No Grammatical Gender

Level 1

Twi has no grammatical gender. Ɔno means he or she, no after a verb means him, her or it, and ne means his, her or its.

How It Works

One set of pronouns. Where English has he and she, Twi uses one form:

  • ɔno, or the prefix ɔ-: he or she. Ɔkɔ sukuu means She goes to school or He goes to school.
  • no after a verb: him, her or it. Medɔ no means I love him or I love her.
  • ne before a noun: his, her or its. Ne maame means his mother or her mother.

See me wo ɔno yɛn mo wɔn, object pronouns and possessive pronouns.

Nothing agrees in gender. The article no, adjectives and numbers stay the same for everyone: ɔbarima tenten no (the tall man), ɔbaa tenten no (the tall woman). See noun + adjective.

When it matters, add a word. Use ɔbarima (man) and ɔbaa (woman), or words built from them: onuabarima (brother), onuabaa (sister), which drop the o after me (my): me nuabarima, nanabarima (grandfather), nanabaa (grandmother). For animals, -nini marks the male and -bedeɛ the female: akokɔnini (rooster), akokɔbedeɛ (hen). See -nini and -bedeɛ. Akan day names also show it: Kofi is a boy born on a Friday and Afua a girl born on a Friday.

People and things. Twi does divide subjects in another way: people take ɔ-, while things take ɛ- (Ɛyɛ dɛ, It is nice). That is a split between people and things, not between male and female. See ɛ- subject prefix.

Examples (5)

  1. Ɔyɛ me nua.

    He or she is my sibling.

    Word by Word: He/she-is my sibling.

    Nua means sibling, and ɔ- means he or she, so only context says brother or sister.

  2. Ɔbaa no ne ɔbarima no rekɔ fie.

    The woman and the man are going home.

    Word by Word: Woman the and man the are-going home.

    The article no is the same after ɔbaa (woman) and ɔbarima (man).

  3. Medɔ no.

    I love him.

    Word by Word: I-love him/her.

    No means him, her or it, so this also means I love her.

  4. Ne maame wɔ fie.

    Her mother is at home.

    Word by Word: Her/his mother is-at home.

    Ne means his, her or its, so this also means His mother is at home.

  5. Me nuabarima ne me nuabaa te Kumase.

    My brother and my sister live in Kumasi.

    Word by Word: My sibling-male and my sibling-female live Kumasi.

    Barima (male) and baa (female) are built into the words for brother and sister.

Common Mistakes

  • Using ɔbaa (woman) as a word for she.

    Ɔbaa kɔ sukuu.
    Ɔkɔ sukuu.

    Ɔbaa kɔ sukuu means A woman goes to school. For she, use the prefix ɔ-, the same one used for he.

How It Connects

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

No Grammatical GenderLevel 1

Words in This Pattern