Chichewa tenses
A table of tenses
The main tenses used in independent clauses in Chichewa are as follows:

Chichewa tenses

Section Title: A table of tenses
Table Section Text: The main tenses used in independent clauses in Chichewa are as follows:

Name	Tense-marker	Chichewa	Meaning	Tones

Present Simple	–	ndí-thandiza (ndí-thándiza)	I help, I'll help	Tone on subject-marker (which may spread)

Present Habitual	ma	ndí-ma-thandíza	I help (regularly)	Tones on subject-marker (which never spreads) and penultimate

Present Continuous	ku	ndi-ku-thándiza	I am helping	Tone on syllable after -ku-

Present Frequentative	ku-ma	ndi-ku-má-thandíza	I am always helping	Tones on -ma- and penultimate

Present Persistive	kada, kana, daka	ndi-kada-thandíza	I am still helping	Tone on the penultimate

Perfect	a	nd-a-thandiza	I have helped	Toneless (unless the verb-stem itself has a tone)

Remote Perfect ("Simple Past")	ná, dá	ndi-ná-thandiza, ndi-dá-thandiza	I helped, I have helped	Tone on -na- or -da- (which may spread)

Recent Past	na	ndi-na-thándiza	I helped (recently)	Tone on the syllable following -na-

Remote Past	na-a, da-a	ndí-ná-a-thandíza ndí-dá-a-thandíza	I had helped; I helped (but...)	Tones on subject-marker, na (optional), and penultimate.

Past Imperfective	ma	ndi-ma-thándiza	I was helping, used to help	Tone on the syllable following -ma-

Remote Past Imperfective	nká	ndi-nká-thandíza	I was helping, used to help	Tones on -ka- and the penultimate

Remote Future	dzá	ndi-dzá-thandiza ndí-dzá-thandiza	I will help	Tones on subject-marker (optional) and -dza- (which may spread)

Contingent Future	ká	ndi-ká-thandiza ndí-ká-thandiza	I will help (when...)	Tones on subject-marker (optional) and -ka- (which may spread)

Future Continuous	zí	ndí-zi-thandíza	I'll be helping	Tones on subject-marker and penultimate

Remote Future Continuous	zi-dza	ndí-zí-dza-thandíza	I'll be helping	Tones on subject-marker, -zi-, and penultimate

Present Potential	nga	ndi-nga-thandize	I can help, I would help	Toneless

Perfect Conditional	kadá, kaná, daká	ndi-kadá-thandiza	I would have helped	Tone on second syllable of tense-marker (which may spread)

Present Subjunctive	–	ndi-thandizé	I should help	Tone on the final -e

zi- Subjunctive	zí	ndi-zí-thandíza	I should be helping	Tones on -zi- and penultimate

ba- Subjunctive	ba:	ndí-bâ:-thandíza	I should be helping meanwhile	Tones as for Remote Past

ta- Subjunctive	ta	ndi-ta-thándiza	let me help	Tone following ta

Imperative	–	thandiza(ni)!	help!	Toneless

Present Participial	ku	ndí-kú-thándiza	when I am/was helping	Tones on subject-marker and 3rd syllable, which usually link

Persistive Participial	kada, kana, daka	ndí-daka-thandíza	while I am still helping	Tones on subject-marker and penultimate

Perfect Participial	ta	ndí-tá-thándiza	having helped, after I help(ed)	Tones as for Present Participial

Negative Perfect Participial	sana, sada	ndí-sana-thandíze	before I help(ed)	Tones on subject-marker and penultimate

When / if	ka	ndi-ka-thandiza	when/if I help	Toneless

Whenever / if ever	kama	ndi-kamá-thandíza	whenever I help(ed)	Tones on ma and penultimate

When / if in future	kadza	ndi-kadzá-thandiza	when one day I help	Tone on dza

If (hypothetical future)	ta	ndí-tá-thándiza	if I were to help	As for Perfect Participial

If (hypothetical past)	kada, kana, daka	ndí-kada-thandíza	if I had helped	Tones on subject-marker and penultimate

Sentence(s)

The Present Continuous tense uses the tense-marker -ku-, with the tone on the syllable after -ku-: ndi-ku-thándiza "I am helping".

final_sentence: The Present Continuous tense uses the tense-marker -ku-, with the tone on the syllable after -ku-: ndi-ku-thándiza "I am helping".