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Beginner's Guide to Shona Grammar

This document provides an overview of the noun classes and pronoun system as well as the verbal system in the Shona language. It lists the prefixes for singular and plural nouns and pronouns for each class. It then outlines the present, present negative, progressive, progressive negative, imperative, and imperative negative tenses. Examples are provided to illustrate conjugations for the verb "to eat" and the auxiliary verbs "to be" and "to have". The source is listed as a beginner's Shona language textbook.

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260 views1 page

Beginner's Guide to Shona Grammar

This document provides an overview of the noun classes and pronoun system as well as the verbal system in the Shona language. It lists the prefixes for singular and plural nouns and pronouns for each class. It then outlines the present, present negative, progressive, progressive negative, imperative, and imperative negative tenses. Examples are provided to illustrate conjugations for the verb "to eat" and the auxiliary verbs "to be" and "to have". The source is listed as a beginner's Shona language textbook.

Uploaded by

Anonymous BQcnG1
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Shona 1

Noun classes and pronouns

N pref. Scd Ocd Poss Abs.


1 sg ndi ini
2 sg u iwe
1 pl ti isu
2 pl mu imi

cl. 1 mu a iye
cl. 2 va va ivo
cl. 3
cl. 4
cl. 5
cl. 6
cl. 7
cl. 8
cl. 9
cl. 10
cl. 11
cl. 12
cl. 13
cl. 14
cl. 15
cl. 16
cl. 17

Verbal system
Tense
Present: SCd no VB a ndinodya I eat
Present, neg. ha SCd VB i handidyi I dont eat

Progressive: SCd ri INF (ku-VB-a) ndiri kudya I am eating


Progr., neg. ha SCd si INF handisi kudya I am not eating

Imperative: VB a, monosyllabic: i VB a famba! walk!; idya eat!


pl. VB a i, monosyllabic: i VB a i fambai! walk (pl.)!; idayi eat (pl.) !
Imper., neg. SCd sa VB e usafambe! dont walk!
musafambe! dont walk (pl.)!

to be kuri
Present: SCd ri ndiri mudzidzisi I am a teacher
Present, neg. ha SCd si hatisi vadzidzi we are not students

to have kune
Present: SCd ne ndine nzara I am hungry
Present, neg. ha- SCd- na handina nzara I am not hungry

Source: Mawadza, A. 2003. Beginners Shona (ChiShona). New York.

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