Prerequisite: Lesson 6.
New words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ke | what |
| kim | who |
| nali | where |
| kab | when |
| porke | why |
| kaifa | how |
| berapa | how many, how much |
You already know how to ask yes or no
Since Lesson 1 you have been raising your voice at the end of a sentence to make it a question. That is the rule, and it is the whole rule.
| Yu mau ca. | You want tea. |
| Yu mau ca? | Do you want tea? |
Nothing is added. Nothing moves.
For everything else: swap one word
Take the sentence that would be the answer. Replace the thing you do not know with the question word. Do not move anything.
| Answer | Question | |
|---|---|---|
| Yu kan anak. | Yu kan ke? | What do you see? |
| Rafiki lai. | Kim lai? | Who is coming? |
| Yu go ruma. | Yu go nali? | Where are you going? |
| Yu lai din. | Yu lai kab? | When do you come? |
| Yu go taksi. | Yu go kaifa? | How do you go? |
| Yu kan tri anak. | Yu kan berapa anak? | How many children do you see? |
Look down the two columns. Every question is its own answer with one word changed. There is no other pattern to learn.
Why
porke goes at the end:
— Yu mau ca porke? — Mi mau ca. Ca hao!
Why do you want tea? — I want tea. Tea is good!
How many
berapa works exactly like a number: it goes before the noun, and the noun stays single.
| tri anak | three children |
| berapa anak? | how many children? |
| cok rafiki | many friends |
| berapa rafiki? | how many friends? |
Asking a name
Lesson 6 asked Nama yu? — your name? — and that works. The full form puts the question word where the name would go:
— Nama yu es ke? — Nama mi es Sol.
Both are correct. The short one leans on tone; the full one does not need it.
A conversation
— Salam! Nama yu es ke? — Nama mi es Luma. Yu es kim? — Mi es rafiki Sol. Sol nali? — Sol suda go ruma. — Ta saufa lai kab? — Rat. Yu mau ca? — Ya! Yu suda beri ca berapa rafiki? — Cok! Cok rafiki suda nomu ca mi.
Hello! What’s your name? — My name is Luma. Who are you? — I’m Sol’s friend. Where is Sol? — Sol went home. — When will she come? — Tonight. Do you want tea? — Yes! How many friends did you give tea to? — Many! Many friends drank my tea.
Practice
- Yu kula ke? — What do you eat?
- Kim suda kan anak? — Who saw the child?
- Doktor nali? — Where is the doctor?
- Rafiki yu saufa lai kab? — When will your friend come?
- Yu bil nama ta kaifa? — How do you know her name?
- Berapa ruma? — How many houses?
- Ta go porke? — Why does she go?
What you can already say
Seven lessons, 64 roots. Statements, past and future, one or many, whose, and now every kind of question — and still not one word has ever changed its shape or its place.
Pronouns are covered in Lesson 9, the copula in Lesson 11. Still open: how to say not. See the open questions in grammar/.