Ukuthenga Nezinsizakalo
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Conduct a fuller shopping interaction, naming an item once and then referring back to it with the correct object concord.
- Ask for the price of an item, and understand a spoken price in reply.
- Use object concords for classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9 inside transactional exchanges at the market, a clinic, a transport rank, and an office counter.
- Request an item, a service, or help, using polite request forms already active from earlier chapters.
- Confirm, decline, or ask for a substitute during a transaction, without repeating the item's name in every sentence.
- Read and listen to short transactional exchanges set in a market, a clinic, and a transport rank.
- Write a short shopping or service exchange that names an item once, then refers back to it using an object concord across at least two tenses.
- Continue the concord audit habit, now applied to fast paced transactional speech.
Communication Scenario
On Saturday morning, Nomvula goes to the market near her home to buy vegetables for the week, then stops at the clinic to collect a prescription, and finally waits at the transport rank to travel back into town. At each stop, she names what she wants once, then relies on object concords to keep the exchange short and natural, the same habit she and Zanele practised with the report in Chapter 7.
- Before you begin, think, in English, about a recent shopping trip or a visit to a clinic or office. Notice how often you ask for something by name once, then use "it" or "them" for the rest of the conversation.
- Think of one item you often buy, and one service you sometimes need, such as a prescription, a ticket, or a form. You will practise asking for both in isiZulu by the end of this chapter.
Where This Chapter Fits
Chapter 7 introduced the object concord and showed how it replaces a noun that has already been named. This chapter keeps that system fully active, and puts it to work in the kind of fast, practical exchanges you meet at a market, a clinic, a transport rank, or an office counter. No new object concord classes are introduced here. Instead, the same six classes from Chapter 7 are practised at greater speed and in a wider range of settings, alongside a small set of new transactional vocabulary.
From Chapters 1 through 7
Concord audit, familiar noun classes, recent and resultative past, simple future, and object concords for classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 9.
New in This Chapter
Market, clinic, transport, and office vocabulary, price questions, and polite request forms, all combined with the object concords already active.
Looking Forward
Chapter 9 turns to locatives and spatial description, so that you can say exactly where a shop, a clinic, or an office is, and how to get there.
Vocabulary: Shops, Services, and Transactions
This chapter introduces a focused set of nouns for the market, the clinic, and the transport rank, chosen so that each one falls into a noun class already active for object concords, classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 9. This keeps the new vocabulary usable with the grammar you already control, rather than asking you to guess at an unfamiliar class.
Emakethe — At the market
| isiZulu | English | Class |
|---|---|---|
| isitolo (plural: izitolo) | shop, store | 7 / 8 |
| imali | money | 9 |
| isaka (plural: amasaka) | bag, sack | 5 / 6 |
| udoti or, more usefully here, umsebenzi wokuthenga | shopping errand | 3 |
| uphaphu (plural: izimpahla, used for goods generally) | item, goods | 11 / 10 |
Class 7/8 and class 11/10 nouns such as isitolo and izimpahla are presented here for recognition and naming only. Their object concords are not yet active, so this chapter avoids asking you to replace them with an object concord. You will meet their object concords in a later chapter.
Emtholampilo — At the clinic
| isiZulu | English | Class |
|---|---|---|
| umuthi (plural: imithi) | medicine | 3 / 4 |
| udokotela (plural: odokotela) | doctor | 1a / 2a |
| incwadi yomuthi | prescription | 9 (built on incwadi) |
Ohovisi nasesitobhini — At the office and the transport rank
| isiZulu | English | Class |
|---|---|---|
| ithikithi (plural: amathikithi) | ticket | 5 / 6 |
| ifomu (plural: amafomu) | form | 5 / 6 |
| umshayeli (plural: abashayeli) | driver | 1 / 2 |
Ithikithi and ifomu belong to class 5, the same class as ihhovisi from Chapter 7, so they take the same object concord, -li-. Udokotela and umshayeli use the object concords for classes 1 and 1a, -m- and -ba-, already active since Chapter 7.
Ukubuza intengo — Asking the price
| isiZulu | English | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Yimalini? | How much is it? | asks the price of something already named |
| Ngicela | Please may I have | polite request, already active from Volume I |
| kuphela | only, that's all | closes a request or a list |
Pronunciation and Click Review
Transactional speech moves quickly, and object concords are easy to lose in a fast exchange at a busy counter. Practise the target words below slowly first, then at natural speed, keeping the object concord clear even when you speed up.
