Welcome to the 8th lesson about Shona 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 Shona and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Shona and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Shona.
| Prepositions - Shona |
|---|
| and uye |
| above pamusoro |
| under pasi |
| before pamberi |
| after pashure |
| in front of kumberi kwe |
| behind kumashure |
| far from kure ne |
| near pedyo |
| in mu |
| inside mukati |
| outside panze |
| with na |
| without pasina |
| about nezve |
| between pakati |
| but asi |
| for nokuda |
| from kubva |
| to ku |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Shona |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] ndinodya ndisina banga |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] anogara pedyo nechechi |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] akareba kupfuura iye |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] akauya nembwa yake duku |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] unogona kuenda neni here? |
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 - Shona |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] ndinokunzwisisa |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] handisi kukunzwisisa |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] iri harisi shoko racho rakarurama |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] usandisiye |
| no problem [negation + noun] hapana chinetso |
| Negative Sentences - Shona |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] handitauri chifrench |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] haana kushanyira germany |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] haagoni kutiona |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] haagoni kutamba chess here? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] hatisi kuzononoka kusvika |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Shona |
|---|
| how? sei? |
| what? chii? |
| who? ani? |
| why? nei? |
| where? kupi? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Shona |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] unogara kupi? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] anotaura chichinese here? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] ichi chinoita marii? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] ndingakubatsira here? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] zita rako ndiani? |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Shona. 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 - Shona |
|---|
| now iye zvino |
| yesterday nezuro |
| today nhasi |
| tonight manheru anhasi |
| tomorrow mangwana |
| soon nokukurumidza |
| quickly kurumidza |
| slowly nonokera |
| together pamwechete |
| very chaizvo |
| almost pedyo |
| always nguva dzose |
| usually kakawanda |
| sometimes dzimwe nguva |
| rarely kashoma |
| never zvachose |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Shona |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] wava kundinzwisisa iye zvino here? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ndiri kuda kubatsirwa nokukurumidza |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] akangwara chaizvo |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] ndicharamba ndichikuda |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] tinogona kudzidzira chigerman tose here? |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Shona. 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 - Shona |
|---|
| I ini |
| you iwe |
| he iye |
| she iye |
| we isu |
| they ivo |
| Object Pronouns - Shona |
|---|
| me ini |
| you iwe |
| him iye |
| her iye |
| us isu |
| them ivo |
| Possessive Pronouns - Shona |
|---|
| my chake |
| your chako |
| his chake |
| her chake |
| our chedu |
| their chavo |
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 - Shona |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] ndiri shamwari yako |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] unotaura uchikurumidza |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] ane imbwa nhatu |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] anogona kutaura chigerman |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] hatisi kuzononoka kusvika |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] vakatenga mukaka nechingwa |
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 - Shona |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ungandiudza zita rako here? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] ndichakupa mari |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] akamunyorera tsamba |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] vakamushanyira nezuro |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] anogona kutibatsira here? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] akavapa zvokudya |
| Possessive Pronouns - Shona |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] zita rangu ndimaya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] mukoma wako anogara pano |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] amai vake vanotibikira |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] anonakidzwa nokuverenga mabhuku |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] tinoshuva kushanyira paris |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] imba yavo haisi kure |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Shona |
|---|
| this is my house iyi ndiyo imba yangu |
| that restaurant is far restorendi iyo haisi kure |
| these apples are delicious maapuro aya anonaka |
| those stars are shiny nyeredzi idzo dziri kutaima |
I hope you learned a lot about the Shona 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 |