Prepositions & The Prepositional

KU → in, at, to, on, about

  • Ndi ku ssomero → I am at school

E → in, from (location)

  • Tuli e Uganda → We are in Uganda

MU → in, inside (position)

  • Ndi mu taxi → Im in the taxi

KUMPI NE → close, next to, near

  • Atudde kumpi n’omuti → He is sitting next to the tree.

WALA → far

  • Atudde wala okuva ku muti → He is sitting far away from the tree.

MU MAASO GA → in front of

  • Ali mu maaso ga meeza→ He is in front of the table.

WAKATI (WA x NE y) → in the middle, between X and Y

  • Essomero liri wakati wa Nakulabye ne Mengo → It is between Nakulabye ne Mengo.

OKUTUNULIGANA → opposite

  • Ebizimbe bitunuluganye → The buildings are opposite to each other (lit.: looking at each other).

WABWERU/EBWERU → outside

  • Teri/Tewali muntu wabweru → There is nobody outside.

MABEGA WA → behind

  • Ziri mabega w’emiti → They (the goats) are behind the trees.

WANSI WA → under

  • Guli wansi w’emmeeza → It (the football) is under the table

WAGGUU WA → above

  • Eri waggulu w’ekizimbe → It (the airplane) is above the building.

The Prepositional ~ Noun modifications

→ If the verb does not end in za or sa..

  • Last vowel of stem: a, i, u → vowel replaced with ira

  • Last vowel of stem: e, o → vowel replaced with era

→ If the verb does end in za or sa..

  • Last vowel of stem: a, i, u → vowel replaced with iza

  • Last vowel of stem: e, o → vowel replaced with eza

When do you use these? \

→ To give the idea that something is done for somebody

  • Okufumba: Nfumbidde maama wange emmere eno.→ I cooked this food for my mother.

  • Okugula: Ongulira muyembe? → Are you buying me a mango?

→ In combination with a preposition or a locative (wano, wa, wali, etc) it expresses that something happened at a specific place

  • Okukola: Nkolera e ssomero → I work at school.

  • Okuwasa: Bawasirizza e Mukono. → They got married in Mukono.

Other prepositional words have new, but similar meanings.

  • okutunula (to be awake) → okutunulira (to stare at something/somebody)

  • okudda (To run) → okuddirira (to to come after somebody; to decline)

  • okuseka (to laugh) → okusekerera (to make fun of)

(more in flashes)