Popego ya Puo: Grammar, Morphology and Punctuation
Noun classes drive everything
Setswana nouns belong to classes identified by prefixes: mo-/ba- (people), mo-/me- (trees, some objects), le-/ma-, se-/di-, n-/di-, bo-, go-. The class controls concords on verbs, adjectives, pronouns and possessives. If the noun is bana (class 2), the verb concord is ba-: Bana ba a ithuta. If it is setlhare (class 7), use se-: Setlhare se a gola.
Verb structure
A Setswana verb carries subject concord + tense marker + root + extension + ending. Example: ba-a-ithut-a (they are learning). Know the present, past (-ile), future (tlaa), perfect and negative patterns. Negation uses ga with a changed ending: O a ithuta → Ga a ithute.
Pronouns and possessives
Learn the concord table: ke, o, a, re, le, ba. Possessives agree with the possessed noun: buka ya me, bana ba me.
Punctuation
Capitalise proper nouns and sentence openings. Use the comma for lists and after introductory phrases. Setswana uses question marks, exclamation marks and quotation marks like English, but note the convention of writing direct speech with a comma before the quote: A re: "Tla fano."
Traps
- Wrong concord when the subject is a class you have not checked.
- Forgetting that the negative changes the verb ending, not just adding ga.
- Confusing -ile past with the perfect aspect.
- Missing capital letters on names of people, places and languages.
Rule of thumb
Before writing any sentence, name the subject's class aloud, then pick the matching concord.