Cebuano Grammar - Adverbs - Deictics

Deictics

Deictics, words such as here and there, reference locations between the speaker and addressee. In addition to the same four-way distinction of proximity for demonstratives (near speaker, near speaker and addressee, near addressee and remote), deictics can express three tenses:

• Present: "X is here/there now"
• Past: "X was here/there"
• Future: "X will be here/there"

The present and future tense forms can precede or follow the words or phrases they modify by linking with nga. The past tense forms, however, only have a past meaning if they precede their words or phrases. If they follow, they convey no tense.

The 'ng-' forms are always tenseless. They follow the words or phrases they modify and can substitute equivalent past forms. In addition, they show movement or motion to the relative location which past forms cannot.

	Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense	Tenseless (D-)	Tenseless (NG-)
Proximal	dia adia	diri	ari	diri	ngari
Mesioproximal†	nia ania	dinhi	anhi	dinhi	nganhi
Mesiodistal	naa anaa	diha dinha	anha	diha dinha	nganha
Distal	toa atoa	didto	adto	didto	ngadto

† Forms in this row end in a glottal stop:
naa /naˀaˀ/, anaa /ˀanaˀaˀ/, diha /dihaˀ/, dinha /dinhaˀ/, anha /ˀanhaˀ/, diha /dihaˀ/, dinha /dinhaˀ/, nganha /ŋanhaˀ/.

Examples:

Dia diri ang bata. The child is over here. Toa ang lolo sa Amerika. Grandfather is in America. Dinhi ang Doktor gahapon. The doctor was here yesterday. Adto siya sa Maynila. She will be in Manila. Midagan ang bata ngadto sa balay niya. The child ran there (thither) to his/her house.