Zulu Grammar

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

Prepositions - Zulu
and bese
above ngaphezu
under ngaphansi
before ngaphambi
after ngemuva
in front of ngaphambi
behind ngemuva
far from kude kune-
near eduze
in e-
inside ngaphakathi
outside ngaphandle
with no-
without ngaphandle
about mayelana
between phakathi
but kodwa
for ye-
from kusukela
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 - Zulu
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] ngidla ngaphandle kommese
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] uhlala eduze kwesonto
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] mude kunaye
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] ufike nenja yakhe encane
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] ungahamba nami?

Negation in Zulu

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 - Zulu
I understand you [affirmative form] ngiyakuzwa
I don't understand you [negation + verb] angikuzwa
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] akusilo igama elifanele leli
don't leave me [imperative negation] ungangishiyi
no problem [negation + noun] ayikho inkinga

Negative Sentences - Zulu
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] angisikhulumi isifrench
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] akavakasheli ejalimani
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] akasiboni
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] akakwazi ukudlala i-chess?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ngeke sifike emuva kwesikhathi

Questions in Zulu

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

English - Zulu
how? kanjani?
what? ini?
who? ubani?
why? ngobani?
where? kuphi?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Zulu
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] uhlala kuphi?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ukhuluma isishayina?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] kuyimalini loku?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] ngingakusiza?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] ubani igama lakho?

Adverbs in Zulu

It's time to learn the adverbs in Zulu. 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 - Zulu
now manje
yesterday izolo
today namuhla
tonight namuhla ebusuku
tomorrow kusasa
soon maduze
quickly ngokushesha
slowly kancane
together ndawonye
very kakhulu
almost cishe
always njalo
usually ngokujwayelekile
sometimes ngesinye isikhathi
rarely ngokungavamile
never soze

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

Adverbs + Rules - Zulu
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] uyangizwa manje?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ngidinga usizo ngokushesha
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] ukhaliphe kakhulu
I will always love you [verb + adverb] ngiyohla ngikuthanda
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] singakwazi ukufunda isijalimani ndawonye?

Pronouns in Zulu

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

Object Pronouns - Zulu
me mina
you wena
him yena
her yena
us thina
them bona

Possessive Pronouns - Zulu
my okwami
your okwakho
his okwakhe
her okwakhe
our okwethu
their okwabo

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 - Zulu
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] ngingumngane wakho
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] ukhuluma usheshise
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] unezinja ezintathu
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] ukwazi ukukhuluma isijalimani
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ngeke sifike emuva kwesikhathi
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] bathenge ubisi nesinkwa

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 - Zulu
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] ungangitshela igama lakho?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] ngizokunikeza imali
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] umubhalele incwadi
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] bamuvakashele izolo
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] angasisiza?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] ubaninkeze ukudla

Possessive Pronouns - Zulu
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] igama lami umaya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] umfowenu uhlala lapha
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] umama wakhe uyasiphekela
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] uthanda ukufunda izincwadi
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] iphupho lethu ukuvakashela eparis
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] umuzi wabo awukho kude

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

Demonstrative Pronouns - Zulu
this is my house indlu yami lena
that restaurant is far i-restaurant ayikho kude
these apples are delicious lamahhabhula amunandi
those stars are shiny lezo zinkanyezi ziyabenyezela

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