Your Work
Klingon Basic Conversation 1
Chapter 6 · Your Work
⚔️ Your Work — Qu'
Klingons are not good at small talk about careers, but they are very good at saying what they do and what rank they hold. By the end of this chapter you will be able to say your role (warrior, officer, commander, teacher), ask someone else's, and say that a duty is done. The key tool is the doer suffix -wI' from Klingon Grammar 1, Chapter 7: Suv "fight" becomes SuvwI' "one who fights, a warrior". This chapter uses only roles whose words I could check. Words for engineer, healer and clerk are left out rather than guessed; you will meet them in Klingon Basic Conversation 2.
① What Are You? — nuq SoH?
② Officer or Commander? — ra'wI'
③ Who Is the Captain? — 'Iv HoD?
④ Teacher or Learner? — HaDwI', ghojwI'
⑤ The Task Is Done — Qu' vIta'pu'
⑥ On the Ship — DujDaq
🗝️ Key Phrases — Gravaj Hol
Klingon has no formal and informal "you", so the table shows one form.
| Situation | Klingon | Say it | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| What are you? | nuq SoH? | nuq SoH | question word, then pronoun |
| I am a warrior | SuvwI' jIH. | Suv-wI' jIH | noun + pronoun (Chapter 2) |
| I am a commander | ra'wI' jIH. | ra'-wI' jIH | |
| Are you an officer? | yaS SoH'a'? | yaS SoH-'a' | |
| Who is your captain? | 'Iv HoDlI'? | 'Iv HoD-lI' | a captain is a person: -lI' |
| I have done the task | Qu' vIta'pu'. | Qu' vi-ta'-pu' | -pu' "already, done" |
| on the ship | DujDaq | Duj-Daq | place suffix (Chapter 4) |
The verb ta' "do, accomplish" with the prefixes you know, in the completed form with -pu':
| Verb | I → it | you → it | he / she → it |
|---|---|---|---|
| ta' (do) | vIta'pu' | Data'pu' | ta'pu' |
| HaD (study) | vIHaD | DaHaD | HaD |
| ghoj (learn) | vIghoj | Daghoj | ghoj |
📖 Vocabulary — Vortaro
20 key words. The Say it column shows the syllables.
| # | Klingon | Say it | English | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Qu' | Qu' | task, mission | noun |
| 2 | -wI' | -wI' | one who does (suffix) | suffix |
| 3 | SuvwI' | Suv-wI' | warrior | noun |
| 4 | Suv | Suv | fight | verb |
| 5 | yaS | yaS | officer | noun |
| 6 | HoD | HoD | captain | noun |
| 7 | ra'wI' | ra'-wI' | commander | noun |
| 8 | ra' | ra' | command, order | verb |
| 9 | HaDwI' | HaD-wI' | teacher, student | noun |
| 10 | HaD | HaD | study | verb |
| 11 | ghojwI' | ghoj-wI' | learner | noun |
| 12 | leng | leng | travel | verb |
| 13 | lengwI' | leng-wI' | traveller | noun |
| 14 | -taH | -taH | continuing (suffix) | suffix |
| 15 | ta' | ta' | do, accomplish | verb |
| 16 | -pu' | -pu' | already done (suffix) | suffix |
| 17 | Duj | Duj | ship | noun |
| 18 | DujDaq | Duj-Daq | on the ship | phrase |
| 19 | nuq | nuq | what | question |
| 20 | QaQ | QaQ | be good | adj |
📜 Reading — LaD
A short text using only words you know.
True or false? (a) The speaker is an officer. (b) The captain is Martok. (c) The speaker is on a ship. (d) The task is not done.
Show answers
(a) False: SuvwI' jIH. (b) True. (c) True: DujDaq jIH. (d) False: Qu' vIta'pu' "I have done the task".
✍️ Try It Yourself — Ekzercoj
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Ask someone's role, and say that you are a commander.
Show answer
nuq SoH? · ra'wI' jIH.
2. Make the doer noun from leng "travel" and from Suv "fight".
Show answer
lengwI' · SuvwI'
3. Say "my captain is Martok" and "who is your captain?".
Show answer
HoDwI' 'oH Martaq'e'. · 'Iv HoDlI'?
4. Ask "have you done the task?" and answer "yes".
Show answer
Qu' Data'pu''a'? · HIja', Qu' vIta'pu'.
5. Say "I am a learner" and "I am on the ship".
Show answer
ghojwI' jIH. · DujDaq jIH.
6. Say "warriors" (plural) and "I am learning Klingon".
Show answer
SuvwI'pu' · tlhIngan Hol vIghoj.