Xhosa Grammar

The Xhosa grammar allows you to manipulate the vocabulary to obtain multiple forms of a word. The grammatical rules below are the most important in Xhosa and help connect words or shape the structure. We start with the prepositions:

And: futhi	Under: ngaphantsi
Before: ngaphambi	After: emva
Inside: ngaphakathi	Outside: ngaphandle
With: kunye	But: kodwa
For: ye	From: suka
To: kuya	In: phakathi

Questions and Adverbs

To ask questions, use the following:

What?: intoni?	Who?: ubani?
How?: njani?	Why?: ngoba?
Where?: phi?

Some of the most important time adverbs:

Never: soze	Rarely: hayi rhoqo
Sometimes: ngamanye amaxesha	Usually: uqhele
Always: soloko	Very: kakhulu

Most commonly used pronouns in Xhosa:

I: mna	You: wena
He: yena	She: yena
We: thina	They: bona

To express the possession of something [possessive form]:

My: eyam	Your: yakho
His: yakhe	Her: yena
Our: yethu	Their: yabo

Grammar in a sentence

Some random verbs to show how it's being used:

I speak English: ndithetha isingesi

You speak French: uthetha isiFrench

He speaks German: Uthetha isiJamani

She speaks Italian: Uthetha isinTaliyane

I visited France: ndityelele eFrance

I will drink milk: ndizosela ubisi

Some extra grammatical structures:

I understand you: Ndiyakuva

I don't understand you: Andikuva kakuhla

I don't speak French: andithethi isifrench

This is my house: yindlu yam

That restaurant is far: landawo yokutyela ikude

No problem: akhongxaki

The above Xhosa grammar can provide tools to use in coordination with the Xhosa vocabulary to obtain some popular Xhosa phrases.