gye ... di (Believe)

Split Verbs: Gye ... Di

Level 3

Gye + person + di means believe someone: Megye wo di (I believe you). The object goes in the middle.

How It Works

1. The object goes inside

  • Megye wo di. (I believe you.)
  • Meda wo ase. (I thank you.) See Thank You: Meda wo ase.
  • Hwɛ abofra no so. (Look after the child.)

2. Believing a statement
When what you believe is a whole clause, gye di stays together and sɛ follows: Megye di sɛ ɔbɛba (I believe that she will come).

3. Negative: both parts
The negative nasal goes on both verbs, and di becomes nni: Mennye wo nni (I do not believe you), Ne nuanom nnye no nni (His brothers do not believe him). This follows the sound changes after the negative. In da ... ase and hwɛ ... so, only the first part changes: Wanhwɛ abofra no so (He did not look after the child).

4. Other tenses
In the past, both parts of gye ... di change: Wɔgyee no dii (They believed him). In the future and the perfect, the second part takes a-: Mɛgye wo adi (I will believe you), Magye wo adi (I have believed you). Compare consecutive a-.

5. Understand works the same way
Te ase also splits around its object: Mente wo ase (I do not understand you).

Examples (6)

  1. Megye wo di.

    I believe you.

    Word by Word: I-take you eat

  2. Mennye wo nni.

    I do not believe you.

    Word by Word: I-not-take you not-eat

    Both parts are negative. After the nasal, gy becomes ny and d becomes n.

  3. Ne nuanom nnye no nni.

    His brothers do not believe him.

    Word by Word: his siblings not-take him not-eat

  4. Megye di sɛ ɔbɛba.

    I believe that she will come.

    A clause after gye di starts with sɛ, and gye di stays together.

  5. Wɔgyee no dii.

    They believed him.

    Word by Word: they-took him ate

    In the past, both parts take the past form.

  6. Hwɛ abofra no so.

    Look after the child.

    Word by Word: look child the on

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the object after both parts, as in English.

    Megye di wo.
    Megye wo di.

    The person you believe goes between gye and di.

  • Making only the first part negative.

    Mennye wo di.
    Mennye wo nni.

    Both parts take the negative. Di becomes nni after the nasal.

How It Connects

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

gye ... di (Believe)Level 3Split Verbs: Gye ... Di

Learn This First

Split verbs, like da ... ase, place an object inside.

Words in This Pattern

gye dida asegyedi