Verb: ịga (to go)
Question: ị na-aga ahịa? (Are you going to the market?)
Answer: Eee, m na-aga ahịa. (Yes, I’m going to the market.)
OR
Mba, m naghị aga ahịa. (No, I’m not going to the market.)
Verb: ịzụ (to buy)
Question: ị na-azụ nri (Are you buying food?)
Answer: Eee, m na-azụ nri. (Yes, I am buying food)
OR
Mba, m naghị azụ nri. (No, I am not buying food)
Nkọwaaha (Adjectives)
An adjective qualifies a noun or pronoun. Nke a bụ ụdịrị nkejiasụsụ na enye nkọwa na okwu ọbụla ọ dị na ya. Let’s look at the different adjective classes.
Descriptive adjective (Nkọwoaha keaha)
These describe a noun or pronoun and make it more clearly understood. Nke a bụ ebe aha na akọwa aha. E.g.
mma – good/beauty
njọ - ugly
obere – small
nnukwu - big
ibu - fat
okpokpo – huge
ogologo – tall/straight
mkpụmkpụ – short
ọcha – white
oji – black
nkenke – petite
arọ - heavy
nfe – lightweight
ọjọọ - bad
ezigbo – best
NOTE In Igbo, everything goes through a process. We just don’t sleep, “we sleep sleep and we walk walk”. One cannot simply say that somebody is tall. The adjective, “tall” is not complete without a transitive object, “toro”. E.g.
Uche toro ogologo. (Uche is tall)
Ngozi sụrụ mkpumkpu. (Ngozi is short)
Africa bụru ibu. (Africa is big)
Ọ dị nkenke. (It is petite)
Ọ dị arọ. (It is heavy)
Toro is the process of being tall.
Sụrụ is the process of being short
Buru is the process of being fat
Dị is the process of being petite, heavy, light, bad, big, huge, white, black.
Bụ is the process of being the best.
Mara is the process of being beautiful
Interrogative adjective (Nkọwaaha keajujụ)
These are used in asking questions. “Ọ bụ mkpụrụokwu nke njụajụajụ na emebe ya”. E.g
Gịnị – what
Kedụ – how
Kedụ ebe – where
Olee ebe - where
Kedụ ihe – what
Olee – what.
Kedụ mgbe – when
Olee mgbe - when
1. Gịnị ka i me? (What did you do?)
2. Kedụ ka o si mee? (How did it happen?)
3. Kedụ ebe ọ nọ? (Where is she?)
4. Kedụ ihe ị na-eme? (What are you doing?)
5. Kedụ mgbe ọ lara? (When did he leave?)
6. Olee ihe ị na-eme? (What are you doing?)
NOTE : People from Imo and Abia state only say “olee”. People from Anambra state say “kedụ”.
Numerical adjectives (Nkọwaaha keọnụọgụgụ)
All the Igbo numerals belong to this class, whether ordinal (nke mbu = first) or cardinal (otu, abuọ, etc.). ọtụtụ, nile, dum are also numerical adjectives. E.g.
1. Mmadu atọ bịara na ụlọ m. (Three people came to my house.)
2. Mmadu nile ga-aga ụlọ akwụkwọ. (Everybody will go to school.)
3. Unu dum mara mma. (All of you are beautiful.)
4. Ọtụtụ mmadụ gara ahịa. (Many people went to the market.)
5. M bụ onye nke mbụ. ( I am the first person.)
Possessive adjectives (Nkọwaaha kennwe)
NOTE: All Igbo pronouns except i, ị, ọ, o, are possessive adjectives. Sometimes the word “nke” is used before the pronouns to stress their possessive functions or qualities as adjectives. “Ndi a na egosi onye nwe ihe”.
Example:
Anyị nọ na ụlọ nke ya. (He is in his house.)
M jere ụlọ akwụkwọ ha. (He went to their school.)
Ha nọ na otu nke anyị. (They belong to our group)
Demonstrative adjectives (Nkọwaaha kenruaka)
These adjectives point to the thing being talked about. They have the same features of “a” and “ahụ” as demonstrative pronouns. “Nke a na egosi ihe a na ekwu maka ya.”
Examples:
Akwụkwọ a bu nke m. (This book is mine.)
Nwoke ahụ agaghi alụm. (That man will not marry me.)
Nwanyị ahụ hụrụ m na anya. (That woman loves me.)
Oche a buru ibu. (This chair is big.)
Akpa ahụ dị ọcha. (That bag is white.)