← English for Akan (Twi) Speakers
Introduction: In this second lesson we study "be", the second most frequent word in English and its most important verb. "Be" says who or what someone or something is, what it is like, and where it is: "I am a teacher", "He is tall", "Ama is at home", "My name is Kofi". It is also the helper in "Kofi is reading" and in "Kofi was a child".
Akan has a verb that does much of this work: yɛ. An Akan speaker already knows the idea, and this is a good start. Akan puts the subject on the front of the verb: meyɛ (I am), woyɛ (you are), ɔyɛ (he or she is), ɛyɛ (it is), yɛyɛ (we are), wɔyɛ (they are). English does not do this. English has a separate small word for the subject, and it changes the verb to match it. That is the main work of this lesson.
English "be" has eight forms: be, am, is, are, was, were, been and being.
The present tense:
- I am (Akan: meyɛ) - you are (woyɛ) - he is, she is, it is (ɔyɛ, ɛyɛ) - we are (yɛyɛ) - they are (wɔyɛ)
The past tense:
- I was, he was, she was, it was - you were, we were, they were
The other forms: be (Kofi will be a teacher), been (He has been here) and being (Kofi is being kind).
The lesson is mostly about the places where the two languages part:
- English must say the subject before "be": "He is tall", never "Is tall". Akan can say Ɔyɛ tenten, because the subject ɔ is already part of the verb. - English changes "be" for the subject (am, is, are, was, were). Akan keeps yɛ and changes only the front of the word: meyɛ, woyɛ, ɔyɛ. - English says "a" or "an" before the name of a job or a kind of person: "I am a teacher". Akan says Meyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni, with no word before kyerɛkyerɛni (compare Lesson 1). - Akan has more than one verb where English has only "be". Place is usually wɔ: Ama wɔ fie, "Ama is at home". A name is de: Me din de Kofi, "My name is Kofi". Origin is fi: Mefiri Kumasi, "I am from Kumasi". The question "How are you?" is Wo ho te sɛn?, which means something like "How is your body?". English uses "be" in every one of these places. - Akan uses "di" for age: Madi mfeɛ aduasa, "I am thirty years old". English says "be" with the number: "I am thirty." - The past in Akan is marked by na at the front of the sentence: Na Kofi yɛ kyerɛkyerɛni, "Kofi was a teacher". English changes the verb itself: am and is become was, are becomes were. - The future in Akan has bɛ: Kofi bɛyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni, "Kofi will be a teacher". English puts the word "will" in front and uses the plain form "be", for every subject. - A negative in Akan puts n- on the verb: menyɛ, ɔnyɛ, ɛnyɛ. English puts "not" after "be": "I am not", "she is not", "it is not". Never use "do" with "be" (not "I do not be"). - The "-ing" form needs "be" in English: "Kofi is reading". Akan has re- on the verb: Kofi rekenkan nwoma no.
When English uses "be":
- to say who someone is, or what job they have: "I am a teacher", "My name is Kofi" - to say what someone or something is like: "He is tall", "The sheep is white" - to say where someone or something is: "Ama is at home", "They are at school" - to say that something is true: "It is true" - with a verb ending in -ing: "Kofi is reading the book" - to speak of the past and the future: "Kofi was a teacher", "Kofi will be a teacher"
Etymology: "be" is not one word but several old verbs joined together. In Old English, am and is came from one verb (eom, is), was and were from another (wesan, "to stay"), and be, been and being from a third (bēon); are has a history of its own. Over the centuries they were joined into one verb, which is why "be" is the most irregular verb in English and why am, is, are, was and were look so unlike each other. Akan yɛ is much more regular: a short verb with a subject prefix.
"Be" has a partner in "have" ("I have a book", Lesson 1), and it often helps to compare them. Akan uses the same verb wɔ for both "be at" and "have": Ama wɔ fie, "Ama is at home", and Mewɔ nwoma bi, "I have a book". English has two verbs, and they are not mixed up.
What does "be" mean in Akan? It has no single word. The nearest is yɛ, but Akan also says de (a name), wɔ (a place), ne (is the one) and te (how one is).
Key Takeaways:
- "Be" has eight forms. Learn the present first: I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are. - The subject always stands before the verb in English: "He is tall", not "Is tall". Akan ɔyɛ has the subject inside the word. - Use "a" or "an" before a job: "I am a teacher", not "I am teacher". - Make the negative with "not" after "be": "I am not a teacher". Akan menyɛ is one word; English is two. - Use "was" or "were" for the past (Akan na), and "will be" for the future (Akan bɛ).
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Pronunciation Guide:
be /biː/; am /æm/ (weak: /əm/, joined: 'm /m/); is /ɪz/ (joined: 's /z/ or /s/); are /ɑː/ (weak: /ə/, joined: 're); was /wɒz/ (weak: /wəz/); were /wɜː/ (weak: /wə/); been /biːn/ in British English and /bɪn/ in American English; being /ˈbiːɪŋ/.
The common short forms, which are used all the time in speech: I'm /aɪm/, you're /jɔː/, he's /hiːz/, she's /ʃiːz/, it's /ɪts/, we're /wɪə/, they're /ðeə/, isn't /ˈɪznt/, aren't /ɑːnt/, wasn't /ˈwɒznt/, weren't /wɜːnt/. In spoken English you will hear "I'm a teacher" far more often than "I am a teacher".
The word "is" ends in the voiced sound /z/. Akan does not normally use z in its own words, so many learners end the word with s and say "iss". It will be understood, but the standard sound has a buzz in the throat, like the buzz in /ð/ of "the" (Lesson 1). Put your fingers on your throat and say "is" and "his": the throat buzzes at the end. The same goes for "was" /wɒz/. Compare "this" /ðɪs/, which ends with air only.
The vowel of "is" is the short sound /ɪ/. Akan has a full vowel i, and a learner may make it long and say "ees". Keep it short. The vowel of "be" is long, /biː/, so "bit" and "beat" are two words in English, and so are "is" and "ease".
"Am" has a vowel /æ/ that lies between Akan ɛ and a. Open the mouth wider than for ɛ. In "I'm" it shrinks away into a single sound, /m/.
"Are" and "were" end in an r that is not pronounced in British English, and the vowels are long: /ɑː/, /wɜː/. Do not add an Akan vowel after them.
In ordinary speech the forms are weak and short: "She was /wəz/ at home". Only when "be" is stressed, or at the end of a sentence, are the full vowels heard: "Yes, she was /wɒz/."
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Part A (English and Akan text, word by word):
2.1 I-am Meyɛ a - teacher kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.2 He-is Ɔyɛ tall tenten.
2.3 It-is Ɛyɛ true nokorɛ.
2.4 Ama Ama is-at wɔ home fie.
2.5 My Me name din is de Kofi Kofi.
2.6 You-are Woyɛ a - student osuani.
2.7 We-are Yɛyɛ students asuafo.
2.8 They-are Wɔyɛ Ghanaians Ghanafo.
2.9 The no→ sheep odwan is yɛ white fitaa.
2.10 I-am-not Menyɛ a - teacher kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.11 She-is-not Ɔnyɛ a - student osuani.
2.12 Kofi Kofi was na-yɛ a - teacher kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.13 Ama Ama was-at na-wɔ home fie.
2.14 Kofi Kofi was na-yɛ a - teacher kyerɛkyerɛni, and - his ne mother maame was na-yɛ a - student osuani.
2.15 This yi→ woman ɔbaa is ho-yɛ beautiful fɛ, and na she-is ɔyɛ tall tenten.
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Akan translation):
2.1 I am a teacher. Meyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.2 He is tall. Ɔyɛ tenten.
2.3 It is true. Ɛyɛ nokorɛ.
2.4 Ama is at home. Ama wɔ fie.
2.5 My name is Kofi. Me din de Kofi.
2.6 You are a student. Woyɛ osuani.
2.7 We are students. Yɛyɛ asuafo.
2.8 They are Ghanaians. Wɔyɛ Ghanafo.
2.9 The sheep is white. Odwan no yɛ fitaa.
2.10 I am not a teacher. Menyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.11 She is not a student. Ɔnyɛ osuani.
2.12 Kofi was a teacher. Na Kofi yɛ kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.13 Ama was at home. Na Ama wɔ fie.
2.14 Kofi was a teacher, and his mother was a student. Na Kofi yɛ kyerɛkyerɛni, na ne maame yɛ osuani.
2.15 This woman is beautiful, and she is tall. Ɔbaa yi ho yɛ fɛ, na ɔyɛ tenten.
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Part C (English text only):
2.1 I am a teacher.
2.2 He is tall.
2.3 It is true.
2.4 Ama is at home.
2.5 My name is Kofi.
2.6 You are a student.
2.7 We are students.
2.8 They are Ghanaians.
2.9 The sheep is white.
2.10 I am not a teacher.
2.11 She is not a student.
2.12 Kofi was a teacher.
2.13 Ama was at home.
2.14 Kofi was a teacher, and his mother was a student.
2.15 This woman is beautiful, and she is tall.
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
These are the grammar rules for "be" in English:
1. English "be" changes with the subject; Akan yɛ changes only its front. Learn the present tense as a set: I am (2.1), you are (2.6), he is (2.2), she is (2.11), it is (2.3), we are (2.7), they are (2.8). Akan has meyɛ, woyɛ, ɔyɛ, ɛyɛ, yɛyɛ, wɔyɛ, and the verb itself never changes. English has three present forms, am, is and are, and each one belongs to certain subjects. "I" takes "am", never "is" or "are". "He", "she", "it" and a single noun (Ama, the sheep, my name) take "is". "You", "we", "they" and plural nouns (students) take "are". Never say "I is", "he are" or "they is".
2. English needs the subject word; Akan has it inside the verb. In 2.2 Akan says Ɔyɛ tenten with ɔ on the front of the verb. English cannot leave the subject out: "He is tall". The same holds for ɛyɛ in 2.3: English must say "It is true". Never say "Is tall" or "Is true". When there is no person to name, English still needs "it": "It is true".
3. "A" or "an" stands before a job or a kind of person. Akan Meyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni (2.1), Woyɛ osuani (2.6) and Ɔnyɛ osuani (2.11) have no word in front of the noun. English must say "a teacher" and "a student". Plural nouns take no "a": "We are students" (2.7), "They are Ghanaians" (2.8). Use "an" before a vowel sound: "an engineer". This is the same point as Lesson 1: the singular noun needs a small word in front.
4. Place is "be" in English; in Akan it is wɔ. Ama wɔ fie, "Ama is at home" (2.4). The English "is" and "at" together do the work of Akan wɔ. In Part A they are written together as is-at. English still needs "at" or "in" in front of the place: "at home", "at school", "in Kumasi". Do not say "Ama at home" (no verb) or "Ama is at the home" for "Ama is at home". Notice that wɔ also means "have" (Mewɔ nwoma bi, "I have a book", from Lesson 1), and English never mixes the two: "I have a book", "I am at home".
5. A name is "be" in English; Akan uses de. Me din de Kofi (2.5) means "my name is Kofi". English can also say "I am Kofi" or "I'm Kofi", but a learner should keep to the form with "name": "My name is Kofi." Do not say "I am called Kofi" unless you mean that people call you by that name.
6. Descriptions with "be", for English "tall", "white" and "beautiful". Akan puts the adjective after yɛ: Ɔyɛ tenten (2.2), Odwan no yɛ fitaa (2.9). English does the same: "The sheep is white". Do not add a second verb or any other word: "The sheep is very white", not "The sheep is being white" (the "-ing" form is wrong here). Akan sometimes puts ho before the adjective, as in Ɔbaa yi ho yɛ fɛ (2.15), which is a way to speak of how a person looks or is. English does not use any word for ho: "This woman is beautiful."
7. The negative: "not" follows "be". Akan puts n- on the front of the verb: Menyɛ (2.10), Ɔnyɛ (2.11), Ɛnyɛ. English keeps the verb and adds "not": "I am not a teacher" (2.10), "She is not a student" (2.11), "It is not new". Spoken English says "I'm not", "she isn't", "it isn't", "you aren't", "they aren't". Never make the negative of "be" with "do": not "I do not be a teacher", not "She does not is a student". There is no "am not" short form like "amn't" in standard English: say "I'm not".
8. The past: was and were. Akan puts na at the front of the sentence and leaves yɛ and wɔ alone: Na Kofi yɛ kyerɛkyerɛni (2.12), Na Ama wɔ fie (2.13). English changes the verb: "Kofi was", "Ama was". Use "was" for I, he, she, it, and for a single noun. Use "were" for you, we, they, and for plural nouns: "You were at home", "We were students", "They were Ghanaians". Never say "I were" or "they was". In Part A, na and yɛ (or wɔ) are written together as na-yɛ and na-wɔ, because they stand apart in the real Akan sentence: Na Kofi yɛ kyerɛkyerɛni. The second na in 2.14 does two things: it begins the second clause and it marks the past, so English has "and" and "was" for it.
9. The future: will be. Akan puts bɛ on the verb: Kofi bɛyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni (2.28 in the Genre Section). English uses "will" and the plain form "be": "Kofi will be a teacher". Never say "Kofi will is" or "Kofi will to be". After "will" and other helping words (can, may, must) English always uses "be", never "am", "is" or "are": "You must be at school."
10. "Be" with "-ing": the helper. Akan has re- on the verb: Kofi rekenkan nwoma no (2.24). English needs "be" and an -ing verb together: "Kofi is reading the book". The form of "be" follows the subject: "I am reading", "he is reading", "we are reading", "the children are reading". Never say "Kofi reading" or "Kofi is read". Compare Lesson 1: "The children are playing" (redi agorɔ).
11. Questions: the verb moves first. English turns "be" in front of the subject: "Is Ama at home?", "Are you a student?", "Was he a teacher?". Akan keeps the order of the statement and adds anaa at the end (as in Lesson 1): Ama wɔ fie anaa? The question word comes first in English: "How are you?" (2.29). In Akan sɛn comes last: Wo ho te sɛn? Part A writes it as sɛn→, as it did for no→ in Lesson 1. The short answer to a yes/no question repeats "be": "Is Kofi a student? Yes, he is." Akan says it all again: Aane, ɔyɛ osuani. English can say "Yes, he is a student", but the short answer is the usual one, and it must end with "is", not with "Yes, he".
12. How Part A reads. The same rules as Lesson 1 hold. A hyphen in the English gloss joins English words that translate one Akan word: I-am Meyɛ, is-at wɔ, I-am-not Menyɛ. A hyphen in the Akan joins words that stand apart or together to translate one English unit: na-yɛ (Na … yɛ), ho-yɛ and wo-ho-te. The arrow in no→, yi→ and sɛn→ shows a word that follows its noun, or ends the sentence, in real Akan but is written beside its English word. Part B shows the true order. A dash (-) marks a word with no counterpart in the other language: a - teacher means that English has "a" and Akan has nothing.
13. Do not confuse Akan ne with "be". In Akan ne has two jobs: "and" (Kofi ne Ama, "Kofi and Ama", 2.19) and "is the one" (Awurade ne me hwɛfoɔ, in Part F). It is not the usual word for "is"; for that, Akan uses yɛ. English "is" covers both of the Akan jobs of "is", and English "and" is a separate word, which is the subject of the next lesson.
