Ukwenza Nokuguquka Kwesimo
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Use the causative extension across a wider range of verb roots, describing how one person or event brings about an action in another.
- Describe change of state, that is, a person or thing moving from one condition into another, using causative and neuter forms together.
- Recognize a small set of neuter-stative and reciprocal verb forms as formulaic vocabulary, without yet analyzing their internal structure.
- Expand the applicative extension to describe reason, instrument, and manner, alongside the beneficiary and goal meanings already active.
- Expand the passive extension across more verb roots, keeping the doer of an action unstated when it is unknown or unimportant.
- Combine subject relative clauses, object relative clauses, and participial clauses with causative and passive verbs in a single description.
- Maintain reference continuity across a longer stretch of narration, describing a process that unfolds over several connected sentences.
- Read, listen to, write, and speak a short connected passage that explains how a change came about, and who or what caused it.
Communication Scenario
A week after Lindiwe's visit to her grandfather, the same class wants to know what happened next. Her grandfather's leg, injured months earlier, is finally healing. The neighbor's small vegetable garden, once struggling, is now thriving. Nomvula wants to know exactly what made these changes happen, who did what, and what changed as a result. Telling this kind of story means moving beyond a single helpful action, toward a fuller account of cause, change, and outcome, stretched across several connected sentences.
- This chapter develops the causative extension already introduced in Chapter 4, and applies it specifically to describing influence, change, and process, rather than a single isolated event.
- Learners also meet a small, formulaic set of reciprocal and neuter-stative verbs for recognition and limited use, expand the applicative and passive extensions, and practice keeping a longer narrative clear from beginning to end.
Where This Chapter Fits
Chapter 4 introduced the causative and passive extensions for a single event within a short exchange. Chapter 5 takes those same tools and stretches them across a longer, connected account of change over time, while giving learners their first formulaic taste of reciprocal and neuter-stative forms, which will not be analyzed in depth until Chapter 6.
Coming From Chapter 4
Subject and object relative clauses across several noun classes, participial clauses, the causative and passive extensions for a single event, and purpose subordination with ukuze.
New in This Chapter
Causative use across a wider set of verb roots, change of state description, a formulaic set of reciprocal and neuter-stative verbs, expanded applicative meanings, and reference continuity across a longer narrative.
Looking Forward
Chapter 6 develops the reciprocal and neuter-stative extensions for full productive use, alongside continued attention to valency and argument structure.
Core Vocabulary: Making Things Happen
This chapter introduces vocabulary connected to healing, growth, and gradual change, along with words that describe a process rather than a single completed action.
| isiZulu | English | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| ukusinda | to recover, to survive | change of state |
| ukululama | to heal, to recuperate | change of state |
| ukukhula | to grow | change of state |
| inqubo, izinqubo | process, procedure, processes | narration |
| inguquko, izinguquko | change, transformation, changes | narration |
| kancane kancane | little by little, gradually | manner |
| kusukela lapho | from that point onward | connector |
| umphumela, imiphumela | result, outcome, results | narration |
| ukubonana | to see one another, formulaic reciprocal | reciprocal, formulaic |
| ukwaneliseka | to be satisfied, formulaic neuter-stative | neuter-stative, formulaic |
The reciprocal and neuter-stative items here are formulaic only. They support comprehension and limited use now, and will be analyzed as productive extensions in Chapter 6.
Pronunciation and Click Focus
This chapter continues the nasalized click work from Chapter 4, and adds attention to keeping the causative -is- and the passive -w- clearly and correctly pronounced when they combine with other extensions in the same verb.
When a causative or passive extension combines with an applicative extension, the verb becomes noticeably longer, and learners sometimes drop a syllable under pressure. Practice wangichazisela and wangichazelwa slowly, syllable by syllable, then at natural speed, making sure every extension is still audible once the pace increases.
Grammar: Causing and Changing
5.1 The causative extension, developed across more verb roots
Purpose: describe how one person, event, or condition brings about an action or a state in someone or something else, across a wider range of verbs than Chapter 4 introduced.
