Travel

Klingon Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 12 · Travel: Ships, Docks & Tickets

🚀 Travel: Ships, Docks & Tickets — Duj

The last chapter adapts the usual train-station chapter to a ship, as agreed in the outline. By the end you will be able to say where you go, arrive and leave, and tie two actions together with -DI' "when" and -pa' "before" (Klingon Grammar 1, Chapter 9). There is no ticket office in this chapter: I could not confirm Klingon words for "ticket" or "dock", and I would rather leave a gap than invent one.

① Where Do You Go? — nuqDaq bIjaH?

A: nuqDaq bIjaH? Where do you go?

B: Qo'noSDaq jIjaH. I go to Kronos.

A: Qapla'! Success!

② The Ship Leaves — Duj mej

A: Duj mej'a'? Does the ship leave?

B: HIja'. wa'leS Duj mej. Yes. Tomorrow the ship leaves.

A: tera' rep 'ar? At what hour?

B: tera' rep jav. At hour 6.

③ Arriving — Duj vIpaw

A: Duj vIpaw. I arrive at the ship.

B: majQa'. pa' Duj. Well done. The ship is there.

A: Qapla'. Success.

④ When I Arrive — vIpawDI'

A: Qo'noS vIpawDI', Soj vISop. When I arrive at Kronos, I eat.

B: Soj? QaQ! Food? Good!

A: 'Iw HIq vItlhutlh. I drink bloodwine.

⑤ Before I Go — jIjaHpa'

A: DujDaq jIjaHpa', pa' vIQong. Before I go to the ship, I sleep there.

B: ram 'ar bIQong? How many nights do you sleep?

A: cha' ram jIQong. I sleep two nights.

⑥ Farewell — majQa'

A: wa'leS jIleng. maj ram. Tomorrow I travel. Good night.

B: Qapla'! Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam. Success! Today is a good day to die.

A: majQa'. Well done.

🗝️ Key Phrases — Gravaj Hol

Klingon has no formal and informal "you", so the table shows one form.

Situation	Klingon	Say it	Note
Where do you go?	nuqDaq bIjaH?	nuq-Daq bi-jaH
I go to Kronos	Qo'noSDaq jIjaH.	Qo'-noS-Daq ji-jaH	place + -Daq
The ship leaves	Duj mej.	Duj mej
I arrive at the ship	Duj vIpaw.	Duj vi-paw	the place arrived at is the object
When I arrive …	vIpawDI' …	vi-paw-DI'	-DI' "when", last on the verb
Before I go …	jIjaHpa' …	ji-jaH-pa'	-pa' "before"
Tomorrow I travel	wa'leS jIleng.	wa'-leS ji-leng	time word first

Three verbs of travel with the prefixes you know:

Verb	I	you	we
jaH (go)	jIjaH	bIjaH	majaH
leng (travel)	jIleng	bIleng	maleng
paw (arrive at it)	vIpaw	Dapaw	wIpaw

Two Actions in One Sentence — -DI' and -pa' Both suffixes are group 9, so they come last on the verb. vIpawDI' "when I arrive" starts the sentence and the main clause follows after a comma: Qo'noS vIpawDI', Soj vISop. The same applies to -pa' "before". Klingon has no tense, so the order of the clauses and the time words show when things happen.

📖 Vocabulary — Vortaro

20 key words. The Say it column shows the syllables.

#	Klingon	Say it	English	Type
1	Duj	Duj	ship	noun
2	jaH	jaH	go	verb
3	leng	leng	travel	verb
4	paw	paw	arrive at	verb
5	mej	mej	leave, depart	verb
6	ghoS	ghoS	proceed, approach	verb
7	-DI'	-DI'	when (suffix)	suffix
8	-pa'	-pa'	before (suffix)	suffix
9	-Daq	-Daq	to, at (suffix)	suffix
10	nuqDaq	nuq-Daq	where	question
11	wa'leS	wa'-leS	tomorrow	adverb
12	wa'Hu'	wa'-Hu'	yesterday	adverb
13	DaHjaj	DaH-jaj	today	adverb
14	rep	rep	hour	noun
15	Qo'noS	Qo'-noS	Kronos	noun
16	pa'	pa'	there	adverb
17	naDev	na-Dev	here	adverb
18	majQa'	maj-Qa'	well done	phrase
19	Qapla'	Qap-la'	success	phrase
20	maj ram	maj ram	good night	phrase

Culture — The Journey Is Part of the Honour A Klingon does not talk about "getting there". Departure is a vow and arrival is a result: Qapla'! is said both ways. If a ship leaves, the crew expects to come back with a story, or not at all.

📜 Reading — LaD

A short text using only words you know.

wa'leS Duj mej. Qo'noSDaq jIjaH. Qo'noS vIpawDI', 'Iw HIq vItlhutlh. Qapla'! Tomorrow the ship leaves. I go to Kronos. When I arrive at Kronos, I drink bloodwine. Success!

True or false? (a) The ship leaves today. (b) The speaker goes to Kronos. (c) The speaker drinks water on arrival. (d) The text ends with "success".

Show answers

(a) False: wa'leS is tomorrow. (b) True. (c) False: 'Iw HIq is bloodwine. (d) True: Qapla'!

✍️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Ask where someone goes, and say you go to Kronos.

Show answer

nuqDaq bIjaH? · Qo'noSDaq jIjaH.

2. Say "the ship leaves tomorrow at hour 6".

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wa'leS tera' rep jav Duj mej.

3. Say "when I arrive at the ship, I sleep".

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Duj vIpawDI', jIQong.

4. Say "before I go to Kronos, I eat".

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Qo'noSDaq jIjaHpa', Soj vISop.

5. Say "we travel tomorrow".

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wa'leS maleng.

6. Say goodbye the Klingon way (use two phrases from Chapter 1).

Show answer

Qapla'! · Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam.

🏁 Course Complete — Qapla'!

You have finished Klingon Basic Conversation 1. Here is what you can now do:

Chapter	You can …
1 Greetings & Farewells	say nuqneH, Qapla', majQa', yes and no
2 Introducing Yourself	give a name and say what you are with noun + pronoun
3 Numbers, Age & Counting	count, and tell your age with ben
4 Where You're From	use -Daq and -vo'
5 Family & House	name relatives with -wI' and -lI'
6 Your Work	name roles with -wI'
7 Days, Dates & Telling the Time	say today, tomorrow, and the hour
8 Food & Drink	want, eat and drink, and command
9 Trade & Prices	buy, sell, ask the price
10 Directions	ask and give directions
11 Quarters & Lodging	ask for a room and say what you need
12 Travel	go, arrive, leave and link two clauses

Coming Up — Klingon Basic Conversation 2 The next course builds on this one with longer conversations, more vocabulary (engineer, healer, clerk, days of the week, a ticket office) and the full question words. Take your Qapla' with you.