Verbs After a Focused Subject

Level 2

Focus on who acts selects a reduced affirmative verb paradigm. Ayaa or baa commonly follows the focused subject.

How It Works

Reduced present forms have short final -a instead of full -aa. With hees, the general form is heesa, feminine third-person singular is heesta, and first-person plural is heesna. Other person and plural distinctions disappear.

Compare Wiilku wuu heesaa, “The boy sings,” with Wiilka ayaa heesa, “It is the boy who sings.” Focus changes wiilku to wiilka, removes uu, and selects heesa. A focused plural subject also uses the general reduced form.

Reduced forms exist in other tenses and aspects. Object or location focus does not itself reduce subject agreement. Negative focus uses aan and reduced subjunctive instead. Irregular ah and leh have separate patterns; ah disappears after an adjective. Some southern varieties use subjunctives in reduced-present contexts, an attested regional alternative.

Examples (3)

  1. Wiilka ayaa heesa.

    It is the boy who sings.

    Reduced heesa follows subject focus.

  2. Gabdhaha ayaa heesa.

    It is the girls who sing.

    The plural subject uses general reduced agreement.

  3. Sahra ayaa heesta.

    It is Sahra who sings.

    Feminine singular retains t.

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Verbs After a Focused SubjectLevel 2

Learn This First

Recognize subject focus and ordinary agreement before learning the reduced agreement used after subject focus.

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