Say ngiyalithenga slowly, broken into ngi-ya-li-theng-a, then again at natural speed. Compare it with ngiyayithenga, broken into ngi-ya-yi-theng-a. Listen for the short vowel of the object concord, -li- for class 5 items such as ithikithi, and -yi- for class 9 items such as imali. A rushed speaker may blur the vowel, but the consonant, l or y, must stay clear so that the listener knows which item is meant.
Grammar: Object Concords in Transactions
8.1 Naming an item once, then asking for it again
Purpose: request, confirm, and pay for a specific item without repeating its name in every sentence.
A shopping or service exchange almost always follows the same shape. A customer names an item once, asks its price, then uses an object concord for every later reference, including when confirming the purchase or asking for a receipt. This is the same discipline from Chapter 7, now applied to a live transaction instead of an office report.
The object concord table from Chapter 7 does not change in this chapter. Only the nouns and the setting change. Before speaking, identify the class of the item you want, then choose -m-, -ba-, -wu-, -yi-, -li-, or -yi- from the Chapter 7 table, exactly as before.
8.2 Asking the price and confirming a purchase
| Class | Example noun | Naming it | Referring back to it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | ithikithi | Ngicela ithikithi. | Yimalini? Ngizolibhadala manje. |
| 9 | incwadi yomuthi | Nginencwadi yomuthi. | Ngicela uyifunde, dokotela. |
| 1 | umshayeli | Ngiyamfuna umshayeli. | Ngizombiza manje. |
- Ngicela isaka lemifino. Yimalini? Please may I have a bag of vegetables. How much is it? isaka, class 5, named for the first time
- Nginemali eyanele. Ngizolibhadala manje. I have enough money. I will pay for it now. simple future, class 5, object concord -li-, referring back to isaka
- Udokotela unginike umuthi. Ngiwuthathile ekuseni. The doctor gave me medicine. I took it this morning. resultative past, class 3, object concord -wu-, referring back to umuthi
Notice that the price question, Yimalini, does not itself carry an object concord. It is a fixed question formula. The object concord appears only once the customer moves on to confirm, pay for, or decline the item.
Model Dialogue
Isimo: NgoMgqibelo ekuseni, uNomvula useMakethe, ecela imifino kumthengisi.
Setting: On Saturday morning, Nomvula is at the market, asking a vendor for vegetables.
Nomvula leaves the market, heading toward the transport rank, waiting for a taxi.
This dialogue uses object concords for class 5, isaka and ithikithi, using -li-, across resultative past, present, and simple future. Every noun class and sentence pattern used was already active by the end of Chapter 7.
Imibuzo yokuqonda — Comprehension questions:
- UNomvula ucela ini emakethe? (What does Nomvula ask for at the market?)
- Uzosibhadala nini isaka? (When will she pay for the bag?)
- Uzobuya nini emakethe? (When will she come back to the market?)
Listening
Ask your instructor, a study partner, or a qualified isiZulu speaker to read the following short passages aloud at a natural, measured pace. Listen twice for each item. On the first listen, identify what is being bought or requested. On the second listen, write down the object concord you heard, and the noun class it belongs to.
If no speaker is available, this is a Listening Script for Independent Use. Read each passage aloud yourself at a measured pace, pausing naturally between sentences. All audio models must be verified by a qualified isiZulu speaker before being treated as a pronunciation model.
1. Emtholampilo — At the clinic:
"UNomvula unencwadi yomuthi. Udokotela uyifundile, wanginika umuthi. Ngizowuthatha ekuseni nakusihlwa."
2. Esitobhini — At the transport rank:
"Umshayeli unikeza uNomvula ithikithi. Uzolibhadala manje, ngoba ufuna ukuya edolobheni."
Umsebenzi wokulalela — Listening task:
Complete the table with the details you hear.
| Isiqephu (Passage) | Isenzukuthi sempendulo (Object concord heard) | Ibanga lebizo (Noun class it refers to) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ______ | ______ |
| 2 | ______ | ______ |
Reading
Read the following short passage, which follows Nomvula through three stops on her Saturday errands, naming each item once before referring back to it with an object concord. Read it aloud twice before answering the comprehension questions.
Usuku lukaNomvula emakethe — Nomvula's day at the market
NgoMgqibelo ekuseni, uNomvula uya emakethe, ecela isaka lemifino. Uyabhadala, bese ehamba. Emva kwalokho, uya emtholampilo, lapho udokotela emnika umuthi. Uwuthatha ngokushesha, bese ephuma. Ekugcineni, uya esitobhini, lapho umshayeli emnika ithikithi. Uyalibhadala, bese ehlala, elinde utekisi luhambe.
This passage names isaka, umuthi, and ithikithi once each, then relies on the object concords -li-, -wu-, and -li- again, to refer back to them without repetition.
