Language/Lingala/Grammar/The-present-tense-To-be
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The present tense – Learn the Lingala Language
To conjugate Lingala verbs in the present tense (I am, you are, he/she is, etc.), first drop the ‘ko-’ at the front of the infinitive form.
For kozala (to be), this leaves ‘-zala’.
Next, drop the ‘-a’ at the end.
With kozala, now without the ‘ko-’ or ‘-a’, this leaves ‘-zal-‘
Now add the appropriate pronoun – na-, o-, a-, to-, bo-, ba-, e- – for what you are trying to say. And then add an ‘i’ at the end.
- na+zal +i – nazali – (nah-ZAH-lee) – I am
- o+zal +i – ozali – (oh-ZAH-lee) – you are
- a+zal+i – azali – (ah-ZAH-lee) – he/she is
- to+zal+i – tozali – (toh-ZAH-lee) – we are
- bo+zal+i – bozali – (boh-ZAH-lee) – you are (plural)
- ba+zal+i – bazali – (bah-ZAH-lee) – they are
- e+zal+i – ezali – (eh-ZAH-lee) – it is
Source
https://lobalingala.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/23042014-loba-lingala.pdf