Declinarions of verb to be in visaya. Salamay

How do you construct past, present and future for verb to be ?
for example how would you say; I am, you are, he is, she is, it is, we are, you (plural) are, they are in all 3 tenses? Salamat po. 
 

litogo's picture

be verb

Cebuano belongs to the Austronesian language family. One of its hallmark is the focus system. It's totally different from the tense system.
It's more aligned to the Aspect system, meaning there are only two time aspect of the verb. It's either in the past or in the future. Present tense can be mapped into the past aspect.  Present tense in English is used to express repeated or habitual actions, this is usually expressed in Cebuano with the suffix  -ay.
 
There is no separate be verb, since it is redundant.
Ako si Valentino = I am Valentino
Siya si Valentino = He is Valentino  
Siya means both he and she, there is no gender disctinction.
There is also no neuter, so we just refer to things as "kana" (that).