In these examples we can see simple commands or statements. These contain no subject, that is they have no prefix, and they usually contain an object. In imperative verbs, the subject of the verb is assumed. If mum says, “Give it me!” we assume that it’s the mum speaking to the child.

These imperatives are formed in this way:

ROOT + á

Notice we don’t have a prefix. The final ‘a’ has an accent over it showing that we stress that vowel (that is, the last syllable).

However, the above form works for only imperatives when addressing an individual, not a group of people. In Lingala, groups of people addressed with an imperative command (plural imperatives we could say) contain the prefix that we have learned before:

Note that in the two examples, the word –sil– and –silis– are both used, two new words for our vocabulary, meaning to finish and to cause to finish.

In Lingala the word –silis– is not normally used with something that is inanimate. This is because an inanimate object doesn’t finish something, it itself is finished. Whereas a person could cause something to finish.

The word ata simply means even or even though. It is used very similarly to how we use it in English:

ata ntango akotala buku oyo, akotanga yango te

Here we use it to mean even at the time he/she sees this book, they won’t read it. We can also combine the word ata with eloko and moko to create some useful expressions:

These expressions are used regularly in Lingala and add a little more naturalness to the sound of our Lingala when we use them correctly.

The second word, nde, is also very useful to Lingala speakers. It basically means then, but is used in a number of interesting ways. Notice some:

Look out for how nde is used and you will see the interesting ways that it emphasizes the content of the sentence.

As we can see in those examples, the word –lek– used in the infinitive (koleka) simply means to pass (by), but we can use it for other English words like exceed, surpass, and go beyond.

We can also use it as we would a normal verb in this way:

Here we see that we use the verb with the object immediately after the verb, and then use na followed by the thing the person is better at.

Now notice what happens if we just use the object and subject without the thing they are better at:

We simply are saying that the subject or object is better than the other.

What if we want to reverse the meaning and make something smaller or less important?

Alternatively we can just use the word te on the end of the sentence to mean the person is not better.

mama aleki tata te

Here mother is not better than father.

We can also use the –lek– verb with numbers:

As we can see, –lek– is a very useful word and has a great many uses.

When we look at Lingala from 50 years ago or more we see that whenever a word had an –ol– extension the meaning of the root was reversed. That still is true, however many times in Lingala we don’t use the unextended root and so to some extent the intent of the –ol– extension has been lost.

Notice some of the verbs we have that use the –ol– extension.

Knowing about this reversive extension is useful for the next section of our lesson.

The Changed Spelling of the Reversive –ol–

While the reversive –ol– extension is not an extension we need to understand extensively, we do need to know about the changes in spelling that occur because of this extension.

As mentioned in the section before we have four words we have learned previously that have the –ol– extension. Of these four words, –tambol– (meaning to walk) changes in an unusual way when we add the extension –is-, it becomes –tambwis-. In this change the meaning of the word is to cause to walk, or to direct. We notice that we lose the –ol– and it becomes –w-. This is done to many words that contain the –ol– extension and another extension is added to it.

Watch out for these changes as we continue with the lessons.

Notice some ways we can use this extension:

Many verbs can use this applicative extension, and some words in Lingala, like –batel– do not have a form without the applicative extension.

The verb –salel– is derived from –sal– and is used very often in Lingala as it carries the idea of serving someone, as well as working for somebody, or doing something for someone, or doing something to someone.

At times the –el– extension is used to reinforce or emphasize what the verb is doing. For example:

azali kotalela buku

Where –tal– normally means to look, here the –talel– means to look at, or even to examine. This is more than simply looking, but looking to understand. Here the –el– extension helps apply the action to the book.

Look at another use:

Ida ayokelaki mwasi esengo

Here we are saying not that Ida heard or listened to the woman, but with esengo being added at the end (or other similar words) we are showing that Ida felt (another of the meanings of –yok-) towards the woman joy. She could have felt anger or sadness in the same way.

So here the Lingala structure is that first the subject (Ida) takes the action (feel) to the object (woman) and then we describe what that action was. This is common in Lingala and fits with the practice of placing descriptive words after the noun or verb.

In a similar way we could say:

Luis asalelaki bango mabe

Here we mean that Luis did to them bad. We can do this in many other ways using the applicative extension.

In English we may often use a verb and indicate it is done to each other, this is reciprocal action. In Lingala we use the –an– extension to create this same effect. Notice some examples below:

As in the examples above we can see the usefulness of this extension. It allows us to involve two or more subjects in a sentence equally. The structure is also simpler than it is in English.

In the second example above we use the –an– extension to show that the knowledge of it is known to everyone involved. This can be used generally, to refer to someone who is famous, or to people who are acquainted with each other.

In the other examples the idea is more simple. In fact is is used in an expression when leaving someone who you will see again:

tokomonana

Here it means simply that we will see each other again. 

Lingala does have another way of adding emphasis to an idea in the form of doubling the verb root or the word. Notice some examples:

We see that in all these cases the idea is emphasized. So in solosolo, we get the idea of it really being true. In libosoliboso, we see that it must be first, before anything else. in –lobaloba we see that the verb is now the action of a lot of talking, which in English is chattering.

When verb roots are doubled, the doubled root acts as any normal verb for example:

balukalukaki mpe bamonaki bango

Here the sense of the sentence is they searched and the saw (found) them.