Welcome to the 8th lesson about Oromo 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 Oromo and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Oromo and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Oromo.
| Prepositions - Oromo |
|---|
| and fi |
| above gubbaa / gararraa |
| under jala / gajjallaa |
| before dura |
| after booddee / booda |
| in front of fullee isaa |
| behind dudduuba / dugda duuba |
| far from irraa siqee / iraa fagaatee |
| near bira |
| in keessa |
| inside keessa |
| outside ala |
| with wajjin |
| without malee |
| about waa'ee |
| between gidduu |
| but garuu |
| for f |
| from irraa, ittii |
| to itti |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Oromo |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] haaduu malee nyaadha |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] mana kadhata bira jiraatti |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] ojjaadhan isee caala |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] saree sa xinno wajjin dhufe |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] na wajjin dhufitta? |
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 - Oromo |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] dubbiin ke naa gala |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] dubbiin ke naan ngalle |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] jechi kun sirritti hin-ibsu |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] na gattee hindeemin |
| no problem [negation + noun] rakinni hinjiru |
| Negative Sentences - Oromo |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] afaan faransaayi hinbeeu |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] biyya jarmanii dhaqxee hinbeektu |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] inni nu argu hindanda'u |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] ishiin cheesi taphachu hinbeektu? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] yeroo dabarsinee hindhufnu |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Oromo |
|---|
| how? attamitti? |
| what? maal? |
| who? eenyu? |
| why? maaliif? |
| where? eessa? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Oromo |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] eessa jiraatta? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] afaan chaayina beeka? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] kun gatiin meeqa? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] maal si gargaaru? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] maqaan ke eenyu? |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Oromo. 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 - Oromo |
|---|
| now amma |
| yesterday kaleessa |
| today harr'a |
| tonight edana |
| tomorrow bor |
| soon dhiyootti |
| quickly dafee |
| slowly suuta |
| together walii wajjin |
| very baayyee |
| almost xinnoo hanqata |
| always yeroo hunda |
| usually yeroo baayyee |
| sometimes gaaffii gaaf |
| rarely darbee darbee |
| never matuma |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Oromo |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] amma sii galee? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] gargaarsi hatattamaan na barbaachisa |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] iseen gar malee abshaala |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] yoomiyyuu siin jaaladha |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] walii wajjin afaan jarmanii baruu dandeenya? |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Oromo. 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 - Oromo |
|---|
| I ani |
| you ati |
| he inni |
| she isheen |
| we nuhi |
| they isaan |
| Object Pronouns - Oromo |
|---|
| me ana / na |
| you si |
| him isa |
| her ishee |
| us nuu |
| them isaan |
| Possessive Pronouns - Oromo |
|---|
| my ko / kiyya / tiyya |
| your ke / te |
| his isaa |
| her ishee |
| our keenya / teenya |
| their isaanii |
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 - Oromo |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] ani jaala keeti |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] daddaftee dubbatta |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] inni saree sadii qaba |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] afaan jarmanii beekti |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] yeroo dabarsinee hindhufnu |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] daabboo fi annan bitatan |
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 - Oromo |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] maqaa ke natt himta? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] qarshiin sii kenna |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] xalayaa areesiteef |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] kaleessa dhaqanii isee dubbisani |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] nu gargaaru dandeessi? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] nyaata jaraaf kenne |
| Possessive Pronouns - Oromo |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] maqaan ko maayaadha |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] obboleessi ke as jiraata |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] haati ishee nyaata nuu hojjetti |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] kitaaboota dubbisu jaallata |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] paarisiin daawwachun fedhii keenya |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] manni saani fagoo miti |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Oromo |
|---|
| this is my house kun mana kooti |
| that restaurant is far manni nyaataa sun fagoodha |
| these apples are delicious apilooti kun nimi'aa'u |
| those stars are shiny urjooti sun baayye ifu |
I hope you learned a lot about the Oromo grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |