LEARN SHONA🇿🇼 | Dzidza chiShona

LESSON 12 | To have

QUICK QUESTION: How do you say 'man' in Shona?

PART 10.1 | Let's break it down.

Kuva nechinhu 

Kuva - to be/to be in a state of-
Chinhu - thing 

Therefore 'Ne' must be 'have'. 

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PART 10.2 | Using Ne.

To make senses about having something all you need is to add 'ne' after the noun. 

Here are two nouns you might need;

Ndi- (I)
U- (you)

Example; 

Ndine imba. (I have a house) 
Une imbwa. (You have a dog) 

In both sentences the common particle is '-Ne', which means 'have'. If we remove and add the particle '-ri' the sentence changes. 

Ndiri imba. (I am a house)
Uri imbwa. (You are a dog)

Ne can be added to any noun to create a sentence or statement to do with 'having something'. However, remember that Ne varies in the same way that the word 'have' varies, e.g. had, has, got, it can even change drastically from 'ne' to something else but still be a sentence about 'having' something. 

More Examples| essentials

Ndine_____. (I have _____.)
Ane_______. (He/she has _____.)
Vane______. (They have_____.)
Une______. (You have_____.)

Chine_____. (It has______.)
Pane_____. (There is_____.) [explained later :)]

Kane_____. (It (a small thing) has____.) 
Kune ____. ((At that place) There is____)

To say 'ka' means a singular noun has something, maybe it's a child. The reason 'ka' might be used (you don't have to), is because the child is small, a trouble maker, clever or creative and etc. Example = Kamwana kako kane nwadhi rangu. (Your child has my book).

Tune/Twune____. (They have____.)

To say 'Tu/Twu' plural nouns have something, e.g. children might have a book. Like 'Ka', 'Tu/Twu'' doesn't have to be used. 'Tu' is basically the plural version of 'ka' in terms of Nouns. Example = Twana twenyu twune nwadhi rangu. (Your children have my book).

__ne _____. (__have a_____.)

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PART 10.3 | -Ne vs Ne

While 'ne' can be used as a particle meaning 'to have', it can also be used as a word, meaning 'and'. 

Here are some examples for both uses:

As 'have/has'
     - Ane hambautare. (He/she has a car)
     - Vane manwadhi. (They have books)
     - Pane hambautare. (There is car).

In the statement 'pane hambautare' (there is a car), a short cut for (that place has a car). 

The same way you can say "That place has a car/is being occupied by a car" you would rather say "There is a car". Likewise, in Shona you can shorten certain words or statements - it's actually very common. Example, "Nzvimbo iyo ine hambautare" (that place has a car), you can say "pane hambautare".

     - Pamba pavo pane hambautare. (Their house has a car).

Notice we used 'pane hambautare' with background context and it translate to 'has a car'. As I said before it can change and still mean 'have'.  The change -> Pane hambautare translates to 'there IS a car', not 'there HAVE a car.'

As 'And'
- Ane imba ne hambautare. (He has a house and a car)

In these sentences 'Ne' is used twice but does not mean 'have' or 'and' in both cases. For anyone feeling intimidated don't be. 

When Ne is used as a particle for 'have' it is placed after the noun. Example Ndi (I) ne (have) = Ndine (I have). However, when it is used on its own as a word, it is placed before (attached behind) the word that is being added. 

English does the same, just in Shona 'have' does not stand on its own. 

-> I have an orange (I and Have are separate)
-> Ndine ranjisi. (I and have are one word).

English also separates 'and', whilst with Shona you can do either. 

-> I have an orange and an apple. ('and' is separated from 'an apple')
->Ndine ranjisi neapuro. ('Ne' and 'apuro' are attached - this is usually the way to do it)
-> Ndine ranjisi ne apuro. ('Ne' and 'apuro' are separated - can also be done this way :) 

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There are other ways of saying have which will be discussed later. This needed to be mentioned to remove later confusion. :)

NOTE| In Shona the word 'Apple' is commonly translated as 'apuro', however, 'epo' is not incorrect. Although this version "epo" might be used more for the Brand 'apple' as in IPhone than the fruit.