LESSON 69

Possessive Particle with a changed to o

Vocabulary

138. The possessive particle, wa, ba, etc., and the word na change their a to o before infinitives and before mu and ku.

e.g. kurya no kunywa - to eat and drink

ku meza no ku ntebe - on the table and on the chair

mu ishuri no mu rusengero - in the school and in the church

igitabo cyo gusoma - a book to read

139. The possessive particle, as wa, ba, ya, etc. sometimes becomes wo, bo, yo, etc. as seen in par. 130. The idea of the particle wa, etc. is possession. But there are some instances in English where we use the possessive “of” when really the thought of place is intended; e.g. we say “the trees of the forest” when we mean “in the forest”. In those instances the forms wo, yo, etc. are used, followed by mu or ku:

e.g. ibiti byo mu ishyamba - the trees of the forest

umusatsi wo ku mutwe - the hair of the head

ibibabi byo ku mashami - the leaves of the branches

A part of a thing may not possess. Thus, one would say, “ibibabi byo ku mashami”, and “ibibabi by’igiti” because the tree is the whole thing, and thus the plain possessive may be used.

140. On the other hand, when in English we would use only “in” or “on” to connect two nouns, in Kinyarwanda the form wo, yo, etc. must be used as well as mu or ku, when a prepositional phrase modifies a noun. e.g. The trees on the hill - ibiti byo ku musozi, the pages in the book - impapuro zo mu gitabo.

In this use one could also say, “ibibabi byo ku giti” when the emphasis is on location. Note the difference here:

Put the book on the table - shyira igitabo ku meza (ku meza modifies shyira)

The book on the table is good - igitabo cyo ku meza ni cyiza (ku meza modifies igitabo).

Exercises:

I. Translate into English:

1. Ukubure neza mu nzu no mu rusengero. 2. Inyamaswa zo mu ishyamba ni mbi, kandi ni nyinshi cyane. 3. Abagabo bagiye gushaka ubwatsi bwo gusakara inzu. 4. Abantu batemye ubwatsi bwose bwo ku musozi. 5. Tugende guhinga no gutema ibyatsi. 6. Unyereke imbuto zo murima. 7. Hari ibyatsi, bibi byinshi mu mirima no mu nzira. 8. Tuzatangira kwubaka vuba; turashaka umucanga mwiza wo mu ruzi. 9. Imana ikuhda cyane umuntu wese wo mu bwami bwayo (his). 10. Mugende mushake imbuto zo ku biti.

II. Translate into Kinyarwanda:

1. The soil in the garden is not good. 2. The leaves on the trees are beginning to fall. 3. We want to sing and to pray in the church. 4. The bricks of the house are not strong. 5. Cut (pl.) all the grass in the garden. I don’t want it. 6. The flowers on the hills are beautiful; let’s go get (look for) some (them). 7. The weeds in the garden will kill the plants. 8. The hair on the sheep’s skin is long. 9. The pages of the book are very dirty; let’s be careful in reading them. 10. The words in God’s book are wonderful; let’s read them every day.