Zulu grammar

Zulu grammar is typical for Bantu languages, bearing all the hallmarks of this language family. These include agglutinativity, a rich array of noun classes, extensive inflection for person (both subject and object), tense and aspect and a subject–verb–object word order.

Vowel coalescence

Zulu generally forbids two vowels from standing next to each other. When this occurs, due to a combination of affixes, they are coalesced into a single vowel according to the following rules:

	-a	-e	-i	-o	-u
a-	a	?	e	?	o
e-	e	e	e	?	e, o
i-	ya	ye	yi	yo	yu
o-	?	?	?	?	?
u-	wa	we	wi	wo	wu

Nouns

The Zulu noun consists of two essential parts, the prefix and the stem. Nouns are grouped into noun classes based on the prefix they have, with each class having a number. For example, the nouns abafana "boys" and abangani "friends" belong to class 2, characterised by the prefix aba-, whereas isibongo "surname" and isihlahla "tree" belong to class 7, characterised by the prefix isi-. The numbers are based on the classes reconstructed for Proto-Bantu, and have corresponding classes in the other Bantu languages. Therefore, classes that are missing in Zulu create a gap in the numbering, as is the case with the missing classes 12, 13 and 16 (as well as those above 17).

The prefix occurs in two forms: the full form, and the simple or short form. The full form includes an initial vowel, called the augment, while this vowel is dropped in the simple form. The two forms have different grammatical functions, as detailed below.

The following noun classes exist:

Class	Full prefix	Simple prefix	Example	Meaning
1	um(u)-^1	m(u)-^1	umuntu	person
2	aba-, abe-^2	ba-, be-^2	abantu	persons
1a	u-	-	ubaba	(my) father
2a	o-	bo-	obaba	(my) fathers
3	um(u)-^1	m(u)-^1	umlenze	leg
4	imi-	mi-	imilenze	legs
5	i- (/iː/), ili-	li-	iqanda	egg
6	ama-	ma-	amaqanda	eggs
7	isi-	si-	isicebi	rich person
8	izi-	zi-	izicebi	rich people
9	in-^3	n-^3	inja	dog
10	izin-^3	zin-^3	izinja, izimpaphe	dogs, feathers
11	u- (/uː/), ulu-	lu-	uphaphe	feather
14	ubu-	bu-	ubuhlalu	bead
15	uku-	ku-	ukukhanya	light
17	uku-	ku-	ukwindla	autumn

1. umu- is used before single-syllable stems, e.g. umuntu "person". um- is used elsewhere. Both variants have two syllables; um- is pronounced /um̩/, with a syllabic consonant.
2. abe- occurs only in rare cases, e.g. in abeSuthu "the Sothos" or abeLungu "the Whites, the Europeans", where it has a collective, not plural meaning.
3. The final n of the prefix becomes m before b, f, p, v, and disappears altogether before m or n. For example, inhlanzi "fish", iMali "money", impilo "life". If the noun stem begins with an aspirated or breathy voiced consonant, it becomes a plain consonant.

Every class is inherently singular or plural. Odd-numbered classes are singular, even-numbered classes are plural, with the exception of class 14 which is also singular in meaning. The plural of a noun is normally formed by switching it to the next higher class. Thus, the plural of class 1 umuntu "person" is class 2 abantu "people". For class 11 nouns, the plural is class 10. Classes 14, 15 and 17 usually have no plural at all, but in rare instances class 6 is used to form a plural for these nouns.

The class of the noun determines the forms of other parts of speech, i.e. verbs, adjectives, etc. These other parts of speech receive their own prefix, matching in class with the noun, though the prefixes themselves are not quite the same.

• umfana omkhulu "big boy"
• isihlahla esikhulu "large tree"

In terms of meaning, groups of similar nouns tend to belong to similar noun classes. For example, names and surnames are only found in class 1a. Nouns for people, including agent nouns, are commonly in class 1, while animals are in often class 9. Abstract nouns are often in class 14, loanwords in classes 9 and 5, and infinitives of verbs and nouns derived from them in class 15. These are only guidelines and there are exceptions in every single class.

