Ẹ̀kọ́, Iṣẹ́, àti Ọ̀nà Ọjọ́ Iwájú
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Talk about future plans using the future particle yóò (contracted á/ó) and time expressions for what has not yet happened.
- Express desire, intention, and ability with the modal verbs fẹ́ ("want"), gbèrò láti ("plan to"), and lè ("can").
- Use complement clauses after verbs of wanting, planning, hoping, and deciding.
- Describe education, training, and career paths using formal vocabulary and relative clauses with tí.
- Combine future forms, modality, and complement clauses with reason and purpose clauses from Chapter 6 to state and justify a career or education goal.
- Recognize, without producing independently, negative future forms and focus-marked future statements, which later chapters will continue to develop.
Communication Scenario
Adé's cousin has finished secondary school and must now decide what to study and what kind of work to pursue. An older family friend, a career counselor at the community center, sits down with the cousin to talk through options — what the cousin wants to do, what training is required, and what the cousin plans to do in the coming years.
- This chapter develops future forms with yóò, modal verbs of desire, intention, and ability, and complement clauses after verbs such as fẹ́, gbèrò láti, and retí pé.
- It introduces formal education and career vocabulary and extends relative clauses with tí from Chapter 5 to describe programs, professions, and qualifications.
- By the end of the chapter, you should be able to write and speak a short statement about your education or career goals that states a plan, gives a reason for it, and expresses what you hope will happen — while continuing to recognize, without producing, negative future and focus-marked future constructions.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's vocabulary supports discussing education, training, careers, and future goals in a formal register appropriate to counseling, interviews, and written statements.
| Yorùbá | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| yóò / á / ó | will (future) | new productive item; yóò in careful speech and writing, á/ó in ordinary speech |
| fẹ́ | to want | new productive item, takes a láti or kí complement |
| gbèrò láti | to plan to | new productive item, formal planning verb |
| retí pé | to hope/expect that | new productive item, takes a full clause complement |
| láti | to (infinitive-like linker) | new productive item, links a verb to a following verb of purpose or intention |
| lè | can; to be able to | recycled from Chapter 6 purpose clauses, now developed for ability statements |
| tí ń bọ̀ | upcoming; coming | new productive item, modifies a time noun |
| Yorùbá | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ẹ̀kọ́ gíga | higher education | new productive item |
| yunifásítì | university | new productive item, loanword |
| ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣẹ́ọwọ́ | vocational/trade training | new productive item |
| ìwé ẹ̀rí | certificate; diploma | new productive item |
| iṣẹ́ àṣetiletí | career; profession | new productive item |
| agbẹjọ́rò | lawyer | new productive item, formal profession vocabulary |
| oníṣègùn | doctor | new productive item, formal profession vocabulary |
| onimọ̀-ẹ̀rọ | engineer | new productive item, formal profession vocabulary |
| ète | goal; aim | recycled from Chapter 6 purpose vocabulary domain |
| ọjọ́ iwájú | the future | recycled Volume II vocabulary |
Pronunciation and Orthography Focus
This chapter introduces several loanword-derived and multi-syllabic professional terms, such as yunifásítì and onimọ̀-ẹ̀rọ. Learners sometimes stress these words as though they were English, flattening the Yorùbá tones on later syllables. Every syllable in these words still carries its own tone and must be pronounced with the same care as shorter, more familiar vocabulary.
- Practice onimọ̀-ẹ̀rọ syllable by syllable first: o-ni-mọ̀-ẹ̀-rọ, then at natural speed, keeping the low tones on mọ̀ and ẹ̀ audible.
- Practice the future particle yóò with its full mid-high tone contour before reducing it to the short forms á or ó common in ordinary speech.
- Read the model dialogue below aloud twice: once naming every profession and education word slowly, and once at a natural conversational pace.
Copy out the seven connectors from the first vocabulary table above, marking every tone by hand or by typing. Compare against the table. This continues the Tone and Orthography Checkpoint self-review established since Chapter 1.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
This chapter develops future forms, modal verbs of desire and ability, and complement clauses as productive systems, building on the purpose clauses and advice modals introduced in Chapter 6.
