Prerequisite: Lesson 2.
New words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| anak | child |
| rafiki | friend |
| din | day |
| rat | night |
| kan | to see |
| sema | to say, to speak |
| bil | to know |
| nomu | to drink |
| kabir | big |
| keci | small |
| mal | bad |
| doktor | doctor |
Talking about people
The sentence shape has not changed since Lesson 2 — subject, verb, object.
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| Mi kan rafiki. | I see a friend. |
| Anak nomu akua. | The child drinks water. |
| Ta bil nama. | She knows the name. |
| Rafiki sema. | The friend speaks. |
Describing
A quality word follows what it describes:
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| Ruma kabir. | The house is big. |
| Anak keci. | The child is small. |
| Ca hao. | The tea is good. |
| Rat mal. | The night is bad. |
There is no separate word for is. Ruma kabir is complete as it stands.
Day and night
— Din hao? — Ya, din hao. Sol kabir!
— Rat hao? — No. Rat mal.
Asking for help
— Salam! Mi mau doktor. — Ok. Doktor lai.
Practice
- Mi kan anak. — I see a child.
- Rafiki nomu ca. — The friend drinks tea.
- Doktor bil. — The doctor knows.
- Ruma mi keci. — My house is small.
- Din kabir, rat keci. — The day is long, the night is short.
What is still open
Tense, plurals, possession and questions have all since been settled — see Lessons 4, 5, 6 and 7. Sentence 4 above, first offered as a guess, turned out to follow the rule. The rising-tone question used since Lesson 1 was confirmed as the rule.