'in' - making subordinate clauses

There are several ways to make subordinate clauses in Somali. Here I will talk about the easiest.


I want to go to Somalia


I want (Main Clause)    to go to Somalia (Subordinate clause)


To link the two in Somali, use the word 'in'


Waxaan dooneyaa + in(that) + aan(I) + tago(present habitual)  Soomaaliya


'in' roughly corresponds to the English word 'that'. Therefore, literally it means


Waxaan dooneyaa inaan tago Soomaaliya - I want that I go to Somalia


Waxaan dooneyaa inaan baro af Soomaaliga - I want to learn Somali


Waxaan moodeyey inuu tegayo Soomaaliya - I thought he was going to Somalia


'in' is very good when you want to use phrases like,


'I believe that' - Waxaan rumaysnaa in ...

' I think that' - Waxaan fekerayaa in ... 


'I want to' - Waxaan dooneyaa in ...

inaan - that I           iney - that she     inaad - that you(pl)
inaad - that you      inaanu - that we  iney - that they
inuu - that he          ineynu - that we

You can develop this structure further,

Waxaan ku faraxsanahay inaad si amaan ah u gaartay Muqdisho


I am happy that you reached Mogadishu safely



Notice, the verbs 'tago', 'baro', end in 'o'. This is similar to French where,


Autant que je sache (Not 'sais'), 


Just as in French where the verb becomes subjunctif after 'que', in Somali after 'in' the verb ends in 'o', but only if it is originally a present progressive or habitual tense. If it is in past tense, then it remains the same.

Waxaan maqlay inuu tegay Soomaaliya - I heard that he went to Somalia.