Editing Burushaski (section)

==== Formation of tenses and moods ====
The formation of the tenses and moods involves the use of several positions, or slots, in complicated ways. The preterite, perfect, pluperfect and conative are formed from the 'simple stem,' whereas the present, imperfect, future and conditional are formed from the 'present stem,' which is itself formed from the simple stem by placing -č- in position 7. The optative and imperative are derived directly from the stem. Altogether, the schema is as follows:

The formation of the tenses and moods of the verb ''her'' 'to cry', without prefixes:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Simple stem tenses
|- style="background:#c0f0f0;"
! style="width:100px;"| Grammatical<br />category
! style="width:350px;"| Construction
! style="width:200px;"| Form and meaning
|-
| Conative || stem + personal suffix || ''her-i'' 'he starts to cry'
|-
| Preterite || stem [+ linking vowel] + m-suffix + personal suffix || ''her-i-m-i'' 'he cried'
|-
| Perfect || stem [+ linking vowel] + present auxiliary || ''her-a-i'' 'he has cried'
|-
| Pluperfect || stem [+ linking vowel] + perfect auxiliary || ''her-a-m'' 'he had cried'
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Present stem tenses
|- style="background:#c0f0f0;"
! style="width:100px;"| Grammatical<br />category
! style="width:350px;"| Construction
! style="width:200px;"| Form and meaning
|-
| Future || stem + present marker [+ linking vowel + m-suffix] + personal ending || ''her-č-i'' 'he will cry'
|-
| Present || stem + present marker + linking vowel + present auxiliary || ''her-č-a-i'' 'he is crying'
|-
| Imperfect || stem + present marker + linking vowel + perfect auxiliary || ''her-č-a-m'' 'he was crying, used to cry'
|-
| rowspan="2" | Conditional || stem + present marker + linking vowel + m-Suffix (except 1. pl.) + ''če'' || ''her-č-u-m-če'' '...{{nbsp}}he would cry',
|-
| stem + present marker + linking vowel + 1. pl. ending + ''če'' || ''her-č-an-če'' 'we would cry'
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Optatives and Imperative
|- style="background:#c0f0f0;"
! style="width:100px;"| Grammatical<br />category
! style="width:350px;"| Construction
! style="width:200px;"| Form and meaning
|-
| ''áa''-optative || stem + ''áa'' (in all persons) || ''her-áa'' "...{{nbsp}}should.. cry"
|-
| ''m''-optative || stem [+ linking vowel] + m-suffix || ''her-u-m'' "...{{nbsp}}should.. cry“
|-
| ''š''-optative || stem + ''(i)š'' + personal suffix || ''her-š-an'' "he should cry"
|-
| Imperative<br />singular || stem [+ ''é'' for ending-accented verbs] || ''her'' "cry!"
|-
| Imperative<br />plural || stem + ''in'' || ''her-in'' "cry!"
|}