Contents
NA TENSE – Past Tense
1. Did you sleep well?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (past tense) | na |
| sleep | gona |
| well | bwino |
| Yes | Eee |
| I | ndi |
| No | Ayi |
| Not | si |
*It is possible to omit ’Kodi’ as the word introducing a question.
*In the past + negative tense, the end of the verb changes from ‘a’ to ‘e’. (ex. gona – gone, pita – pite)
John
(Kodi) munagona bwino?
Did you sleep well?
Emma
Eee, ndinagona bwino.
Yes, I slept well.
Emma
Ayi, sindinagone bwino.
No, I didn’t sleep well.
2. Did you go to work yesterday?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (past tense) | na |
| go | pita |
| to | ku |
| work | ntchito |
| yesterday | dzulo |
| Yes | Eee |
| I | ndi |
| No | Ayi |
| Not | si |
John
(Kodi) munapitaku ntchito dzulo?
Did you go to work yesterday?
Emma
Eee, ndinapita ku ntchito dzulo.
Yes, I went to work yesterday.
Emma
Ayi, sindinapite ku ntchito dzulo.
No, I didn’t go to work yesterday.
3. Did you eat nsima yesterday?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| you | mu |
| (past tense) | na |
| eat | dya |
| nsima (Malawi’s staple food) | nsima |
| yesterday | dzulo |
| Yes | Eee |
| I | ndi |
| No | Ayi |
| Not | si |
John
(Kodi) munadya nsima dzulo?
Did you eat nsima yesterday?
Emma
Eee, ndinadya nsima dzulo.
Yes, I ate nsima yesterday.
Emma
Ayi, sindinadye nsima dzulo.
No, I didn’t eat nsima yesterday.
4. Did Steven come yesterday?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| he | a |
| (past tense) | na |
| come | bwera |
| yesterday | dzulo |
| Yes | Eee |
| No | Ayi |
| he didn’t | sana (x.si-na) |
John
(Kodi) Steven anabwera dzulo?
Did Steven come yesterday?
Emma
Eee, Steven anabwera dzulo.
Yes, Steven came yesterday.
Emma
Ayi, Steven sanabwere dzulo.
No, Steven didn’t come yesterday.
5. Did we buy bananas?
Vocabulary
| English | Chichewa |
| (word introducing a question) | Kodi |
| we | Ti |
| (past tense) | na |
| buy | gula |
| bananas | nthochi |
| Yes | Eee |
| No | Ayi |
| not | si |
John
(Kodi) tinagula nthochi?
Did we buy bananas?
Emma
Eee, tinagula nthochi.
Yes, we bought bananas.
Emma
Ayi, sitinagule nthochi.
No, we didn’t buy bananas.
Next Lesson
[Chichewa Lesson15] DZA TENSE (Future Tense)DZA TENSE - Future Tense
1. Will you play football tomorrow?
...
