Xhosa Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Xhosa 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 Xhosa and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Xhosa and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Xhosa.

Prepositions - Xhosa
and futhi
above ngaphezulu
under ngaphantsi
before ngaphambi
after emva
in front of phambi kwe
behind emva kwe
far from kude ne
near kufuphi
in phakathi
inside ngaphakathi
outside ngaphandle
with kunye
without ngaphandle
about nge
between phakathi
but kodwa
for ye
from suka
to kuya

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Xhosa
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] nditya ngaphandle kwemela
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] uhlala kufuphi necawe
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] mde kunaye
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] uzenenja yakhe encinane
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] ungahamba nam?

Negation in Xhosa

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 - Xhosa
I understand you [affirmative form] Ndiyakuva
I don't understand you [negation + verb] Andikuva kakuhla
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] asilogama lichanileyo eli
don't leave me [imperative negation] ungandishiyi
no problem [negation + noun] akhongxaki

Negative Sentences - Xhosa
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] andithethi isifrench
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] akatyelelanga eJamani
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] akanakusibona
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] angakwazi ukudlala ichess?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] asinakubuya kuhlwile

Questions in Xhosa

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Xhosa
how? njani?
what? intoni?
who? ubani?
why? ngoba?
where? phi?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Xhosa
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] uhlalaphi?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ngaba uthetha isiChina
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] yimalini lento?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] ndingakunceda?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] ungubani igama lakho?

Adverbs in Xhosa

It's time to learn the adverbs in Xhosa. 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 - Xhosa
now ngoku
yesterday izolo
today namhlanje
tonight ebusuku
tomorrow ngomso
soon kungekudala
quickly ngokukhawuleza
slowly kancinane
together sonke
very kakhulu
almost phantse
always soloko
usually uqhele
sometimes ngamanye amaxesha
rarely hayi rhoqo
never soze

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Xhosa
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] uyandiqonda ngoku?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ndifuna uncedo ngoku
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] unegqondo kakhulu
I will always love you [verb + adverb] ndosoloko ndikuthanda
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] singafunda isiJamani kunye?

Pronouns in Xhosa

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Xhosa. 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 - Xhosa
I mna
you wena
he yena
she yena
we thina
they bona

Object Pronouns - Xhosa
me mna
you wena
him yena
her yena
us thina
them bona

Possessive Pronouns - Xhosa
my eyam
your yakho
his yakhe
her yena
our yethu
their yabo

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 - Xhosa
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] ndingumhlobo wakho
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] uthetha ngokukhawuleza
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] unezinja ezintathu
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] angasithetha isiJamani
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] asuzubuya kuhlwile
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] bathenge ubisi nesonka

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 - Xhosa
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ungandixelela igama lakho?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] ndizakunika imali
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] wambhalela incwadi
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] bamtyelele izolo
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] angasinceda?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] ubaphe ukutya

Possessive Pronouns - Xhosa
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] igama lam ndinguMaya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] umtakwenu uhlala apha
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] umamawakhe uyasiphekela
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] uthanda ukufunda iincwadi
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] iphupha lethu kukutyelela ePerisi
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] indlu yabo ayikho kude

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Xhosa
this is my house yindlu yam
that restaurant is far landawo yokutyela ikude
these apples are delicious lama apile amnandi
those stars are shiny ezonkwenkwezi ziyakhazimla

I hope you learned a lot about the Xhosa grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!