Language/Southern-sotho/Grammar/Describing-Nouns

◀️ Hobbies and Interests — Previous Lesson

Next Lesson — Describing Verbs ▶️

Southern Sotho → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Adjectives and Adverbs → Describing Nouns

Introduction

Welcome to our Southern Sotho course! In this lesson, we will learn about adjectives and how to use them to describe nouns. Adjectives are important building blocks in any language, as they let us add detail and precision to our speech. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use adjectives to describe nouns of different types in Southern Sotho, and you will have a good understanding of how they work with the noun classes we introduced in a previous lesson.

Adjectives in Southern Sotho

Adjectives in Southern Sotho are words that describe or modify a noun. They can be used to add information about the quality, size, color, shape, or any other characteristic of a person, a place, or an object. For example:

• Setšo sa bana se khutšo. (The children’s dress is beautiful.)
• Ntjapedi e sa tle. (The shoe is not nice.)
• Bana ba hao ba le fifing. (My children are tall.)
• Manana o motle. (The woman is pretty.)

In these examples, khutšo, tle, and fifing are adjectives. Adjectives in Southern Sotho come before the noun they modify, and they agree with the noun in class and number. This means that an adjective will change its prefix and suffix depending on the noun it describes. We will talk more about this in the next section.

Agreement with Nouns

As we have seen before, Southern Sotho nouns are classified into different noun classes, each Class has its own prefix. To use adjectives correctly in Southern Sotho, you need to make sure that they agree with the noun they describe in class and number.

The basic rule is that an adjective will take a prefix that matches the prefix of the noun class it describes. If the noun has a plural form, the suffix of the adjective will change to match it. Some examples are:

<thead> </thead> <tbody> </tbody>

Southern Sotho	Pronunciation	English
ntjapedi e motle	ɲʈjàpédi ɛ mòtɬɛ	a beautiful shoe
lefu le lele	ɬèfù lè lèlè	a dead ditch
bana ba bomme ba ba tsoang	bàna bà bòmmɛ bà bà tsɔ̀ŋ	the older children
manyalo a magolo a mabapi	maɲàlɔ ɑ màgòlò ɑ màbápì	big traditions of mabapi people

From these examples, you can notice that the adjective motle takes the infix a- to agree with the noun class ntjapedi, which belongs to class 9. Also, the noun bana belongs to noun class 2, and the adjective tsoang takes the prefix ba- to match the class and the suffix -a to agree with the noun in the plural form.

Comparative and Superlative Forms

In Southern Sotho, we can transform adjectives to make comparative and superlative forms. This is important when we want to make comparisons or express degrees of intensity. To make the comparative form of an adjective, we can add the suffix -eng. To make the superlative form, we add the suffix -eng ka. Some examples are:

<thead> </thead> <tbody> </tbody>

Southern Sotho	Pronunciation	English
ntjapedi e motle	ɲʈjàpédi ɛ mòtɬɛ	a beautiful shoe
ntjapedi e motleng	ɲʈjàpédi ɛ mòtlɛȵ	a more beautiful shoe
ntjapedi e motleng ka	ɲʈjàpédi ɛ mòtlɛȵ kà	the most beautiful shoe
baeti ba neng ba fetang	bàèti bà nɛ̀ŋ bà fɛ̀tàŋ	younger sisters
baeti ba fetang ba fetang ka	bàèti bà fɛ̀tàŋ bà fɛ̀tàŋ kà	the youngest sisters

In these examples, motleng and baeti ba neng ba fetang are the comparative forms of motle and fetang, respectively. The superlative forms are motleng ka and fetang ka. Notice that the prefix remains the same, and we only add the suffix to make the comparative or the superlative form.

Practice

Let's practice using some adjectives with nouns of different classes. For each noun, write an adjective that agrees in class and number with it. Write both the singular and the plural form.

1. Noun class 1: mosali (woman)
2. Noun class 5: boraro (mountain)
3. Noun class 6: noka (canoe)
4. Noun class 8: sefate (hat)
5. Noun class 9: ntjapedi (shoe)

Conclusion

In this lesson, we have learned how to use adjectives to describe nouns in Southern Sotho. We have seen that adjectives need to agree in class and number with the nouns they describe, and we have learned how to form the comparative and the superlative forms of adjectives. Adjectives are essential in any language, and we will keep using them throughout this course to be able to communicate accurately and effectively in Southern Sotho. Good job, and keep practicing!

Table of Contents - Southern Sotho Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

  ---

Introduction to Southern Sotho

• The Alphabet and Pronunciation
• Basic Sentence Structure

  ---

Greetings and Introductions

• Common Greetings
• Introducing Oneself

  ---

Nouns and Pronouns

• Noun Classes
• Personal Pronouns

  ---

Numbers and Time

• Counting Numbers
• Telling Time

  ---

Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense

  ---

Everyday Activities

• Daily Routines
• Hobbies and Interests

  ---

Adjectives and Adverbs

• Describing Nouns
• Describing Verbs

  ---

Food and Dining

• Common Foods
• Eating Habits

  ---

Southern Sotho Traditions

• Traditional Clothing
• Traditional Music and Dance

  ---

Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Travel Destinations

  ---

Questions and Negation

• Asking Questions
• Negating Sentences

  ---

Shopping and Money

• Shopping Vocabulary
• Money and Currency

  ---

Southern Sotho Family Life

• Family Structure
• Marriage and Ceremonies

Other Lessons

• 0 to A1 Course
• How to Use Be
• Conditional Mood
• Asking Questions
• Basic Sentence Structure
• Adjectives
• Present Tense
• Noun Classes
• Questions
• Plurals

◀️ Hobbies and Interests — Previous Lesson

Next Lesson — Describing Verbs ▶️