plural) and also encode the clusivity distinction: 1st person non-singular pronouns (equivalent of English we) are described as inclusive if they include the addressee (i.e. {you + I}, {you + I + others}), but exclusive otherwise (i.e. {I + other people}). Bislama pronouns do not decline. The third person singular hem, also written em lacks gender distinction, so it can mean either he, she or it. The predicate marker i – a particle which is placed before the verbal phrase of a sentence – is sometimes merged with the third person pronoun, giving the words hemi and emi, respectively, in singular, and oli in plural. Tense/aspect/mood markers stap + V : (progressive) ongoing or habitual action hem i stap kukum kumala or: hemi stap kukum kumala he/she is cooking sweet potatoes bin + V : past tense (with implication that the state is no longer true) hem i bin sik long fiva she was sick with fever [but is no longer sick] V + finis : (perfective) "already" (when placed at the end of a phrase; elsewhere it means "finish") hem i kakae finis she has already eaten bae + V (occasionally bambae): (irrealis) future or hypothetical actions (though, like in English, generally not used in conditional sentences) bae mi go long Santo I will go to Santo If the plane hadn't been full, I would have gone to Santo no + V : negative, "not" hem i no wantem yam he doesn't want yam nomo + V: "no longer" (when placed after the predicate; elsewhere it means "only") hem i nomo kakae yam he no longer eats yam hem i kakae yam nomo he only eats yam neva + V : never hem i neva kakae yam he's never eaten yam jes + V : (<"just") an action that has recently occurred we just woke up In a future context, jes entails a delay, rendered in English as "eventually": bae mi pem I will buy it / Let me buy it bae mi jes pem, be noyet I will buy it (eventually), but not yet V + gogo : continued action hem i kukum kumala gogo he keeps on cooking sweet potatoes mas + V : "must", be obliged to hem i mas kakae he must eat traem + V : "try to"; also sometimes used for politeness in requests hem i stap traem katem he's trying to cut