Lesson 7

Class 3: in-, in-

Vocabulary

13. Class 3. The prefix for Class 3 nouns in in- (or im-) for both singular and plural. The context and agreements will usually indicate whether the word is singular or plural. Later we will note some variations of this prefix.

e.g. inka yanjye - my cow, inka zanjye - my cows

14. Consonant change. (Memorize this rule. It is used in many words.)

N before all labials (B, M, F, V, P) becomes M. e.g. in-bwa becomes imbwa.

N before H becomes MP. e.g. in-hamba becomes impamba. Some people write it: imhamba.

N before R becomes ND. e.g. in-ririmbo becomes indirimbo.

N before another N or before M drops out. e.g. in-mana becomes Imana.

N before a vowel stem becomes NZ. e.g. in-ara becomes inzara.

Exercises:

I. Translate into English:

1. Inka z’umgabo. 2. Umusaza n’imbwa ye. 3. Umuhungu arakora mu murima we. 4. Abakobwa bafite intebe zabo. 5. Umukobwa afite imyenda mu nzu yanjye. 6. Umwana afite imyenda ye. 7. Inka zawe ziri (are) mu murima wanjye. 8. Abantu barajya mu nzu.

II. Translate into Kinyarwanda:

1. The men’s dogs. 2. The girl’s chair. 3. I have a dog. 4. Our chairs. 5. Their cows. 6. My God. 7. Your (pl.) clothes. 8. The old man’s cows. 9. The teacher’s children. 10. The woman’s clothes. 11. The children are going into the man’s garden. 12. I am working in the teacher’s garden. 13. The women have bread on their heads.