Verbs – Lingala

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class="post-22523 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-lessons category-verbs">

24th August 202031st August 2020

Imperative ( -á )

One of the most common forms of verbs that are used, especially between parents and children, are those that are commands. Many of these commands are in the imperative form. A parent might say ‘Come here!’ or ‘Listen!’ or ‘Go to your room.’ In Lingala we can do the same. Notice some examples:

Lingala	English
lobá yango	say it
teyá bango	teach them
pesá ngai yango	give me it

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:

Lingala	English

5th March 20205th March 2020

Reversive ( -ol- )

An extension that we see in a number of verbs is –ol-, the reversive extension. We will explain its use only briefly here as it has limited use to new Lingala speakers.

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.

–limbola	explain
–longola	remove
–tambola	walk
–yekola	learn

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.

5th March 20205th March 2020

Reciprocal ( -an- )

In an earlier lesson we began to look at some of the verb extensions or infixes that exist in Lingala. In this lesson we again look at some verb extensions, the first of which is the reciprocal or –an-.

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:

tomonanaka	we always see each other	we always see each other
likambo oyo ezali koyebana	this thing is known	thing this it is known to each other
baninga balinganaka	friends that always love each other	friends they are always loving each other

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.

5th March 20205th March 2020

Reflexive ( -mi- )

Another extension in Lingala is the –mi– extension, called the Reflexive. This is used for verbs that ‘reflect’ back the action at the one doing it. We do this in English by saying things like: I taught myself, he will see himself, they are helping themselves, etc.

We can do this very simply in Lingala using the reflexive extension. Notice:

namiteyaki	I taught myself
akomimona	he/she will see him/herself
bazali komisalisa	they are helping themselves

You can see that we use the –mi– extension before the root of the verb. This is the only extension that we do this with. All other extensions are placed after the root of the verb. Therefore we write the format of a verb using the reflexive extension this way:

PREFIX + mi + ROOT + SUFFIX

Although we previously spoke (in Lesson 2) about using the a pronoun along with the word moko to create idea of self (so ngai moko means myself), we should not use this to try and replace the reflexive tense in a verb.

Another useful verb that uses the –mi– extension is komipesa, meaning to give yourself, that is to dedicate.

5th March 20201st April 2020

Passive ( -am- )

A second verb extension that we will learn in this lesson is the passive –am-.

In English (as in many languages) there are times when we talk about the action of a verb being doing to us. We call this the passive tense. As an example, we could say I was seen which expresses the same idea as they saw me. We can do the same in Lingala:

namonamaki	I was seen
bamonaki ngai	they saw me

It is also possible to use passive along with the causative extension:

okosalisama	you (singular) will be helped
bakosalisa yo	They will help you (singular)

So we can write format of the passive tense in the following way:

PREFIX + ROOT + [EXTENSIONS] + am + SUFFIX

We can make any verb passive in Lingala. Though this is possible, you will notice many native Lingala speakers don’t use the passive tense very much at all, often choosing to say someone did the verbs action to something or someone. It is very common for them to choose to use the ba– prefix (they) even if it was just one person that did the verbs action.

5th March 20205th March 2020

Causative ( -is- )

In our previous lessons we have learned how to use verbs in Lingala, including looking at how they have prefixes or suffixes that change to reflect different tenses or persons.

Verbs in Lingala can also gain additional meaning by the use of extensions that are added to the root but before any suffixes or prefixes. Sometimes these are called infixes. Let’s look at one example we have already seen:

kokanisa

We learned previously (in Vocabulary – Part 4) that this word means to think. However this word contains an extension: –is-. This extension is causative, that the verb is forcing or causing something or that it is caused or forced. In kokanisa the real root of the word is –kan– which means to purpose or will something or even the sense of plan. In using the extension –is– we see that the verb is causing to plan, that is planning or as we better understand that meaning thinking.

Take a look at some other words that are derived from verbs in this lesson or previous lessons. Notice what the root means, and then how it changes when we add the causative –is– extension.

kozala	to be	kozalisa	to cause to be, to create
komona	to see	komonisa	to make see, to show
kosala	to do	kosalisa	to make work, to help
koyeba	to know	koyebisa	to make know, to inform
koyoka	to hear, to feel, to smell	koyokisa	to cause to hear, to make feel, to make smell

Many words in Lingala can have or use this causative extension. As you can see above some of the words that are created can take on a more expanded meaning than simply to cause this action. Notice kosalisa is used to help us create the idea of not just causing work to be done but also the sense of helping.

We can format causative verbs in this way:

PREFIX + ROOT + is + SUFFIX

If other extensions are used along with –is-, then –is– always comes first in the verb. Notice a few examples of these causative words in action.

nasalisaki yo	I helped you (singular)	I made do you
bakomonisa biso makambo nyonso basalaki	they will show us every thing that they did	they will show us things all they did
tozali koyebisa bato nsango malamu	we are informing people good news	we are making know people news good

5th March 20202nd December 2020

Future ( -ko- )

Lingala	English
bakokufa	they will die
okolinga	you will love/like/want
tokoloba	we will say/speak
bokomona	you (plural) will see
akopesa	he/she will give
nakosala	I will do
ekosepela	it/they will enjoy
akotanga	he/she will read
nakoteya	I will teach
okoyeba	you will know

Notice that we now have changed the structure of the verb again. So now the verb –zal– is written as:

nakozala

Breaking down the verb we notice first that we have the prefix na– meaning I, followed by –ko-. We then have –zal– (the root) and finally the suffix –a. This gives the meaning of I will be.

