Sentences

Most sentences in Elefen contain a verb phrase, typically denoting the occurrence of an action. A verb phrase consists of a verb plus any modifiers such as adverbs or prepositional phrases.

Most sentences also contain at least one noun phrase, typically denoting a person or thing. A noun phrase consists of a noun plus any modifiers such as determiners, adjectives, and prepositional phrases.

Subject and object

The two most important noun phrases are the subject and the object. Their exact meaning depends on the choice of verb, but loosely speaking, the subject is the person or thing that carries out the action, and the object is the person or thing that is directly affected by the action.

In Elefen, the subject always precedes the verb, and the object always follows:

• La gato xasa la scural. – The cat (subject) … chases (verb) … the squirrel (object).
• La xica gusta la musica. – The girl (subject) … likes (verb) … the music (object).
• La can dormi. – The dog (subject) … sleeps (verb).

In some cases, for reasons of style or clarity, you may want to place the object of the verb at the beginning of the sentence. In these cases, the object must be followed by a comma, and an object pronoun is used after the verb:

• La gatos, me no gusta los. – Cats, I don’t like them.

Most verbs require a subject, but many do not require an object.

Complements

Another common sentence component is the complement. This is an extra description of the subject that can follow verbs like es (be), deveni (become), pare (seem), and resta (remain):

• Computadores es macinas. – Computers (subject) … are (verb) … machines (complement).
• La aira pare umida. – The air (subject) … seems (verb) … damp (complement).
• La comeda deveni fria. – The food (subject) … becomes (verb) … cold (complement).
• La patatas ia resta calda. – The potatoes (subject) … stayed (verb) … hot (complement).
• Nosa taxe es reconstrui la mur. – Our task (subject) … is (verb) … to rebuild the wall (complement: a nested sentence).
• La idea es ce tu canta. – The idea (subject) … is (verb) … that you sing (complement: a nested sentence).

Some languages also allow the object to have a complement, as in “I find this cheese disgusting” or “They elected him president”. This type of complement does not occur in Elefen.

Prepositions

One other major sentence component is the prepositional phrase, which adds detail to a preceding noun or verb, or to the sentence as a whole:

• La om ia cade tra sua seja. – The man (subject) … fell (verb) … through his chair (prepositional phrase).
• En la note, la stelas apare. – In the night (prepositional phrase) … the stars (subject) … appear (verb).
• Me dona esta poma a tu. – I (subject) … give (verb) … this apple (object) … to you (prepositional phrase).
• Tu no aspeta como tua foto. – You (subject) … don’t look (verb) … like your photo (prepositional phrase).

Clauses

In addition to phrases, some sentences contain clauses, which resemble smaller sentences nested within the larger sentence. They can modify noun phrases, verb phrases, or the whole of the larger sentence:

• La om ci ia abita asi ia vade a Paris. – The man who lived here went to Paris.
• El va visita en julio, cuando la clima es bon. – He will visit in July, when the weather is good.
• On no ia permete me fa la cosas como me ia desira. – I wasn’t allowed to do things as I wanted.
• Me pensa ce el es bela. – I think that she is beautiful.