Grammar: Classes of nouns and possessive adjectives agreement.

Grammar Points

Characteristics of classes of noun (Class 6 to 10)

Possessive adjectives (Class 6 to 10)

Class agreement with possessive adjectives (Class 6 to 10)

Grammar

Classes of noun (Inteko z'amazina

Classes of noun (inteko z'amazina)	Prefix	Nouns
Class 1	umu-	umugabo
	aba-	abagabo
Class 2	umu-	umurimo
	imi-	imirimo
Class 3	in-	inka
	in-	inka
Class 4	iki-	ikirahure
	ibi-	ibirahure
Class 5 (a)	i-	icupa
	ama	amacupa
(b)	i-	isahane
	ama-	amasahane
Class 6	uru-	urutugu
	in-	intugu
Class 7	aka-	akabuye
	utu-	utubuye
Class 8	ubu-	ubwato
	ama-	amato
Class 9	uku-	ukuguru
	ama-	amaguru
Class 10	aha-	ahantu
	aha-	ahantu

POSSESSIVES: AGREEMENT WITH CLASSES OF NOUNS:

Inteko ya 1	Umubyeyi wanjye	Ababyeyi banjye
umu-aba	Umubyeyi wawe	Ababyeyi bawe
	Umubyeyi we	Ababyeyi be
	Umubyeyi wacu	Ababyeyi bacu
	Umubyeyi wanyu	Ababyeyi banyu
	Umubyeyi wabo	Ababyeyi babo

Inteko ya 2	Umugozi wanjye	Imigozi yanjye
umu-imi	Umugozi wawe	Imigozi yawe
wa-ya	Umugozi we	Imigozi ye
	Umugozi wacu	Imigozi yacu
	Umugozi wanyu	Imigozi yanyu
	Umugozi wabo	Imigozi yabo

Inteko ya 3	Inka yanjye	Inka zanjye
in-in	Inka yawe	Inka zawe
ya-za	Inka ye	Inka ze
	Inka yacu	Inka zacu
	Inka yanyu	Inka zanyu
	Inka yabo	Inka zabo

Inteko ya 4	Ikirahure cyanjye	Ibirahure byanjye
iki-ibi	ikirahure cyawe	Ibirahure byawe
cya-bya	Ikirahure cye	Ibirahure bye
	Ikirahure cyacu	Ibirahure byacu
	Ikirahure cyanyu	Ibirahure byanyu
	Ikirahure cyabo	Ibirahure byabo
“ki” becomes “gi” when the stem starts with one of the following consonants: c,f,h,k,p,s,t	See the following examples
igi-ibi	Igitabo cyanjye	Ibitabo byanjye
cya-bya	Igitabo cyawe	Ibitabo byawe
	Igitabo cye	Ibitabo bye
	Igitabo cyacu	Ibitabi byacu
	Igitabo cyanyu	Ibitabo byanyu
	Igitabo cyanyu	Ibitabo byabo
“ki” becomes “cy”, “bi” becomes “by” when the stem starts with a vowel.	See the following examples
icy-iby	Icyuma cyanjye	Ibyuma byanjye
cya-bya	Icyuma cyawe	Ibyuma byawe
	Icyuma cye	Ibyuma bye
	Icyuma cyacu	Ibyuma byacu
	Icyuma cyanyu	Ibyuma byanyu
	Icyuma cyanyu	Ibyuma byabo

Inteko ya 5 (a) –ri-	Igare ryanjye	Amagare yanjye
i-ama	Igare ryawe	Amagare yawe
rya-ya	Igare rye	Amagare ye
	Igare ryacu	Amagare yacu
	Igare ryanyu	Amagare yanyu
	Igare ryabo	Amagare yabo

Inteko ya 5 (b)	Isaha yanjye	Amasaha yanjye
i-ama	Isaha yawe	Amasaha yawe
ya-ya	Isaha ye	Amasaha ye
	Isaha yacu	Amasaha yacu
	Isaha yanyu	Amasaha yanyu
	Isaha yabo	Amasaha yabo

