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CHAPTER 5
A LEARNER'S SYNOPSIS OF KIRUNDI STRUCTURE

The BASE of a Kirundi verb is defined as the root plus all suffixes except the final suffix.

Most kinds of Kirundi verb forms must contain, in addition to the stem, a subject prefix:

m-vuga 'I speak'
u—vuga 'you (sg) speak'
a-vuga 'he/she speaks'
tu—vuga 'we speak'
mu-vuga 'you (pl) speak'
ba-vuga 'they speak'

It will be noted that the subject prefixes stand for combinations of person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural):

  Singular Plural
1. n- (or m-) 'I' tu- 'we'
2. u- 'you (sg)' mu- 'you (pl)'
3. a- 'he, she' ba- 'they'

If /asoma/ is translated 'he, she reads', what is the translation of

/musoma/? ['you (pl.) read']
/basoma/? ['they read']
/nsoma/? ['I read']

If /bageenda/ is one translation is equivalent of 'they go' write the corresponding translation equivalent of:

'I go' [ngeenda]
'you (pl.) go' [mugeenda]
'we go' [tugeenda]
'he/she goes' [ageenda]

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