Common mistakes:
- ✗ I teacher. ✓ I am a teacher. - ✗ He tall. / Is tall. ✓ He is tall. - ✗ I am teacher. ✓ I am a teacher. - ✗ I is a student. / He are tall. ✓ I am a student. / He is tall. - ✗ They is Ghanaians. ✓ They are Ghanaians. - ✗ I do not be a teacher. ✓ I am not a teacher. - ✗ She not is a student. ✓ She is not a student. - ✗ Kofi were a teacher. / We was students. ✓ Kofi was a teacher. / We were students. - ✗ Kofi will is a teacher. ✓ Kofi will be a teacher. - ✗ Kofi reading the book. ✓ Kofi is reading the book. - ✗ You are a student? (as a question) ✓ Are you a student? - ✗ Yes, he. ✓ Yes, he is. - ✗ Ama at home. ✓ Ama is at home. - ✗ iss /ɪs/ ✓ is /ɪz/
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Part E (Cultural context):
"How are you?" is one of the first things an English speaker says, and Akan has a greeting of the same kind: Wo ho te sɛn? The answer is Me ho yɛ, "I am fine", often with Medaase, "thank you". English answers in the same way: "I am fine, thank you. And you?" In both languages the question is a greeting more than a request for news, and the polite answer is short and good. The Akan question asks about your ho, your body or self, and English "be" asks about you: "How are you?". So the two greetings are close even though the words are not alike.
When people meet, they give their name. In Akan one says Me din de Kofi, "My name is Kofi", and in English "My name is Kofi" or the short "I'm Kofi". The names Kofi and Ama are day-names (Lesson 1): Kofi is a boy born on a Friday and Ama a girl born on a Saturday. A day-name takes no "the" and no "a", and the verb "be" joins it to the speaker: "My name is Ama".
"I am a teacher" (Meyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni) is a natural first sentence for a learner to use about themselves. In English the job always has "a" or "an" before it, and a learner who leaves it out ("I am teacher") will be understood but will sound like a beginner. Say "I am a teacher", "She is a nurse", "He is an engineer".
Because the Akan verb carries its own subject, a learner may drop "be" in English and say "He tall" or "She at home". This is not a sign of weak English. It is the habit of a language where yɛ and wɔ do the work without a separate subject word. The remedy is to listen for the small words, and to say them quickly: he's, she's, it's, they're.
As in Lesson 1, this course teaches Asante Twi. The forms of yɛ used here (meyɛ, woyɛ, ɔyɛ, ɛyɛ, yɛyɛ, wɔyɛ) and their negatives (menyɛ, wonyɛ, ɔnyɛ, ɛnyɛ, yɛnyɛ, wɔnyɛ) are the ones given in the published Twi teaching materials consulted for this lesson.
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Part F (Literary citation):
Psalm 23:1, in the English King James Version (1611); Akan text from the New Revised Asante Twi Bible (ASW), Nnwom 23:1.
F-A (English and Akan text, word by word):
"The - LORD AWURADE is ne my me shepherd hwɛfoɔ; I - shall-not-want hwee-renhia-me."
F-B (Original text followed by the Akan translation):
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."
"AWURADE ne me hwɛfoɔ, hwee renhia me."
F-C (English text only):
"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."
F-D (Grammar and literary commentary):
This is one of the best-known lines in English, from the Psalm that begins "The LORD is my shepherd" and has been read and sung in English for four centuries. It has a simple plan: "is" joins a subject, "the LORD", to a noun, "my shepherd". The verb "be" is the whole of the first clause.
Look at the Akan.
- The LORD ↔ AWURADE: English has "The"; Akan has no word. This is a title used as a name, like the name of God in Part F of Lesson 1. In the King James Version the capital letters LORD mark the name of God. The Asante Twi Bible also writes AWURADE in capitals. - is ↔ ne: here Akan does not use yɛ. It uses ne, the word that says "is the one": Awurade ne me hwɛfoɔ is "the LORD is my shepherd". This is the "is the one" use of ne described in Part D, rule 13. English does not show the difference, because "is" does both jobs. - my shepherd ↔ me hwɛfoɔ: in both languages "my" stands before the noun (me before hwɛfoɔ). This is a place where the two languages agree. There is no "a" before "shepherd" in either, because "my" does the work that "a" or "the" would do. English never says "my a shepherd". - I shall not want ↔ hwee renhia me: hwee is "nothing", and renhia is the negative future of hia, "to be in need", so the Akan says that nothing will be needed. The English "I shall not want" is old: "want" here means "lack", and "shall" is what we now say as "will". Today we say "I will not lack anything" or "I will have everything I need".
