Malagasy Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Malagasy grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Malagasy and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Malagasy and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Malagasy.

Prepositions - Malagasy
and ary / sy
above ambony
under ambany
before aloha
after aoriana
in front of eo anoloan'ny
behind aoriana
far from lavitra
near akaiky
in anaty
inside anaty
outside ivelan'ny
with miaraka
without tsy miaraka
about mikasika
between anelanelany
but nefa
for noho
from avy amin'
to hatrany

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Malagasy
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] mihinana tsy misy antsy aho
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] eo akaiki'ny fiangonana izy no mipetraka
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] iry lava noho iry
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] tonga niaraka tamin'ny alika kely izy
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] afaka miaraka aamiko ve ianao?

Negation in Malagasy

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Malagasy
I understand you [affirmative form] azoko ianao
I don't understand you [negation + verb] tsy azoko ianao
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] diso io teny io
don't leave me [imperative negation] aza ilazana aho
no problem [negation + noun] tsy misy olana

Negative Sentences - Malagasy
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] tsy mahay miteny frantsay aho
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] tsy tany alemanina izy
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] tsy afaka mahita antsika izy
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] tsy mahay eseka izy
we will not come late [negation + future tense] tsy ho tara izahay

Questions in Malagasy

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Malagasy
how? ahoana?
what? inona?
who? iza?
why? nahoana?
where? aiza?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Malagasy
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] aiza iana no mipetraka?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] miteny sinoa ve izy?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] ohatrinona ity?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] misy azoka hanampiana anao ve?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] izy no anaranao?

Adverbs in Malagasy

It's time to learn the adverbs in Malagasy. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Malagasy
now izao/amin'izao fotoana izao
yesterday omaly
today anio
tonight ra-alina
tomorrow rahampitso
soon tsy ho ela
quickly haingana
slowly miadana
together miaraka
very tena
almost saika
always foana
usually matetika
sometimes indraindray
rarely zara raha
never tsy mihitsy

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Malagasy
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] azonao amin'izay ve aho?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] mila fanampiana tsy misy hatak'andro aho
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] amaranintsaina be izy
I will always love you [verb + adverb] ho tiako foana ianao
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] afaka miaraka mianatra teny alema ve isika?

Pronouns in Malagasy

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Malagasy. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Malagasy
I izaho
you ianao
he izy
she izy
we isika
they izy ireo/zareo

Object Pronouns - Malagasy
me izaho
you ianao
him izy
her izy
us isika/tsika
them izy ireo/zareo

Possessive Pronouns - Malagasy
my ny -ko
your ny -nao
his ny -niny
her ny -niny
our ny -tsika
their ny -nareo

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Malagasy
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] namanao aho
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] miteny haingana ianao
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] manana alika telo izy
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] mahay miteny alema izy
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] tsy ho tara izahay
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] nividy ronono sy mofo ry zareo

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Malagasy
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] azonao lazaina ahy ve ny anaranao?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] homeko vola ianao
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] nanaoratra taratasy ho azy izy
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] namangy azy ry zareo omaly
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] afaka manampy antsika ve izy
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] nomeny sakafo ry zareo

Possessive Pronouns - Malagasy
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] maya no anarako
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] mipetraka eto ny rahalahinao
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] mahandro ho antsika ny reninao
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] mamaky boky no fanalany andro
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] hitsidika an'i parisy no nofinofinay
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] tsy lavitra ny tranon-dry zareo

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Malagasy
this is my house ity ny tranoko
that restaurant is far lavitra ity otely ity
these apples are delicious matsiro ireto paoma ireto
those stars are shiny manjelatra be irony kitana irony

I hope you learned a lot about the Malagasy grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!