This is the reason why we did not do the past simple before, because once we know the conjugation in the present continuous (-sha), so we can achieve 2 objectives with a single effort: The past simple and the past continuous.
In English the present perfect is formed by adding the verb ‘to have’, i.e. “I have brought”, in Quechua there is no such tense.
1. Past simple in Quechua
The past simple indicates an action already finished, and is achieved using the suffix ‘-ra’ or ‘-rqa’, both are the same, no matter what you use; ‘-ra’ is used quite a lot in Cusco and ‘-rqa’ in Puno. This is the structure:
Verb root + ra/rqa + verb ending of the present simple
With these examples you will easily understand it:
Past simple of the verb Munay (to want)
| Con -ra | Con -rqa | English |
| Noqa munarani | Noqa munarqani | I wanted |
| Qan munaranki | Qan munarqanki | You wanted |
| Pay munaran | Pay munarqan | He/She wanted |
| Noqanchis munaranchis | Noqanchis munarqanchis | We wanted (including the addressee) |
| Noqayku munarayku | Noqayku munarqayku | We wanted (not including the addressee) |
| Qankuna munarankichis | Qankuna munarqankichis | You [guys] wanted |
| Paykuna munaranku | Paykuna munarqanku | They wanted |
As you can see, all Quechua verbs are regular, they all follow the same structure, so once you learn the verb endings it will be very easy for you to learn the rest of the tenses.
In the “English” column I put in red only the past tense ending “-ed” of the verb, because in English it is done with only that ending (in the regular verbs), but in Quechua the past is done with 2 particles after the verb root: the suffix -ra/-rqa and verb ending of the present simple.
It is almost certain that you prefer the suffix -ra, instead of -rqa because its pronunciation is easier, so from now on I will only use the suffix -ra, also because it is easier to edit in html🙃.
Past simple of the verb Apamuy (to bring)
| Noqa apamurani | Yo brought |
| Qan apamuranki | Tú brought |
| Pay apamuran | He/She brought |
| Noqanchis apamuranchis | We brought (including the addressee) |
| Noqayku apamurayku | We brought (not including the addressee) |
| Qankuna apamurankichis | You [guys] brought |
| Paykuna apamuranku | They brought |
How easy and how beautiful Quechua is! 🤗 Now let’s move on to the past continuous.
2. Past continuous in Quechua
The past continuous in Quechua is very simple too, you just have to combine the suffixes -sha and -ra/-rqa (–shara or –sharqa), as I said we will use only -ra, but it is exactly the same with -rqa. This is the formula:
Verb root + shara/sharqa + verb ending of present simple
Let’s see some examples:
Past continuous of the verb Mikhuy (to eat)
| Noqa mikhusharani | Yo was eating |
| Qan mikhusharanki | Tú were eating |
| Pay mikhusharan | He/She was eating |
| Noqanchis mikhusharanchis | We were eating (including the addressee) |
| Noqayku mikhusharayku | We were eating (not including the addressee) |
| Qankuna mikhusharankichis | You [guys] were eating |
| Paykuna mikhusharanku | They were eating |
I put “w” (as if it was the root of verb to be) and “ing” in green as equivalent of ‘-sha‘ because both express continuity in the action and that is the function of -sha.
On the other hand, I put in red the endings “-as” and “-ere” of the words “was” and “were” to highlight that -ra indicates the past tense.
Past continuous of the verb Riy (to go)
| Noqa risharani | Yo was going |
| Qan risharanki | You were going |
| Pay risharan | He/She was going |
| Noqanchis risharanchis | We were going (including the addressee) |
| Noqayku risharayku | We were going (not including the addressee) |
| Qankuna risharankichis | You [guys] were going |
| Paykuna risharanku | They were going |
As you can see, this is also very easy 🤩.
I recommend that you conjugate all the verbs that we have learned, that will help you practice, if you wish you can do it in the comments.
Now let’s move on to the future tense.