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Bemba Lesson 14: Personal Pronouns – I, Me, My

Personal Pronouns

In Bemba, the personal pronoun changes depending on:

  1. Whether it is used as the subject or the object of a sentence
  2. The tense
  3. The negative

The personal pronoun can be used as the subject or as an object of a sentence. This will determine how it is said.

When used as the subject, it can be abbreviated by not saying “Ine”

Personal Pronoun as the Subject

Ine

e.g “(Ine) nkesa pa Cibelushi.” = “I will come on Saturday.”

Ine nd…

e.g. “(Ine) ndefwaya menshi.” = “I want water”

“Ine ndafwaya menshi” = “I always want water.”

Ine na…

e.g. “Ine nalefwaya menshi.” = “I wanted water.”

Ine nk…

e.g. “Ine nkafwaya menshi.” = “I will be wanting water.”

The expression changes for the negatives:

Ine nd…   Ine nsh…

“Ine nshilefwaya menshi” = “I don’t want water”

“Ine nshifwaya menshi” = “I never want water”

Ine na…   Ine nsh…

“Ine nshalefwaya menshi” = “I didn’t want water”

Ine nk…   Ine nsh…

“Ine nshakafwaye menshi” = “I will not be wanting water”

I = Ine, …ne

I want this = Ndefwaye ci (Ndefwaya ici)

I want to go = Ndefayo kuya (Ndefwaya ukuya)

I want to come along = Ndefwayo kukonka (Ndefwaya ukukonka)

I want to sleep = Ndefwayo kusendama (Ndefwaya  ukusendama)

 I am = Ndi

I am here = Ndi kuno / Ndi pano

My = …ndi

My wife = Mukashi wandi

My wives = Abakashi bandi

My book = Icitabo candi (I “book” lyandi)

My books = Ifitabo fyandi

My little cat = Ka puushi kandi

My little cats = Ba puushi bandi

My job = Incito yandi

My jobs = Incito shandi

My little job = Akacito kandi

My little jobs = Utucito twandi

John is my love = Joni ecitemwikwa candi / emutemwikwa  wandi

John my love = Joni, citemwikwa candi / mutemwikwa wandi

John my everlasting = Joni wa lyonse

You (singular) and I = Iwe na ine

You (plural) and I = Imwe na ine

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4 Thoughts on Bemba Lesson 14: Personal Pronouns – I, Me, My
    Michael Douglas
    24 Jan 2013
    7:23am

    i am a nigerian but i married a zambian woman, i love my wife so much, i wanna learn zambian language so i can commuicate with her. please reply me

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      JS
      24 Jan 2013
      10:07pm

      Hi Michael,
      You are welcome to our free lessons. Feel free to suggest words you would like to learn.

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    Kalusha Phiri
    1 Mar 2013
    4:02pm

    Im sorry i meant ” Nanemo nomba ndimupepi” what is an english translation to this???

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      JS
      3 Mar 2013
      5:41am

      Hi Kalusha,
      This is Lamba for “I’m also nearly there.”

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