Personal Pronouns
In Bemba, the personal pronoun changes depending on:
- Whether it is used as the subject or the object of a sentence
- The tense
- 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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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
Hi Michael,
You are welcome to our free lessons. Feel free to suggest words you would like to learn.
Im sorry i meant ” Nanemo nomba ndimupepi” what is an english translation to this???
Hi Kalusha,
This is Lamba for “I’m also nearly there.”