Location
From Setswana
In this lesson you will learn about locations and how to talk about location (in front of, nearby etc)
Locatives
locatives "ko/kwa", "mo" and "fa" are used to describe location. "mo" usually means "in, on, inside" while "ko/kwa" usually means "to, from, at".
| o kae? | where are you/he/she ? |
| ke bereka mo ofising | I am working in the office |
| o nna kwa Broadhurt mo Gaborone | he stays at Broadhurst in Gaborone |
| Festus o ko Francistown | Festus is in Francistown |
| Ba kwa tirong | They are at work |
| Sarah o yo | Sarah is here |
| Sarah ga a yo | Sarah is not here |
Note the use of "ofising" and "tirong" above. In general, whenever a noun is used as a location following "ko/kwa/mo/fa" then -ng is added at the end, unless the noun ends in "a" in which case the "a" is replaced by "-eng".
Location nouns
| banka | bankeng | in the bank |
| sepatela | sepateleng | in the hospital |
| moraka | morakeng | at the cattle post |
| kereke | kerekeng | in the church |
| motse | motseng | in the village |
| tafole | tafoleng | on the table |
| kopi | koping | in the cup |
| ofisi | ofising | in the office |
| lefifi | lefifing | in the dark/darkness |
| sephiri | sephiring | in secret/privacy |
| shopo | shopong | in the shop |
| toropo | toropong | in the town |
| tiro | tirong | in the workplace |
| sekolo | sekolong | in the school |
| maru | marung | in the clouds |
see later lesson getting around for how to say "on top of", "underneath" etc
Where is?
| A | John o kae ? | Where is John ? |
| B | O teng | He is here/roundabouts |
| A | Bese e* kae ? | Where is the bus ? |
| B | Bese e teng | The bus is here/there |
- "e" is the subject marker for the noun "bese" see noun classes later
Conversation
| A | Dumela tsala ya me | Hello my friend |
| B | Dumela Dineo, o tlhotse jang? | Hello Dineo , how have you spent your day ? |
| A | Ke tlhotse, wena o kae? | Good, how are you ? |
| B | Le nna ke teng. O ya kae o itlhaganetse jaana ? | I'm fine as well. Where are you going in such a hurry? |
| A | Ke ya kwa bankeng, ke batla madi go ya kwa dikopelong ka moso | I'm going to the bank, I need money to go to the music competitions tomorrow |
| B | Ao! Dikopelo di kae ? | Oh! where are the competitions ? |
| A | Di kwa Mochudi kwa sekolong sa Molefi | They are in Mochudi at Molefi School |
| B | Ehe! O tlaa boa leng ? | Right! when will you come back ? |
| A | Ke akanya gore ke tlaa boa ka moso morago ga dikopelo | I think that I will come back tomorrow after the competitions |
| B | Mme o tsamaya ka eng ? | How are you getting there |
| A | Ke tlaa tsamaya ka dibese ka gore ke tshaba dilifiti | I will go by buses because I am afraid of lifts |
| B | Ruri tsala ya me, le nna ke tshaba dilifti. O tsamaye sentle | Certainly my friend, I am also afraid of lifts |
| A | Ee, rra tlaa bonana fa ke boa | Yes, we will see each other when I come back |
This example uses the verbs - future tense and subject marker "di" for noun "dikopelo" which we will see in the next lesson.