Introduced: Future forms with `yóò` (`á` / `ó`)
- Ó máa kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣègùn ní ìlú Èkó. She will study medicine in Lagos. máa (contracted future) + verb
- A ó rí ìwé ẹ̀rí wa nígbà tí a bá parí ẹ̀kọ́. We will receive our certificates when we finish our studies. future + nígbà tí time clause (Chapter 6 recycling)
In formal written Yorùbá, yóò appears in its full form; in ordinary spoken Yorùbá the reduced forms máa, á, or ó are common. Both are correct within their register; this chapter's writing tasks require the full form yóò or its common formal-written alternative máa.
Introduced: Desire and intention with `fẹ́` and `gbèrò láti`
- Mo fẹ́ láti di oníṣègùn. I want to become a doctor. fẹ́ + láti + verb, complement clause
- Ó gbèrò láti kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣẹ́ọwọ́ ní ọdún tí ń bọ̀. He plans to pursue vocational training next year. gbèrò láti + verb, formal planning complement
Introduced: Ability with `lè` and hope with `retí pé`
- Ọmọdé lè di agbẹjọ́rò bí ó bá kẹ́kọ̀ọ́ ní yunifásítì. A young person can become a lawyer if they study at a university. lè + verb, ability + bí ... bá condition (Chapter 6 recycling)
- A retí pé àwọn akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ tí ó parí ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣẹ́ọwọ́ á rí iṣẹ́ ní kánkán. We hope that students who complete vocational training will find work quickly. retí pé + tí relative clause + future á
Developed: Relative clauses with `tí` for education and careers
Relative clauses introduced in Chapter 5 now describe programs, institutions, and professions. The pattern remains the same: the head noun is followed by tí and a clause that describes it.
- Yunifásítì tí mo fẹ́ lọ ní ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣègùn tó dára. The university that I want to attend has a good medical program. tí relative clause modifying yunifásítì, developed for formal domains
- Iṣẹ́ tí n óò ṣe lọ́la gbọdọ̀ jẹ́ èyí tí ó bá ẹ̀bùn mi mu. The work I will do in the future must be one that suits my talents. tí relative clause + gbọdọ̀ (Chapter 6 recycling)
Fẹ́ and gbèrò láti are typically followed by láti plus a bare verb, describing an action the same subject intends to carry out. Retí pé, like torí pé from Chapter 6, is followed by a full clause with its own subject and tense marking, because hoping or expecting is a stance taken toward an entire situation, not simply an action to be performed. Learners transferring English "to"-infinitive patterns sometimes try to follow retí pé with a bare verb; instead, treat retí pé as introducing a complete sentence.
The reading passage below contains one place where a future statement combines with negation ("will not...") and one place where a future statement combines with focus ("it is only when... that..."). As in earlier chapters, this is recognition-only material; full instruction of negative future and focus-marked future constructions continues in later chapters of this unit.
Model Dialogue
Ipò: Ẹ̀gbọ́n Adé ń bá alámọ̀ràn iṣẹ́ sọ̀rọ̀ nípa ẹ̀kọ́ àti iṣẹ́ tí yóò ṣe ní ọjọ́ iwájú.
Setting: Adé's cousin is speaking with a career counselor about education and future work.
Guided Practice
- Rewrite each sentence to add a future marker: (a) Mo lọ sí yunifásítì. (b) Ó kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣẹ́ọwọ́. (c) A rí iṣẹ́ rere.
- Combine each pair of sentences using fẹ́ láti, gbèrò láti, or retí pé, as appropriate: (a) Mo fẹ́ nǹkan kan. Mo di oníṣègùn. (b) Ó gbèrò nǹkan kan. Ó kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ. (c) A retí nǹkan kan. Àwọn ọmọ ilé ìwé á rí iṣẹ́.
- In the model dialogue, underline every future form, modal verb, and complement clause. For each one, identify the verb it depends on and whether the complement is an infinitive-like láti clause or a full pé clause.
- Locate the one negation-plus-future sentence and the one focus-plus-future sentence in the reading passage below. Identify what each one explains or clarifies; do not attempt to produce a new sentence combining these systems yet.