Tone classes

In addition to noun class, Zulu nouns also have a tone class associated with them. The tone class of the noun determines what pattern of high and low tones is superimposed on the syllables of the word. The tone class is inherent in the basic noun stem (the noun without its prefix), and is completely independent of noun class, so that any combination of noun class and tone class is possible. All nouns with the same stem share the same tone class, regardless of noun class. Moreover, the tone class does not change when a noun is lengthened with one or more suffixes. Thus, abántu "people" is in the same class as its diminutive abántwana "children".

There is no consistent naming scheme for the tone classes. The names used here are based on the pattern of underlying tones from the start of the noun stem to the last high tone: L, H, LH, HH and HHH. Under Cope's classification, these are labelled somewhat nondescriptively as classes I, IV, II, III and IIIa respectively.^[1] The L tone class has no underlying high tone at all, while the other classes have a sequence of 1-3 tones of which the last is a high tone, followed by low tones if there are more syllables. The number of tones in the pattern indicates how many syllables a noun stem must have at mimimum to belong to the tone class: any noun can belong to classes L and H, at least two syllables are required for classes LH and HH, while HHH requires three syllables. These tone classes reflect the underlying tones of the word, however, and due to various changes such as tonal displacement, assimilation and dissimilation, the actual tones that appear on the word may be quite different from the underlying pattern. For example, although ísífúbá belongs to the HH class and may therefore be expected to have a high-high tone pattern in the stem, its simple form sifubá has a low-high pattern.

Simple prefixes have a low tone, regardless of the noun they are attached to. The tone of the full noun prefixes is determined by the noun class of the noun they are attached to:

• With nouns of the H, HH and HHH classes, the first syllable of the noun prefix has a high tone. If the second syllable of the prefix does not start with a depressor consonant, the high tone spreads to the second syllable as well.
• With nouns of the L and LH classes, the second syllable of the noun prefix has a high tone. If the second syllable of the prefix starts with a depressor consonant, the high tone shifts rightwards onto the first syllable of the noun, creating a high tone there, or a falling tone if the syllable has a long vowel.

If the full noun prefix consists of only one syllable, e.g. class 9 in-, then it has a high tone regardless of the tone class. Note that the class 1/3 prefix um- consists of two syllables, so the u and the m will each receive their own tone.

The following table shows the tone classes and the actual tone patterns appearing on nouns belonging to each class, with L meaning low tone, H meaning high tone and F meaning falling (on long syllables only). The hyphen indicates the boundary between the prefix and the noun stem; the tones of the prefix are shown before the hyphen, those of the noun stem itself after it. Separate tone patterns are given for full prefixes with a depressor consonant and those without; simple prefixes always have a low tone, so depressors are not relevant for them.

Tone class	Prefix type	1 syllable	2 syllables	3 syllables	4 syllables	Example nouns
L	Nondepr.	LH-L	LH-LL	LL-HLL	LL-LHLL	umúntu, índlu, isíhlahla, íntambo, únina
	Depr.	LH̤-L	LL̤-FL ~ LL̤-HL	LL̤-HLL	LL̤-LHLL
	Simple	L-L	L-LL	L-LLL	L-LLLL
H	Nondepr.	HL-H (~ H-L)^1	HH-HL	HH-HLL	HH-LHLL	úmuthí, ínja/injá^1, ísíbáya, úḿfána, ínsízwa
	Depr.	HL̤-H	HL̤-HL	HL̤-HLL	HL̤-LHLL
	Simple	L-H	L-HL	L-HLL	L-LHLL
LH	Nondepr.	—	LH-LH	LH-LHL	LH-LHLL	isíkhathí, úphaphé, ínkomó, úbabá
	Depr.	—	LL̤-FH ~ LL̤-HL^2	LL̤-HHL	LL̤-HHLL
	Simple	—	L-LH	L-LHL	L-LHLL
HH	Nondepr.	—	HH-HH ~ HH-FL	HH-HHL	HH-HHLL	ísíkhwámá, ísífúbá, úḿfází, ínkósí
	Depr.	—	HL̤-LH^3 ~ HL̤-FL	HL̤-LHL^3	HL̤-LHLL^3
	Simple	—	L-LH^3 ~ L-FL	L-LHL^3	L-LHLL^3
HHH	Nondepr.	—	—	HH-HHH	HH-LLHL ~ HH-HHHL	úḿsébénzí, ínkónyáné
	Depr.	—	—	?	?
	Simple	—	—	?	?

