Stepping through a course - Lesson 19

This lesson's dialog examples are really short, but I wanted to concentrate on the imperative, or giving commands, since we've already seen the "Let's" form and in this lesson we're introduced to the imperative for singular you. I've included a section at the end of the lesson with some new vocabulary that will help with imperatives.

Dialog - 
M: Akawe, daga, izhaan adaawewigamig.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
F: Giwii-wiijiiw na?
* * * * * * * * * * * *
F: Akawe, daga, wiisinidaa.
* * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's a line-by-line breakdown:

M: Akawe, daga, izhaan adaawewigamig.

• "Akawe" is a new word, meaning "first". He's sayng "First, please go to the store."

* * * * * * * * * * * *
F: Giwii-wiijiiw na?

• Here's a new verb, "wiijiiw", meaning "go with [someone]". So she's asking "Do you want to go with (me)?

* * * * * * * * * * * *

F: Akawe, daga, wiisinidaa.

• "First, let's eat."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

New words this lesson:

• akawe - first; first of all
• niswi - three
• niiwin - four
• naanan - five
• wiijiiw - go with SOMEBODY

Other new vocabulary:

• biindige - enter, go inside
• abi - sit
• zaagaam - go outside
• maajaa - leave
• giiwe - go home

• gego - don't

• ando- - go and do [something]
• booni- - stop [doing something]
• bi- - here, towards the speaker

The imperative is formed as follows:

For you singular, simply add an "n" to the verb stem. Example: Daga, wiisinin. (Please eat.)
For you plural, add a "g" to the verb stem. Example: Daga, wiisinig. (Everybody (all you people) eat.)
To say "Let's [do something]", we simply add "daa" to the verb stem. Example: Wiisinidaa. *Let's eat."

** Note that for verb stems ending in "m", the "m" is replaced with an "n" for you singular and plural before adding these suffixes. Example: Zaagaan, zaagaamog, zaagaandaa. (Go outside (sing), go outside (pl), let's go outside.)

To form the negative imperative, add "gego" (don't) before the verb and:

• add "ken" to the end of the verb stem for singular you - Gego wiisiniken. (Don't eat.)
• add "keg" to the end of the verb stem for plural you - Gego wiisinikeg. (Don't all of you eat.)
• add "sidaa" to the end of the verb stem for we - Gego wiisinisidaa. (Let's not eat.)

There are some preverbs we can also use, such as "go and [do something]", "stop [doing something]" and "come [do something]", too.
Here are some examples of the imperative using these preverbs "ando-", "booni-", and "bi-" (originally introduced in Summary, Lessons 1-10):

• Ando-abin. (Go sit.) - You singular
• Ando-abig. (Everybody (all of you) sit) - You plural

• Booni-wiisinin. (Stop eating.) - You singular
• Booni-wiisinig. (Everybody (all of you) stop eating.) - You plural

• Bi-giiwen. (Come home.) - You singular
• Bi-giiweg. (Everybody (all of you) come home.) - You plural

That's really all there is to the imperative. It'll be covered further in lesson 24, but I wanted to get started with its use earlier.