-ni / -foɔ

Nationality: -ni and -foɔ

Level 2

One person: -ni. Several: -foɔ. Meyɛ Ghanani. (I am a Ghanaian.) Yɛyɛ Ghanafoɔ. (We are Ghanaians.)

How It Works

1. The pairs

  • Ghana → Ghanani (a Ghanaian), Ghanafoɔ (Ghanaians)
  • Asante → Asanteni (an Asante person), Asantefoɔ (Asante people)
  • Fante → Fanteni (a Fante person), Fantefoɔ (Fante people)

2. No prefix
The ending goes straight onto the name, with no ɔ- or a- in front. Only the ending tells you whether you mean one person or several.

3. Saying who you are
Use yɛ: Meyɛ Ghanani (I am a Ghanaian), Yɛyɛ Ghanafoɔ (We are Ghanaians). Choose the ending by the number of people: one person takes -ni, a group takes -foɔ. To name the place itself, use firi: Mefiri Ghana (I am from Ghana).

4. The same split elsewhere
Some other words for people follow this -ni and -foɔ split, but they also carry a prefix: osuani (a student) and asuafoɔ (students), osikani (a rich person) and asikafoɔ (rich people). See People Who Do: -foɔ.

5. Akuapem spelling
Akuapem writes the plural ending -fo: Ghanafo, Asantefo.

Examples (6)

  1. Meyɛ Ghanani.

    I am a Ghanaian.

    One person, so -ni.

  2. Yɛyɛ Ghanafoɔ.

    We are Ghanaians.

    Several people, so -foɔ.

  3. Kofi yɛ Asanteni.

    Kofi is an Asante.

    The name Asante takes -ni with no prefix.

  4. Asantefoɔ pii te Kumase.

    Many Asante people live in Kumasi.

    Asantefoɔ is the plural.

  5. Ɔnyɛ Asanteni; ɔyɛ Fanteni.

    He is not an Asante; he is a Fante.

    Nyɛ is the negative of yɛ. Both names take -ni for one person.

  6. Wɔn nyinaa yɛ Fantefoɔ.

    They are all Fante people.

    A group, so -foɔ.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -foɔ for one person.

    Meyɛ Ghanafoɔ.
    Meyɛ Ghanani.

    -Foɔ names several people. For yourself alone, use -ni: Ghanani.

  • Using -ni for a group.

    Yɛyɛ Ghanani.
    Yɛyɛ Ghanafoɔ.

    Yɛ- means we, so the name must be plural: Ghanafoɔ.

How It Connects

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

-ni / -foɔLevel 2Nationality: -ni and -foɔ

Learn This First

Nationality words pair -ni with -foɔ.

Words in This Pattern

-ni