Listening Practice
Ask an instructor, study partner, or qualified Yorùbá speaker to read the passage below aloud at a natural pace, or read it aloud yourself and then cover it before answering.
If no speaker is available, this is a Listening Script for Independent Use. Machine text-to-speech must be checked by a qualified Yorùbá speaker before use as a pronunciation model.
"Ní ilé ìwé kan, àwọn akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ kíláàsì tó gbẹ̀yìn máa ń pàdé alámọ̀ràn iṣẹ́ lẹ́ẹ̀mejì lọ́dún, kí wọ́n lè jíròrò nípa ẹ̀kọ́ gíga àti iṣẹ́ tí wọ́n gbèrò láti ṣe. Àwọn kan fẹ́ láti tẹ̀síwájú sí yunifásítì, nígbà tí àwọn míì fẹ́ láti kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣẹ́ọwọ́ kí wọ́n lè bẹ̀rẹ̀ iṣẹ́ ní kánkán. Ilé ìwé náà kì í fipá mú akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ kankan láti yan ọ̀nà kan pàtó, torí pé ẹnì kọ̀ọ̀kan ní ẹ̀bùn àti ìfẹ́ ọkàn tirẹ̀. Ohun kan ṣoṣo tí ilé ìwé ń retí pé gbogbo akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ yóò ṣe ni pé kí wọ́n gbé ìpinnu wọn kalẹ̀ pẹ̀lú ìrònú tó dájú, kì í sì í ṣe láìsí ìmọ̀ràn àwọn àgbà. Ọjọ́ kan ṣoṣo tí àwọn akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ kì yóò lè yí ìpinnu wọn padà ni ọjọ́ tí wọ́n bá ti fi ìwé ẹ̀bẹ̀ ránṣẹ́ sí ilé-ẹ̀kọ́ tí wọ́n yàn."
1. How often do final-year students meet the career counselor, and why?
2. What are the two paths mentioned that students consider after secondary school?
3. Identify the sentence that gives a reason using negation for why the school does not force students to choose one path.
4. Identify the sentence near the end that uses focus to clarify the one day after which students can no longer change their decision.
Iṣẹ́ rẹ — Your task: Answer the four questions above in complete Yorùbá sentences.
Speaking Practice
Tier 1 — Supported
Using three sentences from this chapter (a future statement, a desire statement with fẹ́ láti, and a hope statement with retí pé), practice saying each one aloud, noticing where the future marker and complement clause appear.
Tier 2 — Guided
With a partner or on your own, describe two possible career or education paths, stating for each one what you would want to do and why, using fẹ́ láti and torí pé.
Tier 3 — Independent
Give a one- to two-minute connected explanation of your own education or career plans, real or invented, using at least one future statement, one intention or desire statement, one hope statement with retí pé, and one relative clause describing a program, institution, or profession. Record yourself if possible and self-check against the Tone and Orthography Checkpoint below.
Reading Practice
Ète Adé fún Ọjọ́ Iwájú
Adé jókòó pẹ̀lú bàbá rẹ̀ láti sọ̀rọ̀ nípa ẹ̀kọ́ tí ó gbèrò láti kọ́. Ó ní, "Mo fẹ́ láti di agbẹjọ́rò, torí pé mo fẹ́ràn láti ràn àwọn ènìyàn lọ́wọ́ tí ìṣòro bá dé bá wọn." Bàbá rẹ̀ béèrè pé, "Yunifásítì wo ni o gbèrò láti lọ?" Adé dáhùn pé, "Yunifásítì tí ó wà nítòsí ìlú wa ní ẹ̀kọ́ òfin tó dára, torí náà n óò fi ìwé ẹ̀bẹ̀ ránṣẹ́ sí ibẹ̀ lọ́dún tí ń bọ̀." Bàbá rẹ̀ ní, "Ó dára. Kí ni o retí pé yóò ṣẹlẹ̀ lẹ́yìn tí o bá parí ẹ̀kọ́ náà?" Adé ní, "N óò retí pé mo máa rí iṣẹ́ ní ilé-ẹjọ́ kan, kí n sì lè kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ púpọ̀ sí i lọ́wọ́ àwọn agbẹjọ́rò tó ti dàgbà." Ó sì fi kún un pé, "Ohun kan ṣoṣo tí kì yóò ṣẹlẹ̀ ni pé n kì yóò yí ète mi padà, torí pé mo ti rò ó dáradára." Bàbá Adé rẹ́rìn-ín, ó sì ní ète náà bá agbára àti ìfẹ́ ọkàn Adé mu dáradára.
