N- (Optative)

Let and May: The Optative

Level 2

The optative turns a statement into a wish or a suggestion: Yɛkɔ (We go) → Yɛnkɔ (Let us go).

How It Works

The optative says what should happen or what you wish for. It adds a nasal before the verb:

  • Yɛnkɔ! (Let us go!)
  • Ɔnkɔ. (Let him go. / He should go.)
  • Onyame nhyira wo. (May God bless you.)

Same spelling, different melody. The optative looks just like the negative, because tone is not written. In speech the optative nasal is high and the negative nasal is low. Yɛnkɔ said one way is Let us go, and said the other way is We do not go. See tone.

Spelling and sound changes. The nasal follows the same rules as the negative: m before b, f, m and p, and b and d become m and n. Onyame mmoa wo (May God help you) comes from boa (help).

Come. For ba (come), the optative uses the command form bra: Ɔmmra ha. (Let him come here.) The negative uses ba: Ɔmma ha. (He does not come here.) Here the spelling shows the difference.

Blessings and wishes. Blessings use the optative: Awurade nhyira wo, na ɔnhwɛ wo so. (May the Lord bless you and keep you.) Notice that the second verb also takes the nasal.

Where else you meet it. It follows ma (let): Ma menkɔ (Let me go). It carries a reported command after sɛ: Ka kyerɛ no sɛ ɔmmra. (Tell him to come.) See reported commands. With mo- it gives commands to a group.

Examples (6)

  1. Yɛnkɔ!

    Let's go!

    Word by Word: We-let-go!

    Said with a high pitch on the nasal.

  2. Ɔnkɔ.

    Let him go. / He should go.

    Word by Word: He-let-go.

  3. Onyame nhyira wo.

    May God bless you.

    Word by Word: God let-bless you.

    A noun subject takes the nasal verb with no prefix.

  4. Awurade nhyira wo, na ɔnhwɛ wo so.

    May the Lord bless you and keep you.

    Word by Word: Lord let-bless you, and he-let-look you on.

    A blessing from Numbers 6:24; both verbs take the nasal.

  5. Ɔmmra ha.

    Let him come here.

    Word by Word: He-let-come here.

    The optative of come is built on bra.

  6. Yɛnkɔdidi.

    Let's go and eat.

    Word by Word: We-let-go.and-eat.

    The nasal comes before the kɔ- (go and) prefix.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the nasal when you mean let's.

    Yɛkɔ!
    Yɛnkɔ!

    Yɛkɔ is a statement: we go. The nasal makes it a suggestion.

  • Dropping the nasal from a blessing.

    Onyame hyira wo.
    Onyame nhyira wo.

    Without the nasal, the sentence states that God blesses you. The nasal turns it into the wish may God bless you.

  • Using the negative form of come for let him come.

    Ɔmma ha.
    Ɔmmra ha.

    Ɔmma ha means he does not come here. The optative of come is built on bra: Ɔmmra ha.

How It Connects

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

N- (Optative)Level 2Let and May: The Optative

Learn This First

The optative is told apart from the negative by tone.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

n-