The sentence also shows how old English kept "shall" for "I" and "we". In modern English "will" is used for every subject (Part D, rule 9).
The Akan text is quoted as it is printed in the New Revised Asante Twi Bible, as given on the Bible.com page for Nnwom 23:1.
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Kofi and Ama are brother and sister. This short account tells where they are, what they are, what they were and what they will be, with "be" in every sentence. At the end their mother speaks to Kofi (2.29) and Kofi answers (2.30).
Part A (English and Akan text, word by word):
2.16 Kofi Kofi is yɛ a - student osuani.
2.17 He-is Ɔyɛ tall tenten.
2.18 Ama Ama is-also nso-yɛ a - student osuani.
2.19 Kofi Kofi and ne Ama Ama are yɛ brother-and-sister anuanom.
2.20 Their Wɔn mother maame is yɛ a - teacher kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.21 She-is-at Ɔwɔ school sukuu.
2.22 Kofi Kofi and ne Ama Ama are-at wɔ school sukuu.
2.23 They-are-not Wɔnyɛ teachers akyerɛkyerɛfo.
2.24 Kofi Kofi is-reading rekenkan the no→ book nwoma.
2.25 The no→ book nwoma is yɛ heavy duru.
2.26 It-is-not Ɛnyɛ new foforo.
2.27 Their Wɔn mother maame was na-yɛ a - student osuani.
2.28 Kofi Kofi will-be bɛyɛ a - teacher kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.29 Mother: "How sɛn→ are-you wo-ho-te, Kofi Kofi?"
2.30 Kofi: "I-am-fine Me-ho-yɛ, thank-you medaase."
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Part B (Full English sentence followed by the Akan translation):
2.16 Kofi is a student. Kofi yɛ osuani.
2.17 He is tall. Ɔyɛ tenten.
2.18 Ama is also a student. Ama nso yɛ osuani.
2.19 Kofi and Ama are brother and sister. Kofi ne Ama yɛ anuanom.
2.20 Their mother is a teacher. Wɔn maame yɛ kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.21 She is at school. Ɔwɔ sukuu.
2.22 Kofi and Ama are at school. Kofi ne Ama wɔ sukuu.
2.23 They are not teachers. Wɔnyɛ akyerɛkyerɛfo.
2.24 Kofi is reading the book. Kofi rekenkan nwoma no.
2.25 The book is heavy. Nwoma no yɛ duru.
2.26 It is not new. Ɛnyɛ foforo.
2.27 Their mother was a student. Na wɔn maame yɛ osuani.
2.28 Kofi will be a teacher. Kofi bɛyɛ kyerɛkyerɛni.
2.29 Mother: "How are you, Kofi?" Mother: "Wo ho te sɛn, Kofi?"
2.30 Kofi: "I am fine, thank you." Kofi: "Me ho yɛ, medaase."
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Part C (English text only):
2.16 Kofi is a student.
2.17 He is tall.
2.18 Ama is also a student.
2.19 Kofi and Ama are brother and sister.
2.20 Their mother is a teacher.
2.21 She is at school.
2.22 Kofi and Ama are at school.
2.23 They are not teachers.
2.24 Kofi is reading the book.
2.25 The book is heavy.
2.26 It is not new.
2.27 Their mother was a student.
2.28 Kofi will be a teacher.
2.29 Mother: "How are you, Kofi?"
2.30 Kofi: "I am fine, thank you."
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Part D (Grammar explanation):
The narrative moves through the present (2.16 to 2.26), the past (2.27) and the future (2.28), and then gives a greeting (2.29 and 2.30). Its grammatical thread is the choice of the right form of "be" for the subject, which Akan yɛ never asks you to make.