1. Why does Adé want to become a lawyer?
2. Which university does Adé plan to apply to, and why?
3. Find the sentence near the end that uses negation with a future form to state the one thing that will not happen. What is being clarified?
Iṣẹ́ rẹ — Your task: Answer the three questions above. For Question 3, simply identify the negation-plus-future construction and explain its meaning; do not attempt to construct a new sentence combining negation and the future on your own yet.
Writing Workshop
Write an education or career statement of 90–120 words with full tone marks and dot-under letters throughout, describing what you want to study or do, why, and what you hope will happen, using at least one future form, one desire or intention statement, one hope statement with retí pé, and one relative clause.
Include
- at least 1 future form with yóò or máa
- at least 1 desire or intention statement with fẹ́ láti or gbèrò láti
- at least 1 hope statement with retí pé
- at least 1 relative clause with tí
Avoid
- producing new negation-plus-future constructions
- producing new focus-plus-future constructions
- following retí pé with a bare verb instead of a full clause
- dropping the subject pronoun before yóò or its short forms
- Every vowel that should carry a high or low tone mark has one.
- Every mid-tone syllable is left correctly unmarked.
ẹ,ọ, andṣare distinguished frome,o, andsthroughout.- Tone on yóò, fẹ́, gbèrò, and retí is correct in every clause.
- No unscheduled negation-plus-future or focus-plus-future construction has been produced independently.
Culture and Communication
In many Yorùbá families, decisions about education and career are discussed openly with parents, older relatives, and sometimes community elders, rather than made in isolation by the young person alone. Statements of intention such as mo gbèrò láti ("I plan to") are often shared with family early, and advice or blessing from elders commonly accompanies a young person's stated goals. This pattern reflects a broader communicative expectation that important future plans are shared and supported within the family and community, not treated as purely private matters.
Common Mistakes
Error: Producing a sentence such as *mo retí pé rí iṣẹ́ rere, dropping the subject and tense marking after retí pé on the model of an English "to"-infinitive.
Correction: Use a full clause with its own subject and future marker after retí pé, as in mo retí pé n óò rí iṣẹ́ rere ("I hope that I will find good work"). Reserve the bare láti + verb pattern for fẹ́ and gbèrò, as in mo fẹ́ láti rí iṣẹ́ rere.
Error: Dropping the subject pronoun before a contracted future form, as in *óò lọ sí yunifásítì where the intended subject is "I" rather than "he/she."
Correction: Keep the subject pronoun explicit before the future marker, as in n óò lọ sí yunifásítì ("I will go to university"). Short future forms still require a clear subject, since ó and n óò are not interchangeable.
Chapter Summary
This chapter developed future forms with yóò and its reduced spoken forms, modal verbs of desire and intention with fẹ́ and gbèrò láti, ability with lè, and hope with retí pé, alongside formal education and career vocabulary and further-developed relative clauses with tí. You practiced discussing education and career goals, wrote a personal statement, and continued to notice, without producing, negation-plus-future and focus-plus-future constructions in supported reading material.
Chapter Review
Apá A — Ìṣàyẹ̀wò Gírámà (Grammar Check)
1. Explain the difference between fẹ́ láti/gbèrò láti and retí pé, using one example of each from this chapter.
2. Explain when the full form yóò is preferred over the reduced forms máa, á, or ó.
Apá B — Ìṣàyẹ̀wò Ara Ẹni (Self-Check)
1. Did you find future forms or complement clauses easier to produce? Why?
2. Where in your own speaking or writing did you catch yourself following retí pé with a bare verb instead of a full clause?
