Shona Nouns
Welcome to the third Shona lesson about nouns. This time we will first learn about fruits and vegetables, followed by grammar rules, then food items, finally a conversation in Shona to help you practice your daily phrases.
potatoes mbatatisi |
tomatoes matomati |
onions hanyanisi |
carrots karotsi |
fruits michero |
apples maapuro |
bananas mabhanana |
oranges maorenji |
Nouns Grammar Rules
In general nouns refer to a person, an object, or abstract ideas. For example: a fast runner the noun is [runner] because it refers to a person. The examples below use nouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Grammar + Rules |
|---|
| Shona |
| do you have milk? [verb + noun] |
| une mukaka here? |
| I have milk and coffee [preposition + noun] |
| ndine mukaka nekofi |
| he has three apples [number + plural noun] |
| ane maapuro matatu |
| she only has one apple [number + singular noun] |
| anongova neapuro rimwe chete |
| we live in a small house [adjective + noun] |
| tinogara mumba duku |
| I like our breakfast [pronoun + noun] |
| ndinofarira kudya kwedu kwemangwanani |
The following are nouns of food items that you might be interested in learning and memorizing.
bread chingwa |
milk mukaka |
butter bhata |
cheese chizi |
coffee kofi |
sandwich sangweji |
meat nyama |
chicken huku |
fish hove |
breakfast kudya kwemangwanani |
lunch kudya kwemasikati |
dinner kudya kwemanheru |
Conversation in Shona
Now we finally reach the fun part, the practice of the daily conversations. These phrases are used to get to know new people, and break the ice.
| English |
|---|
| Shona |
| Do you speak (English/ Shona)? |
| unotaura (chirungu/ chishona) here? |
| Just a little |
| zvishoma |
| I like Shona |
| ndinofarira chishona |
| Can I practice with you? |
| ndinogona kudzidzira newe here? |
| How old are you? |
| une makore mangani? |
| I'm thirty three years old |
| ndine makore makumi matatu nematatu |
| It was nice talking to you |
| ndafara kutaura newe |
I hope you enjoyed this lesson about the nouns in Shona. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. Now check the next lesson below.
Inspirational Quote: A coward gets scared and quits. A hero gets scared, but still goes on. |