The Past Simple (1st Conjugation)

This is for simple verbs which end in a non-guttural consonant.  We will use KEEN (to bring) as an example.

Standard Suffixes	Somali	English
-ay (I)	Waan keenay	I brought
-tay (you)	Waad keentay	You brought
-ay (he/it m.)	Wuu keenay	He brought
-tay (she/it f.)	Wey keentay	She brought
-nay (we)	Waannu keennay	We brought
-teen (you all)	Weydin keenteen	You all brought
-een (they)	Wey keeneen	They brought

To make it negative: 
Imperative+neg. past suffix
Keen+in = Keenin    Did not bring

The Past Simple Chart

PRONOUN	WAA FORM	1st Conj	2nd Conj Type A End "-i"	2nd Conj Type B End "-ee"	3rd Conj Type A End "-o" Vowel Change	3rd Conj Type B End "-o" Vowel Loss
		KEEN: to bring	KARI: to cook	SAMEE: to make	JOOGSO: to stop	QABO: to catch
I	WAAN	KEENAY	KARIYEY	SAMEYEY	JOOGSADAY	QABTAY
YOU	WAAD	KEENTAY	KARISEY	SAMEYSEY	JOOGSATAY	QABATAY
HE/IT(M)	WUU	KEENAY	KARIYEY	SAMEYEY	JOOGSADAY	QABTAY
SHE/IT(F)	WEY	KEENTAY	KARISEY	SAMEYSEY	JOOGSATAY	QABATAY
WE	WAANNU	KEENNAY	KARINNEY	SAMEYNEY	JOOGSANNAY	QABANNAY
YOU ALL	WEYDIN	KEENTEEN	KARISEEN	SAMEYSEEN	JOOGSATEEN	QABATEEN
THEY	WEY	KEENEEN	KARIYEEN	SAMEYEEN	JOOGSADEEN	QABTEEN

WAAN + AHOW: To Be (present habitual)

I	WAAN AHAY	I am
You	WAAD TAHAY	You are
He/It(M)	WUU YAHAY	He/It is
She/It(F)	WEY TAHAY	She/It is
We(excl)	WAANNU NAHAY	We are
You (Pl)	WEYDIN TIHIIN	You all are
They	WEY YIHIIN	They are

Waan fiicanahay	I am well
Waad fiican tahay	You are well
Wuu fiican yahay	He is well
Wey fiican tahay	She is well
Waannu fiican nahay	We are well
Weydin fiican tihin	You all are well
Wey fiican yihin	They are well

*Wherever you see FIICAN, it can be substituted with whichever adjective from the previous list to explain the state you are in (tired, hungry, etc.)

I am......

In English, when we answer the question: "How are you?" we simply respond "I'm well" or "I'm tired" etc.  In Somali it is a little more complicated.  (because it's always a little more complicated)  You have to actually use the verb "AHOW" which means "To Be".  AHOW is an irregular verb and will be discussed later in more detail.  For now, we are using the basic present habitual of "AHOW".


AHOW: To Be (only in present habitual)
I am...........
We have already used this:  Waan fiicanahay (lit: I well am)

Fiican	Well
Kulul	Hot
Ladan	Well
Gaajeysan	Hungry
Harraadsan	Thirsty
Faraxsan	Happy
Murugaysan	Sad
Daalan	Tired
Welwelsan	Worried
Cadheysan (careysan)	Angry

Waan (insert word from above) Ahay: I am.............

Greetings and Salutations

Subax Wanaagsan! (Good Morning)

In Somali there are many greetings and salutations and their literal meanings may seem pretty odd to an English speaker.  Below are the typical greetings and salutations, as well as a sample dialogue.

Subax Wanaagsan	Good Morning
Galab Wanaagsan	Good Afternoon
Caweys Wanaagsan	Good Evening
Habeen Wanaagsan	Good Night
Duhur Wanaagsan	Good Noon
Maalin Wanaagsan	Good Day
Nabad ku bari	Good Night [lit: break the day in peace]
Nabad ma ku bariday?	Good Morning [lit: didy ou break the day in peace?]
Iska warran?	How are you?
Waan fiicanahay	I am well
Waa la wanaagsanyahay	I am well [lit: it is well]
Ma nabad baa?	How are you [lit: is it peace?]
Waa Nabad	I am well [lit: it is peace]
Sidee tahay?	How are you?
Maxaad sheegtay?	How are you? [lit:What did you tell?]
Nabad Miyaa?	How are you? [lit: is it peace?]
Assalaamu Calaykum	Peace be with you
Calaykum Assalaam!	Peace be with you (response to Assalaamu calaykum)
Fadlan	Please
Mahadsanid	Thank you
Adgiaa mudan	You're welcome
Magacaa?	What is your name?
Adigana?	And you?
Magacaygu waa	My name is
Barasho Wanaagsan	Nice to meet you
Nabad gelyo	Goodbye

Dialogue:

Bill:    Subax Wanaagsan!

John:  Subax Wanaagsan, iska warran?

Bill:     Waan fiicanahay, adigana?

John:   Waan fiicanahay.  Fadlan magacaa?

Bill:     Magacaygu waa Bill, adigana?

John:   Magacaygu waa John. Barasho wanaagsan. 

Bill:     Barasho wanaagsan.  Mahadsanid.
John:   Adigaa mudan.  Nabad gelyo.
Bill:     Nabad gelyo.


