ba

ba - subject concord

In Sesotho nouns are divided into various noun classes. The noun class determines the subject concord for instance - this is very important in the construction of sentences.

Class	Prefix	Subject concord	Example	Translation of example
1	mo-	o	mosadi	woman
2	ba-	ba	basadi	women
1a	-	o	ntate	father
2a	ba-	ba	bontate	fathers
3	mo-	o	mose	dress
4	me-	e	mese	dresses
5	le-	le	leleme	tongue
6	ma-	a	maleme	tongues
7	se-	se	sefate	tree
8	di-	di	difate	trees
9	-	e	ntja	dog
10	di-	di	dintja	dogs
Classes 11, 12 and 13 are mainly used in languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa
14	bo-	bo	bohobe	bread
15	ho-	ho	ho tsamaja	to walk
16	-	ho	fatshe	down
17	ho-	ho	hodimo	up
18	mo-	o	mose	abroad

Sesotho word (South African orthography): ya
Sesotho word (Lesotho orthography): ea

Possessive concord

This possessive concord joins two nouns or pronouns to indicate possession.
For example: Bana ba ka (My children)

Class	Subject concord	Possessive concord
1	o	wa (SeSA) / oa (SeL)
1a	ba	ba
2	o	wa (SeSA) / oa (SeL)
2a	ba	ba
3	o	wa (SeSA) / oa (SeL)
4	e	ya (SeSA) / ea (SeL)
5	le	la
6	a	a
7	se	sa
8	di	tsa
9	e	ya (SeSA) / ea (SeL)
10	di	tsa
14	bo	ba
15	ho	ha