Inteko ya 6	Urutooke rwanjye	Intooke zanjye
uru-in	Urutooke rwawe	Intooke zawe
rwa-za	Urutookierwe	Intooke ze
	Urutooke rwacu	Intooke zacu
	Urutooke rwanyu	Intooke zanyu
	Urutooke rwabo	Intooke zabo

Inteko ya 7	Akabuye kanjye	Utubuyetwanjye
aka-utu	Akabuye kawe	Utubuye twawe
ka-twa	Akabuye ke	Utubuye twe
	Akabuye kacu	Utubuye twacu
	Akabuye kanyu	Utubuye twanyu
	Akabuye kabo	Utubuye twabo

aga-udu	Agatebe kanjye	Udutebe twanjye
ka-twa	Agatebe kawe	Udutebe twawe
	Agatebe ke	Udutebe twe
	Agatebe kacu	Udutebe twacu
	Agatebe kanyu	Udutebe twanyu
	Agatebe kabo	Udutebe twabo
“ka” becomes “ga”, “tu” becomes “du” when the stem starts with one of the following consonants: c,f,h,k,p,s,t

Inteko ya 8	Ubwato bwanjye	Amato yanjye
ubu-ama	Ubwato bwawe	Amato yawe
bwa-ya	Ubwato bwe	Amato ye
	Ubwato bwacu	Amato yacu
	Ubwato bwanyu	Amato yanyu
	Ubwato bwabo	Amato yabo

Inteko ya 9	Ukuguru kwa njye	Amaguru yanjye
uku-ama	Ukuguru kwawe	Amaguru yawe
Kwa-ya	Ukuguru kwe	Amaguru ye
	-	Amaguru yacu
	-	Amaguru yanyu
	-	Amaguru yabo

Inteko ya 10	Ahantu hanjye	Ahantu hanjye
aha-aha	Ahantu hawe	Ahantu hawe
ha-ha	Ahantu he	Ahantu he
	Ahantu hacu	Ahantu hacu
	Ahantu hanyu	Ahantu hanyu
	Ahantu habo	Ahantu habo

The possessive adjectives

The possessive adjective is made up of two parts: the prefix, which refers to and agrees with the object owned, and the suffix, which refers to and agrees with the owner. This agreement refers to the system of prefixes for the various classes which will be dealt with later on.

“wa” is the prefix which agrees with the first class singular.”-njye” means “me”. Thus, wanjye means “of me”, that is “my”. Do not try to use -njye for “me” in other instances. The plural prefix is ba-. In this lesson we introduce the only personal possessives (that is, the owner being a person). Other forms will be taught later.

Prefix	Suffix	Possessive adjectives	Noun + Possessive adjective	English translation
wa	-njye	wanjye	umwana wanjye	my child
wa	-we	wawe	umwana wawe	your child
wa	-e	we "a" drops	umwana we	his/her child
wa	-cu	wacu	uwana wacu	our child
wa	-nyu	wanyu	umwana wanyu	your child
wa	bo	wabo	umwana wabo	their child

Note the contraction in 3rd person singular:” wa-e (we) ; “ba-e” ( be) e.g. umwana we - his child. ubana be - his children. abana babo - their children. The possessive regularly follows the noun it modifies.

Grammar Introduction

In kinyarwanda, nouns are grouped into 10 families of relationships called classes (inteko). Each one of these classes has a particular agreement with other words in a meaningful sentence. When nouns are used as subjects of verbs, they should agree with them according to their respective class prefix. When adjectives such as possessive, descriptive, demonstrative are used with nouns, they should agree with them as well. In this unit the emphasis will be on the agreement with possessives. However, the study of the classes of noun will be done systematically so that learners may be able to identfy them and make use of them in sentences appropriately.