Dialogue:
Bill:  Good Morning!
John:  Good morning, how are you?
Bill:  I am well, and you?
John:  I am well.  Your name, please?
Bill:   My name is Bill, and you?
John:  My name is John.  Nice to meet you.
Bill:  Nice to meet you.  Thank you.
John:  You are welcome.  Good bye.
Bill:   Good bye.  

Putting it together: WAA + The Verbal Subject Pronoun

So how does this work?  To combine these forms with WAA, simply add the "W" (from WAA) to the beginning of the verbal subject pronoun suffix (from previous slide)

I	WAA+AAN	=	WAAN
YOU(SING)	WAA+AAD	=	WAAD
HE, IT(M)	WAA+UU	=	WUU
SHE, IT(F)	WAA+AY	=	WAY
WE	WAA+AANNU	=	WAANNU
YOU (PL)	WAA+AYDIN	=	WAYDIN
THEY	WAA+AY	=	WAY

***WAA DOES NOT HAVE TO GO WITH A VERBAL SUBJECT PRONOUN SUFFIX, IT CAN STAND ALONE BUT IT TYPICALLY IMPLIES THE THIRD PERSON SUBJECT PRONOUN*** 
EX: 
WAA CUNTAY         SHE ATE IT 
WAY CUNTAY         SHE ATE IT


WAA CUNAY            HE ATE IT
WUU CUNAY           HE ATE IT

Verbal Subject Pronouns

• The verbal subject pronouns are very often used if there is no specific subject noun in the sentence.  It CANNOT stand on its own in main clauses.  (a main clause is a clause that may stand on its own as a sentence)
• You MUST MUST MUST use them in conjunction with a mood classifier or focus marker [WAA or BAA]

Pronoun         Verbal Pronoun Suffix
     I                      -aan
  YOU                  -aad
  HE, IT(M)       -uu
 SHE, IT(F)       -ay
 WE (excl)          -aannu
 YOU (pl)            -aydin
 THEY                 -ay

Basic Pronouns

MEANING	PRONOUNS	SUBJECT	WAA FORM
I	ANIGA	ANIGU	WAAN
YOU	ADIGA	ADIGU	WAAD
HE/IT (M)	ISAGA	ISAGU	WUU
SHE/IT (F)	IYADA	IYADU	WEY
WE (EXCL)	ANNAGA	ANNAGU	WAANNU
YOU ALL	IDINKA	IDINKU	WEYDIN
THEY	IYAGA	IYAGU	WEY

EXAMPLES: 
Isagu waa macallin        He is a teacher 
Wuu yahay macallin     He is a teacher 
(making a declarative statement using a WAA form requires the use of the conjugated verb Ahow [to be] )

It is a WAA??????

WAA means "it is" but it's a weird way of saying "it is" because in English, we simply conjugate the verb "To Be" and that's it.  In Somali, WAA plays the role as a positive declarative mood classifier.  What does that mean to you?  
It is used for making positive declarative statements, for example, the English sentence "The sky is blue." The classifier for this mood is WAA.  If you say a positive declarative sentence without WAA (or a focus marker, discussed later) then you are incorrect.  This is the very basic use of the word WAA.  


Waa buug.      It is a book.  

The Definite Article for Feminine: "A" noun becomes "THE" noun

Feminine Indefinite Noun Ending	What do you do? (instead of using TA)	Indefinite Noun Example	Definite Noun (not already known)	Definite Noun (already known)
O	Change "O" to "A" and add "DA"	Cunto (food)	Cuntada (the food)	Cuntadii
D,H,KH, X, W, Y, and HAMZA ' Vowel (other than "o")	Change "TA" to "DA"	Mindi (knife)	Mindida (the knife)	Mindidii
L	Remove "L" and add "SHA"	Il (eye)	Isha (the eye)	Ishii
DH	Change "TA" to "DHA"	Gabadh (girl)	Gabadhdha (the girl)	Gabadhdhii

NOTE: In Somali, you do not write the "DH" double (DHDH) it is just spoken with more emphasis. Typically if the DH is not found at the beginning of the word, you can replace the "DH" with "-R".
EX: Gabadh=Gabar and then the definite would be Gabarta.  Since I find the "DH" to be annoying, I personally don't use it and switch to "R".  

The Definite Article for Masculine: "A" noun becomes "THE" noun

Masculine Indefinite Noun Ending	What do you do? (instead of using KA)	Indefinite Noun Example	Definite Noun (not already known)	Definite Noun (already known)
C,H,Q,KH,X	Only add an "A" to the end	Shaah (tea)	Shaaha (the tea)	Shaahii
G,W,Y,I	Change "KA" to "GA"	Guri (house)	Guriga (the house)	Gurigii
E	Change "E" to "A" and then add "HA"	Aabbe (father)	Aabbaha (the father)	Aabbihii (vowel harmony)
O	Change "O" to "A" and then add "HA"	Ilmo (child, baby)	Ilmaha (the child/baby)	Ilmihii

The Definite Article (just the basics)

In English, the definite article is the word "the". In Somali, this is

expressed by a suffix which begins with "K" for masculine nouns and "T"

for feminine nouns.

If the noun is referred to for the first time or if the noun is not known to the

speaker, we use the suffix "KA" or "TA".

Dukaan (a shop) Dukaanka (the shop)

Naag (a woman) Naagta (the woman)

If the noun has already been referred to or is already known then the

definite article suffix becomes "Kii" or "Tii"

Dukaankii (the already known shop)

Naagtii (the already known woman)

However, the definite article suffix (KA or TA) will change depending on the ending of the noun.  The following posts illustrate the rules for these changes.