Sesotho Web : Sentence Construction

The identifying copulative morpheme ke is often used to create basic statements in Sesotho. This is used to identify a person or object. In some books it is written as ké to distinguis from ke (I). The morpheme can literally be translated as "this is". The negative of this form is created by replacing the ke with ha se, look at these examples:

Ke mosadi. (This is a woman.)
Ke banna. (These are men.)
Ke tafole. (This is a table.)
Ha se ngwana. (This is not a child.)
Ha se buka. (This is not a book.)

Questions are formed using this construction with the pronunciation (where the last syllable carrying a high tone and a lengthening of the second last syllable) or by adding the interrogative na. For example:

Ke bukantswe? (Is this a dictionary?)
Ke Thabo? (Is this Thabo?)
Ke mang? (Who is this?)
Na ke titjhere? (Is this a teacher?)
Na ke sejana? (Is this a plate?)
Na ha se ramolao? (Is this not a lawyer?)

To create a Sesotho sentence you need a subject, subject concord, verb and optional object (noun) or adverb. For basic present tense sentences a common structure is used:

For example to say "Mother is reading a book" it would be "Mme o bala buka".
Mme is the subject which means "mother", while the "o" is the subject concord - see table below. All sentences require a subject concord. The word "bala" means to read. Note that as this is a present tense sentence the verb ends in an "a". In this case an object, "buka" (meaning book) was also added. But the extension after a verb can also be an adverb.

For example to say "The man is walking" it would be "Monna o a tsamaya".
An "a" is therefore added after the subject concord if the verb is not extended with an adverb or object.

The SUBJECT in the sentence may also be left out and be implied by the SUBJECT CONCORD, like "O a tsamaya". which translates "He (the man) is walking". Or "Di a robala". which translates "They (the cats) are sleeping". Note that a subject concord such as "o" does not indicate any gender - therefore with the example "O a tsamaya" it could read "He is walking" or "She is waling". The gender is usually determined by the context of a whole text.

Steps in forming a basic Sesotho sentence:

1. Choose SUBJECT (noun refering to person/thing that is going to perform an action).

2. Add the subject's SUBJECT CONCORD (nouns are divided into classes and each class has its own subject concord).

3. Is there an extension after the verb (OBJECT or ADVERB)? If YES go on to number 4. If NO then add an "a".

4. Choose the VERB (action to be performed by the subject).

5. Add optional OBJECT (thing action is performed on) or ADVERB (way in which the action is done).

Class	Prefix	Subject concord	Example	Translation of example
1	mo-	o	mosadi	woman
2	ba-	ba	basadi	women
1a	-	o	ntate	father
2a	ba-	ba	bontate	fathers
3	mo-	o	mose	dress
4	me-	e	mese	dresses
5	le-	le	leleme	tongue
6	ma-	a	maleme	tongues
7	se-	se	sefate	tree
8	di-	di	difate	trees
9	-	e	ntja	dog
10	di-	di	dintja	dogs
Classes 11, 12 and 13 are mainly used in languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa
14	bo-	bo	bohobe	bread
15	ho-	ho	ho tsamaja	to walk
16	-	ho	fatshe	down
17	ho-	ho	hodimo	up
18	mo-	o	mose	abroad

Above the workings of the present tense was explained. There are three more tenses used in Sesotho, they are: past, perfect and future.

EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL SENTENCES:
Lepolesa le ja dijo. = The policeman eats the food.
Ntja di loma katse. = The dog bites the cat.
Ke tswa Afrika Borwa. = I come from South Africa.
Ntate o a sebetsa. = Father works.
Mme o ya toropong. = Mother is going to the town.
John o dula ka America. = John lives in America.
John o dula faatshe. = John sits on the ground.
Motswalle wa ka o reka diaparo. = My friend (the friend of mine) buys clothes.
Ke tla ja. = I will eat.
Ntate o rekisa dieta. = Father bought shoes.

To join sentences and words together in Sesotho, the following conjunctions can be used:
and (between words) - le
and (between sentences - mme
because - hobane
but - empa
either / or - kapa
if - ha
since - haesale
until - ho fihlela
whereas - athe

The following basic structures can be used for negative sentences:

Basic structure:

SUBJECT (or implied subject) + HA + SUBJECT CONCORD + VERB(-e) + OBJECT (or adverb)

Example: Mme ha a bale buka. (Mother is not reading book.) Literally the sentence means: Mother not she read a book.

If no object is present in a sentence, the following strucutre is used:

Example: Lesea ha le a lle. (The baby is not crying.)
Literally the sentence translates as: The baby not she/he cry.

IMPORTANT RULES:
- Add ha before subject concord.
- Subject concord o of class 1 and 1a changes to "a".
- Verb ending -a is replaced by -e.

EXAMPLES OF NEGATIVE SENTENCES:
Ha a a sebetsa. (You are not working.)
Basadi ha ba a hlatswe. (The women are not washing.)
Morena ha a a dule. (The king is not sitting.)
Tonki ha e a tsamaye. (The donkey is not walking.)
Tau ha e lome nyamatsane. (The lion is not biting the wild buck.)
Dikatse ha di robale mantsiboya. (The cats are not sleeping in the evening.)