bí ... ṣe

How or as Something Happens

Level 2

Place the subject between bí and ṣe, then supply the predicate.

How It Works

The illustrated frame is bí + subject + ṣe + predicate. Bí and ṣe need not be adjacent. Aspect material such as ń can follow ṣe to describe an ongoing or recurring action. Each clause identifies its own participants.

The subordinate clause can describe a method or supply a model. Knowing how someone cooks concerns their method; doing something as another person did follows that person's example. In bí mo ṣe ṣe é, the first ṣe belongs to the manner frame and the second means do.

Contrast an embedded manner expression with a direct question using báwo. Conditional bí has a separate function. Also distinguish ṣe, do, from cooking sè. The low-tone cooking verb appears as se before the overt objects in these examples; mid-tone se is not its context-free dictionary form.

Examples (3)

  1. Mo mọ bí o ṣe ń se ọbẹ̀.

    I know how you cook soup.

    The embedded clause identifies a method.

  2. Ṣàlàyé bí o ṣe kọ́ ilé náà.

    Explain how you built that house.

    The manner clause concerns building.

  3. Ṣe é bí mo ṣe ṣe é.

    Do it as I did it.

    The subordinate action supplies the model.