ǹjẹ́

Asking Whether

Level 1

ǹjẹ́ + clause asks for confirmation or denial.

How It Works

ǹjẹ́ introduces a yes-or-no question. Place it before the subject and predicate, retaining the clause's aspect and modal expressions. Preserve its low-tone syllabic nasal and final high tone. It has no singular or plural ending.

Compare Ǹjẹ́ o ní kẹ̀kẹ́?, which asks whether you have a bicycle, with Kí ni o ní?, which asks what you have. With lè, the question concerns ability or possibility; conversational context can make it a permission request.

Standard Nigerian Yoruba also allows declarative wording to function as a yes-or-no question through questioning intonation. This is a speech pattern, not an instruction to change lexical tone marks. This construction restricts ǹjẹ́ to clause-initial position.

Examples (3)

  1. Ǹjẹ́ o ní kẹ̀kẹ́?

    Do you have a bicycle?

    Questions possession.

  2. Ǹjẹ́ Bísí ti dé?

    Has Bísí arrived?

    Ti retains its completed-event contribution.

  3. Ǹjẹ́ a lè wọlé?

    Can we enter?

    Context can make this a permission request.

How It Connects

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

ǹjẹ́Level 1Asking Whether

Learn This First

Begin with ǹjẹ́ to ask whether a situation holds.