Grammar: Classes of nouns and possessive adjectives agreement.

Grammar Points

Characteristics of classes of noun (Class 5)

Possessive adjectives (Class 1 to 5)

Class agreement with possessive adjectives (Class 1 to 5)

Grammar

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 zab

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

Grammar Introduction

In Kinyarwanda nouns have been classified in 10 classes based on the distinctive characteristics in terms of their prefix component. In this section we will deal with the first five classes only. Thereafter we will show how these nouns agree with possessive adjectives with each one of the five classes of noun.