Editing Chewa language (section)

===Formation of tenses===
[[Grammatical tense|Tenses]] in Chichewa are differentiated in two ways, by their tense-marker (or tense-[[infix]]), and by their tonal pattern. Sometimes two tenses have the same tense-marker and differ in their tonal pattern alone. In the following examples, the tense-marker is underlined:<ref>Maxson (2011), pp.39ff, 77ff.</ref><ref>For tones, Mtenje (1986).</ref>
*{{lang|ny|ndi-<u>ku</u>-gúla}} 'I am buying'
*{{lang|ny|ndí-<u>ma</u>-gúla}} 'I usually buy'
*{{lang|ny|ndi-<u>ma</u>-gúla}} 'I was buying', 'I used to buy'
*{{lang|ny|ndí-<u>dzá</u>-gula}} 'I will buy (tomorrow or in future)'
*{{lang|ny|ndí-<u>ká</u>-gula}} 'I will buy (when I get there)'

One tense has no tense-marker:
*{{lang|ny|ndí-gula}} 'I will buy (soon)'

Tenses can be modified further by adding certain other infixes, called 'aspect-markers', after the tense-marker. These are {{lang|ny|-má-}} 'always, usually' {{lang|ny|-ká-}} 'go and', {{lang|ny|-dzá}} 'come and' or 'in future', and {{lang|ny|-ngo-}} 'only', 'just'. These infixes can also be used on their own, as tense-markers in their own right (compare the use of {{lang|ny|-ma-}} and {{lang|ny|-dza-}} in the list of tenses above). For example:
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ku-má-gúlá}} 'I am always buying'<ref>Maxson (2011), p.126.</ref>
*{{lang|ny|ndi-ná-ká-gula}} 'I went and bought'<ref>Maxson (2011), p.115.</ref>
*{{lang|ny|ndí-má-ngo-gúla}} 'I just usually buy'<ref>Salaun, p.49.</ref>

Compound tenses, such as the following, are also found in Chichewa:<ref>Kiso (2012), p.107.</ref>
*{{lang|ny|nd-a-khala ndí-kú-gúla}} 'I have been buying'