Mandinka/Grammar

Verbs

Gerunds

For transitive verbs without an object, gerunds take on "roo" at the end of the verb.

• domo<v><ger> ↔ domoroo, to eat, eating
• loo<v><ger> ↔ looroo, to build, building
• saŋ<v><ger> ↔ sandiroo, to buy, buying
• waafi<v><ger> ↔ waafiroo, to sell, selling
• suuñaa<v><ger> ↔ suuñaaroo, to steal, stealing
• kantandi<v><ger> ↔ kantandiroo, to wait, waiting

For transitive verbs with an object, gerunds take on "o" at the end of the verb.

• domo<v><ger><obj> ↔ domoo, to eat, eating
• loo<v><ger><obj> ↔ loo, to build, building
• saŋ<v><ger><obj> ↔ saŋo, to buy, buying
• waafi<v><ger><obj> ↔ waafoo, to sell, selling
• miŋ<v><ger><obj> ↔ miŋo, to drink, drinking

For intransitive verbs, gerunds take on "o" at the end of the verb as well.

• díyaamu<v><ger> ↔ diyaamoo, speak/speaking
• taama<v><ger> ↔ taamoo, to walk/walking
• kuu<v><ger> ↔ kuuwoo, to bathe/bathing
• siinoo<v><ger> ↔ siinoo, to sleep/sleeping
• bori<v><ger> ↔ boroo, to run/running

Progressives

• díyaamu<v><prog> ↔ díyaamu kaŋ, speak/speaking
• taama<v><prog> ↔ taama kaŋ, to walk/walking
• kuu<v><prog> ↔ kuu kaŋ, to bathe/bathing
• siinoo<v><prog> ↔ siinoo kaŋ, to sleep/sleeping
• bori<v><prog> ↔ bori kaŋ, to run/running
• tiiñaa<v><prog> ↔ tiiñaa kaŋ, to destroy/destroying
• kanju<v><prog> ↔ kanju kaŋ, to defend/defending
• kantandi<v><ger> ↔ kantandi kaŋ, to wait, waiting

Adverbs

In Mandinka, adverbs are classified as either general or specific. Specific adverbs are applicable only to specific verbs, whereas general adverbs apply to a number of verbs. For general verbs, the typical format is to add "ke" to the end of the verb.

• tariyaa<adj><adv> ↔ tariyaake, quick/quickly
• kende<adj><adv> ↔ kendeke, very well
• bete<adj><adv> ↔ beteke, very well
• jawu<adj><adv> ↔ jawuke, severely
• banban<adj><adv> ↔ banbanke, tightly

Nouns

Plurals

Adds "lu" to the end

• woo<det><dem><pl> ↔ woolu , that/those
• kalaa<det><dem> <pl> ↔ kalaalu , a pen, pens
• motoo<det><dem><pl> ↔ motoolu,a vehicle, vehicles

Agent Suffix

Adds -láa to the end

• bònó<v><agent> ↔ bònóláa, lose/loser
• jàní<v><agent> ↔ jàníláa, roast/roaster