The Durative -等 and the Completive -忒 — Sixian Hakka Grammar

Two syllables attach to the end of a verb to say something about how the action unfolds: one holds it open, the other closes it off. Both are written with characters that are ordinary words in their own right, and both are recognised by their position immediately after the verb.

-等 — Held Open

(denˋtén) following a verb marks the action as sustained — going on while something else happens. It is the same character as the verb to wait, and the sense of waiting is where the meaning comes from: the action is held rather than completed.

佢駛等一台當細个車仔。
giˇ siiˋ denˋ idˋ toiˇ dongˊ se ge caˊ eˋkì sṳ́ tén yit thòi tông se ke chhâ é
She is driving a very small car.
該儕人牽等厥狗仔走。
ge saˇ nginˇ kienˊ denˋ giaˊ gieuˋ eˋ zeuˋke sà ngìn khiên tén kiâ kiéu é chéu
That man is walking his dog.
𠊎做得拿等佢。
ngaiˇ zo dedˋ naˊ denˋ giˇngài cho tet nâ tén kì
I can hold it.

A verb carrying this suffix usually sets the scene for the main event of the sentence, which is why it so often appears in the first half.

-忒 — Carried Through

(tedˋthet) after a verb marks a change of state carried right through to its end. It is the same word as the degree adverb meaning too much, and position alone separates the two: before an adjective it is a degree, after a verb it is a completion.

吾个舊辦公椅壞忒了。
ngaˊ ge kiu pan gungˊ iˋ faiˋ tedˋ leˋngâ ke khiu phan kûng yí fái thet lé
My old office chair has broken.
𠊎啉咖啡還係會睡忒。
ngaiˇ limˊ gaˊ biˊ hanˇ he voi soi tedˋngài lîm kâ pî hàn he voi soi thet
Even if I drink coffee, I still fall asleep.

Because it reports a state newly arrived at, it regularly appears with the particle that marks a changed situation closing the sentence.

Telling the Two Apart

Both follow the verb, but they point in opposite directions. (denˋtén) leaves the action running; (tedˋthet) finishes it. Neither is a tense — the time of the event comes from elsewhere in the sentence.

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