- "Kofi is a student." (2.16), "Ama is also a student." (2.18): the single names take "is", and "a" stands before "student". Akan yɛ osuani has no word before the noun. "Also" stands after "is" and before "a student" in English: "Ama is also a student". In Akan nso stands before the verb: Ama nso yɛ osuani. Part A writes is-also nso-yɛ. - "Kofi and Ama are brother and sister." (2.19): two names joined by "and" take "are". The word for "and" is ne in Akan (Kofi ne Ama), and the verb is yɛ. English says "brother and sister" with each noun, and Akan says anuanom, one word for brothers and sisters together. The sentence needs no "a": "brother and sister" are used like a pair. - "She is at school." (2.21), "Kofi and Ama are at school." (2.22): "at school" has no "the" and no "a", because the place is used for what is done there (to study). Akan Ɔwɔ sukuu and Kofi ne Ama wɔ sukuu use wɔ for both. - "They are not teachers." (2.23): "not" follows "are", and "teachers" has no "a" because it is plural. Akan Wɔnyɛ akyerɛkyerɛfo has the n- on the verb and the plural prefix a- on the noun. - "Kofi is reading the book." (2.24): "is" and "reading" belong together. Akan rekenkan has re- on the verb, and nwoma no ends with no, as in Lesson 1. - "The book is heavy." (2.25), "It is not new." (2.26): "It" replaces "the book" in the next sentence. Akan ɛnyɛ has the subject ɛ inside the verb, and English must say "It is". - "Their mother was a student." (2.27): "was" is the past of "is". Akan na wɔn maame yɛ osuani has na at the front. English says "was", not "were", because "mother" is single. "Their" belongs to Kofi and Ama together, and it stands before the noun, as wɔn stands before maame in Akan. - "Kofi will be a teacher." (2.28): after "will" the plain form "be" is used. Akan bɛyɛ has bɛ in the verb. - "How are you, Kofi?" (2.29): "are" because the subject is "you". The question word "How" stands first. Akan has the question word last: Wo ho te sɛn? The name stands after the question in English, with a comma: "How are you, Kofi?" - "I am fine, thank you." (2.30): "am" because the subject is "I". "Fine" is an adjective after "am", and there is no "a". Akan Me ho yɛ is the same pattern as Ɔyɛ tenten, but with ho, and Part A writes it Me-ho-yɛ.
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Pronunciation and Orthography Notes:
- be — /biː/. The other forms: am /æm/, is /ɪz/, are /ɑː/, was /wɒz/, were /wɜː/, been /biːn/ (British) or /bɪn/ (American), being /ˈbiːɪŋ/. In speech the forms are usually weak and short, or joined to the subject: I'm, you're, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're. - Spelling: the eight forms are written b-e, a-m, i-s, a-r-e, w-a-s, w-e-r-e, b-e-e-n and b-e-i-n-g. They do not follow one pattern, so learn them as a set. - The short forms are written with an apostrophe in place of the missing letters: I'm (I am), you're (you are), he's (he is), isn't (is not), aren't (are not). The apostrophe is part of the spelling and cannot be left out. Do not confuse it's (it is) with its (belonging to it). - Capital letters: "I" is always a capital, even in the middle of a sentence: "Kofi and I are students". - Akan letters to watch when you compare: Akan ɛ and ɔ appear in ɛyɛ, ɔyɛ, wɔ, hwɛfoɔ and fɛ, and English writes the sounds with e and o. English has no tone mark. The Akan tones are not written, and neither is English stress. - Do not write the Akan words yɛ, ne or wɔ in English sentences. English writes "is", "are" and "am" for them.
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Course Index: [latinum.substack.com/p/index](https://latinum.substack.com/p/index)