Communicative Task - Mali

The Ordinal numbers are built on the cardinal numbers by adding nan, except for fǤlǤ
(first) and laban (last).Here are some examples:
III III III
Cardinal numbers Ordinal numbers
kelen fǤlǤ first
fila filanan second
saba sabanan third
naani naaninan fourth
x laban laban last.
Safety and Security Notes:
1. In big cities, people hesitate to indicate somebody’s house. (Because of
security issues)
2. Always double-check when you are given a direction.
3. “He who asks doesn’t get lost”.
III---- GRAMMAR GRAMMAR GRAMMAR GRAMMAR
The Imperative
a)- The Imperative in Bambara is used for making polite requests, suggestions or
commands.
Affirmative form: Negative form:
(obj) + Verb kana + (obj) + Verb
e.g: - Ji min! (Drink water!) kana ji min!
- I ko! (Wash!) kan’i ko!
- Taa! (Go!) kana taa!
b)- This is formed by using the auxiliary ka in the affirmative and kana in the negative.
Affirmative form: Negative form:
Suj + ka + (obj) + Verb Suj + kana +(obj) + Verb
e.g: An ka ji min! (Let’s drink water!) Aw kana kǤlǤnnaji min!
An k’an ko! (Let’s wash!) I kan’i ko kǤji la!
An ka taa! (Let’s go!) An kana taa!
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