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 |
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? |
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 |
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? |
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? |
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. 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 |