Imperative, subjunctive, relative, to be and to have
Lesson 6 of 7≈ 16 min
Beyond the present
Lesson 4.5 set out the verb formula and the basic tenses. This one completes the picture: giving an order, expressing a wish, saying « the one who… », conjugating to be and to have, the passive.
All forms are shimaoré, from the Nisusoma shimaore booklet (CASNAV, 2019, pp. 16-29). The model verb is uhimba, « to sing ».
Imperative, subjunctive, relative
Nisusoma shimaore booklet, pp. 16-29. Irregular: uja « to come » → ko! « come! ».
| Mood | Construction | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| imperative | 2sg: bare root; other persons: na + subject + root in -e | ketsi! sit down!; namuketsi! sit down (pl.)! |
| negative imperative | subject + si + root in -e | usiketsi! don't sit down! |
| subjunctive | subject + root in -e; negative: + si | nihimbe that I sing; nisihimbe that I don't sing |
| relative | subject + root + -o; future: subject + tso + root + -o | ujao who comes; atsojao the one who will come |
In a sentence
- Nitsaha nilole mtrumshe. — I want to marry a woman (ni-lol-e, subjunctive after « want »).
- Ko uketsi. — Come and sit down.
- Tsisikia trongo urongoao. — I can't hear what you're saying (u-rongoa-o, relative).
- Ritsowonana mufumo ujao. — See you next week, lit. « we will see each other the week that comes ».
To be (uka) and to have (ukana)
ukana is uka na, « to be with »: tsina maha kumi, « I'm ten years old ». Negative: tsisina, kusina, kasina… Booklet, pp. 16-29.
| Person | to be, present | to be, completed | to have, present |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | tsa | tsika | tsina |
| you | wa | uka | una |
| he, she | a | aka | ana |
| we | ra | rika | rina |
| you (pl.) | mwa | muka | muna |
| they | wa | waka | wana |
The passive and the reflexive
The passive is formed with a suffix, which depends on how the verb ends:
- consonant + a → -wa: uɓala → uɓalwa (to be closed)
- vowel + a → -lwa / -liwa: udza → udzalwa (to be born), ujua → ujuliwa (to be known)
- Arabic verbs in -i / -u → -iwa: uruhusu → uruhusiwa
- one-syllable verbs → -iwa / -olwa: ula → uliwa, unwa → unolwa
Some verbs have a passive meaning without a suffix: ulemewa (to be tired), uwa (to fall).
The reflexive inserts -dji- before the root: uona (to see) → udjiona (to see oneself); tsidjiono, « I saw myself ». Booklet, pp. 16-29.
And in shiNgazidja?
The Soyir and Zribi-Hertz sheet (2017) describes another system: the incompletive uses nga: ngam ono « I see », ngo ono « you see », ngari onao « we see »; the completive uses the bare subject: hu ono « you saw », ri ono « we saw ».
The sheet writes the elements apart; the joined spelling of the 2019 norm (ngamono, tsiono) is still to be validated with a speaker.
Practice
« Sit down! » is said…
___!
« I have » is said…
___ maha kumi (I'm ten).
« That I sing » is said…
___.
Mini-quiz
« Don't sit down! » is said…
___!
Next lesson: asking questions
You now know all the booklet's tenses and moods. Last step of the module: asking questions — who, what, where, when, how many.