This page explains how to build sentences. For examples, see ➞basic phrases.

Basic Sentences

The simplest basic sentence in Klingon consists of 3 parts: subject (who is doing the action), verb (the action being done), and object (what the action is being done to). However, the order of the words is different from most other languages, in that the object comes first, followed by the verb, and the subject comes after the verb (object-verb-subject) which is called OVS word order.(1) See ➞ word order for longer sentences.

vav legh puq - The child (puq) sees (legh) the father (vav).

Not all verbs require an object (e.g. "The targ walks"), and because the verb prefix system allows the subject to be expressed in a prefix, the simplest Klingon sentence consists of just a single word, i.e. the verb and its prefix. Keep in mind that the prefix for 3rd person subject with 3rd person object is often a null prefix, meaning nothing is written.

yIt targh The targ walks
jISop I eat
legh He sees _or He sees it_

A basic sentence may also have additional parts of speech such as adverbs or a noun, often with a Type 5 suffix. These usually come at the beginning of the sentence.

DujDaq HoD vIlegh I saw the captain in the ship
naDev maSopbe' We don't eat here
DaH yIbaH Fire now!

See also

• phonology
• alphabetical order

References

1 : The Klingon Dictionary, p. 59