HomepageChapter 25 - Interrogative and Negative Subject Pronouns


 Generalities


The preverbal subject pronouns waan, waad, wuu, way, etc., are not fixed as in French, but change their form in interrogative or negative sentences.

They are formed from the interrogative or negative word MA, to which the subject endings are added.

"ma-" is then modified to "miy-" in interrogative forms, and the a of "ma-" is removed in the presence of subject endings in negative forms!

We will see that very often MA is sufficient to mark the interrogation or negation. Example: Ma nabad baa? = How are you? (Is it peace?)



 Interrogative Preverbal Pronouns 


Person ma + subject person Interrogative Pronoun
I ma + aan -> miyaan
You (singular) ma + aad -> miyaad
He ma + uu -> miyuu
She ma + ay -> miyay
We (inclusive) ma + aynu -> miyaynu
We (exclusive) ma + aannu -> miyaannu
You (plural) ma + aydin -> miyaydin
They ma + ay -> miyay


Some examples:

Dukaanka ma tagtay? = Did you go to the store? - Yes, I went there. = Yes, I went there.
Dukaanka miyaad tagtay? = Did you go to the store? - Yes, I went there. = Yes, I went there.
Dukaanka miyay heshay? = Did she find the store? - Yes, she found it. = Yes, she found it.
Dukaanka miyay heleen? = Did they find the store? - Yes, they found it. = Yes, they found it.
Buuggii miyaad akhriday? = Did you read the book? - Yes, I read it. = Yes, I read it.
Maktabada miyuu galay? = Did he go to the library? - Yes, he went there. = Yes, he went there.
Guriga miyaydin ka baxdeen? = Did you come from the house? - Yes, we did. = Yes, we did.

In the examples above, we observe that the complement is placed initially, before the interrogative preverbal pronoun. This complement is generally not repeated in the answers but is implied.

We can also simply use MA when there is no doubt about the person the question is referring to.



 Preverbal Negative Subject Pronouns 


When the verb does not allow distinguishing the person, the following preverbal negative subject pronouns are used instead of MA. They are slightly different from the interrogative subject pronouns:

Person ma + subject person Negative Pronoun
I ma + aan -> maan
You (singular) ma + aad -> maad
He ma + uu -> muu
She ma + ay -> may
We (inclusive) ma + aynu -> maynu
We (exclusive) ma + aannu -> maannu
You (plural) ma + aydin -> maydin
They ma + ay -> may


Examples:

Anigu ma cuno hilibka doofaarka I do not eat pork
Isagu ma cuno hilibka doofaarka He does not eat pork
Aabbahay ma kariso hilib My father does not cook meat
Hooyoday ma kariso kalluun My mother does not cook fish
Cali ma cabbo khamri Ali does not drink wine
Maan jeclayn khamriga I did not like wine
Maynu jeclayn khamriga We did not like wine




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