Sesotho Noun classes
Appearance
In Sesotho 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 | bohobe | bread |
15 | ho- | ho | ho tsamaja | to walk |
16 | - | ho | fatshe | down |
17 | ho- | ho | hodimo | up |
18 | mo- | o | mose | abroad |