The Disappearing Subject Concord
A learner writes the following sentences in a Setswana composition: "Bana ba tla. Bona ba ja bogobe. Nna ke ne ke le kwa gae." The teacher marks the second sentence and writes in the margin: "Bona?" The learner protests that "bona" clearly means "they", so the sentence should be correct. In class, the teacher puts three versions on the board: (1) "Bona ba ja bogobe"; (2) "Bone ba ja bogobe"; (3) "Ba ja bogobe". The class must decide which is acceptable in formal written Setswana, which is a common colloquial form, and which is the most natural because the subject concord already carries the subject. The teacher stresses that the absolute pronoun and the subject concord are not the same thing, and that overusing the absolute pronoun where the concord suffices is a stylistic and grammatical issue, not just a spelling slip.
1. Explain the difference between the absolute pronoun and the subject concord, and use the three board versions to show why version (3) is often the most natural.
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The absolute pronoun (e.g. bona/bone, "they") is a free-standing word that can stand alone or be emphasised. The subject concord (e.g. ba-) is a prefix bound to the verb that agrees with the subject noun class. In version (3), Ba ja bogobe, the concord ba- already marks "they", so the sentence is complete and natural. Version (2), Bone ba ja bogobe, is acceptable but adds emphasis ("they are eating"). Version (1), Bona ba ja bogobe, is the weakest in formal writing: the form is colloquial and the doubling is redundant. The learner's error is treating the pronoun as a required subject rather than an optional emphasis marker.
2. The learner also wrote "Nna ke ne ke le kwa gae." Comment on this sentence, distinguishing what is grammatical from what is stylistically heavy.
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The sentence is grammatical: Nna (emphatic "I"), ke ne (auxiliary with concord), ke le (concord with copula), kwa gae (locative) all agree. But it is stylistically heavy because the emphatic pronoun and repeated concord stack up. A leaner form, Ke ne ke le kwa gae, is usually preferred unless the writer means "I (as for me) was at home". The teaching point: grammaticality and style are separate judgements. The learner should not be told the sentence is wrong; he should be shown when emphasis is warranted and when it merely clutters.