Editing Serial verb construction (section)

== Examples with consecutive verbs ==

The next sentence in [[Persian language|Persian]] contains 19 consecutive verbs:<ref name="khabaronline">{{cite web |title=عجایب زبان فارسی/ به‌کارگیری ۱۹ فعل در یک جمله!|url=https://www.khabaronline.ir/news/1280476/%D8%B9%D8%AC%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%A8-%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1%DB%8C-%DB%B1%DB%B9-%D9%81%D8%B9%D9%84-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%DB%8C%DA%A9-%D8%AC%D9%85%D9%84%D9%87 |website=khabaronline}}</ref>

{{lang|fa|داشتم، می‌رفتم، دیدم، گرفته، نشسته، گفتم، بذار، بپرسم، ببینم، می‌آد، نمی‌آد، دیدم، می‌گه، نمی‌خوام، بیام، می‌خوام، برم، بگیرم، بخوابم!}}

which means, ''I '''was heading''' and I '''saw''' she/he '''is sitting''', I '''thought''' to '''ask''' to '''see''' whether he would '''come''' or wouldn't '''come''', I '''figure out''' "I don't '''want''' to '''come''', and I '''want''' to '''go''' '''get''' some '''sleep'''" he said!''

The following example of serialization comes from the [[Nupe language]] from Nigeria:<ref name="Tallerman" />

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang = nup
|Musa bé lá èbi.
|Musa came took knife
|"Musa came to take the knife."}}

The two verbs ''bé'' and ''lá'' appear consecutively, with no linking word (like "and") or anything else to indicate that one verb is [[subordinate clause|subordinate]] to the other. The [[subject (grammar)|subject]], "Musa", is understood to apply to both verbs. In this example, the second verb also has a [[direct object]]. Note that in the English version given, the second verb is translated by an [[infinitive]], "to take", which is marked as subordinate to the first verb.

Depending on the language, the shared subject may be marked on both verbs or only one. In most of the examples, it is marked only once. However, in the following example from the [[Baré language|Baré]], in the Upper Amazon, the first person singular subject ("I") is marked twice:<ref name="Tallerman" />

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang = bae
|nu-takasã nu-dúmaka.
|deceived(1SG) sleep(1SG)
|"I pretended (that) I was asleep."}}

A similar construction is also found in most varieties of [[dialectal Arabic]]. The following example is from [[Lebanese Arabic]]:

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang = ar
|ṣurt jarrib aḥki inglīzi
|became(1SG) try(1SG) speak(1SG) English
|"I started trying to speak English."}}

As a rule, serial verbs cannot be marked independently for [[grammatical category|categories]] such as [[grammatical tense|tense]], [[grammatical aspect|aspect]] and [[grammatical mood|mood]]. Either all of the verbs are marked for the same features, or a sole marker is shared by all of them.<ref name="Tallerman" /> In the [[Hindi language|Hindi]] {{Langx|hi|फ़ोन उठा-कर कहा|label=none}} ''{{Transliteration|Deva|fon uṭhā-kar kahā}}'' (literally, phone pick-up say (PAST)), "picked up the phone and said", only the second verb is marked as past tense, but both are understood to refer to the past. In the following example, from the West African [[Ewe language|Ewe]], both verbs appear in their [[perfective]] form:

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang = ee
|Kofí trɔ dzo kpoo
|Kofi turn(PFV) leave(PFV) quietly
|"Kofi turned and left quietly."}}

In [[Japanese grammar|Japanese]], two verbs may come together with the first verb in the continuative form ({{Langx|ja|連用形|translit=ren'yōkei}}), as in {{Nihongo|2=押し通る|3=oshitōru}} ("push through"), in which ''oshi'' is the continuative form of ''osu'' ("push"), and ''tōru'' ("get through") is a finite form whose [[present tense]] and [[indicative mood]] are understood to apply to ''oshi''. Similarly, {{Nihongo|2=飛び込む|3=tobikomu}} ("jump in") in which ''tobi'' is from ''tobu'' ("jump"), and ''komu'' means "go in"; {{Nihongo|2=出来上がる|3=dekiagaru}} ("be completed"), where ''deki'' is from ''dekiru'' ("be able to be done") and ''agaru'' means "rise, be offered". No [[argument (linguistics)|argument]]s can come between the two verbs in this construction (in contrast to those described in the following section).

In the case of [[negation (linguistics)|negation]], only one negator can be applied to the whole serial construction, as in the following Baré example:<ref name="Tallerman" />

{{interlinear|indent=2| lang = bae
|hena nihiwawaka nu-tšereka nu-yaka-u abi
|NEG go(1SG) speak(1SG) mother(1SG) with
|"I am not going to talk with my mother."}}

In [[Chinese grammar|Chinese]], as in [[Southeast Asia]]n languages, when a [[transitive verb]] is followed by an [[intransitive verb]], the object of the combined verb may be understood as the object of the first verb and the subject of the second: {{Lang-zh|c=老虎咬死了張|s=|t=|p=lǎohǔ yǎosǐ le Zhāng|l=tiger bite-die PERF Zhang|labels=no}} "the tiger bit Zhang to death", where ''Zhang'' is understood as the [[direct object]] of ''yǎo'' ("bite") but as the subject of ''sǐ'' ("die"). In the equivalent construction in Hindi, the one who dies would be the tiger, not Zhang.  (See [[Chinese grammar]] for more.)

In the following example from [[Maonan language|Maonan]], a language spoken in southwestern China, up to ten verbs co-occur in a sentence coding a single event without any linking words, coordinating conjunctions or any other markings:<ref>Lu, Tian Qiao (2008). ''A Grammar of Maonan''. Boca Raton, Florida: Universal Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-59942-971-7}}. p246.</ref>

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang=jig
|ɦe2	sə:ŋ3	lət8	pa:i1	dzau4	van6	ma1	ɕa5	vɛ4	kau5	fin1	kam5	
|1SG	want	walk	go	take	return	come	try	do	look	accomplish {{gcl|PCL:Q|particle: question}}	
|"Could I walk there to bring (it) back and try (it)?"}}

In [[Santali language|Santali]], apart from serial compound verbs, there is a rare serial verb construction that denotes distinct sub-events/quasi-synonymous events of the same situation and also serializes TAM/person in the syntagmas, where the pronominal object markers appear twice but the indicative marker occurs only once in the final verb.

{{Interlinear|indent=3|bhəgtɛ{{=}}ko raɽa-led-e ɲam-led-e uni tərup' dɔ{{=}}e rɔr-gɔt-ked-a|quickly{{=}}3PL.SUBJ release-ACT.ANT-3SG.OBJ find-ACT.ANT-3SG.OBJ that.ANIM leopard TOP{{=}}3SG.SUBJ speak-AUX-ACT.AOR-FIN|"No sooner had they let him out and found him than the leopard said."}}