Negative verbs
Negation describes how to make a verb negative in a sentence or say an action is not happen, will not happen, or did not happen. For example, some examples of negation are “I will not come”, “She is not going”, or “They did not eat”.
Negative verbs in Igbo
Please note: Negative verbs may be created in a different way from what is listed on this page depending on your dialect.
Negative Imperative
Imperative verbs are verbs used to give a command such as “Go home!” or “Come in the kitchen!”
One way to make imperative verbs negative in Igbo is to replace the i/ị infinitive marker with either an a or e depending on vowel harmony and add -la to the end of the verb. (Again, there are other ways to negate imperative Igbo verbs. It just depends on your dialect).
Some negative imperative Igbo verb examples:
ibịa – “to come” | Negative imperative form: abịala (Do not come!)
ije – “to go” | Negative imperative form: ejela (Do not go!)
Negative Present Simple/Continuous Tense
To make Igbo verbs in the present tense negative, remember to follow the general rules for Igbo present tense verbs and remove the i/ị infinitive marker and add -ghi/-ghị to the end of the verb depending on vowel harmony. For plural nouns and when the verb comes before the noun in 1st person singular, add an “a” in front of the verb that is being negated.
Review these examples for more info:
Vowel Harmony Group A Example:
Let’s go over how to conjugate the different verb ịbụ (“to be”) in negative present simple tense.
M bụghị / Abụghị m – I am not
Ị bụghị – You are not
Ọ bụghị – He/She/It is not
Anyi abụghị – We are not
Ụnụ abụghị– You all are not
Ha abụghị – They are not
Note: If the negated verb is not referring directly to one of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person singular subject pronouns and is referring to a singular possessive pronoun instead (like my, his, her), then you would add an a in front of the negated verb. This also applies if you replace the 3rd person singular pronoun with the name of an actual person, place, or thing. (See examples below).
Aha ya abụghị Ezinne – Her name is not Ezinne.
Aha m abụghị Amaka. – My name is not Amaka.
Chidi anọghị n’akwụkwọ. – Chidi is not at school.
Another Vowel Harmony Group A Example:
Let’s go over how to conjugate the verb ịga (“to go”) in negative present continuous tense. First, combine the present tense auxiliary verb “na-” and negative participle “ghị” into the word naghị without the hyphen. Next, for plural pronouns and when the verb comes before the noun in 1st person singular add an “a” in front of naghị. Then, replace the ị marker in ịga with a for vowel harmony to make it aga.
M naghị aga / Anaghị m aga – I am not going
Ị naghị aga – You are not going
Ọ naghị aga – He/She/It is not going
Anyi anaghị aga – We are not going
Ụnụ anaghị aga – You (all) are not going
Ha anaghị aga / A naghị ha aga – They are not going
Negative Future Tense
Vowel Harmony Group A Example:
Let’s go over how to conjugate the verb ịga (“to go”) in negative future tense. First, combine the future tense auxiliary verb “ga-” and negative participle “ghị” into the word gaghị without the hyphen. Next, for plural pronouns and when the verb comes before the noun in 1st person singular, add an “a” in front of gaghị. Then, replace the ị marker in ịga with a for vowel harmony to make it aga.
M gaghị aga / Agaghị m aga– I will not go
Ị gaghị aga – You will not go
Ọ gaghị aga – He/She/It will not go
Anyi agaghị aga– We will not go
Ụnụ agaghị aga – You (all) will not go
Ha agaghị aga – They will not go
Negative Past Tense
Vowel Harmony Group A Example:
Let’s go over how to conjugate the verb ịga (“to go”) in negative past tense. First, remove the ị marker in ịga. Next, for plural pronouns and when the verb comes before the noun in 1st person singular add an “a” in front ga to make it aga. Then add the negative participle “ghị” at the end of the verb to make it gaghị or agaghị.
M gaghị / Agaghị m – I did not go
Ị gaghị – You did not go
Ọ gaghị – He/She/It did not go
Anyi agaghị – We did not go
Ụnụ agaghị – You (all) did not go
Ha agaghị – They did not go
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