Chapter 4 introduced the causative on a small set of everyday verbs. This chapter extends the same -is- pattern to verbs describing healing, growth, learning, and emotional change, so that learners can describe influence over a process, not only over a single action.
- Udokotela wamlulamisa kancane kancane. The doctor made him heal little by little. -is- causative on ukululama, describing a gradual process
- Umakhelwane wakhulisa imifino yakhe ngokunakekela okukhulu. The neighbor grew his vegetables with great care. -is- causative on ukukhula, combined with the instrumental applicative meaning below
5.2 Describing change of state
Purpose: describe a person or thing moving from one condition into another, using the perfect and the causative together.
- Umlenze kababa ubelimele kakhulu, kodwa manje usululamile ngenxa yokunakekelwa kukadokotela. My father's leg was badly injured, but now it has healed because of the doctor's care. perfect ubelimele, contrasted with perfect usululamile, cause named with ngenxa ya-
- Isivande sikamakhelwane besingakhuli kahle, kodwa manje sesikhulile kakhulu. The neighbor's garden was not growing well, but now it has grown a great deal. negative perfect contrasted with affirmative perfect, describing change
5.3 Reciprocal and neuter-stative verbs, formulaic only
Purpose: recognize a small set of reciprocal and neuter-stative verbs as fixed vocabulary items, without yet analyzing the -an- or -ek- patterns that build them.
Words such as ukubonana, to see one another, and ukwaneliseka, to be satisfied, are useful now, and learners may use them as whole, memorized items. The internal patterns that build reciprocal and neuter-stative meaning are not taught for production until Chapter 6, so do not attempt to build new words of this type yet.
- Sibonane ngempelasonto, sixoxa kabanzi ngengane zethu. We saw one another over the weekend, and talked at length about our children. ukubonana, formulaic reciprocal, used as a whole item
- Ugogo wayeneliseke kakhulu ngosizo abelutholile. Grandfather was very satisfied with the help he had received. ukwaneliseka, formulaic neuter-stative, used as a whole item
5.4 The applicative extension, expanded to reason, instrument, and manner
Purpose: describe why, with what, or how an action was carried out, in addition to the beneficiary and goal meanings already active from earlier chapters.
- Udokotela wamlulamisela ngezidakamizwa ezifanele. The doctor helped heal him with the correct medicine. -el- applicative, instrumental meaning, combined with -is- causative
- Umakhelwane wakhulisela imifino yakhe ngamanzi amaningi. The neighbor grew his vegetables using plenty of water. -el- applicative, instrumental meaning, combined with -is- causative
5.5 The passive extension, expanded across more verb roots
Purpose: describe a change or an outcome when the person responsible is unknown, unimportant, or intentionally left unstated, across a wider set of verbs than Chapter 4 introduced.
- Umlenze wagqugquzelwa kaninginingi ngesikhathi sokululama. The leg was exercised many times during the recovery. -w- passive, doer left unstated, process framed as an outcome
- Isivande sanakekelwa kahle, kwaze kwavela imiphumela emihle. The garden was cared for well, until good results appeared. -w- passive on ukunakekela, combined with a sequential clause
Compare these passive forms with the causative forms in section 5.1. The causative names a causer directly. The passive removes the causer from the sentence entirely, leaving only the process and its result.
5.6 Reference continuity across a longer narrative
Purpose: keep every reference clear across a full paragraph describing change over time, not only across two or three sentences.
A longer account of change usually names the person or thing once, tracks it through several sentences using subject concords, object concords, and demonstratives such as lowo, leyo, lelo, and only returns to the full noun when a new stage of the process begins, or when confusion might otherwise arise.
Model Dialogue
Isimo: UNomvula ubuza uLindiwe ngokuthi umlenze kagogo wakhe usululame kanjani.
Setting: Nomvula asks Lindiwe how her grandfather's leg has healed.
This exchange develops the causative and passive extensions across a longer stretch of narration, contrasts an earlier condition with a later one, and reactivates the applicative and relative structures already active from Chapter 4.
Imibuzo yokuqonda — Comprehension questions:
- Kwathatha isikhathi esingakanani, ukuze umlenze kagogo kaLindiwe ululame? (How long did it take for Lindiwe's grandfather's leg to heal?)
- Umakhelwane wenzeni, ukuze isivande sakhe sikhule kahle? (What did the neighbor do, so that his garden would grow well?)
- Yiziphi izinto ezimbili ezashintsha kule ngxoxo? (What two things changed in this conversation?)
Listening Practice
Ask your instructor, a study partner, or a qualified isiZulu speaker to read the following short passage aloud, at a natural pace. Listen twice, without reading along. On the first listen, note what the earlier condition of each thing was. On the second listen, note what caused the change, and what the result became.
If no speaker is available, this is a Listening Script for Independent Use. Read the passage aloud yourself, at a measured, natural pace. All audio models must be verified by a qualified isiZulu speaker before being treated as a pronunciation model.
Inguquko Emsebenzini — A Change at Work:
"Umsebenzi wami ubuwungakahleleki kahle ekuqaleni konyaka, futhi ngangingakwazi ukuwenza ngesikhathi. Umqondisi wami wangisiza ngokungichazisela inqubo kabusha, kancane kancane, waze wangenza ngaqonda kangcono. Kusukela lapho, umsebenzi wonke waguquka waba lula. Manje ngiyaneliseka ngendlela engiwenza ngayo, futhi nomqondisi wami wayeneliseke kakhulu ngemiphumela yami."
Umsebenzi wokulalela — Listening task:
Complete the table, naming the earlier condition, the cause of change, and the resulting condition, then answer the follow up question in a full sentence.
| Isimo sangaphambili (Earlier condition) | Isimo samanje (Present condition) |
|---|---|
| ______ | ______ |
Umbuzo olandelayo — Follow-up question: Ngokubona kwakho, yiziphi izenzo zomqondisi ezenza umsebenzi wenzeke lula? Bhala impendulo yakho ngomusho opheleleyo.
Reading Practice
Read the following short passage, written by another learner, describing how a family member recovered from illness. It reactivates the causative, the passive, and the applicative extensions across a full paragraph. Read it aloud twice before answering.
Ukululama Kukamama — Mother's Recovery
Umama wami ubegula kabi ekuqaleni konyaka, futhi sonke sasikhathazekile ngaye. Udokotela owamhlolayo wamlulamisela ngemithi efanele, wamgqugquzela futhi ukuthi aphumule kahle. Kancane kancane, umama waqala ukubonakala engcono. Sonke samsiza ngokumnakekelela ekhaya, samenzela ukudla okuphilisayo, futhi samgqugquzela njalo ukuthi angadinwa. Kusukela lapho, umama waguquka kakhulu. Manje uyahamba yedwa, uyapheka futhi uyasebenza, futhi umphumela walokho konke wamenza waneliseka kakhulu.
"wamlulamisela," "wamgqugquzela," and "samenzela" each combine a causative or applicative extension with the object concords practiced in earlier chapters.
Imibuzo yokuqonda — Comprehension questions:
- Umama wayenjani ekuqaleni konyaka? (How was mother at the beginning of the year?)
- Yini eyenziwa udokotela nomndeni, ukuze umama alulame? (What did the doctor and the family do, so that mother would heal?)
- Ngokubona kwakho, yiziphi izici ezibalulekile ekululameni kukamama? (In your view, which factors were most important in mother's recovery?)
Writing Workshop
Write a short account of a change you witnessed or experienced, drawing only on vocabulary and grammar already active from this chapter and earlier chapters.
Umsebenzi wokubhala — Writing task: Write a description of eight to twelve sentences, including at least one causative verb describing a process, one applicative verb with a reason or instrument meaning, one passive verb, and a clear contrast between an earlier condition and a later condition.
- Choose your change. In English, note what changed, who or what caused it, and over what period of time.
- Describe the earlier condition. Use the perfect or a negative perfect to establish how things were before.
- Name the cause. Use a causative verb to show who or what brought the change about.
- Add an applicative reason or instrument. Explain why the action was taken, or with what it was carried out.
- Add a passive verb. Describe part of the process without naming who did it.
- Describe the present condition. Use the perfect to show the result, and contrast it clearly with the earlier condition.
- Close with a reference back. Use kusukela lapho, or a demonstrative such as lowo, leyo, or lelo, to refer to your subject one final time.
- Audit your draft. Confirm that every causative and passive form is built on the correct verb root, and that your earlier and later conditions are clearly distinguished.
Isikhungo sokuhlola — Editing checklist:
- An earlier condition is clearly established using the perfect or a negative perfect.
- At least one causative verb correctly describes a process or a caused change.
- At least one applicative verb correctly introduces a reason or an instrument.
- At least one passive verb is used correctly, with the doer left unstated.
- A later condition is clearly described, and the contrast with the earlier condition is easy to follow.
- Standard isiZulu spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are used throughout.
Speaking Practice
Ukuzilolonga — Controlled practice: reading the model dialogue aloud
Read the model dialogue above aloud twice, once at a slow, careful pace, and once at a natural, connected pace. Pay particular attention to keeping every causative and passive verb clearly pronounced, even when it combines with an applicative extension.
Umsebenzi wokuxhumana — Communicative task: describing a change over time
With a partner or small group, describe a change you have witnessed, using at least one causative verb, one applicative verb, and one passive verb, and contrasting an earlier condition with a later one, following the pattern in the model dialogue.
Ukuzilolonga wedwa — Solo alternative
Record yourself describing the same change alone, as if updating a friend who has not seen the situation in some time. Listen back, checking that your earlier and later conditions are clearly distinguished, and that every causative and passive form agrees correctly.
Culture and Communication
In many isiZulu speaking communities, discussion of illness or injury, especially involving an elder, is often paired with expressions of gratitude toward those who provided care, rather than dwelling only on the difficulty itself. Notice how Lindiwe balances the description of her grandfather's injury with warm acknowledgment of the doctor's help.
When describing a positive change, such as a healed leg or a thriving garden, speakers commonly credit the people whose effort and care contributed to it, rather than describing the outcome as happening on its own. This pattern of shared credit is common in narration about recovery, growth, and community support.
Common Mistakes
Error: Describing an outcome with the passive extension when the sentence actually needs to name who or what caused the change.
Correction: Ask whether the sentence needs to credit a causer, which needs the causative, or whether the causer is genuinely unknown or unimportant, which needs the passive.
Error: Trying to build a new reciprocal or neuter-stative verb by analogy with ukubonana or ukwaneliseka, before this pattern has been taught for production.
Correction: Use only the reciprocal and neuter-stative verbs already introduced as fixed vocabulary items, and wait for Chapter 6 before building new ones.
Error: Describing only the present condition of a person or thing, without first establishing what the earlier condition was.
Correction: Begin a change-of-state description with the earlier condition, using the perfect or a negative perfect, before introducing the cause and the resulting condition.
Chapter Review
Ingxenye A — Ukuqonda (Comprehension)
1. Buyela endabeni kaLindiwe nokaNomvula, uphendule le mibuzo emifushane: (Return to Lindiwe and Nomvula's conversation, and answer these short questions.)
- Udokotela wamlulamisela ngani umlenze kagogo?
- Umakhelwane wenzeni, ukuze isivande sakhe sikhule?
Ingxenye B — Isigabisigabi (Grammar)
1. Guqula lo musho, usebenzisa isandiso -is- ukwenza umuntu athole isenzo esithile: (Transform this sentence, using the -is- causative extension.)
Umntwana wakhula. → ______ (mother made the child grow, helped him grow up)
2. Guqula lo musho, wengeza isizathu noma insimbi yokwenza, usebenzisa isandiso -el-: (Transform this sentence, adding a reason or instrument, using the -el- applicative extension.)
Udokotela wamlulamisa. → ______ (the doctor helped heal him with the correct medicine)
3. Bhala umusho owodwa ochaza isimo sangaphambili nesamanje, usebenzisa isikhathi esiphelele: (Write one sentence contrasting an earlier condition with a present condition, using the perfect.)
Ingxenye C — Ukufunda (Reading)
1. Buyela endabeni kamama, uphendule: (Return to the passage about mother, and answer.)
- Umama wayenjani ekuqaleni konyaka?
- Yini eyamenza waneliseka ekugcineni?
Ingxenye D — Ukubhala (Writing)
1. Bhala isigaba esifushane esichaza inguquko oyibonile, usebenzisa isandiso -is-, isandiso -el-, kanye nesandiso -w-. (Write a short paragraph describing a change you witnessed, using the causative, applicative, and passive extensions.)
Ingxenye E — Ukukhuluma (Speaking)
1. Chazela umngane wakho ngenguquko oyibonile empilweni yomuntu othile, usebenzisa kusukela lapho ukuze uchaze isikhathi. (Describe to your partner a change you have seen in someone's life, using kusukela lapho to mark the point where it began.)
Ukubuyekezwa okuhlanganisiwe — Cumulative review from Chapters 1 to 4 and Volume II
Choose the correct word or form in brackets to complete this short description, drawing on relative clauses, participial clauses, and the causative and passive extensions together.
Udade [engangimazi / engimazi] kahle wangisiza kakhulu ngesikhathi [ngigula / ngagula]. Ekhathele kakhulu, [wafika / efika] ekhaya lami, [wangichazela / wangichaza] ukuthi angenzeni. Wonke umsebenzi wami [wenziwa / wenza] lula ngenxa yakhe, futhi manje [ngiyaneliseka / ngineliseke] kakhulu.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 5 Diagnostic
Explaining a Change and Its Cause Across the Four Skills
Complete the following four connected tasks, in order, as a single performance sequence.
- Listen to the passage on the change at work in this chapter, or a similar passage provided by your instructor, and complete the listening table without reading a transcript first.
- Read the passage on mother's recovery in this chapter, or a similar passage provided by your instructor, and answer the comprehension questions, including the interpretive question, in full sentences.
- Write your own account of a change, following the writing workshop steps and editing checklist above.
- Speak your own account to a partner, group, or recording, without a written script in front of you.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Causative accuracy | Causative verbs correctly describe a process or a caused change, across a range of verb roots. |
| Applicative accuracy | Applicative verbs correctly introduce a reason, instrument, or manner. |
| Passive accuracy | Passive verbs correctly leave the doer unstated where appropriate. |
| Earlier and later contrast | An earlier condition and a later condition are both clearly established and contrasted. |
| Task completion and connection | All four tasks are completed, and the language used connects clearly across listening, reading, writing, and speaking. |
This task assesses only systems already active by the end of this chapter. No item on this rubric requires productive control of the reciprocal or neuter-stative extensions, since those remain scheduled for Chapter 6.
Answer Key
Dialogue — Comprehension
- Udokotela wamlulamisela ngezidakamizwa ezifanele.
- Wazinakekela ngamanzi amaningi nangothando.
Listening
Earlier condition: umsebenzi ubungakahleleki kahle. Present condition: umsebenzi waguquka waba lula, futhi bobabili baneliseka.
Follow-up question: model responses will vary, and any answer that gives a plausible, clearly stated reason is acceptable.
Reading — Comprehension
- Umama wayegula kabi ekuqaleni konyaka.
- Udokotela wamlulamisela ngemithi efanele, futhi umndeni wamnakekela ekhaya.
- Model responses will vary. Acceptable answers should note the combined role of medical care and family support.
Chapter Review — Ingxenye B
- Model response: Umama wamkhulisa umntwana.
- Model response: Udokotela wamlulamisela ngemithi efanele.
- Model responses will vary. An acceptable sentence contrasts an earlier and a later condition using the perfect, for example: Ubelimele, kodwa manje usululamile.
Chapter Review — Ingxenye C
- (a) Umama wayegula kabi. (b) Ukusizwa udokotela nomndeni wakhe, kanye nokungadinwa.
Cumulative Review — Correct answers
engangimazi / ngagula / efika / wangichazela / wenziwa / ngiyaneliseka
Looking Ahead
Okungakwenzeka manje — What you can do now
You can describe how one person or event brings about an action or change in someone else, contrast an earlier condition with a present one, use the applicative extension for reason, instrument, and manner, use the passive extension across a wider range of verbs, recognize a small set of reciprocal and neuter-stative verbs as fixed vocabulary, and keep reference clear across a longer stretch of narration.