LESSON 17

Negative of the -ra Present

Vocabulary

inzira (cl. 3) - path, way |-kunda - love, like
umubyeyi (cl. 1) - parent -shima - praise, be content with
umuti (cl. 2) - medicine kandi - also, and (to connect clauses)
indwara (cl. J) - illness

Note: umuti is used not only for medicine, but for most preparations or mixtures, such as shoe polish, insecticide, etc.

28. Negative of -ra present. For the negative the -ra must drop out, Its presence makes the not-yet tense (see par. 183). The negative prefix is nti- (note the exception in the first person singular), and it must precede the personal prefix. (A different negative prefix is used in dependent clauses, see par. 186).

Here is the negative conjugation:

sinkora - I am not working ntidukora - we are not working
ntukora - you are not working ntimukorn - you are not working
ntakora - he is not working ntibakora they are not working

Note: nti-u-kora becomes ntukora, nti-a-kora becomes ntakora.

Observe the parts of the word now:

nti- mu- kora
neg. prefix personal prefix verb stem

Observe also the change-down rule in 1st per. plural: ntidukora.

The third person prefixes of the other classes follow the regular rule: e.g. inka ntizijya mu murima - the cows are not going into the garden.

29. Negative of -ri. The negative of the verb -ri is formed the same way:

sindi - I am not ntituri - we are not
nturi - you are not ntimuri - you (pl.) are not
ntari - he is not ntibari they are not

Exercises:

I. Translate into English:

1. Abantu ntibahinga mu mirima yabo, kandi ntibajya imuhira. 2.Intama ntizijya mu nzira. 3. Nkunda Imana mu mutima wanjye. 4. Ntitujya imuhira. 5. Umuhungu ni mubi, ntakora. 6. Sinshima abana babi, ariko (but) nkunda abarta beza. 7. Umwana afite indwara mbi, ariko (but) ntakunda umuti. 8. Mbese abaqyeyi bawe bari imuhira? 9. Ntitujya mu nzira nini. 10. Ntituri mu murima wanyu, turi iwacu.

II. Translate to Kinyarwanda:

1. I am not going to the house. 2. I praise God in my heart. He has much mercy. 3. The child’s illness is not very bad. 4. He does not like medicine. 5. My parents are not at home. 6. We love our Savior very much, and we do not like sin. 7. The women are not hoeing in the sweet potatoes, they are in the house. 8. Where are the goats? They are not on the path. 9. Don’t you (s.) love your parents? 10. The sleeping mat is not in the house, and my clothes are not on the chair.