Welcome to the 8th lesson about Somali 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 Somali and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Somali and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Somali.
| Prepositions - Somali |
|---|
| and iyo |
| above kor |
| under hoos |
| before hor |
| after dib |
| in front of ka hor |
| behind ka gadaal |
| far from ka fog |
| near dhow |
| in dhex |
| inside gudaha |
| outside dibadda |
| with ku jira |
| without la'aan |
| about ku saabsan |
| between u dhexeeya |
| but laakiin |
| for u ah |
| from ka |
| to ku |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Somali |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] waxaan cunaa middi la'aan |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] waxay ku nooshahay meel kaniisadda u dhow |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] wuu ka dheeryahay iyada |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] wuxuu la yimid eygiisii yaraa |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] ma i soo raaci kartaa? |
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 - Somali |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] waan ku fahmay |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] kuma fahmin |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] kani ma ahay erayga saxda ah |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] ha iga tagin |
| no problem [negation + noun] dhib ma leh |
| Negative Sentences - Somali |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] kuma hadlo faransiis |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] maysan booqan jarmal |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] nama arki karo |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] miyaanay ciyaari karin shax |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] ma soo daahi doonno |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Somali |
|---|
| how? see |
| what? maxay |
| who? kee |
| why? sababtee |
| where? halkee |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Somali |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] halkee ku nooshahay |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] miyay ku hadashaa af shiineys |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] waa imisa kani |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] ma ku caawiyaa |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] magacaa |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Somali. 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 - Somali |
|---|
| now hadda |
| yesterday shalay |
| today maanta |
| tonight caawa |
| tomorrow berri |
| soon durba |
| quickly dhaqso |
| slowly tartiib |
| together wada jir |
| very aad |
| almost ku dhowaad |
| always abid |
| usually inta badan |
| sometimes mararka qaar |
| rarely dhif |
| never marna |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Somali |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] hadda ma i fahamtay |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] waxaan u baahnahay caawin degdeg ah |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] aad bay u caqli badan tahay |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] waan ku jeclaan doonaa abid |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] ma isla baran karnaa jarmal |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Somali. 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 - Somali |
|---|
| I aniga |
| you adiga |
| he asaga |
| she iyada |
| we annaga |
| they iyaga |
| Object Pronouns - Somali |
|---|
| me ani |
| you adi |
| him asaga |
| her iyada |
| us annaga |
| them iyaga |
| Possessive Pronouns - Somali |
|---|
| my kayga |
| your kaaga |
| his kiisa |
| her keeda |
| our keena |
| their kooda |
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 - Somali |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] anigu waxaan ahay saaxiibkaa |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] adigu boobsiis aad ah baad u hadashaa |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] wuxuu leeyahay saddex ey |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] iyadu way ku hadashaa jarmalka |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] innagu ma soo daahayno |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] iyagaa soo gatay caano iyo rooti |
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 - Somali |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ma ii sheegi kartaa magacaaga |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] lacag baan ku siin doonaa |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] warqad bay u qortay isaga |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] shalay bay booqdeen iyada |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] miyay iyadu na caawin kartaa |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] cunto ayuu iyaga siiyey |
| Possessive Pronouns - Somali |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] magacaygu waa maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] walaalkay ayaa halkan ku nool |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] hooyadeed ayaa cuntada noo karisa |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] balwaddiisu waa in uu aqriyo buugta |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] riyadeenu waa in aan booqano paris |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] gurigoodu ma foga |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Somali |
|---|
| this is my house kani waa gurigeyga |
| that restaurant is far makhaayaddaasi way fog tahay |
| these apples are delicious tufaaxyadaani way macaan yihiin |
| those stars are shiny xiddigahaasi way dhalaalayaan |
I hope you learned a lot about the Somali 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 |