Yoruba Grammar
Welcome to the 8th lesson about Yoruba 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 Yoruba and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Yoruba and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Yoruba.
| Prepositions | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| and | ati |
| above | loke |
| under | nisale |
| before | saaju |
| after | lehin |
| in front of | niwaju |
| behind | lehin |
| far from | jina si |
| near | nitosi |
| in | inu |
| inside | ninu |
| outside | ita |
| with | pelu |
| without | laisi |
| about | nipa |
| between | laarin |
| but | sugbon |
| for | fun |
| from | lati |
| to | si |
Preposition Grammar Rules
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] | mo maa njeun laisi obe |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] | o ngbe nitosi ile-ijosin |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] | o ngbe nitosi ile-ijosin |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] | o wa pelu aja re kekere |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] | nje o le wa pelu mi? |
Negation in Yoruba
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 | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] | oro re ye mi |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] | oro re ko ye mi |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] | eyi ki i se oro ti o ye |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] | mase fi mi sile |
| no problem [negation + noun] | ko si wahala |
| Negative Sentences | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] | nko le e so faranse |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] | ko se ibewo si jamani |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] | ko le e ri wa |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] | se ko le ta ayo olopon ni? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] | a ko ni pe de |
Questions in Yoruba
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| how? | bawo? |
| what? | kini? |
| who? | taani? |
| why? | nitori kini? |
| where? | nibo? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] | nibo lo ngbe? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] | nje o nso ede chinese? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] | eelo ni eyi? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] | nje mo le ran o lowo? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] | kini oruko re? |
Adverbs in Yoruba
It's time to learn the adverbs in Yoruba. 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 | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| now | nisisiyi |
| yesterday | ana |
| today | oni |
| tonight | ale yi |
| tomorrow | ola |
| soon | laipe |
| quickly | kiakia |
| slowly | yo-kele |
| together | wa-papo |
| very | looto |
| almost | ku-die |
| always | nigbagbogbo |
| usually | welewele |
| sometimes | nigbamiran |
| rarely | agbara-kaka |
| never | beeko-lae |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] | se oro mi ye o bayi? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] | mo nilo iranlowo loju-ese |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] | o je ologbon |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] | ma a ma feran re nigbagbogbo |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] | se a le jo ko ede jamani papo |
Pronouns in Yoruba
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Yoruba. 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 | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| I | emi |
| you | iwo |
| he | oun |
| she | oun |
| we | awa |
| they | awon |
| Object Pronouns | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| me | mi |
| you | iwo |
| him | un |
| her | un |
| us | wa |
| them | won |
| Possessive Pronouns | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| my | mi |
| your | re |
| his | tire |
| her | tire |
| our | wa |
| their | won |
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 | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] | emi ni ore re |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] | o nyara soro |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] | o ni aja meta |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] | o le so ede jaman |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] | a ko ni pe de |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] | won ra wara ati buredi |
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 | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] | nje o le so oruko re fun mi? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] | ma a fun e ni owo |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] | o ko leta kan si i |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] | won se abewo re lana |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] | se o le ran wa lowo? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] | o fun won lounje |
| Possessive Pronouns | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] | oruko mi ni maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] | arakunrin re ngbe ibiyi |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] | iya re se-ounje fun wa |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] | ise ti o feran lati se ni akoko igbategun ni iwe kika |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] | ero wa ni lati se abewo si paris |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] | ile won ko jina |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns | Yoruba |
|---|---|
| this is my house | ile mi niyi |
| that restaurant is far | ile itaounje jinna |
| these apples are delicious | awon eso apu yi dun |
| those stars are shiny | awon irawo yen ntan |
I hope you learned a lot about the Yoruba grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
| Yoruba Vocabulary |
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |