Lesson 008 - Subject Prefixes

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Two rival schools in Zimbabwe playing a soccer (football) match. The home team didn't have matching uniforms, shin guards, or even shoes...but they still won! (Photo by Matt Brodie, www.brodiefoto.com)

Today we’ll be continuing our lesson on the important subject of pronouns. This lesson will teach us how to use the six personal pronouns we learned in lesson 7: Ini, Isu, Iwe, Imi, Iye, and Ivo.

Twitter Review

Also, today I have some great news to share about our Twitter reviews.  We’re going to be launching a mini-series called “60-Second Shona,” in which we’ll review several words each episode, from the words and phrases sent via twitter.  These mini series episodes will air in between the usual shona lessons podcast episodes, and will allow you to not have to wait for a lesson, before hearing a review of the words you’re learning.  Look out for the first 60-Second Shona episode, which is airing just after this lesson 8.  So from now on, our regular lessons will go straight into the material, and our twitter reviews will air on the new mini-series, 60-Second Shona.

Subject Prefixes

Let’s get right into today’s lesson on Subject prefixes.  Now if you remember in our previous lessons, we learned that words and sentences that begin with the prefix Nd, “N - D” are used when referring to yourself. Such as Ndiri kuenda ku town.  So you already know one of the subject prefixes that we will be learning today.  Here they are:

The subject prefix for ___ is ____.

Ini - Nd - Ini ndiri kuenda kubasa – I am going to work

Isu - T - Isu tiri kuenda kubasa - We are going to work

Iwe - U - Iwe uri kuenda kubasa - You are going to work

Imi - M - Imi muri kuenda kubasa - You all are going to work. (or) You are going to work (to an adult).

Iye - A - Iye ari kuenda kubasa - She is going to work.  (or) He is going to work.

Ivo - Wa - Ivo vari kuenda kubasa - They are going to work

We have just reviewed our six personal pronouns, along with the proper word which follows them in a sentence.  This opens up a whole world of possibilities, and you can now make up hundreds, if not thousands of sentences, just a we have in this exercise .  Let’s do another set, using the topic “kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe.” This means “to want to go to Zimbabwe.” “Kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe.”

You may be noticing a lot of, “ku’s” in that sentence.  That’s because “ku” is the shona equivalent of the english word “to,” as in “to do something.”

Ini ndiri kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe - I want to go to Zimbabwe

Isu tiri kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe - We want to go to Zimbabwe

Iwe uri kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe - You want to go to Zimbabwe

Imi muri kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe - You all (plural) want to go to Zimbabwe. (or), you want to go to Zimbabwe (to an adult).

Iye ari kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe - He/She wants to go to Zimbabwe

Ivo vari kuda kuenda ku Zimbabwe - They want to go to Zimbabwe

You can do this exercise to construct tons of sentences.  Such as:

kutamba bhora - playing soccer

kuimba - singing

kufamba - walking

kudya sadza - eating sadza

And more.

And now, I have something to tell you that will make your life a whole lot easier!  In all these sentences we’ve just recited, you can remove the first word.  That’s right.  All those 6 pronouns we’ve spent learning, ini, isu, iwe, and the other 3, are no longer necessary to you.  This is because the subject prefix implies the pronoun.  Simply put, you can just say:

Ndiri kuenda kuTown - I am going to town.

Notice I didn’t have to say “Ini” anymore.  This is because when you say “Ndiri kuenda kuTown,” its enough, because Nd, can only refer to me.  So

Tiri kuenda kuTown -

Notice I no longer need to say “Isu Tiri kuenda kuTown.”  I can just say “Tiri kuenda kuTown.”  Isn’t that awesome?  That definitely makes life a whole lot easier.  If you listen to a shona speaker, they’ll almost never start their sentence with the pronoun, because they know its not needed.  So here’s a quiz.  How to you say “you are going to town?”

The answer is:  Uri kuenda kuTown.

Now here’s some information to help guide you as you make your sentences.  The sentences we’ve just recited, are for both present and future tenses.  So whether you’re talking about now, or later, “ndiri kuenda kuZimbabwe” means “I am going to Zimbabwe.”  So, what’s left to learn is how to speak for the past tense, meaning, speaking of things you have already done, such as “I went to Zimbabwe.”  This is easy.  You simply change from saying “Ndiri”, to “Ndaka”.  Let’s do that now.

Ini - Ndaka enda kuZimbabwe – I went to Zimbabwe

Isu - Taka enda kuZimbabwe - We went to Zimbabwe

Iwe - Waka enda kuZimbabwe - You went to Zimbabwe

Imi - Maka enda kuZimbabwe – You all  went to Zimbabwe (plural / adult)

Iye - Aka enda kuZimbabwe - He/She went to Zimbabwe

Ivo - Vaka enda kuZimbabwe – They went to Zimbabwe. (or about an adult)

And again, anytime you have a plural form in shona, thats the same form you’re going to use when speaking to, or about an adult or someone who deserves respect.  So someone who is older than you, or someone who is of great importance, and really anyone whose not a child or a familiar friend.  You speak to them in plural form, as if they’re more than one person.

Before we go, lets do one more set in the past tense, using “played soccer,” “tamba bhora”

Ndaka tamba bhora - I played soccer

Taka tamba bhora - We played soccer

Waka tamba bhora - You played soccer

Maka tamba bhora - You all played soccer (or to adult)

Aka tamba bhora - He/She played soccer

Vaka tamba bhora - They played soccer (or about an about)

So….

Baba vaka tamba bhora – Dad played soccer

John aka tamba bhora – John played soccer

If you want to say, “the boys from Zimbabwe played soccer in  Brazil in the world cup of 2014, and won, and made us all happy!” You’d say….

“Vakomana ve Zimbabwe vaka tamba bhora kuBrazil pa World Cup ye 2014, vakakunda, vakati fadza tose zvekuti!”

That’s it for today.  Join in next time for more on the wonderful language of Shona.