Imibuzo yokuqonda — Comprehension questions:
- UNomvula uyaphi kuqala, ngoMgqibelo? (Where does Nomvula go first, on Saturday?)
- Ubani omnika umuthi? (Who gives her the medicine?)
- Uyilibhadala nini ithikithi? (When does she pay for the ticket?)
Writing Workshop
In this chapter, you will write a short shopping or service exchange, naming an item once, then referring back to it using an object concord, across at least two tenses.
Umsebenzi wokubhala — Writing task: Write six to eight sentences describing a visit to a market, a clinic, or a transport rank, or an invented equivalent. Name the item or service once, then use at least three different object concords to refer back to it, or to more than one item, across at least two different tenses.
- Choose your setting. In English, decide whether your exchange happens at a market, a clinic, or a transport rank.
- Name your item once. Introduce the item in your first sentence, with its correct noun class.
- Ask its price. Use the fixed formula Yimalini to ask the price of the item you named.
- Refer back to it. In your following sentences, replace the noun with the matching object concord, rather than repeating it.
- Vary the tense. Use at least one present, one resultative past, and one simple future sentence, each carrying an object concord.
- Audit your draft. Check that every object concord matches the class of the noun it replaces, before writing your final version.
Isikhungo sokuhlola — Editing checklist:
- The item or service is named once, then replaced with an object concord in later sentences.
- At least three object concords are used, matching the correct noun classes.
- Object concords appear correctly in at least two different tenses.
- The price question Yimalini is used at least once, correctly.
- Every subject concord and object concord matches its noun's class.
- No unscheduled vocabulary or grammar appears beyond Volume I and Chapters 1 through 8.
Speaking Practice
Ukuzilolonga — Controlled practice: naming and confirming
Your partner names an item, using Ngicela. Respond by asking Yimalini, then confirm the purchase out loud using the matching object concord, and check together which class you chose.
Umsebenzi wokuxhumana — Communicative task: the Saturday errand
Working with a partner, act out a short visit to a market, a clinic, or a transport rank. One of you plays the customer, and the other plays the vendor, the doctor, or the driver. Name at least two items or services, ask the price of each, and confirm or decline using object concords rather than repeating the nouns.
Useful checking expressions: Ngicela isaka. (Please may I have a bag.) | Yimalini? (How much is it?) | Ngizolibhadala manje. (I will pay for it now.)
Ukuzilolonga wedwa — Solo alternative
Record yourself narrating the exchange you wrote about in the Writing Workshop, as a spoken account. Listen back, and check that every object concord you used still matches its noun's class.
Culture and Communication
In many isiZulu speaking communities, a market or shop interaction commonly opens with a greeting before any request is made, even in a busy, fast moving setting. Moving straight to a request without a greeting can come across as abrupt, so learners are encouraged to keep the greeting habit active even in short, practical exchanges.
Vendors, drivers, and clinic staff are often addressed with respectful terms such as mama, baba, or sisi, rather than by name, particularly on a first meeting. This respectful address commonly continues throughout the transaction, even once an object concord has taken over reference to the item itself.
Some speakers and regions use additional or slightly different price expressions beyond Yimalini, particularly in urban markets with frequent code-switching into English or Afrikaans loanwords for currency. This textbook models the clear, standard Yimalini pattern suitable for learners at this stage, and later volumes will expand your recognition of regional variation.
Common Mistakes
Error: Inserting an object concord into the fixed price question, for example saying Yiliyimalini when asking the price of a class 5 item.
Correction: Keep Yimalini fixed and unchanged, regardless of the noun class of the item: Yimalini?, not Yiliyimalini, since the price question does not carry an object concord.
Error: Naming the item again in the confirmation sentence, for example saying Ngizobhadala isaka manje immediately after already naming isaka in the previous sentence.
Correction: Once the item has been named, switch to the object concord: Ngizolibhadala manje, not Ngizobhadala isaka manje, unless you are deliberately emphasizing the item.
Error: Attempting to build an object concord for isitolo or izimpahla, for example saying Ngiyasithenga for isitolo, before that class's object concord has been introduced.
Correction: For classes not yet active, keep naming the noun directly rather than guessing at an object concord: Ngiyasithanda isitolo only after class 7 is formally introduced. Until then, repeat the noun or restructure the sentence.
Chapter Review
Ingxenye A — Amagama (Vocabulary)
1. Bhala ibanga lebizo lalawa magama: isaka, umuthi, ithikithi, ifomu, umshayeli, imali. (Write the noun class of each of these words.)
