Go and Do: -ka-

01

The Pattern

• Tafadhali nenda dukani ukanunue dazeni moja ya mayai.

  Please go to the shop and buy a dozen eggs.

• u- you
• -ka- and, once there
• nunue buy, with the subjunctive -e

The first verb, nenda go, is the going. The second, ukanunue, is what you go there to do.

02

With twende, Let's Go

The commonest partner is twende let's go. The second verb then begins with tu-, we.

• Twende tukatazame filamu?

  Shall we go and watch a film?

• Ndiyo! Twende tukaogelee.

  Yes! Let's go swimming.

• Twende baa tukapate kinywaji.

  Let's go to the bar and get a drink.

03

To Several People

• Nendeni mkaangalie jikoni.

  Go and have a look at the kitchen.

Both verbs speak to the group: nendeni with its plural -ni, and mkaangalie with m-, you, more than one.

04

Built Like a Subjunctive

Apart from the -ka-, the second verb is an ordinary subjunctive: subject prefix, stem, final -e. The -ka- goes where a tense marker would otherwise stand, between the prefix and the stem.

In stories you will later meet -ka- with the plain ending -a as well, stringing past events together: and then he did.