Hand-book of Volapük/14

by Charles E. Sprague

THE PASSIV VOICE

All the tenses of the passiv voice commence with the letter p. Therefore the passiv tense-augments are,

present	pa-	palöfob, I am loved.
imperfect	pä-	pälogol, you were seen.
perfect	pe-	peflapom, he has been struck.
pluperfect	pi-	piropof, she had been interrupted.
future	po-	posagos, it will be said.
future perfect	pu-	pununon, one will have been informed.

In English, a present passiv is often really perfect in signification; as, "the house is finished," ,,dom pefinom." On the other hand we use what is, apparently, an activ form in a passiv sense, as, "the house is building," meaning "the house is being built," ,,dom pabumom." In all such cases we must consider the sense and not the sound.