1. When both the full prefix and the noun stem consist of one syllable, the first syllable is high when the prefix vowel is short, the second is high when the prefix vowel is long.
2. When a depressor creates a high tone on the penultimate syllable, the final syllable becomes low through dissimilation.
3. The first syllable of the noun stem takes on a low tone when the prefix ends in a low tone.

As the tone class is a property of the noun stem, it remains the same when one noun prefix is switched for another (such as when changing the noun from singular to plural). Furthermore, it remains the same when suffixes are added to the noun, such as in the locative form. This does not mean that the tones remain the same on every syllable when a suffix is added; rather, the tone class specifies a rule or pattern by which the noun can be extended and the tones reassigned to the syllables of the longer noun stem.

When additional syllables are added to the beginning of the noun, a simple pattern is used to assign tones to them:

• Before a full prefix, all additional syllables have high tones. For example: uḿntwana "child" → njéngoḿntwana "like a child".
• Before a simple prefix, the first additional syllable receives a low tone, while any further syllables added to the beginning receive a high tone. For example: muntu muní? "what sort of person?" → njéngamuntu muní? "like what sort of person?"

Use of the full and simple forms

The full form, including the initial augment, is the default form of the noun. It is used in most circumstances, such as in the role of the subject or object of a verb. The simple form has more specific uses. These include:^[2]

• As a vocative, directly addressing someone or something.

  Babá, ngisize! "Father, help me!"

• When the noun is preceded by a demonstrative.

  ló muntu "this person"

• When the noun is followed by the interrogative adjectives -phí "which?" or -ní "what kind of?".

  muntu muphí? "which person?"

  muntu muní? "what kind of person?"

• After a negative verb, when the meaning is indefinite, i.e. translatable with a word such as "any".

  Angibóni bantu "I don't see any people", contrasting with Angibóni abántu "I don't see the people".

• When the negative of the so-called "associative copulative" is formed.

  Anginanja "I don't have any dog", contrasting with Nginenja "I have a dog", in which the e reflects the combination of the final a of the copulative and the noun's augment i.

• In a negative sentence, with an indefinite possessive modifying the object.
• In a relative clause, when the relative concord is prefixed to a possessive form, i.e. with "whose" as a relative.
• In a phrase which acts as a synonym of a preceding pronoun.

  Thiná, bantu,... "We, the people,..."

Locative

The locative is a noun form that indicates a location associated with the noun. It can translate to a variety of English prepositions, such as "in", "at", "on", "to" or "from", and is thus quite general in meaning. The locative is formed in two different ways, depending on the class of the noun.

For nouns in class 1(a) or 2(a), which include all proper names of people, the locative is formed by prefixing ku- to the noun. For example:

• umuntu "person" → kumuntu "at/on/to/from etc. the person"
• abantu "people" → kubantu "at/on/to/from etc. the people"
• umama "mother" → kumama "at/on/to/from etc. mother"
• omama "mothers" → komama "at/on/to/from etc. mothers" (u + o gives o)
• u-Okthoba "October" → ku-Okthoba "in October"

For nouns that are not in class 1 or 2, the locative is formed by replacing the augment of the noun with e-, or with o- with class 11 nouns. For most nouns -ini is also suffixed, which causes various changes to the final vowel of the stem:

