o_196h0fp7b15b9sam1rr8a4j13d8a.pdf

Unit 1: At a friend’s house 3
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Language points
“yes/no” questions
Below are some basic statements in Yoruba.
Túnjí wà n;’lé.
Tunji is home.
O lo≥soœ$jà. You went to the market.
Délé ni oΩ$rõœ Túnjí.
Dele is Tunji’s friend.
In order to convert the above statements into “yes/no” questions, use
the word ßé as shown below. For example:
Íé Túnjí wà n;’lé?
Is Tunji home?
Íé o lo≥soœ$jà? Did you go to the market?
Íé Délé ni oΩ$rõœ Túnjí? Is Dele Tunji’s friend?
The response to the above questions could be the following:
BõœõΩni, Túnjí wà n;’lé. Yes, Tunji is home.
Rárá, Túnjí kò sí n;’lé. No, Tunji is not home.
BõœõΩni, mo lo≥soœ$jà. Yes, I went to the market.
Rárá, N kò lo≥soœ$jà. No, I did not go to the market.
Notice that in the last example, the first person singular subject
pronoun mo changes to N before the negative marker kò.
BõœõΩni, Délé ni oΩ$rõœ Túnjí. Yes, Dele is Tunji’s friend.
Rárá, Délé koœ$ ni oΩ$rõœ Túnjí. No, Dele is not Tunji’s friend.
In the examples above, negative sentences are formed depending on
the type of the following verb. We will learn more about negation in
following units. Here is the rule for now:
Verb type
regular verbs, e.g. lo≥“to go”
kò lo≥
wà “to be (in a place)”
kò sí
ni “to be (someone or something)” koœ$ ni
Tenses
Negative form
The verbs used in the examples below are called action verbs. For
example, the verbs “to go,” “to see,” or “to walk” are verbs of action.