Chapter 8: Nouns and Pronouns
Boqonnaa 8: Maqaalee fi Maqaa Bakka Bu'oota
Singular and Plural Nouns
Maqaalee Kallattamaa fi Danuummee
Nouns can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). Most plural nouns are formed by adding -s. / Maqaaleen kallattama (tokko) ykn danuummee (tokkoo ol) ta'uu danda'u. Maqaaleen danuummee baay'een -s dabaluun uumamu.
Singular: one book, one car, one house
Plural: two books, many cars, three houses
Some nouns have irregular plural forms (e.g., man → men, child → children, person → people). / Maqaaleen tokko tokko boca danuummee idilee hin taane qabu (fkn, man → men, child → children, person → people).
Possessive Nouns
Maqaalee Abbummaa Agarsiisan
To show possession (that something belongs to someone), we usually add an apostrophe (') + s. / Abbummaa agarsiisuuf (wanti tokko kan eenyuu akka ta'e ibsuuf), yeroo baayyee apostrophe (') + s daballa.
(a) This is Hana's book. (The book belongs to Hana.)
(b) The student's desk is new. (The desk of the student.)
For plural nouns ending in -s, just add an apostrophe after the s. / Maqaalee danuummee -s irratti xumuramanuuf, s booda apostrophe qofa dabali. e.g., The students' books.
Pronouns (Bamaqaa)
A pronoun replaces a noun. In Oromo, pronouns are classified into several types including personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and reflexive pronouns.
Like English, Oromo personal pronouns refer to a specific person and change form to indicate person, number, and gender. They can also be identified as subjective (acting as the subject) and objective (acting as an object).
| English | Oromo (Independent) | Oromo (Possessive Adjective) | Oromo (Possessive Pronoun) |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | ana | koo, kiyya (m), too/tiyya (f) | kankoo, kankooti (mine) |
| you (s) | ati, sihi, sii | kee (m), tee (f) | kankee (yours) |
| he | isa | isaa | kan isaa, kansaa (his) |
| she | ishee, isii, ishii | isii, ishee, ishii | kan isii, kan ishee, tan isii (hers) |
| we | nuti, nuhi, nu’, nuy | keenya (m), teenya (f) | kan keenya, keenya (ours) |
| you (pl) | isin | keessan (m), teessan (f) | kan keessan (yours) |
| they | isaanii | isaanii | kan isaanii, kansaanii (theirs) |
Examples of Personal Pronouns
| Afaan Oromo | English |
|---|---|
| Inni horii narraa liqeeyfate. | He borrowed the money from me. |
| Inni horii sirraa fudhate. | He took the money from you. |
| Nuti mana isaarraa dhufne. | We came from his house. |
| Isiin hojii isiirraa amma dhufte. | She came from her work right now. |
| Isaan nurraa horii liqeeyfatan. | They borrowed the money from us. |
| Isiin horii isinirraa fudhatte. | She took the money from you. |
| Nuti oduu isaanirraa dhageenye. | We heard the news from them. |
| Isaan mana nurraa bitan. | They bought the house from us. |
| Nuti mana keenya isinirraa binne. | We bought our house from you. |
| Isiin horii sirraa hatte. | She stole the money from him. |
| Isiin dhaamsa isarraa arkatte. | She got the message from him. |
| Inni dhaamsa anarraa arkate. | He got the message from me. |
| Isiin mana isiirraa dhufte. | She came from her house. |
| Inni mana isaarraa dhufe. | He came from his house. |
| Inni mana kiyyarraa dhufe. | He came from my house. |
| Isiin dhaamsa isarraa eeggati. | She is expecting a message from him. |
| Nuti mana keenyarraa dhufne. | We came from our house. |
| Isaan horii anarraa eeggatan. | They expect money from me |
| Inni mana isaarraa amma dhufe. | He came from his house right now. |