The Progressive: 在該 and 在這 — Sixian Hakka Grammar

To say that something is going on at this moment, (di geti ke) is placed in front of the verb. The verb itself is untouched — there is no continuous form of the verb and nothing answering to the English -ing ending, so this one marker carries the whole of the meaning.

𠊎在該啉水。
ngaiˇ di ge limˊ suiˋngài ti ke lîm súi
I am drinking water.
佢在該食東西。
giˇ di ge siid dungˊ xiˊkì ti ke sṳ̍t tûng sî
He is eating something.
公共汽車个司機在該駛車仔。
gungˊ kiung hi caˊ ge siiˊ giˊ di ge siiˋ caˊ eˋkûng khiung hi chhâ ke sṳ̂ kî ti ke sṳ́ chhâ é
The bus driver is driving.

Built Out of a Place

(di geti ke) is literally at there: the preposition (diti) followed by the demonstrative (geke). An action under way is treated as an action one could point to, which is how a phrase about place comes to mark time instead. Recognising that makes the marker something to understand rather than something to memorise. Because both demonstratives work in the frame, (di iaˋti yá) — at here — appears in the same slot with the same meaning, and choosing between them carries no difference in sense.

𠊎兜在這看書。
ngaiˇ deuˊ di iaˋ kon suˊngài têu ti yá khon sû
We are reading a book here.
𠊎兜在該食晝。
ngaiˇ deuˊ di ge siid zungài têu ti ke sṳ̍t chu
We are eating lunch.

當 for Emphasis

(dongˊtông) placed in front stresses that the action is happening at this very moment, with the force of English is just now doing. This is the second job of a word otherwise known as the ordinary word for very, and the two uses are told apart by what follows: an adjective, or a progressive.

計程車當在該等。
gie cangˇ caˊ dongˊ di ge denˋkie chhàng chhâ tông ti ke tén
The taxi is waiting right now.
該隻婦人家當在該牽狗仔散步。
ge zagˋ fu nginˇ gaˊ dongˊ di ge kienˊ gieuˋ eˋ san puke chak fu ngìn kâ tông ti ke khiên kiéu é san phu
That woman is walking her dog right now.
這個男仔人同細妹人當在該食東西。
iaˋ ge namˇ eˋ nginˇ tungˇ se moi nginˇ dongˊ di ge siid dungˊ xiˊyá ke nàm é ngìn thùng se moi ngìn tông ti ke sṳ̍t tûng sî
This man and woman are eating right now.

Not for Habits

The marker states that an action is in progress, not that it is habitual. A sentence about what someone does regularly takes no marker at all — a bare verb is what expresses it — so the contrast English draws between he eats and he is eating is made by adding this marker or leaving it off. One sentence can carry both.

𠊎在該食東西，毋過𠊎無當輒食。
ngaiˇ di ge siid dungˊ xiˊ mˇ go ngaiˇ moˇ dongˊ jiab siidngài ti ke sṳ̍t tûng sî m̀ ko ngài mò tông chia̍p sṳ̍t
I'm eating right now, but I don't eat often.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Sixian Hakka course

27 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 6. A few of them, with the words “The Progressive: 在該 and 在這” is about in bold:

佢也在該睡目。佢無睡。
giˇ ia di ge soi mugˋ. giˇ moˇ soi.kì ya ti ke soi muk. kì mò soi.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16

Comments

Loading comments…