Meaning groups of verbs, relational and tense forms

Past-tense forms show that an action or state occurred before the moment of speaking. They are made by adding -di, -(i)b, -gan to the verb stem, followed by a person-number suffix. The -di form expresses an action the speaker saw or knows directly: keldim (I came). The -(i)b form expresses an event learned by hearsay or realized later: kelibman, kelibdi (apparently I/he came). The -gan form shows an action performed earlier: kelganman (I have come). All three refer to the past, but with different shades of meaning.