8.1. The preposition ʔaʔ
kʷənáŋənəŋ cn ʔaʔ cə swéʔwəs. ‘I was helped by the boy.’
► 1 In the examples the preposition ʔaʔ is translated ‘by.’
► 2 The first example is passive in the control form. Note the ‑təŋ ending.
► 3 The second example is also passive, but it is the noncontrol form. Note the ‑nəŋ ending.
► 4 Note that, as usual, the verb comes first in the Klallam sentence.
► 5 The Klallam preposition may also translate as other prepositions in English. For example, ʔaʔ cə suɬ ‘on the road’ and ʔaʔ cə šč̓ə́yi ‘with the stick.’
► 6 A detailed explanation of the passive will have to wait for a later section. We will just say here that in a passive sentence, the subject is acted upon. For every active sentence there is a passive sentence that means the same thing. For example, ‘The boy hit the ball’ is active, and ‘The ball was hit by the boy’ is its passive form.
► 7 A passive in Klallam can usually be identified by the ‑təŋ or ‑nəŋ at the end of the verb. The ‑təŋ form is the ‘control’ form and the ‑nəŋ form is the ‘noncontrol’ form (see §7 on ‘control’ and ‘noncontrol’). Here is a list of passive verbs to use in this and further sections. You can find more in Appendix I.
| Control | Noncontrol | ||||
| k̓ʷə́nətəŋ | k̓ʷə́nnəŋ | ‘is looked at/seen’ | |||
| x̣čtíŋ | x̣čníŋ | ‘is known’ | |||
| sáʔətəŋ | sáʔənəŋ | ‘is lifted’ | |||
| ɬc̓ítəŋ | ɬc̓ínəŋ | ‘is cut’ | |||
| ƛ̓kʷtíŋ | ƛ̓kʷníŋ | ‘is held’ | |||
| šč̓ə́təŋ | šč̓náŋ | ‘is hit’ | |||
| tkʷə́təŋ | tkʷnáŋ | ‘is broken’ | |||
| məsítəŋ | məsínəŋ | ‘is chosen’ | |||
| c̓čə́təŋ | c̓čnáŋ | ‘is wakened’ | |||
| ƛ̓kʷə́təŋ | ƛ̓kʷnáŋ | ‘is taken’ | |||
| x̣áčtəŋ | x̣áčnəŋ | ‘is dried’ |
 | kʷənáŋətəŋ u cxʷ ʔaʔ cə ʔən̓sčáʔčaʔ. | ‘Did your friend help you?’ |
 | ʔáwə. kʷənáŋətəŋ cn ʔaʔ cə nətán. | ‘No my mother helped me.’ |
| ʔəsx̣ʷaʔníŋ ʔay̓ kʷɬə ʔən̓tán. | ‘How is your mother?’ |
| mán̓ ʔuʔ ʔə́y̓. | ‘She’s very well.’ |