Grammar

(NOTE: Some grammar here is simplified for the purpose of this exercise.)

Syntax

Zulu has an SVO word order. Adjectives and possessives follow their head nouns. Subjects and objects are optional when they can be marked in the verb. Therefore, a sentence is able to consist of just a verb.

Nouns

Zulu has about 14 different noun classes. All nouns come with a noun class prefix. Verbs agree in noun class with their subjects, and adjectives and possessives agree in noun class with their head nouns. Noun classes mostly come in singular and plural pairs. The noun classes used here are as follows, where the first in each pair is singular and the second is plural:

• 3/4: um(u)-/imi-
• 5/6: i-/ama-
• 9/10: im-/izim-

Verbs

The basic form of a verb is negative-subject-tense-object-root. There are subject prefixes and object prefixes for each personal pronoun, as well as for each noun class. Subject prefixes have initial forms that are used at the beginning of a verb, and medial forms that are used when the subject prefix is not the first prefix of the verb. Subject prefixes are required except for in infinitive verbs where they cannot be used. The object prefixes are optional when an object is stated, but they can also be used to refer to unstated objects. The tense prefixes convey tenses such as present, past, and future, and they are placed between the subject prefix and object prefix. The present tense prefix is optional. The infinitive prefix goes in the same spot as the tense prefixes. The negative of a verb is formed by adding the prefix a- at the very beginning.

The subject prefixes for the personal pronouns and the noun classes listed above are given below. Each comes in a pair where the first is the initial form and the second is the medial form.

• I: ngi-, -ngi-
• you (singular): u-, -wu-
• he/she: u-, -ka-
• we: si-, -si-
• you (plural): ni-, -ni-
• they: ba-, -ba-

• 3: u-, -wu-
• 4: i-, -yi-
• 5: li-, -li-
• 6: a-, -wa-
• 9: i-, -yi-
• 10: zi-, -zi-

The object prefixes for the personal pronouns and the noun classes listed above are given below:

• me: -ngi-
• you (singular): -ku-
• him/her: -m-
• us: -si-
• you (plural): -ni-
• them: -ba-

• 3: -wu-
• 4: -yi-
• 5: -li-
• 6: -wa-
• 9: -yi-
• 10: -zi-

The tense prefixes used here are listed below:

• present: -ya-
• future: -zo-
• infinitive: uku-

Adjectives

Adjectives in Zulu act a lot like verbs. You can conjugate adjectives just like a verb, so it helps to think of adjectives as verbs meaning "to be [adj]".

Possessives

Possessive pronouns consist of two parts: a stem and an agreement prefix which agrees with the head noun. The stems are as follows:

• my: -mi
• your (singular): -kho
• his/her: -khe
• our: -ithu
• your (plural): -inu
• their: -bo

The possessive agreement prefixes for the noun classes used are listed below:

• 3: wa-
• 4: ya-
• 5: la-
• 6: a-
• 9: ya-
• 10: za-

To talk about "having" an object, you can attach the prefix na- to a noun and then conjugate the result as if it is a verb meaning "to have [noun]". Note that using the prefix na- will delete the first vowel of the noun class prefix.