verb should still be generally understood.

Participle is formed with a suffix /-(a)y/.

Example: Rek chiori astoy zheanae. — "That speaking woman is beautiful."

More prevalent version might be: Me zheanae, rek chiori fin astoe. — "She's beautiful, that woman who's speaking."

Conjugation Table

		stem -C	negative -C	stem -V	negative -V
infinite		/-at/		/-lat/
past	SG	/—/ or /-e/	/-o/	/—/	(V/o)
	PL	/-ish/	/-osh/	/-sh/	(V/o)/-sh/
present	SG 1	/-ak/	/-ok/	/-k/	(V/o)/-k/
	PL 1	/-aki/	/-oki/	/-ki/	(V/o)/-ki/
	SG 2	/-i/	/-i/	/-e/	/-o/
	PL 2	/-i/	/-i/	/-e/	/-o/
	SG 3	/-a/	/-o/	/-e/	/-o/
	PL 3	/-i/	/-i/	/-e/	/-o/
imperative 1	formal	/-i/	/-o/	/—/	(V/o)
imperative 2	informal	/-as/	/-os/	/-s/	(V/o)/-s/
participle		/-ay/		/-y/
		stem C-	negative C-	stem V-	negative V-
future (used with present suffixes)		/a-/	/o-/	/v-/	/v-/

Examples

		"to smile"	negative	"to cut"	negative	"to learn"	negative	"to insult"	negative
infinite		emat		rissat		ezolat		fatilat
past	SG	em	vos emo	risse	vos risso	ezo	vos ezo	fati	vos fato
	PL	emish	vos emosh	rissish	vos rissosh	ezosh	vos ezosh	fatish	vos fatosh
present	SG 1	emak	vos emok	rissak	vos rissok	ezok	vos ezok	fatik	vos fatok
	PL 1	emaki	vos emoki	rissaki	vos rissoki	ezoki	vos ezoki	fatiki	vos fatoki
	SG 2	emi	vos emi	rissi	vos rissi	ezoe	vos ezoo	fatie	vos fatio
	PL 2	emi	vos emi	rissi	vos rissi	ezoe	vos ezoo	fatie	vos fatio
	SG 3	ema	vos emo	rissa	vos risso	ezoe	vos ezoo	fatie	vos fatio
	PL 3	emi	vos emi	rissi	vos rissi	ezoe	vos ezoo	fatie	vos fatio
future	SG 1	vemak	vos vemok	arissak	vos orissok	vezok	vos vezok	afatik	vos ofatok
	PL 1	vemaki	vos vemoki	arissaki	vos orissoki	vezoki	vos vezoki	afatiki	vos ofatoki
	SG 2	vemi	vos vemi	arissi	vos orissi	vezoe	vos vezoo	afatie	vos ofatio
	PL 2	vemi	vos vemi	arissi	vos orissi	vezoe	vos vezoo	afatie	vos ofatio
	SG 3	vema	vos vemo	arissa	vos orisso	vezoe	vos vezoo	afatie	vos ofatio
	PL 3	vemi	vos vemi	arissi	vos orissi	vezoe	vos vezoo	afatie	vos ofatio
imperative 1	formal	emi	vos emo	rissi	vos risso	ezo	vos ezo	fati	vos fato
imperative 2	informal	emas	vos emos	rissas	vos rissos	ezos	vos ezos	fatis	vos fatos
participle		emay		rissay		ezoy		fatiy