Akan (Asante Twi) Conjunctions (Nkabomdeɛ) | Twi Grammar

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Thanks to our lesson on pluralisation, I believe you are now familiar with a number of ways by which plural nouns are formed in Twi. Now, how do we join Akan (Twi) words, phrases, clauses, and sentences together? We are looking at Twi Conjunctions (Nkabomdeɛ) in today’s lesson.

What is a Conjunction? | Nkabomdeɛ ne Deɛn?

A conjunction is a word that joins two or more words, phrases, clauses or sentences together. Common English examples of conjunctions include ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘but’.

Types of Conjunctions | Nkabomdeɛ Ahodoɔ

Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join two or more sentences, main clauses, words, or other parts of speech which are of the same syntactic importance. Examples include “na/ne (and)”,  “na (for), “nanso (but), “anaa (or), “nti (so), etc.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent clauses. Examples include “ansa (na) (before)”, “(a)gye sɛ (unless)”, “sɛ… a (if)”, “ɛfiri sɛ/ɛsiane sɛ (because)”, etc.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions come in pairs. They work together to join phrases or words that carry equal importance within a sentence. Examples of correlative conjunctions in Twi include “oo… oo (whether… or)”, sɛdeɛ… saa ara na… (just as… so…)”, ɛnyɛ… na mmom (not… but)”

List of Some Twi Conjunctions (Nkabomdeɛ)

TwiEnglishExample
ne

and

(for connecting words/phrases)

ɔtan ne aniberɛ

(hatred and jealousy)

 

Kofi ne Ama

(Kofi and Ama)

na

and

(for connecting clauses/sentences)

Ama ho yɛ fɛ, na ɔbu adeɛ nso.

(Ama is beautiful, and she is respectful, too)

 

Kofi frɛɛ me, na mebaeɛ.

(Kofi called me, and I came)

nansobut

na ɔpɛ sɛ ɔdi aduane no nyinaa nanso na ɔfɛre

(he/she had wanted to eat the entire food but he was shy)

 

ɔyɛɛ nea ɔbɛtumi biara nanso ɔweeɛ

(he/she tried all he/she could but he/she came last)

ntiso

ɔbaa ntɛm nti yɛtenaa abɔnten kakra

(he/she came early so we sat outside a little)

anaaor

ɛyɛ ɛkɔm anaa sukɔm

(is it hunger or thirst?)

ɛfiri sɛ

ɛsiane sɛ

because

osuiɛ, ɛfiri sɛ na ne werɛ aho

(he/she cried, because he/she was sad)

sɛ… aif

ɔba a, yɛbɛpue

(if he/she comes, we’ll go out)

as

tuntum bidie

(black as charcoal)

asɛas if

wayɛ n’anim mmɔbɔmmɔbɔ asɛ kɔm de no

(he/she has put on a sad face as if he/she is hungry)

ansa (na)before

to me nkra ansa na woaba

(notify me before you come)

mpoeven

ɔdware daa, mpo awɔ berɛ mu

(he/she baths every day, even in cold times)

 

Kofi mpo antumi na wo

(Even Kofi couldn’t and you (how much more you))

sɛ mpoeven if

sɛ mpo ɔyare a, ɔmmra

(even if he/she is indisposed, he/she should come)

sɛdeɛ ɛbɛyɛ a

in order that

so that

maame no daa kɔm, sɛdeɛ ɛbɛyɛ a akwadaa no bɛdidi

(the woman slept hungry, so that/in order that the child will eat)

sɛdeɛjust as

dɔ wo nua, sɛdeɛ Yesu dɔ yɛn

(love your sibling, just as Jesus loves us)

(a)gye sɛunless

mentua, gye sɛ me nsa ka

(I wont pay, unless I receive it)

kɔpem sɛ

 

kɔsi sɛ

until

mɛda saa kɔpem sɛ mɛnya adwuma

(I’ll keep sleeping until I get a job)

berɛ (korɔ) awhile

ɔkɔɔ so ara yɛɛ dede berɛ a na mada no

(he/she kept making noise while I was asleep)

fa no sɛsuppose

yɛmfa no sɛ menni sika bio, nka wobɛkɔ so ara adɔ me?

(let’s suppose I didn’t have money anymore, would you continue to love me?)

oo… oowhether… or

wobɛkɔ oo, wonkɔ oo, aban nsa aka wo

(whether you’ll go or not, you’ve been nabbed by the government)

ne nyinaa akyi no

yei nyinaa akyi no

in spite of

after all this

n’ahonya bebrebe nyinaa akyi no, ɔdwo pa ara

(in spite of his/her wealth, he/she is very calm)

sɛdeɛ… saa ara na

just as… so…

sɛdeɛ Noah nna no yɛeɛ no, saa ara na Yesu mmaeɛ no bɛyɛ

(just as the days of Noah was, so would the coming of Jesus be)

kyɛnthan

woanyini kyɛn me

(you’re older than I am)

Do you have more Twi conjunctions to add? Please leave them in the comments section below. We’ll appreciate that greatly. The lesson’s video will be uploaded on our YouTube channel soon. Please subscribe to our channel HERE. Thanks for reading.

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Yaw
STEPHEN AWIBA, known by his students as YAW, is the founding editor of LEARNAKAN.COM and LEARNAKANDICTIONARY.COM. He was born and raised in Kumasi, the Ashanti regional capital of Ghana, where Akan (Asante Twi) is spoken as the first language. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics and Theatre Arts from the University of Ghana and an MPhil in English Linguistics and Language Acquisition from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Responses

    1. Hi Clement, the conjunction “that” is “sɛ” as in “Wɔgye di “sɛ” ɔretwa ntorɔ (They believe that he is lying)”, “Kofi kaa “sɛ” Ama ada (Kofi said that Ama had slept)”, “”sɛ” ɔbɛdi w’aduane, ɛnsi da! (that he will eat your food, it’ll never happen!).
      Thank you

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