Verb objects and conjunctives
From Setswana
Revision as of 11:44, 30 April 2007 by Jacob (Talk | contribs) (New page: An object is someone or something which has the verb done to it. Eg in sentence "Peter hit Jane", Jane is the object, Peter is the subject. Except for first person singular (me), in Setsw...)
An object is someone or something which has the verb done to it. Eg in sentence "Peter hit Jane", Jane is the object, Peter is the subject.
Except for first person singular (me), in Setswana an object marker is used before the verb.
Basic Object Markers
The basic object markers are
| -- | me (1st person) |
| go | you (2nd person) |
| mo | him/her (3rd person) |
| re | us |
| le** | you (plural) |
| ba | them |
| e | it (noun class 9) |
| di | them (noun class 10) |
Examples
| A o itse Anton ? | Do you know Anton ? |
| Ke a mo itse | I know him |
Object marker for me
Here, instead of having a subject marker, the beginning of the verb is changed to start in n or m. Some examples are as follows:
| araba + nna | nkaraba | ask me |
| thusa + nna | nthusa | help me |
| fa + nna | mpha | give me |
| rata + nna | nthata | love me |
| ruta + nna | nthuta | teach me |
| botswa + nna | mpotsa | ask me |
