Language/Standard-moroccan-tamazight/Grammar/Adjectives-and-Agreement
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Introduction
Welcome to the Standard Moroccan Tamazight Grammar lessons! In this course, you will learn how to use and agree adjectives in Tamazight. Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns, and they can be singular or plural.
Agreement in Tamazight is very important, as adjectives must agree with the noun they are modifying in gender, number, and definiteness.
For example, the adjective "amɣar" means "red" in Tamazight. If we want to describe a masculine singular noun, we use the singular masculine form: "taddart amɣar" (the red house). If the noun were feminine, we would use the singular feminine form: "tadart amɣarit" (the red house).
In this lesson, we will discuss how to form and use adjectives in Tamazight, and how to make them agree with the nouns they modify.
Consider broadening your understanding by checking out these related lessons: How to Use Have & Plurals.
Forming Adjectives in Tamazight
In Tamazight, adjectives can be formed from nouns or verbs by adding a suffix or changing the last letter. Here are some common suffixes used to form adjectives:
- -i: added to a noun to form an adjective (feminine singular)
- -a: added to a noun to form an adjective (masculine singular)
- -in: added to a noun to form an adjective (plural)
- -iwin: added to a verb to form an adjective (plural)
For example, the noun "tala" means "student." We can add the suffix -i to form the feminine singular adjective "talawi" (student, feminine). To form the masculine singular adjective, we add the suffix -a: "talaqa" (student, masculine).
Similarly, the verb "yesɛa" means "to be clean." We can add the suffix -iwin to form the plural adjective "yasɛaɛin" (clean, plural).
Agreement in Tamazight
As mentioned earlier, adjectives in Tamazight must agree with the noun they modify in gender, number, and definiteness. Here are some examples:
- Definite: "asif n uɣbalu" (the river of tomorrow) - the noun "asif" (river) is masculine singular and definite, so the adjective "uɣbalu" (tomorrow) must agree in gender and definiteness.
- Indefinite: "taddart tizi" (a beautiful house) - the noun "taddart" (house) is feminine singular and indefinite, so the adjective "tizi" (beautiful) must agree in gender and number.
- Plural: "timawayin talɣa" (tall mountains) - the noun "timawayin" (mountains) is plural, so the adjective "talɣa" (tall) must agree in number.
It is also important to note that when forming the plural of an adjective, the suffix -in is added to the feminine singular form:
- "talawiyin" (students, plural - masculine)
- "talawiyatin" (students, plural - feminine)
Examples
Here are some examples of adjectives in Tamazight:
| Standard Moroccan Tamazight | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| ddelx iɣil | [dˤelχ ɪɣil] | small dog |
| skud tayri | [skud tajri] | fast horse |
| asinan tiɣmertin | [asinan tɪɣmərtin] | old cities |
| ara tayriwin atgur | [ara tajriwin atgur] | tired birds |
Practice
Now that you have learned how to use and agree adjectives in Tamazight, here are some exercises to practice what you have learned:
- Translate the following phrases into Tamazight:
- big house (feminine)
- lazy cat (masculine)
- beautiful flowers (plural)
- clean room (masculine)
- Write a short paragraph describing your favorite place using at least three adjectives. Be sure to make the adjectives agree with the noun they modify!
Other Lessons
- Pronouns
- Basic Sentence Structure
- Verb to be
- Verb have in tamazight
- Regular Future Tense Verbs
- Plural Nouns
- Conditional Mood
- Give your Opinion
- Adjectives
- Questions
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