• a + ini → eni
• e + ini → eni
• i + ini → ini
• o + ini → weni
• u + ini → wini

Some examples:

• umlenze "leg" → emlenzeni "on the leg"
• iso "eye" → esweni "in the eye"
• amanzi "water" → emanzini "in the water"
• indlebe "ear" → endlebeni "in the ear"
• inkungu "fog" → enkungwini "in the fog"
• uphahla "roof" → ophahleni "on the roof"

Some nouns have locative forms without the suffix, using just the prefix. This includes most nouns for place names, but also a few regular nouns:

• iGoli "Johannesburg" → eGoli "in Johannesburg"
• indle "the wild" → endle "in the wild"
• ikhanda "head" → ekhanda "on the head"
• ikhaya "home" → ekhaya "at home"
• ubusuku "night" → ebusuku "at night"
• inyakatho "north" → enyakatho "in the north"

Possessive

The possessive form is similar to the genitive case of some other languages. It indicates the possessor, or a more general association, and corresponds in meaning to the English preposition "of". It is placed after the noun that is possessed, and receives a special possessive prefix that agrees with the preceding noun's class. For example:

• uphahla lwendlu "the roof of the house"
• amasondo ebhasi "the wheels of the bus"
• ukushisa kwomlilo "the heat of the fire"

The possessive prefix is formed from the subject concord of verbs (see the verbs section), plus a. When the possessive prefix is attached to a noun of class 1a (the possessor is class 1a, not the thing possessed), an additional ka is infixed, which replaces the subject concord altogether when it consists of only a vowel.

Class	Prefix	Prefix + class 1a
1, 1a	wa-	ka-
2, 2a	ba-	baka-
3	wa-	ka-
4	ya-	ka-
5	la-	lika-
6	a-	ka-
7	sa-	sika-
8	za-	zika-
9	ya-	ka-
10	za-	zika-
11	lwa-	luka-
14	ba-	buka-
15	kwa-	kuka-
17	kwa-	kuka-

The vowel of the prefix coalesces with any initial vowel of the noun, as follows:

• a + a → a
• a + e → e
• a + i → e
• a + o → o
• a + u → o

With nouns not in class 1a, the possessive prefix can be attached to either the full form or the simple form of the noun. When attached to the simple form, it has an indefinite meaning, like "of any", used with negative verbs. The full form is used in other cases. For example:

• angidlanga ukudla kwenja "I didn't eat the food of the dog" / "I didn't eat the dog's food"
• angidlanga ukudla kwanja "I didn't eat the food of any dog" / "I didn't eat any dog's food"

With nouns in class 1a, the prefix, extended with ka, is always attached to the simple form.

Verbs

In contrast to the noun, the Zulu verb has a variable number of components, which are arranged in sequence according to a defined set of rules. Examples of these include:

• a subject prefix (SP), which agrees with the subject of the sentence
• a temporal morpheme, which indicates the tense of the verb
• an object prefix (OP), which agrees with the object of the sentence
• the verb stem (VS), which carries the underlying meaning of the verb
• a suffix, which can signify various aspects of the verb (e.g. tense or modality)

The verb stem and the suffix are always present, but the other parts are optional, i.e. their presence depends on the function of the verb in the sentence. Verbs are normally cited with the default suffix -a.

Simple verb stems

Simple verb stems are ones to which no suffixes are attached that would alter the basic meaning of the verb. Examples include:

-wa	to fall
-dla	to eat
-enza	to make, to do
-nqamula	to break [something]
-osa	to cook, to roast
-siza	to help

Complex verb stems

Complex verb stems are derived from simple verb stems by attaching various suffixes, thus changing the meaning. Thus, we can take the stem -enza (to make, to do) and apply a few common suffixes to get different shades of meaning. E.g.:

-enza	to make, to do
-enzana	to do something together
-enzeka	to be doable i.e. possible
-enzela	to do something for someone
-enzisa	to cause someone to do something
-enziwa	to be made, to be done

Prefixes

Both the subject and, when applicable, the object of the verb are indicated by prefixes attached to the verb stem. Zulu is a pro-drop language: explicit personal pronouns are only used for emphasis, while in general the prefixes on the verb give enough information. When a noun is used as the subject or object, then the prefix must match its class. To refer to someone in the third-person, without a noun, classes 1 and 2 are used.

