These suffixes indicate something about the function of the noun in the sentence. As in English, subjects and objects are normally indicated by the position of the noun or nouns in the sentence. The following two English sentences have the same words, but the sentences have different meanings due to the order of the words: Dogs chase cats. Cats chase dogs.

Subjects and objects in Klingon are likewise indicated by word order. This is described in section 6.1.

In other instances, English indicates the function of nouns in a sentence by adding words, particularly prepositions. In the following English sentence, the word around before canaries indicates that the canaries are neither chasing nor being chased: Dogs chase cats around canaries.

Similarly, in Klingon, nouns which indicate something other than subject or object usually must have some special indication of exactly what their function is. Unlike English, this is accomplished by using suffixes.

-Daq locative

This suffix indicates that something is happening (or has happened or will happen) in the vicinity of the noun to which it is attached. It is normally translated by an English preposition: to, in, at, on. The exact translation is determined by the meaning of the whole sentence. For example, pa'Daq is pa' room plus the suffix -Daq. It may occur in sentences such as the following:

pa'Daq jIHtaH I'm in the room.

pa'Daq yIjaH Go to the room.

In the first sentence, jIH I is used in the sense of I am (see section 6.3), so in is the most reasonable translation of -Daq. In the second sentence, the verb is jaH go, so to makes the most sense as a translation of -Daq. An English preposition need not be part of the translation. Klingon Dung means area above, and DungDaq is overhead, literally something like "at the area above." For further discussion on prepositional concepts, see section 3.4.

It is worth noting at this point that the concepts expressed by the English adverbs here, there, somewhere, and everywhere are expressed by nouns in Klingon: naDev hereabouts, pa' thereabouts, vogh somewhere, Dat everywhere. These words may perhaps be translated more literally as "area around here," "area over there," and "all places," respectively. Unlike other nouns, these three words are never followed by the locative suffix. (Note that pa' thereabouts and pa' room are identical in sound; pa'Daq, however, can mean only in/to the room.)

There are a few verbs whose meanings include locative notions, such as ghoS approach, proceed. The locative suffix need not be used on nouns which are the objects of such verbs.

Duj ghoStaH It is approaching the ship. (Duj ship, vessel, ghoStaH it is approaching it)

yuQ wIghoStaH We are proceeding toward the planet. (yuQ planet, vIghoStaH we are proceeding toward it)

If the locative suffix is used with such verbs, the resulting sentence is somewhat redundant, but not out-and-out wrong.

DujDaq ghoStaH It is approaching toward the ship.

More examples using other verbs that include locative notions:

yuQ vIleng or yuQDaq vIleng I travel to the planet

yuQDaq jIleng I roam (around/about) on the planet

Duj vIpaw or DujDaq vIpaw I arrive at the ship

DujDaq jIpaw I arrive on the ship (that is, I arrive via the ship, I arrive in the ship)

pa' vI'el or pa'Daq vI'el I entered into the room

bIQtIq vIjaH or bIQtIqDaq vIjaH I go to the river

bIQtIqDaq jIjaH I go in the river (that is, I'm moving along in the river, traveling in the river.)

Note that the prefix determines if the noun is the object of such verbs or not. For example, jI- means I'm doing the verb in someplace.  vI- means I'm doing the verb to someplace. In all of these examples, using -Daq with a prefix like vI- is also somewhat redundant, as it is with the ghoS example above, but not out-and-out wrong.

This cannot be used on language names to say "in/into the language" as in "I translated this sentence into Klingon" or "Say that sentence in Klingon". It also cannot be used on time stamps to say "at 10:30 PM" or to say "in the morning", "in the afternoon", "in the past" or "in the future" for that use a form qaS.

qaSDI' tuch in the future/when the future happens (qaS happen, -DI' as soon as/when, tuch the future)

qaSDI' po in the (future) morning (po morning)

qaStaHvIS pa'logh in the past/while the past happens (-taH continuous -vIS while pa'logh the past)

-vo' from

This suffix is similar to -Daq but is used only when action is in a direction away from the noun suffixed with -vo'.

pa'vo' yIjaH Leave the room!

A more literal translation of this sentence might be "Go from the room."

Other examples:

yuQvo' jIleng  I roam away from the planet

-mo' due to, because of

This suffix occurs in sentences such as:

SuSmo' joqtaH It is fluttering in the breeze.

The noun SuSmo' means due to the breeze, so the whole sentence is literally "due to the breeze, it [a flag] is fluttering."

-vaD for, intended for

This suffix indicates that the noun to which it is attached is in some way the beneficiary of the action, the person or thing for whom or for which the activity occurs.

Qu'vaD lI' De'vam This information is useful for the mission.

The noun Qu'vaD means for the mission, and in this sentence -vaD indicates that the information is intended to be used somehow for the mission under discussion.

-'e' topic

This suffix emphasizes that the noun to which it is attached is the topic of the sentence. In English, this is frequently accomplished by stressing the noun (saying it emphatically) or by special syntactic constructions.

jIlujpu' jIH'e' I, and only I, have failed. It is I who has failed.

De"e' vltlhapnISpu' I needed to get the INFORMATION. It was the information (and not something else) that I needed.

Without the -'e', these same sentences would have no noun singled out for emphasis:

jIlujpu' jIH I have failed.

De' vItlhapnISpu' I needed to get the information.

For a further use of -'e', see section 6.3.