LGCSE Sesotho cheat sheet

Sesotho is a tonal language: pitch distinguishes meaning, so a rising tone on the final syllable can change a statement into a question without any added word.

Greeting register rule: 'Dumela' to one person, 'Dumelang' to more than one or to show respect; the reply 'Ee, dumela' or 'Ee, dumelang' mirrors the number used.

Respect register (hlompho) for elders: plural forms address a single senior person, e.g. 'Ntate, le kae?' not 'Ntate, o kae?'.

Turn-taking markers: 'Tjhe' (no), 'Ee' (yes), 'Hle' (please/softener), 'Ke kopa' (I request) open polite requests; 'Ntshwarele' opens an apology or interruption.

Listening for meaning: track agreement morphemes on the verb, since the subject concord (ke-, o-, re-, ba-) tells you who acts even when the noun is omitted.

Oral assessment criteria typically include audibility, correct tone and stress, appropriate register, and sustained eye contact rather than speed of delivery.

Question intonation versus statement intonation: a question often ends with a high tone or uses interrogatives 'eng, mang, kae, neng, hobaneng' placed at the end of the clause.

Reported speech in oral narration shifts the concord: direct 'Ke a bona' becomes 'O re o a bona' when reported.

Skim for the topic sentence first: in Sesotho narrative prose the main event is usually introduced in the first clause, with elaboration following.

Scan for interrogatives to locate what a passage is answering: 'eng' (what), 'mang' (who), 'kae' (where), 'neng' (when), 'hobaneng' (why), 'joang' (how).

Distinguish fact from opinion using markers: 'ho bonahala' and 'mohlomong' signal opinion or possibility; bare statements signal fact.

Inference rule: an answer is supported only if it can be traced to a specific clause, not to general knowledge about Lesotho.

Vocabulary in context: use the surrounding concord and the noun class prefix to guess an unfamiliar word's role before guessing its meaning.

Summary tasks: keep the original person (first/third) and tense; compression should delete examples and repetition, not main events.

Sequence questions: look for time connectives 'pele' (before), 'kamora' (after), 'hangata' (often), 'qetellong' (finally).

Title selection: a correct title names the whole passage's central concern, not one vivid detail from the middle.

Noun class system: class 1/2 (motho/batho), 3/4 (mofuta/mefuta), 5/6 (leihlo/mahlo), 7/8 (sebaka/libaka), 9/10 (ntja/ntja), 14 (boroko) - the class prefix determines the concord.

Subject concords: ke- (I), o- (you/he/she), re- (we), le- (you pl.), ba- (they), o- for classes 3, 9, 14, and li- for classes 8 and 10.

Object concords attach before the verb stem: 'Ke a mo bona' (I see him), 'Ke a ba bona' (I see them).

Negation: present tense uses 'ha ke bone' (I do not see); past uses 'ha kea bona'; future uses 'nke ke ka bona' or 'ha ke tlo bona'.

Verb endings: '-a' is the default; '-ile' marks past (ke bone/ke ile ka bona); '-tla' or 'tlo-' marks future (ke tla bona).

Copulatives: 'ke' for identification (Ke mosuoe), 'na le' for possession (Ke na le buka), 'li' or 'ke' with class agreement for 'there is/are'.

Adjectives and relatives agree with the noun: 'motho e molemo' (a good person) versus 'batho ba lokileng' (good people).

Locatives: suffix '-ng' forms the locative - 'hae' (home) to 'haeng', 'sekolo' to 'sekoloing' - often with 'ho' or 'ka'.

Kinship: ntate (father), mme (mother), ausi (older sister), abuti (older brother), nkgono (grandmother), ntatemoholo (grandfather), malome (maternal uncle), rakgadi (paternal aunt).

Body and health: hlooho (head), mahlo (eyes), letsogo (arm/hand), leoto (leg/foot), pelo (heart), madi (blood), bohloko (pain).

School and work: sekolo (school), mosuoe (teacher), moithuti (student), buka (book), mosebetsi (work), chelete (money).

