Questions & The 5 W's

In luganda, questions…

are a change of intonation

Omanyi oluganda?

Do you know Luganda?

Anaagenda mu katale enkya?

Is he going to the `market tommorrow?

Emmere ewooma ?

Is the food delicious?

Enkuba etonnya?

Is it raining?

subjects go at the…

beginning of a sentence

objects go at the…

end of a sentence

who

ani

On‘ani?

Who is this?

Gw’ani?

Who are you?

Ani amanyi ekyokuddamu?

Who knows the answer?

Ani yalidde eryenvu?

Who ate the banana?

Ani abeera wano?

Who lives here?

Ani agenda kunyamba ko?

Who is going to help me?

Ono ani ansumbuwa?

Who is this person that is disturbing me?

whom

ani / n’ani

Obeera n’ani?

Whom do you stay with?

Okibuulidde ani?

Whom did you tell this?

Ofumbira ani?

Whom are you cooking for?

Olabye abadde ayogera n’ani?

Did you see whom he talked to?

Whose

ky’ani

Ompadde ekitabo ky’ani?

Whose book did you give me?

Omanyi ensawo eno y’ani?

Do you know whose bag this is?

Neerabidde essowani eno y’ani.

I forgot whose plate this is.

What

ki/kiki

Ekyo kiki?

What is that

Kiki ekikuluma?

What are you suffering from?

Ogambye ki?

What did you say?

Ffenne kye kiki?

What is a jackfruit?

Ekyo kitegeeza ki?

What does that mean?

Essowani ki gy’oyagala?

Which plate do you want?

When

ddi

Watuuka wano ddi?

When did you get here?

Ogenda okukomawo ddi?

When are you coming back?

Omuzannyo gutandika ddi?

When is the match starting?

Where

wa

Ova wa?

Where are you from

Olaga wa?

Where are you going?

Akatale kali ludda wa?

Where is the market?

Eddwaliro liri ludda wa?

Where is the hospital?

Mumusanze wa?

Where did you guys find/meet him

Why

(ku)lwaki

Lwaki togenze mukyaalo?

Why didn’t you go to the village?

Lwaki oyiga oluganda?

Why do you learn Luganda?

Omanyi lwaki agenze?

Do you know why she left?

How

-tya

Ofumba otya matooke?

How do you cook matooke?

Otunda otya amenvu?

For how much do you sell bananas?

Bakitya batya?

How do they call this?

Olunaku lutambula lutya?

How is the day going?

Oluguudo lwanvu lutya?

How long is the road?

Ekibuga kinene kitya?

How big is the town?

How long?

Bbanga ki?

Ebbanga

period of time

Omaze wo bbanga ki?

How long have you been around for?

Omaze wo bbanga ki? (lit)

What period of time have you finished around here?

Kitwala bbanga ki okuva wano paka jjinja.

How long does it take to get from here to Jinja?

How often?

emirundi emeka?

Jjaja wo omukyalira emirundi emeka?

How often do you visit your grandmother?

Onoojja emirundi emeka e Kampala?

How often will you be coming to Kampala?

How far? (what distance?)

Olwanvu ki?

Okuva e Makerere okutuuka Mengo waliyo lwanvu ki?

Coming from Makerere reaching Mengo what distance is there?

How much/many

meka

Muli bameka?

How many (people) are you?

Ssente mmeka?

How much money do you charge?

Ssente mmeka? (lit)

How much money?

In present tense positive, to express who/what you simply..

continue the sentence

Omusajja anyamba ennyo agenze.

The man helps me a lot left.

In present tense positive, you can also…

insert ‘gwe’.

Omusajja gwe anyamba ennyo agenze.

the man who helps me a lot left.

If the verb prefix starts with a consonant…

add the respective vowel

Omanyi omuwala ayimba?

Do you know the girl who is singing?

Muganda wange omuntu atagaba.

My sister/brother is a person who doesn’t share.

Tompa ovaceddo agateyongedde.

Don’t give me the avocados that are not ripe.

Abayizi abatakola bulungi tebayingira essomero lino.

The students who did not perform well do not get into this school.

What is the difference in past tense?

an extra vowel is added before the verb

Omukazi yafumba emmere (past tense)

Omukazi eyafumba emmere agenze.

Omanyi omusajja eyayimbye ku mbaga?

Do you know the man who sang at the wedding?

Abasajja abagambiddwa okubba emmotoka batwaddwa ku police.

The men who are said (suspected) to have stolen a car have been taken to the police.

What is gye and we used as?

relative for ‘where’

gyendi

where I am

gyoli

where you are

gyali

where he/she is

gyetuli

where we are

gyemuli

where you are

gyebali

where they are

gyembeera

where i live

gyobeera

where you live

gyabeera

where he/she lives

gyetubeera

where we live

gyemubeera

where you live

gyebabeera

where they live

‘Mwami Mukwaya gyali?’ – ‘Gyali’

Is Mr. Mukwaya there? – ‘He is there.’

‘Njagala kugenda Kasubi.’ – ‘Gy’obeera?’ - ‘Nedda, gye nkola.

‘I want to go to Kasubi.’ - ‘Is that where you live?’ - ‘No, it’s where I work.’

whether

Oba

Simanyi oba ajja.

I don’t know whether he is coming or not.

Tagambye oba bagenze.

He didn’t say whether they had left.

Omanyi oba alya kawunga?

Do you know whether he eats Posho?