muna / kuna / suna

Ongoing Actions with Plural Subjects

Level 1

Put the plural continuative form before a suitable action expression.

How It Works

Muna refers to the speaker's group, kuna to several listeners, and suna to another group. They do not distinguish masculine and feminine groups. Plain continuative forms also serve yes/no questions.

Compare Yara sun yi wasa “The children played” with Yara suna wasa “The children are playing”. Completive needs yi with the action noun; continuative can omit it. A recurrent context can produce a habitual reading.

After an overt subject, Yara na wasa is grammatical. The agreement portion is omitted, but continuative na remains. Verbal-noun object formation follows the same principles as with singular subjects. Negation and fronted questions select other forms.

Kuna can accompany respectful plural address to an individual. Relationship and local practice determine that interpretation; it is not automatic for every elder.

Examples (4)

  1. Muna cin doya.

    We are eating yam.

    The speaker's group is the subject.

  2. Kuna hutawa a gida?

    Are you resting at home?

    The question addresses several listeners.

  3. Ɗalibai suna karanta jarida.

    The students are reading a newspaper.

    Full marking follows a named plural subject.

  4. Yara suna wasa da safe.

    The children play in the morning.

    A recurrent reading in the intended context.

How It Connects

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muna / kuna / sunaLevel 1Ongoing Actions with Plural Subjects

Learn This First

Extend the continuative subject frame to plural participants and compare full marking with agreement reduced to na.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

munaMuna