Sanibona,

How do you conjugate verbs? Can anyone explain it in a non-complicated way? Please do use examples, and tell me the verb in the unconjugated form from the examples.

Also I regret to inform you that the use of technical language words (such as Fricative, Absolutes, Quantitatives, ect) I've always had trouble with understanding, so I apologize if that makes it a bit more difficult.

-Ngiyabonga!!

Verbs are conjugated by putting certain syllables (subject concords) in front of them that correspond to the associated noun.

Easiest way to get an impression: Lookup a Zulu verb in the dictionary and then click on "inflect". You'll get a whole lot of conjugation tables for various tenses ordered by persons and noun classes (you might also want to have the subject concords tables of the grammar page at hand). Also try verbs that begin with a vowel to see the changes in the subject concords.

Try to figure out the rules, then come back. Don't worry, isiZulu grammar is pretty straightforward.

Ok I typed in a verb, clicked Inflect, and then I got 391 different words.

Honestly I have no clue what is what, and what the difference and appropriate usage of each are.

Is there anyone (at all) who's willing to like maybe at least once a week explain a little on IM or E-mail?

I feel like the annoying new guy being this persistent yet uneducated, so I apologize for that.

Pronouns mostly translate as subject concords in Zulu.

I: ngi-
You: u-
He/She: u-
We: si-
You plural: ni-
For the 3rd person, there are many different forms depending on the prefix of the noun being referred to.

These cannot stand alone, they must link together with verbs to form sentences.

For verbs that do not begin with a vowel and that end in '-a', you can conjugate them simply as follows:

Present Tense:

If the sentence ends in a verb:
Subject concord + -ya- + verb

eg. I run / I am running
Ngi- + -ya- + -gijima = Ngiyagijima

If the sentence does not end in a verb:
Subject concord + verb + rest of sentence

eg. I am running now
Ngi- + -gijima + manje= Ngigijima manje

Recent past tense:

When you would use -ya- you end the verb with -ile instead of -a

I ran = Ngigijimile

Otherwise the verb just ends in -e

She ran too = Ugijime futhi

For future always use -zo- between the subject concord and noun:

I will run = Ngizogijima
She will run too = Uzogijima futhi

You can re-enter the inflected forms in the dictionary to have them decomposed and translated. This way the structure becomes a bit clearer. For now this works for the present, perfect (recent past), past and future tense.

If anything is unclear, don't hesitate to ask. It's probably better to answer specific questions than to go through the whole grammar here. Anyway, thanks Graham for giving a short overview.

I would like to first thank Pandaran for asking this question. I too am attempting to learn the beautiful language of Zulu, but verb congegation has confused me utterly. The responces thus far has helped me tremendously. I think the question of having a weekly lesson is wonderful, and I hope you all would be willing to not only consider doing this, but doing it on this public forum instead of via e-mail. If someone has decided to offer weekly lessons via e-mail, may I also be added to the list?

Many thanks to all of you.

Great answer Graham, thanks, it's slightly less confusing now.

Ok let's use "-ukuphinda" with what Graham said.
I repeat=Ngiyaukuphinda.
I'm repeating now=Ngiukuphinda manje.

I repeated=Ngiyaukuphindile.
She repated too=Uyaukuphinde futhi.

I will repeat=Ngizoukuphinda


I feel so half stupid in case I screwed up...but is that correct?



Also can someone break down "Ngiyabonga" so I can get a better idea of how this works? I assume with the "Ngi-" that it's literally "I thank", right? Or is it "I thank you"? If the latter please explain how that is.

ukuphinda is the infinitive ("to repeat"). To conjugate this verb you need to strip off the infinitive prefix uku- and prefix the rest, the stem -phinda, with the appropriate subject concords.

Ngiyaphinda. (ngi-: I; -ya-: needed because it's the last word of the sentence; -phinda: repeat)
Ngiphinda manje. (no -ya- because it's not the last word)
Ngiphindile. (-ile: recent past ending when it's the last word)
Uphinde futhi. (-e: recent past ending when it's not the last word)
Ngizophinda. (-zo-: future tense marker)

ukubonga = to thank/to give thanks/to be thankful (among others)
Ngiyabonga = I am thankful (which translates to "thank you" in English).

I have tweaked the inflection engine a bit so that it contains links to the words for tenses that are supported by the decomposer.
BTW, if you try "ngiyabonga" you will see that it is ambiguous. But it will be understood as "thank you" unless the context suggests something else.