Sundanese Grammar
Welcome to the 8th lesson about Sundanese 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 Sundanese and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Sundanese and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Sundanese.
| Prepositions | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| and | sareng |
| above | di luhur |
| under | di handap |
| before | sa teu acan |
| after | sa atos |
| in front of | di payuneun |
| behind | di pengker |
| far from | tebih ti |
| near | caket |
| in | di lebet |
| inside | di lebet |
| outside | di luar |
| with | sareng |
| without | tanpa |
| about | perkawis |
| between | di antawis |
| but | mung/tapi |
| for | kanggo |
| from | ti |
| to | ka |
Preposition Grammar Rules
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] | abdi tuang teu ngangge peso |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] | anjeuna linggih caket gereja |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] | anjeuna langkung jangkung tibatan manehna |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] | anjeuna dongkap sareng anjingna nu alit |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] | tiasa ngiring sareng abdi? |
Negation in Sundanese
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 | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] | muhun abdi ngartos |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] | punten abdi kirang ngartos |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] | ieu teh sanes kecap anu leres |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] | antosan ulah mayunan |
| no problem [negation + noun] | wios teu kunanaon |
| Negative Sentences | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] | abdi teu tiasa nyarios basa perancis |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] | anjeuna heunteu ka jerman |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] | anjeuna teu tiasa ninggal urang |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] | anjeuna tiasa maen catur teu? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] | abdi/urang sadaya moal telat |
Questions in Sundanese
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| how? | kumaha? |
| what? | naon? |
| who? | saha? |
| why? | naha? |
| where? | di palih mana? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] | dupi linggih di mana? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] | anjeuna tiasa nyarios basa cina? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] | sabaraha pangaosna? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] | aya nu tiasa dibantos? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] | dupi nami saha? |
Adverbs in Sundanese
It's time to learn the adverbs in Sundanese. 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 | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| now | ayeuna |
| yesterday | kamari |
| today | dinten ayeuna |
| tonight | wengi ayeuna |
| tomorrow | enjing |
| soon | sakedap deui/tereh |
| quickly | enggalan |
| slowly | lalaunan |
| together | sadayana |
| very | pisan |
| almost | ampir |
| always | osok |
| usually | biasana |
| sometimes | sakapeung |
| rarely | jarang |
| never | tara |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] | ngartos teu ayeuna? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] | abdi geuwat peryogi bantuan |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] | anjeuna the cerdas pisan |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] | abdi bakal teras bogoh ka anjeun |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] | tiasa teu sasarengan diajar basa jerman? |
Pronouns in Sundanese
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Sundanese. 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 | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| I | abdi |
| you | anjeun |
| he | anjeuna |
| she | anjeuna |
| we | abdi sadaya/urang sadaya |
| they | aranjeuna |
| Object Pronouns | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| me | abdi |
| you | anjeun |
| him | anjeuna |
| her | anjeuna |
| us | abdi sadaya/urang sadaya |
| them | aranjeuna |
| Possessive Pronouns | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| my | nu abdi |
| your | nu anjeun |
| his | nu anjeuna |
| her | nu anjeuna |
| our | nu abdi sadaya/nu urang sadaya |
| their | nu aranjeuna |
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 | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] | abdi rerencangan anjeun |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] | anjeun nyarios enggal pisan |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] | anjeuna gaduh anjing tilu |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] | anjeuna tiasa nyarios jerman |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] | abdi sadaya/urang sadaya moal dongkap telat |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] | aranjeuna meser susu sareng roti |
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 | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] | kengeng terang namina saha? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] | abdi engke masihan artos |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] | anjeuna nyeratan ka manehna |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] | anjeuna nepangan manehna kamari |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] | anjeuna tiasa ngabantosan teu? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] | anjeuna masihan tuangeun ka aranjeuna |
| Possessive Pronouns | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] | nami abdi maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] | raka/rayi pamegetna linggis di dieu |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] | ibu na masak kanggo urang sadaya |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] | karesepna the maca buku |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] | impenan abdi the dongkap ka paris |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] | rorompok na the henteu tebih |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns | Sundanese |
|---|---|
| this is my house | ieu teh rorompok abdi |
| that restaurant is far | rumah makan na teh tebih |
| these apples are delicious | apel-apelna the raos pisan |
| those stars are shiny | bentang-bentang na caang |
I hope you learned a lot about the Sundanese grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Sundanese Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |