Prerequisite: Lesson 17.
New words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| kurang | less |
| paling | most |
| kadar | as … as |
| agar | if |
Four words. Everything else in this lesson is made from words you already have.
Also introduced here — these appear in the sentences below, and nothing before this lesson has taught them:
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| hafta | week |
| kafe | coffee |
| kanta | to sing |
| kotor | dirty |
| madina | city |
| negara | country |
| problema | problem |
| sedih | sad |
Bigger, smaller, biggest
Put the degree word in front of the adjective, exactly where cok goes:
| Dom ini kabir. | This house is big. |
| Dom ini lebi kabir. | This house is bigger. |
| Dom ini kurang kabir. | This house is less big. |
| Dom ini paling kabir. | This house is the biggest. |
Than is dari
dari has meant “from” since Lesson 15. It is also “than”:
| Dom mi lebi kabir dari dom yu. | My house is bigger than yours. |
| Mi lebi hayai dari dugu mi. | I am faster than my sibling. |
| Ca ini kurang garam dari ca itu. | This tea is less hot than that one. |
Half the world says “bigger from you” — Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Indonesian all do.
As … as
| Dom mi kabir kadar dom yu. | My house is as big as yours. |
| Mi hayai kadar yu. | I am as fast as you. |
No degree word here — equality is not a degree.
There is
Start a sentence with es and no subject:
| Es hotel in madina. | There is a hotel in the city. |
| No es ca. | There is no tea. |
| Es dom kabir sini? | Is there a big house here? |
| Suda es skola in negara ini. | There was a school in this country. |
No new word. Amadunia never leaves out a subject, so an es at the front can only mean “there is”.
Putting a whole sentence inside another
Anywhere an object goes, a sentence can go. Nothing joins them:
| Mi fikir yu hao. | I think you are good. |
| Mi bil ta suda lai. | I know he came. |
| Mi mau yu kula. | I want you to eat. |
| Ta sema dom mi kabir. | She says my house is big. |
There is no word for the “that” of I think that…, and none is needed. (itu is the demonstrative “that”, as in dom itu — a different word.)
Because, when, if
Two of these you already know:
| Mi mau ca porke ca hao. | I want tea because tea is good. |
| Mi lai kab yu sema. | I come when you speak. |
| Mi go market agar yamur no lai. | I’ll go to the market if it doesn’t rain. |
porke was “why” and is now also “because” — Spanish separates them by a space alone. kab was “when” as a question and is “when” as a joiner. Only agar is new.
The joined part normally comes second. Put it first and a comma marks the break: Agar yu mau, kita kula sasa.
How something is done
You have been doing this since Lesson 12: an adjective straight after the verb describes the verb. What is new here is where it goes when the verb has an object — the adjective still comes first, before the object.
| Ta anda hayai. | He walks fast. |
| Mi kara hao. | I read well. |
| Kita rabota cok. | We work a lot. |
Keep it against the verb, before the object — that is what keeps it clear:
| Mi kara hao libro. | I read a book well. |
| Mi kara libro hao. | I read a good book. |
A conversation
— Salam! Es kafe in madina ini? — Ya, es. Kafe itu paling hao. — Lebi hao dari kafe in tarik mi? — Lebi hao! Aur kurang kotor. — Mi fikir yu es rafiki hao. — Mi lai una yu agar yu mau. — Mi mau! Kita go kab yu bisa. — Sasa. Mi no rabota din ini porke hafta baru lai besok.
Hello! Is there a café in this city? — Yes, there is. That café is the best. — Better than the café on my street? — Better! And less dirty. — I think you’re a good friend. — I’ll come with you if you want. — I want to! Let’s go when you can. — Now. I’m not working today because a new week comes tomorrow.
Practice
- Libro ini lebi cang dari libro itu. — This book is longer than that one.
- Es problema? — No, no es problema. — Is there a problem? — No, there’s no problem.
- Mi bil yu suda kara libro ini. — I know you have read this book.
- Kita lasim go agar yu sedih. — We must go if you are sad.
- Ta kanta paling hao in skola. — She sings the best in the school.
- Mi no mau nomu kafe porke kafe kotor. — I don’t want to drink the coffee because it’s dirty.
What you can already say
Eighteen lessons, 150 roots. You can compare anything, say what exists, put a whole thought inside a sentence, and give a reason, a time or a condition. That is the grammar of A2.
What is still open is kept in one place, with what each one blocks and how often the material has actually reached for it: the open questions.