o_196h0fp7b15b9sam1rr8a4j13d8a.pdf

210 Grammar summary
Absence of the third person singular
pronoun ó
The third person singular pronoun ó “he/she/it” is usually dropped
before the negative marker kò, as in:
ó burú it is bad kò burú (it) is not bad
ó jõun she/he ate kò jõun she/he did not eat
The use of mi or mo
mo is the regular pronoun that translates to “I” in English. It is most
commonly used in standard Yoruba in affirmative statements. For
example:
Mo n; lo≥síbi ißõœ
I am going to work
Mo fõœràn bàtà mi
I like my shoes
But in negative statements, mo changes to mi or N. For example:
N kò lo≥/N ò lo≥/Mi ò lo≥ I did not go
Affirmative forms
Negative forms
mo I N/mi
o you (sing.) o
ó he/she/it —
a we a
Õ you (pl.) õ
wo≥n they wo≥n
Independent pronouns
èmi i àwa we
ìwo≥ you (sing.) õΩyin you (pl.)
òun he/she/it àwo≥n they
These are pronouns that function like nouns. For example:
Olú ni It is Olu Òun ni It is him
Kúnlé náà Kunle also Èmi náà I also
See Unit 5 for other ways one can use the independent pronouns.
Subject pronouns are never used with ni or náà, but nouns and
independent pronouns can be used in this context.