No Grammatical Gender
No he and she. One word, ọ, covers he, she and it.
How It Works
Igbo has no grammatical gender: pronouns, nouns and adjectives do not change for it. The third person pronoun ọ (or o before first-group verbs) is used for a man, a woman, a child or a thing.
- Ọ bịara. “He came.” or “She came.” or “It came.”
- Ọ bụ onye nkuzi. “He is a teacher.” or “She is a teacher.”
When you need to say which, add a noun: nwoke “man”, nwanyị “woman”. The stand-alone pronoun ya is also gender-free.
This makes English he and she a small trap for translators. Choose the English pronoun the context supports and do not guess the person's gender from the Igbo.
Examples (4)
- Ọ bịara.
He came. She came.
The pronoun ọ does not show gender.
- Ọ gara ahịa.
He or she went to the market.
Same pronoun for both.
- Ọ bụ onye nkuzi.
He or she is a teacher.
No gender word is needed.
- Ada hụrụ ya.
Ada saw him or her.
Ya is also gender-free.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
Practice No Grammatical Gender in Bubblegum
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