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Afaan Oromo/Chapter 10
< Afaan Oromo

Chapter 10: Prepositions and

Conjunctions
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Meetii: Akkami Kadir? play

Kadir: Fayyaa dha. Akkam jirta? play

Meetii: Homaa hin jedhu. Bor waaree booda hojii qabda? play

Kadir: Lakki, maaliif? play

Meetii: Gaarii dha. Laaqana mana kootti si affeeruun barbaade. play

Kadir: Dhufuuf baay'een gammada, garuu iddoo mana kee isa haaraa hin beeku. play

Meetii: Buufata konkolaataa kan cinaa mana bilbilaatti beekta? play

Kadir: Eeyyee, nan beeka. play

Meetii: Taaksii Lagahaaritti qabadhu fi bakka buufata konkolaalaatti bu'i. play

Kadir: Tole. play

Meetii: Sana booda, gara mirga gori hanga qaxxaamura karaa geessutti karumarra deemi. play

Kadir: Naaf gale. play

Meetii: Gara fuuldura qaxxaamura karaatti hanga daqiiqaa shaniif deemi. Messalemiyaan karaa
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mirgaa jira. play

Kadir: Gara mirgaa jette? play

Meetii: Eeyyee. Sirrii dha. Achitti sa'aatii kudha tokko fi walakkaatti wal agarra. play

Kadir: Tole. Kun gaarii dha. Wal agarra. Nagaatti. play

Meetii: Nagaatti. play

[For translation see here]

Prepositions and Postpositions

A preposition links a noun to an action (e.g., “go from there”) or to another noun (“the pen on the
table”). For the purpose of clarity, this chapter will divide Oromo prepositions into two categories:
true prepositions and postpositions, with true prepositions coming before the noun and
postpositions coming after the noun they relate to.

Some Common Prepositions and Postpositions:

Postpositions Prepositions
ala — out, outside gara — towards
bira — beside, with, around eega, erga — since, from, after
booda — after haga, hanga — until
cinaa — beside, near, next to     hamma — up to, as much as
dur, dura — before akka — like, as
duuba — behind, back of waa'ee — about, in regard to
irra — on
irraa — from
itti — to, at, in
jala — under, beneath
jidduu — middle, between
keessa — in, inside
malee — without, except
wajjin — with, together
gubbaa — on, above
fuuldura — in front of
gad(i) — down, below
ol(i) — up, above

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Examples:

boqonnaarra [boqonnaa irra] – “on vacation”

mana keessa – “in the house”

waaree booda – “afternoon”

irra deebi'i – “repeat” [lit. “return on it”]

Yuunivarsitii Haroomayaatti barsiissaa – “teacher at Haromaya University”

mana nyaataa kanatti – “at this restaurant”

“waa'ee fiilmii sun natti himi” – “tell me about that film”

“Chaaltuun akka Hawwiituu baratuu dha.” – “Chaltu is a student like Hawitu.”

hanga torban dhufu – “until next week”

gammachuu wajjin – “with pleasure”

shaayee annan malee – “tea without milk”

“Ani meetirii lama gadi.” – “I am below [shorter than] 2 meters.”

“Keeniyaan Itoophiyaarraa (gara) kibbatti argamti” – “Kenya is located (to the) south of Ethiopia”

From the examples above, you may notice that the postpositions itti, irra, and irraa most often
occur as suffixes, -tti, -rra, and -rraa, on the nouns they relate to.

Often with place names, no preposition or postposition is used to be mean “in”. Therefore, one can
say “Finfinnee jiratta” for “you live in Finfinnee [Addis Ababa]”, or “hospitaalan ture” for “I was in
the hospital”, using no preposition.

Personal pronouns are not used with prepositions. Instead, possessive pronouns are used as
personal pronouns.

Examples:

“toward me” — gara koo(tti) [not gara na]

“like us” — akka keenya

“according to him” — akka isaatti

“about you” — waa'ee kee

Postpositions, on the other hand, take the accusative form of personal pronouns.

Examples:

“at you” — sitti

“from me” — narraa

“under him” — isa jala

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When an adjective modifies a noun, the postposition follows the adjective, as in “nama guddarraa”
(“from the big man”).

Conjunctions

Whereas prepositions link nouns to other parts of the sentence, conjunctions usually link more
complete thoughts together.

Some Common Conjunctions:

and fi [also -f suffix]

but garuu, immoo
or yookin (for declaratives), moo (for questions)
however haa ta'u malee
though ta'us
so, therefore kanaaf, kanaafu
because sababiin isaa, sababiinsa [lit. “its reason”]
so that, in order to     akka

Conjunctions come between the two clauses they connect, though garuu and immoo (“but”) can
also come after the first noun or nounal phrase in the second clause.

Examples:

“Inni shee jaalata ta'us amanamaa miti.” – “Though he loves her, he is unfaithful.”

“Daadhii moo biiraa dhuguu barbaadda?” – “Do you want tej [alcoholic honey drink] or beer?”

“Ani kochee nyaadhe kanaafu gara kasan qaba.” – “I ate kitfo [raw meat] so I got diarrhea.”

“Nyaatan barbaada sababiinsa nan beela'e.” – “I want food because I am hungry.”

“Ani nan deema akka inni dhufuuf.” – “I will go so that he will come.”

“Ittoo shiroon jaaladha garuu ittoo misira caalaa jaaladha.” or “Ittoo shiroon jaaladha ittoo
misira garuu caalaa jaaladha.” – “I like shiro watt, but I like lentil watt more.”

“Innis gara biyya isaa dhufe, sabni isaa garuu isa hin simanne.” – “And he came to his country,
but his people did not accept him [John 1:11].”

Vocabulary: Directions

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kaaba north

kibba south

baha east

lixa west

mirga right

bitaa left

goruu to turn

gara bitaatti/mirgatti gori turn left/right

karaa kami? which way

bitaa/mirgaa jira it's on the left/right

argachuu to find

argamuu to be found

eessatti argama? where is it found?

kuunnoo there it is

ce'uu to cross

riqqicha ce'i cross the bridge

laga river

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bira, cinaa, dhiyoo near

fagoo far

aanuu to be next to

naannoo surroundings

as(i) here

achi there

karaa road, path, way

karaa muummee main road

addababa'ii round-about

walakkaa magaalaatti town center, downtown

ammas again

ibsaa tiraafikii traffic light

qabachuu to take (a bus or taxi)

seenuu to get on (a vehicle)

bu'uu to get off (a vehicle)

“Iddon jira?” “Is there a seat?”

ka'uu to depart

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ga'uu [-eess- verb] to arrive

affeeruu to invite

buufata konkolaataa bus station

mana bilbilaa telephone office

bakka place, area, site

qaxxaamura karaa cross-roads, intersection

geessutti karumarra along the road

gara fuuldura straight

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