Three different kinds of prefix exist: primary subject, secondary subject and object prefixes. The three are essentially the same if not for tone, except in class 1.

• Primary subject prefixes are used for the subject in all tenses of the positive indicative mood.
• Secondary prefixes are used for the subject in all negative forms, the subjunctive and the participial mood.
• Object prefixes are used for the object of the verb, and are only used for transitive verbs.

The letters in parentheses indicate additional letters added when the prefix is not at the start of the word.

Person/ Class	Primary subject	Secondary subject	Object
1st sing.	ngì-	ngí-	ngí-
2nd sing.	ù-	(w)ú-	kú-
1st plur.	sì-	sí-	sí-
2nd plur.	nì-	ní-	ní-
1	ú-	(k)á-	ḿ-
2	bá-	bá-	bá-
3	ú-	(w)ú-	wú-
4	í-	(y)í-	yí-
5	lí-	lí-	lí-
6	á-	(w)á-	wá-
7	sí-	sí-	sí-
8	zí-	zí-	zí-
9	í-	(y)í-	yí-
10	zí-	zí-	zí-
11	lú-	lú-	lú-
14	bú-	bú-	bú-
15	kú-	kú-	kú-
17	kú-	kú-	kú-

Examples:

Sihamba manje.	We are going now.
Thina sihamba manje.	We are going now. (with emphasis)
Ngiyambona.	I see him.
Ngimbona yena.	I see him. (with emphasis)
Ngimnika isipho.	I give her a gift.

Tenses and moods

Form	Positive	Negative
Simple tenses
Imperative	(yi)...a(ni)
Infinitive	uku...a	ukunga...i
Present	[subj1](ya)[obj]...a	a[subj2][obj]...i
Participial	[subj2]i[obj]...a	[subj2]inga[obj]...i
Subjunctive	[subj2][obj]...e	[subj2]nga[obj]...i
Perfect	[subj1][obj]...(il)e	a[subj2][obj]...anga
Stative	[subj1]...ile	a[subj2]...ile
Preterite	[subj1]a[obj]...a	a[subj2][obj]...anga
Preterite consecutive	[subj1]a[obj]...a	[subj1]anga[obj]...a
Future	[subj1]zo[obj](ku)...a	a[subj2]zu(ku)[obj]...a
Compound tenses
Perfect continuous	[subj1]be [subj2]i[obj]...a	[subj1]be [subj2]inga[obj]...i
Preterite continuous	[subj1]abe [subj2]i[obj]...a	[subj1]abe [subj2]inga[obj]...i
Future continuous	[subj1]zobe [subj2]i[obj]...a	[subj1]zobe [subj2]inga[obj]...i
Past perfect	[subj1]be [subj2]i[obj]...e	[subj1]be [subj2]inga[obj]...anga
Past preterite	[subj1]abe [subj2]i[obj]...e	[subj1]abe [subj2]inga[obj]...anga
Past future	[subj1]zobe [subj2]i[obj]...(il)e	[subj1]zobe [subj2]inga[obj]...anga

The imperative

Formation of the imperative:

	without object	with object
Singular:	(yi) - VS - a	OP - VS - e
Plural:	(yi) - VS - ani	OP - VS - eni

The only exception to this is the common verb stem -z-, to come, whose singular and plural imperative forms are woza and wozani respectively.

