Ndewo!  Daalu for joining my email list! As a reward, here is a sneak peak of some of my Igbo grammar lessons that I have not released to the public yet. The first version of the full beginner lessons will be out in October 2017!

This lesson briefly goes over the different Igbo pronouns.

Nnochi aha Igbo (Igbo Pronouns)

Pronouns are words that can replace nouns in a sentence.  In Igbo, pronouns do not reveal gender. So, you use the same pronoun to talk about both males and females. The following provides a brief overview of some of the pronouns found in Igbo language.

Note: For the singular pronouns, dependent pronouns are usually limited to using the pronoun as a subject and independent pronouns are usually used an object.

Examples:

He is going.  – He is the subject so you would use the pronoun o or ọ for he.

I did not tell him. – Him is an object so you use the pronoun ya for him.

Dependent Pronouns (Inseparable)

Singular 

1st person: I –  m 

2nd person: You – i / ị (depends on vowel harmony with vowel in verb)

3rd person:  He/she/it – o / ọ  (depends on vowel harmony with vowel in verb)

Impersonal: One/Someone  – e / a  (depends on vowel harmony with vowel in verb)

Independent Pronouns (Separable)

Singular 

1st person:  I or me or my – m or mụ

2nd person: You or your – gị

3rd person:   him/his/her/it/its – ya

Plural 

1st person: We or us or our or ours- anyị

2nd person: You or yours – ụnụ

3rd person: They or their or theirs or them – ha

Addressing a group of people

1st person: All of us – anyị nile

2nd person: All of you –ụnụ nile

3rd person: All of them – ha nile

Interrogative Pronouns

These are pronouns are for asking questions.

Who?  – Onye?

What? – Gịnị?

Which? – Nke ole?

Why? – Maka gịnị?

When? – Mgbe ole? 

Where? – Ebee?

How? – Kedụ? 

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns replace the noun or noun phrase in a sentence.

ahụ/afụ – that

ndị ahụ – those

nke a / a – this

ndị a  -these