Ìfojúsí ẹkọ̀ tẹ́lẹ̀ — Cumulative review check
Before continuing to Chapter 8, confirm you can do the following:
- Form at least two future statements with yóò or its reduced forms.
- State desire or intention with fẹ́ láti or gbèrò láti, and hope with retí pé.
- Use at least two relative clauses with tí to describe education or career topics.
- Combine future forms, modality, and complement clauses with reason and purpose clauses from Chapter 6 in a single connected statement.
Practical Performance Task
Iṣẹ́ aṣeyọrí — Abala 7
Ète Ẹ̀kọ́ àti Iṣẹ́ Mi — My Education and Career Goal
Produce a connected spoken and written statement about an education or career goal, real or invented, giving a future plan, a reason, and a hope for the outcome.
- Speaking: Deliver a one- to two-minute connected spoken statement (Speaking Practice, Tier 3).
- Writing: Submit your 90–120 word written statement (Writing Workshop).
- Self-review: Complete the Tone and Orthography Checkpoint for both your spoken notes and written account.
Assessment note: This task provides formative evidence of your developing control of future forms, modality, and complement clauses. Negation-plus-future and focus-plus-future constructions are not assessed as independent production in this chapter.
Answer Key
Listening Practice Questions
- Final-year students meet the career counselor twice a year, so they can discuss higher education and the work they plan to do.
- The two paths mentioned are continuing to university and pursuing vocational training in order to start work quickly.
- The sentence is "Ilé ìwé náà kì í fipá mú akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ kankan láti yan ọ̀nà kan pàtó, torí pé ẹnì kọ̀ọ̀kan ní ẹ̀bùn àti ìfẹ́ ọkàn tirẹ̀" (the school does not force any student to choose one particular path, because each person has their own talents and interests).
- The sentence is "Ọjọ́ kan ṣoṣo tí àwọn akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ kì yóò lè yí ìpinnu wọn padà ni ọjọ́ tí wọ́n bá ti fi ìwé ẹ̀bẹ̀ ránṣẹ́ sí ilé-ẹ̀kọ́ tí wọ́n yàn" (the one day students can no longer change their decision is the day they have already sent their application to their chosen institution).
Reading Practice Questions
- Adé wants to become a lawyer because he loves helping people who face problems.
- Adé plans to apply to the university near their town, because it has a good law program.
- The sentence is "Ohun kan ṣoṣo tí kì yóò ṣẹlẹ̀ ni pé n kì yóò yí ète mi padà, torí pé mo ti rò ó dáradára" (the one thing that will not happen is that he will not change his goal, because he has thought it through carefully), clarifying his firm commitment to the plan.
Guided Practice — Sample Combined Sentences
(a) Mo máa lọ sí yunifásítì. Ó máa kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìṣẹ́ọwọ́. A máa rí iṣẹ́ rere. (b) Mo fẹ́ láti di oníṣègùn. Ó gbèrò láti kọ́ ẹ̀kọ́ ìmọ̀-ẹ̀rọ. A retí pé àwọn ọmọ ilé ìwé á rí iṣẹ́.
Chapter Review — Apá A
1. Fẹ́ láti and gbèrò láti are followed by a bare verb describing an action the same subject will carry out, as in "mo fẹ́ láti di oníṣègùn" (I want to become a doctor); retí pé is followed by a full clause with its own subject and tense marking, as in "mo retí pé n óò rí iṣẹ́ rere" (I hope that I will find good work). 2. Yóò is preferred in careful, formal, or written Yorùbá, while máa, á, and ó are common in ordinary spoken Yorùbá; this chapter's formal writing tasks require yóò or máa.
Chapter Review — Apá B
Self-check items have no single fixed answer. Confirm your responses against the cumulative review checklist above.
Looking Ahead
Ohun tí o lè ṣe báyìí — What you can do now
You can now talk about future plans with yóò and its reduced forms, express desire and intention with fẹ́ láti and gbèrò láti, state ability with lè, express hope with retí pé, and describe education and career topics using formal vocabulary and relative clauses with tí. You continue to recognize, without producing, negation-plus-future and focus-plus-future constructions.