fa ... bra / fa ... kɔ

Bring and Take: Fa ... Bra, Fa ... Kɔ

Level 2

To say bring, Twi says take it and come: Fa nsuo bra (Bring water). To say take away, it says take it and go: Fa nwoma no kɔ (Take the book away).

How It Works

Commands. Fa + the thing + bra means bring: Fa nsuo bra (Bring water), Fa bra (Bring it), Fa bra ha (Bring it here). Bra is the command form of ba (come), as in Bra ha. Fa + the thing + kɔ means take it away or take it along: Fa nwoma no kɔ (Take the book away). To bring something to a person, use brɛ: Fa nsuo brɛ me (Bring me water).

Statements use de. In statements, de takes the place of fa. De never takes a tense; the second verb does, and it is ba, not bra: Ɔde nsuo no baeɛ (He brought the water), Ɔde nwoma no kɔɔ fie (He took the book home), Mede bɛba (I will bring it). This is the same de as in Using Something: de.

Negatives use fa. In the negative, fa returns and both verbs are negative: Wamfa amma (He did not bring it), Wamfa nsuo amma (He did not bring water).

Leaving out it. When the thing is already known, it is simply left out: Fa bra (Bring it), Ɔde baeɛ (He brought it). See Leaving Out It.

Examples (6)

  1. Fa nsuo bra.

    Bring water.

    Word by Word: Take water come.

    Fa (take) + nsuo (water) + bra (come).

  2. Fa nwoma no kɔ.

    Take the book away.

    Fa + the thing + kɔ (go) moves it away from here.

  3. Fa bra.

    Bring it.

    The known thing is left out.

  4. Ɔde nsuo no baeɛ.

    He brought the water.

    In a statement, de replaces fa, and ba takes the past ending.

  5. Mede bɛba.

    I will bring it.

    The future bɛ- goes on ba; de stays the same.

  6. Wamfa amma.

    He did not bring it.

    In the negative, fa returns and both verbs are negative.

Common Mistakes

  • Using bra outside a command.

    Ɔde nsuo no braeɛ.
    Ɔde nsuo no baeɛ.

    Bra is only the command form. In every other form the verb is ba: baeɛ, bɛba, amma.

  • Making only the first verb negative.

    Wamfa nsuo baeɛ.
    Wamfa nsuo amma.

    Both verbs are negative. Ba becomes amma after a- and the nasal.

How It Connects

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

fa ... bra / fa ... kɔLevel 2Bring and Take: Fa ... Bra, Fa ... Kɔ

Learn This First

Bring and take are serial verbs, often used as commands.

Words in This Pattern

fabra