Ingxenye B — Isigabisigabi (Grammar)
1. Khetha isenzukuthi sempendulo esifanele: (Choose the correct object concord.)
- Ngizo___bhadala isaka. (-li- / -wu-)
- Udokotela u___nikile umuthi. (-wu- / -yi-)
- Umshayeli uzo___nika ithikithi. (-li- / -m-)
2. Guqula lo mushosho, usebenzisa isenzukuthi sempendulo esikhundleni sebizo: (Rewrite this sentence, using an object concord in place of the noun.)
Ngicela ithikithi. Ngizobhadala ithikithi manje. → ______
Ingxenye C — Ukufunda (Reading)
1. Funda leli phuzu, uphendule imibuzo: (Read this line, and answer the questions.)
"Uya emtholampilo, lapho udokotela emnika umuthi. Uwuthatha ngokushesha, bese ephuma."
- Ubani omnika umuthi uNomvula?
- Uwuthatha nini umuthi?
Ingxenye D — Ukubhala (Writing)
1. Bhala izinhlamvu ezimbalwa, uqamba into oyithengayo noma isevisi oyidingayo, bese usebenzisa isenzukuthi sempendulo kaninginengi ukuze ubuyekeze kuyo. (Write several sentences, naming an item you are buying or a service you need, then use an object concord several times to refer back to it.)
Ingxenye E — Ukukhuluma (Speaking)
1. Xoxa nomngane wakho, kwenzeka sengathi omunye ungumthengisi noma umshayeli, usebenzisa isenzukuthi sempendulo kuzo zonke izikhathi ezintathu. (Talk with your partner, acting out a vendor or driver scene, using an object concord across all three tenses.)
Ukubuyekezwa okuhlanganisiwe — Cumulative review from Chapters 1 through 7
Choose the correct word or form in brackets to complete this short exchange, drawing on patterns consolidated in Chapters 1 through 7 and reactivated in this chapter.
Sawubona, mama. Ngicela isaka [lemifino / yemifino]. [Yimalini / Yiliyimalini]? Ngi[nemali / mali] eyanele. Ngizo[libhadala / bhadala] manje, [bese / kodwa] ngihamba. UMandla u[sewubhalile / wubhalile] umbiko, [futhi / kuphela] ngizombona ehhovisi ngomuso.
Chapter 8 Performance Task
Umsebenzi wesishiyagalombili weVolumu II
Usuku lokuthenga — A day of errands
Complete a full speaking and writing task in three stages, drawing on the object concords developed in this chapter, together with the transactional vocabulary from the market, the clinic, and the transport rank:
- Ukwethula (Introducing). Tell your partner about two errands you need to run, naming one item or service for each, clearly, once.
- Ukuxoxa (Transacting). Act out both exchanges with your partner, asking the price, confirming or declining, and referring back to each item using an object concord.
- Ukubhala (Written component). Write six to eight sentences that bring together your two errands and your object-concord references from the speaking task above. Submit with standard isiZulu spelling, correct capitalization and punctuation, and no analytical hyphens in ordinary writing.
Answer Key
Dialogue — Comprehension
- UNomvula ucela isaka lemifino emakethe.
- Uzosibhadala isaka manje, ngaphambi kokuhamba.
- Uzobuya emakethe ngoMgqibelo ozayo.
Listening
- Passage 1 — Object concord -wu-, class 3: Nomvula has a prescription, the doctor read it and gave her medicine, and she will take it in the morning and the evening.
- Passage 2 — Object concord -li-, class 5: The driver gives Nomvula a ticket, and she will pay for it now because she wants to go into town.
Reading — Comprehension
- UNomvula uya emakethe kuqala, ngoMgqibelo.
- Udokotela umnika umuthi.
- Uyilibhadala ithikithi esitobhini, ngaphambi kokuhamba.
Chapter Review — Ingxenye A
isaka = class 5; umuthi = class 3; ithikithi = class 5; ifomu = class 5; umshayeli = class 1; imali = class 9.
Chapter Review — Ingxenye B
- (a) -li- (b) -wu- (c) -li-
- Ngicela lona. Ngizolibhadala manje.
Chapter Review — Ingxenye C
- (a) Udokotela umnika umuthi uNomvula. (b) Uwuthatha ngokushesha.
Cumulative Review — Correct answers
lemifino / Yimalini / nemali / libhadala / bese / sewuwubhalile / futhi
Looking Ahead
Okungakwenzeka manje — What you can do now
You can now handle a fuller shopping or service interaction from start to finish, naming an item once, asking its price, and confirming, declining, or paying for it using an object concord, across present, past, and future forms. Combined with the object-concord practice from Chapter 7, you can now move through a market, a clinic, or a transport rank without repeating a single noun more than necessary, the way a confident speaker does.