Time and days: kajeno (today), hosane (tomorrow), maobane (yesterday), beke (week), kgwedi (month), selemo (year), nako (time).

Nature and weather: letsatsi (sun/day), kgwedi (moon), pula (rain), moya (wind), lefatshe (earth/land), noka (river), thaba (mountain).

False-friend caution: 'kgwedi' means both 'moon' and 'month'; 'letsatsi' means both 'sun' and 'day' - context decides.

Verb pairs to distinguish: ho bona (see) versus ho sheba (look at); ho utlwa (hear/feel) versus ho mamela (listen).

Abstract nouns use class 14 'bo-': boroko (sleep), botswadi (parenthood), bohlale (wisdom), bofuma (poverty).

Proverb structure: most Sesotho proverbs are two-clause parallels; quote them verbatim and then explain the moral separately.

'Motho ke motho ka batho' - a person is a person through others; used for ubuntu-style interdependence and community duty.

'Ho tsamaya ke ho bona' - travelling is seeing; used to value experience and exposure over staying at home.

'Pelo e ntle e feta sefahleho se setle' - a good heart surpasses a beautiful face; used against judging by appearance.

'Nku e tshwara ka matsoho' or proverbs about hands signal cooperation; do not invent proverbs - an invented one scores zero in literary papers.

Idioms (maele) differ from proverbs (diane): maele are short phrases with figurative meaning, e.g. 'ho ja pelo' (to be brave), 'ho tshwara letsogo' (to help).

'Ho hloka thuso' style idioms use body parts; the literal image must be explained before the figurative meaning.

When asked to 'explain the relevance' of a proverb, connect it to a character's action in the text, not to general life advice only.

Register choice: a letter to an elder opens 'Ntate/Mme' and closes 'Wa lona' or 'Motswalle wa hao' depending on relationship; a formal letter closes 'Wa lona ka tlhompho'.

Letter layout: address at top right, date below it, salutation, body paragraphs, closing formula, signature - the same skeleton as English letters but with Sesotho formulas.

Essay structure: introduction naming the topic, three to four body paragraphs each with one idea plus example, and a conclusion that returns to the title.

Tense consistency: narrative essays stay in the past ('-ile' or 'ile ka' forms); argumentative essays stay in the present.

Punctuation follows the same marks as English, but direct speech uses the colon and quotation marks with the concord inside: 'O ile a re: "Ke tla tla."'

Word-count discipline: a 250-300 word task needs roughly 15-20 Sesotho sentences; count sentences at planning, not after writing.

Cohesive devices: 'leha ho le jwalo' (however), 'ka lebaka leo' (therefore), 'ho feta moo' (moreover), 'qetellong' (finally).

Marking criteria in composition papers: content relevance, organisation, grammar and concord accuracy, vocabulary range, and mechanics - a strong story with broken concords still loses heavily.

Literary terms in Sesotho: pale (story), terama (drama), thothokiso (poem), sebapadi (character), sehlooho (theme), tikoloho (setting), morero (plot).

Character question rule: name the character, state the trait, then cite a specific incident from the text as evidence - a trait without evidence earns half marks.

Theme versus moral: sehlooho is what the text is about; thuto or moral is the lesson drawn; exam questions often ask for both separately.

Poetry analysis: identify mofuta (type), morethetho (rhythm), ho pheta (repetition), papiso (simile) and mothofatso (personification), then link each device to meaning.

Drama conventions: dialogue, stage directions (ditaelo tsa sethala), acts and scenes; questions on conflict usually target the protagonist versus society or versus a rival.

Setting questions require time and place plus social context, e.g. a rural Lesotho village in the colonial period, not merely 'a village'.

Quotation rule: short quotations in the original Sesotho are preferred to paraphrase when the question says 'cite'; give the speaker and the situation.

Essay-type literature answers use PEEL: point, evidence from the text, explanation of the device or motive, link back to the question.