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Subject concord
In Tswana nouns are divided into various noun classes. The noun class
determines the subject concord for instance - this is very important in the construction
of sentences.
| Class | Prefix | Subject concord |
Example | Translation of example |
| 1 | mo- | o | mosadi | woman |
| 2 | ba- | ba | basadi | women |
| 1a | - | o | ntate | father |
| 2a | ba- | ba | bontate | fathers |
| 3 | mo- | o | mose | dress |
| 4 | me- | e | mese | dresses |
| 5 | le- | le | leleme | tongue |
| 6 | ma- | a | maleme | tongues |
| 7 | se- | se | sefate | tree |
| 8 | di- | di | difate | trees |
| 9 | - | e | ntja | dog |
| 10 | di- | di | dintja | dogs |
| Classes 11, 12 and 13 are mainly used in languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa | ||||
| 14 | bo- | bo | bo | bread |
| 15 | go- | go | go tsamaja | to walk |
| 16 | - | go | fatshe | down |
| 17 | go- | go | godimo | up |
| 18 | mo- | o | mose | abroad |