20.4. Before and past times
| hiyáʔ cn ʔaʔ či čəyáy ʔaʔ či čə́saʔ. | ‘I go before two (o’clock).’ |
| hiyáʔ cn ʔaʔ či čiʔáw ʔaʔ či čə́saʔ. | ‘I go after two (o’clock).’ |
| hiyáʔ cn ʔaʔ či čiʔáw skʷáči. | ‘I went in days past.’ |
► 1 In §20.3 we learned that čəyáy can mean ‘almost’ or ‘barely,’ depending on the grammar of the sentence. Here, in the first model sentence, we see that it can have another, related meaning: ‘before, preceding in time.’
► 2 The grammatical patterns found in these three models should be familiar to you by now. If not, review §20.1.
► 3 The major new item in this section is the word čiʔáw, which means ‘past’ or ‘after.’ The second model sentence could also be translated ‘I go past two (o’clock).’
► 4 To talk about ‘in years past,’ substitute the word sčiʔánəŋ ‘year’ for skʷáči: ʔaʔ kʷi čiʔáw sčiʔánəŋ.
 | ʔaʔk̓ʷín caʔ ʔay̓ ʔiʔ čəm̓əsnə́kʷi cxʷ ʔaʔ cə ʔən̓sčáʔčaʔ. | ‘What time do you meet your friend?’ |
 | čəm̓əsnə́kʷi st ʔaʔ či čiʔáw ʔaʔ či ŋús. | ‘We meet after four.’ |
| hiyáʔ u cxʷ hay ƛ̓aʔtáwn. | ‘Will you go to town?’ |
| ʔáwə. ʔaʔáʔyəŋ caʔ st. | ‘No. We’ll be at home.’ |