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second will have we. Thus, "The Apostles bore witness," Ira Sala me gaganag we tira; "Ye shall bear witness," Kamiu te gaganag we tira.
When, however, successive actions are recounted, it is not enough to fix the time to be past or future at the beginning, and to go on with we, as if a particle conjunctive merely of one verb to another, and devoid of the sense of time. To relate the past in the present tense is common enough.
Me.—If I write that "I was sitting and writing," Si na me pute pute we raverave, the time is clearly marked by me as past; and, as before mentioned, in a narrative related as in the past, me will recur in each stage of the narration. But me is used when the mind of the speaker is looking back upon something, which perhaps has not occurred in fact, but is presupposed in view of its consequences: "If I were to do so I should die," Si na me ge tamaine, na me mate. So very often me is used with regard to the future, and in a strongly future sense; what is still in fact future being viewed as so certain, as to be spoken of as past. A boy asking leave to go and fish on a night when leave is given will say, Na me mule ilau, "I have gone to the beach," i. e. am going. To convey a strong notion of the past, me is hardly enough; but the complete perfect is shown by veta, 'already,' Ni me mate veta, "He is dead."
Te is the sign of the future, and distinctly conveys a future sense. It is common, however, to add an̈aisa, 'hereafter,' to mark a distinctly future meaning. Te is used to signify what is habitual in action, and can be regarded as certain to be done, in the way in which 'will' is used in English.
Ti.—The use of ti, in a temporal sense, is double, as it comes before or after the verb.
1. Before the verb it has the sense of immediate succession of one action upon another; or else of constant invariable action or condition. The notion of continu-