a-N- (Negative Past)

Did Not: A- + N-

Level 2

To say someone did not do something, put a- and the negative nasal before the verb: Mankɔ (I did not go). The verb stays plain, with no past ending.

How It Works

How it is built. Subject prefix + a- + the negative nasal + the verb. The a- merges with the pronoun just as in the perfect: mankɔ (I did not go), woankɔ (you did not go), wankɔ (he or she did not go), yɛankɔ (we did not go), moankɔ (you all did not go), wɔankɔ (they did not go). With a noun subject, a- stands on its own: Kofi ankɔ (Kofi did not go).

No past ending. The affirmative past changes the end of the verb: tɔɔ before an object (Simple Past Before an Object) and tɔeɛ at the end of a clause (Simple Past at the End of a Clause). The negative past does neither: Mantɔ (I did not buy it) and Mantɔ paanoo (I did not buy bread) use the same verb form.

The nasal changes some verbs. It is written m before b, f, m and p, and it turns b into m and d into n: ba (come) gives Kofi amma (Kofi did not come), boa (help) gives Esi ammoa Yaa (Esi did not help Yaa), di (eat) gives wanni (he did not eat).

A switch to remember. Twi swaps its past and perfect markers in the negative. The perfect uses a- (Kofi aba, Kofi has come), and the negative past borrows that a- (Kofi amma, Kofi did not come). The past uses an ending (Kofi baeɛ, Kofi came), and the negative perfect borrows that ending (Kofi mmaeɛ, Kofi has not come). So Kofi amma nnɛra means Kofi did not come yesterday, while Kofi mmaeɛ means he has not come so far.

Examples (6)

  1. Mankɔ sukuu nnɛra.

    I did not go to school yesterday.

    me- + a- becomes ma-, then n- + kɔ (go).

  2. Kofi amma.

    Kofi did not come.

    A noun subject takes a- alone, and ba (come) becomes mma after the nasal.

  3. Yaw annom nsuo.

    Yaw did not drink water.

    The verb nom (drink) stays plain even with an object after it.

  4. Esi ammoa Yaa.

    Esi did not help Yaa.

    After the nasal, the b of boa (help) becomes m.

  5. Wammisa me.

    He did not ask me.

    ɔ- + a- becomes wa-, and bisa (ask) becomes mmisa after the nasal.

  6. Manhunu hwee.

    I did not see anything.

    Hwee (nothing, anything) goes with a negative verb.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding the past ending to the negative past.

    Kofi ammaeɛ.
    Kofi amma.

    The negative past never takes -eɛ or a doubled vowel. The a- before the verb already shows the past.

  • Using the negative perfect for a finished past event.

    Menkɔɔ sukuu nnɛra.
    Mankɔ sukuu nnɛra.

    Menkɔɔ sukuu means I have not gone to school, which does not fit nnɛra (yesterday). For did not, use a- + N-: Mankɔ.

  • Forgetting the sound change after the nasal.

    Kofi anba.
    Kofi amma.

    After the negative nasal, b becomes m, so ba (come) turns into mma.

How It Connects

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

a-N- (Negative Past)Level 2Did Not: A- + N-

Learn This First

The negative past is the negative of the simple past, built from the perfect's a- and the negative nasal.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

n-