Verb Conjugations for Quechua

Verbs in Quechua are completely regular; if you learn the conjugations for one verb, you’ve learned them for all.

Conjugations list:

• Personal Pronouns
• Person Markers (Present Tense)
• Present Progressive
• Perfect Past
• Future
• Imperative
• Habitual Past

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns in Quechua are quite straight forward. Keep the following in mind:

There are two first person plural pronouns (“we”). The first is inclusive, which is used when the speaker wishes to include the person(s) being addressed in the statement. The second is exclusive, which is used when the speaker does not wish to include the addressees.

Quechua also adds the plural suffix -kuna to the second and third person singular pronouns to create the plural forms.

The tables used below follow the same format as the verb conjugations on this page.

Personal Pronouns
Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	Nuqa	Nuqayku (exclusive)
		Nuqanchis (inclusive)
2nd Person	Qan	Qankuna
3rd Person	Pay	Paykuna

Personal Pronouns with translations:

	English	Quechua
Singular	I	Nuqa
	You	Qan
	He/She	Pay
Plural	We (inclusive)	Nuqanchis
	We (exclusive)	Nuqayku
	You (all)	Qankuna
	They	Paykuna

Person Markers and the Present Tense

The most basic form of verb conjugation is known as “person markers” (marcadores de persona), and is a suffix you append to the verb root. This also happens to be the present tense.

Person marker suffixes (Present Tense)
Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-ni	-yku (exclusive)
		-nchis (inclusive)
2nd Person	-nki	-nkichis
3rd Person	-n	-nku

Conjugated examples:

Kay (to be), root: ka
	English	Quechua
Singular	I am	kani
	You are	kanki
	He/She is	kan
Plural	We (inclusive) are	kanchis
	We (exclusive) are	kayku
	You (all) are	kankichis
	They are	kanku

The present progressive

The present progressive, also known as the continuous present, is used for actions going on at the moment of speaking. It is formed by adding the suffix -sha before the person markers.

Formula for the present progressive:

Conjugated examples:

Mikhuy (to eat), root: mikhu
	English	Quechua
Singular	I am eating	Mikhushani
	You are eating	Mikhushanki
	He/She is eating	Mikhushan
Plural	We (inclusive) are eating	Mikhushanchis
	We (exclusive) are eating	Mikhushayku
	You (all) are eating	Mikhushankichis
	They are eating	Mikhushanku

Example sentences:

Perfect Past

The formula for the perfect past is:

Conjugated examples:

Riy (to go), root: ri
	English	Quechua
Singular	I went	Rirqani / rirani
	You went	Rirqanki / riranki
	He/She went	Rirqan / riran
Plural	We (inclusive) went	Rirqanchis / riranchis
	We (exclusive) went	Rirqayku/ rirayku
	You (all) went	Rirqankichis / rirankichis
	They went	Rirqanku / riranku

Example Sentences:

Future Tense

The future tense has its own suffixes. Note that the second person singular and plural (Qan, Qankuna) are the same as the present, so the time must be determined from context.

Memorization tip: notice the similiarity between the first person singular and plural (Nuqa and Nuqayku) as well as the similiarity between the third person singular and plural (Pay and Paykuna).

Future Tense Suffixes
Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-saq	-saqku (exclusive)
		-sun / sunchis (inclusive)
2nd Person	-nki	-nkichis
3rd Person	-nqa	-nqaku

Conjugated examples:

Puriy (to walk); root: puri
	English	Quechua
Singular	I will walk	Purisaq
	You will walk	Purinki
	He/She will walk	Purinqa
Plural	We (inclusive) will walk	Purisun / Purisunchis
	We (exclusive) will walk	Purisaqku
	You (all) will walk	Purinkichis
	They will walk	Purinqaku

A few examples of the future tense:

Imperative

Quechua has special suffixes to give orders. In addition to having the regular second person conjugation (Qan and Qankuna), Quechua has third person conjugations as well (Pay and Paykuna). These are difficult to translate into English, so hopefully my translations are accurate.

Imperative Mood Suffixes
Person	Singular	Plural
2nd Person	-y	-ychis
3rd Person	-chun	-chunku

Conjugated examples:

Mikhuy (to eat); root: mikhu
	English	Quechua
Singular	(you) eat!	Mikhuy
	Let him/her eat!	Mikhuchun
Plural	(you all) eat!	Mikhuychis
	Everyone eat!	Mikhuchunku

Habitual Past

The habitual past describes those daily activities that correspond to the speaker’s past experience. It is equivalent to the English phrases “to be used to” and “to be accustomed to”.

This tense is marked with the suffix -q in the principal verb and is accompanied by the auxiliary verb kay conjugated in the present or past tense.

In the third person singular and plural the auxiliary verb kay is omitted. In the third person plural the suffix -ku is added after the -q.

Habitual Past
Person	Singular	Plural
1st Person	-q kani	-q kayku (exclusive)
		-q kanchis (inclusive)
2nd Person	-q kanki	-q kankichis
3rd Person	-q	-qku

Conjugated examples:

Phaway (to run); root: phawa
	English	Quechua
Singular	I used to run	Phawaq kani
	You used to run	Phawaq kanki
	He/She used to run	Phawaq
Plural	We (inclusive) used to run	Phawaq kanchis
	We (exclusive) used to run	Phawaq kankichis
	You (all) used to run	Phawaq kankichis
	They used to run	Phawaqku

A few examples of the habitual past: