Thing and Person: ihe, mmadụ

Thing and Person

Level 1

Ihe: thing. Mmadụ: person. Both are general nouns.

How It Works

Two general nouns turn up in many sentences.

Example	Meaning
ihe ọma	a good thing
ihe a	this thing
mmadụ atọ	three people
mmadụ niile	everyone, all people

They do not change in the plural. Ihe also appears in the relative clause ihe m chọrọ “the thing I want”, and in gịnị bụ ihe a? “what is this thing?”. English “anything” and “anyone” are built differently: Igbo uses ihe ọ bụla “anything” and onye ọ bụla “anyone”.

Examples (4)

ihe ọma
a good thing
Ọma follows the noun.
Ihe a dị mma.
This thing is good.
Ihe with a.
mmadụ atọ
three people
The number follows.
Mmadụ abụọ nọ n'ụlọ.
Two people are at home.
Mmadụ as a subject.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Thing and Person: ihe, mmadụLevel 1Thing and Person

Learn This First

These nouns do not change in the plural, so that idea comes first.

Nouns With No Plural Ending
Know that most nouns have no plural ending, because ihe and mmadụ stay the same and a number shows how many: mmadụ atọ “three people”.
Level 1

Words in This Pattern

ihemmadụihe ọma

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