Articles

School	Book	Pen	Eraser
Dugsi	Buug	Qalin	Tirtire

In Somali, the definite article has several forms, depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine. Because Somali nouns are 99%  gender specific, nouns have either masculine or feminine article. This means nouns such as house, water, group, boat, sun, eye, laughter etc are  either masculine or feminine. This is not specific to singular nouns only but this rule applies to plural forms as well. (Many other languages in the world  have gendered nouns as well).

Feminine definite articles are -ta, -sha, -da. Example (barta, dusha, hooyada)

Masculine definite articles are :- ka, -ga, -ha, -ca. Example (ninka, guriga, aabaha)

Very few nouns take both forms (Faynuus ->  Faynuusta, or Faynuuska -Lamp)

Few other nouns take both forms of articles but the two words are not necessarily the same meaning or tone. (beer ->Beerka , Beerta) Beerka  is (the liver) and beerta is (the Farm).

Throughout this chapter, we will use the above fours words (dugsi, buug, qalin & tirtire) in all of our examples, for simplicity reason. At the end of the chapter, you find more examples of the different articles.

Definite Article

Ka/ga/ha	The
Dugsiga	The school
Buugga	The book
Qalinka	The pen
Tirtiraha	The eraser

Definite Article – Past

Kii/gii/hii (Lasoo dhaafay)	The (in the Past)
Dugsigii	The school
Buuggii	The book
Qalinkii	The pen
Tirtirihii	The eraser

Plural

Jamac	Plural
Dugsiyaal	Schools
Buugaag	Books
Qalimaan	Pens
Tirtireyaal	Erasers

Definite Article

Ka/Ta/Sha (Jamac)	The (Plural)
Dugsiyaalka	Schools
Buugaagta	Books
Qalimaanta	Pens
Tirtireyaalsha	Erasers

Possessive Article

Kayga/gayga/hayga	My
Dugsigayga	My school
Buuggayga	My book
Qalinkayga	My pen
Tirtirahayga	My eraser

Possessive Article – Past

Kaygii/gaygii/haygii (Lasoo dhaafay)	My (in the Past)
Dugsigaygii	My school
Buuggaygii	My book
Qalinkaygii	My pen
Tirtirihaygii	My eraser

Demonstrative Adjectives -this + noun

Gaan/kaan/haan	This
Dugsigaan	This school
Buuggaan	This book
Qalinkaan	This pen
Tirtirahaan	This eraser

Demonstrative Adjectives -that + noun

Gaas/Kaas/Haas	That
Dugsigaas	That school.
Buuggaas	That book.
Qalinkaas	That pen.
Tirtirahaas	That eraser.

Demonstrative Adjectives plural -these + noun

Kaan/Taan	These
Dugsiyaalkaan	These schools.
Buugaagtaan	These books.
Qalinmaantaan	These pens.
Tirtireyaalkaan	These erasers.

Demonstrative Adjectives plural -those + noun

Kaas/Taas	Those
Dugsiyaalkaas	Those schools.
Buugaagtaas	Those books.
Qalinmaantaas	Those pens.
Tirtireyaalkaas	Those erasers.

Demonstrative Adjectives -this is + noun

Kan waa	This is
Kan waa dugsi.	This is a school.
Kan waa buug.	This is a book.
Kan waa qalin.	This is a pen.
Kan waa tirtire.	This is an eraser.

Demonstrative Adjectives -that is + noun

Kaas waa	That is
Kaas waa dugsi.	That is a school.
Kaas waa buug.	That is a book.
Kaas waa qalin.	That is a pen.
Kaas waa tirtire.	That is an eraser.

Demonstrative Adjectives -these are + noun

Kuwaan waa	These are
Kuwaan waa dugsiyaal.	These are schools.
Kuwaan waa buugaag.	These are books.
Kuwaan waa qalimaan.	These are pens.
Kuwaan waa tirtireyaal.	These are erasers.

Demonstrative Adjectives -those are + noun

Kuwaas waa	Those are
Kuwaas waa dugsiyaal.	Those are schools.
Kuwaas waa bugaag.	Those are books.
Kuwaas waa qalimaan.	Those are pens.
Kuwaas waa tirtireyaal.	Those are erasers.

Conjunctions AND/OR

Iyo	And
Qalin iyo buug	A pen and a book
Qalimaan iyo bugaag	Pens and books
Ama	Or
Qalin ama buug	A pen or a book
Qalimaan ama bugaag	Pens or books

More examples

Somali Word	With Article Somali	With Article English
Meel	Meesha	The place
Ceel	Ceelka	The  well
Il	Isha	The  eye
Gacan	Gacanta	The hand
Ganacsi	Ganacsiga	The business
Shirkad	Shirkada	The company
Wadan	Wadanka	The country
Maalin	Maalinta	The day
Run	Runta	The truth
Dhib	Dhibka	The problem
Cunug	Cunuga	The child (M)
Cunug	Cunugta	The child (F)
Reer	Reerka	The family
Qol	Qolka	The room
Cunto	Cuntada	The food
Sharci	Sharciga	The law
Shaqo	Shaqada	The work
Nolol	Nolosha	The life
Su’aal	Su’aasha	The question
Lacag	Lacagta	The money
Hooyo	Hooyada	The mother