Therefore, when looking at the structure of a future tense verb in Lingala we find:

PREFIX + ko + ROOT + a

So with this information, look at a few examples of how we can use the future tense in some simple sentences:

Lingala	English (meaning)	English (literal)
tokosala mingi	we will work a lot	we will work much
mwana mwasi na yo akokufa	your (singular) daughter will die	child woman with you he/she will die
nakozala monene	I will be great	I will be great
bokotanga buku moko ya malamu	you (plural) will read one good book	you (plural) will read book one of good

Tip: Some have found it helpful to think of the form of the future tense verb as the prefix (i.e. na-) plus the infinitive form of a verb (i.e. koteya).

Note: The terminology used for the part –ko– is either an infix or an extension. We will learn other extensions/infixes in later lessons.

5th March 20205th March 2020

Past ( -aki )

Welcome to our fourth lesson to learn Lingala. In this lesson, we’ll look into more detail of how verbs tenses work in the past and future.

As we have discussed in the previous lessons, Lingala verbs are built around the root, changing both the prefix (start) and suffix (ending) of the word to change or show the tense.

When we look at verbs in the simple past, we find:

nazalaki

Notice that the root –zal– is preceded by the prefix na– which we have learned represents I. But we also have a different suffix: –aki. This makes the verb read as I was. So, the structure of simple past verbs in Lingala could be written as:

PREFIX + ROOT + aki

This applies to all the verbs we have learned so far. Notice some examples in the chart below:

nakufaki	I died
tolingaki	we loved/liked/wanted
olobaki	you (singular) said/spoke
amonaki	he/she saw
bopesaki	you (plural) gave
esalaki	it did/worked/acted
nasepelaki	I enjoyed
totangaki	we read
eteyaki	it/they taught
bayebaki	they knew

Let’s apply what we’ve learned and use the past tense in some simple sentences:

natangaki babuku nyonso	I read all the books	I read books all
bana bapesaki ngai nsango malamu	the children gave me good news	children they gave me news good
tolobaki na bango	we spoke with them	we spoke with them
omonaki biso nyonso	you (singular) saw all of us	you (singular) saw us all

4th March 202024th August 2020

Important Verbs – Part 1

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We learned in a previous lesson that
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zala is a verb. Lingala has many verbs, as does English. Four of the verbs that are used commonly in Lingala are included in our vocabulary list:
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linga,
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mona,
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sala and
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yeba. Let’s discuss each one.

The first we will look at is
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sala. This word means to do, to act, or to work. It is one of the most commonly used verbs in Lingala. Look at how we can use it using some of the prefixes we learned last week:

nasali yango	I did it	I did it
Jean asali	Jean worked	Jean he did

It is used almost identically to how we would use it in English.

The other words we are learning in this lesson are
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linga which means to like, to want or to love;
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mona which means to see; and
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yeba which means to know. Notice how we can use these with more of the pronouns we have learned:

balingi yango	they want it	they want it
olingi ngai	you love me	you love me
emoni biso	it/they (object) saw us	it/they (object) saw us
bomoni bango	you (plural) saw them	you (plural) saw them
eyebi	it/they (object) know	it/they(object) know
toyebi nyonso	we know all	we know all

Take some time in the Exercises to learn how we can use these new words and add them to your Lingala vocabulary.

3rd March 202031st August 2020

Present ( -i )

Verbs in Lingala fall into two categories. Verbs that describe the state of something, and those that don’t. A verb describing the state of something is describing what it is, rather than what it is doing. In some cases a verb can be used to do both of those things.

For example, notice the following verbs that show the state of something:

kolinga	to like, want	nalingi	I want
komona	to see	tomoni	we see
kosepela	to enjoy	osepeli	you enjoy
koyeba	to know	ayebi	he/she knows
kozala	to be/exist	bazali	they are

Notice those words describe the state of something right now. For those verbs the present tense is formed by:

PREFIX + ROOT + i

However, the vast majority of verbs in Lingala do not describe the state of something. So how can we create the present tense? In most cases we use the verb –zal– to help us do that. Look at the following examples:

kokufa	to die	nazali kokufa	I am to die (dying)
koloba	to speak/talk	tozali koloba	we are speaking
kopesa	to give	azali kopesa	he/she is giving
kosala	to do/work	bozali kosala	you (plural) are working
kotanga	to read/count	bazali kotanga	they are reading
koteya	to teach	ezali koteya	it is teaching

Here we are use a form of the verb –zal– along with the infinitive of the verb we are describing to create the sense of something that is happening now. So we can write this structure as:

PREFIX + zal + i ko + ROOT + a

In this way we create most present tenses forms of verbs in Lingala. For the other verbs that express state, many times they can be used in a similar way to express the idea of the verb that is the state of the object or subject while also adding the another verb as the related action. Look at this example:

nalingi kotanga

Here we use –ling– to express the idea that the person wants to do something, and the infinitive verb kotanga tells us what. So we have the idea of I want to read. There are many more ways we can use these words that express state, but we will look at them in a later lesson.