Asking and answering simple questions

I said before that in Somali the subject comes at the beginning. We also talked about 'waa' , which means ' it is'.  First of all, how do you ask a question in Somali? One way is to use 'Ma'. For example,


Ma nabad baa? -  How are you? ( but literally 'Is it peace?')
Ma buug  baa?  - Is it a book?
Ma gabadh baa? - Is it a girl?


You can combine 'Ma' with what is called 'verbal pronouns'. These pronouns have to be used in conjuction with verbs.

-aan   - I

-aad   - You

-uu     - He

-ey     - She (or They)

-aannu - We( exclusive )

-eynu   - We((inclusive )

-eydin/-aad (You (plural))

-ey       - They

Combine it with ' Ma' and you can start asking questions with verbs in Somali. For example,

Baariis maan tagey?            - Did I go to Paris?

     "     maad tagtey?           - Did you go to Paris?

     "     muu   tagey?            - Did he go to Paris?

     "     mey   tagtey?           - Did she to go "  ?

     "     maannu tagney?      - Did we(ex.) go to "?

     "     meynu  tagney?       - Did we(inc.) go to "?

     "     meydin/maad tagteen?- Did you (all) go to "?

     "     mey tageen?             -  Did they go to "?

To say 'Yes, I went to', again use the verbal pronoun, this time combine with 'waa', We said before that 'waa' means 'it is'.


          waan                  - I

          waad                 - You

          wuu                   - He

          wey                   - She

waa    waannu              - We

          weynu                - We

          waad/weydin      - You(pl)

          wey                    - They

For example,

Haa, Baariis waan tagey          - I went to Paris

            "      waad tagtay          - You went to "

            "      wuu tagey             - He went to "

            "      wey tagtey            - She went to "

            "      waannu tagney     - We went(ex.) to "

            "      weynu tagney       -  We went (inc.)  to "

            "      waad/weydin tagteen - You went to "

            "      wey tageen            - They went to "