Examples:

	without object		with object
Stem	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
-dl-	Yidla! Eat!	Yidlani! Eat!	Yidle (inhlanzi)! Eat it (the fish)!	Yidleni (inhlanzi)! Eat it (the fish; inhlanzi: cl. 9; OP: -yi-)!
-enz-	Yenza! Do	Yenzani! Do!	Kwenze! Do this!	Kwenzeni! Do this!
-siz-	Siza! Help!	Sizani! Help!	Msize! Help him!	Msizeni! Help him!

The infinitive

Formation of the infinitive:

Aff.: uku - VS - a

Neg.: uku - nga - VS - i

Examples:

Verb stem	Infinitive	Meaning
-w-	ukuwa	to fall
	ukungawi	not to fall (cf. note)
-dl-	ukudla	to eat
	ukungadli	not to eat
	ukuyidla	to eat it (e.g. inhlanzi, the fish; OP: -yi-)
	ukungayidli	not to eat it
-enz-	ukwenza	to do
	ukungenzi	not to do
-os-	ukosa	to roast
	ukungosi	not to roast

Several sound changes occur, when two vowels occur together. These include:

-nga-	→	-ng-	before vowels
uku-	→	uk-	before o
uku-	→	ukw-	before other vowels - this sound change occurs automatically in speech.

Note: Furthermore, the suffixe -a will be found with verb stems which end in w, never -i; e.g.: uku-nga-w-a.

The present

Formation of the present tense:

Aff.: SP - (ya) - (OP) - VS - a

Neg.: a - SP⁻ - (OP) - VS - i

The form -ya- is found when:

• the verb is the last word in the sentence
• the verb contains an object prefix, and the object follows the verb
• the speaker wants to emphasise the factuality of the statement.

Examples:

Uyahamba.	He is going.
Uhamba ekuseni.	He is going in the morning.
Akahambi.	He is not going.
Uyangisiza.	He is helping me.
Ungisiza namhlanje.	He is helping me today.
Akangisizi.	He isn't helping me.
Usiza uyise. Uyamsiza uyise.	He is helping his father.

The participial form

Formation of the participle:

Aff.: SP^P - (OP) - VS - a

Neg.: SP^P - nga - (OP) - VS - i

In the participial form, the subject prefixes (SP) u-, ba- and a- of the classes 1, 1a, 2, 2b and 6 become e-, be- and e- respectively (SP^P). The participial form is used, among others:

• to indicate simultaneity
• in subordinate clauses with certain conjunctions.
• with certain auxiliary verbs.

Examples:

Ukhuluma edla.	He talks while he eats (Eating, he talks).
Ngambona engasebenzi.	I saw that he was not working

The subjunctive

Formation of the subjunctive:

Aff.: SP^S - (OP) - VS - e

Neg.: SP^S - nga - (OP) - VS - i

In the subjunctive, the subject prefix u- of classes 1 and 1a (SP) becomes a- (SP^S). The subjunctive is used

• in wishes and polite requests
• in sequences of requests
• with certain auxiliary verbs

Examples:

Ngamtshela ahambe.	I told him he should go.
Woza lapha uzame futhi!	Come here and try it again!
Umane ahleke.	He only laughs.

The perfect

The perfect describes the recent, although what is meant by 'recent' depends on the speaker. In the colloquial language, the perfect is often preferred to the preterite.

Formation of the perfect:

Aff.: SP - (OP) - VS - e/ile

Neg.: a - SP⁻ - (OP) - VS - anga

The long form in -ile is found when the verb is the last word in the sentence or clause, otherwise the short form in -e is used, with the -e- accented.

Examples:

Sihambile.	We went.
Sihambe izolo.	We went yesterday.
Asihambanga.	We did not go.
Asimbonanga.	We have not seen him/her.

The stative

A range of Zulu verbs indicate a change of state or a process, which tends towards some final goal (cf. inchoative verbs). To indicate that this final state has been achieved, the stative verb, which is related to the perfect, is used.

Formation of the stative:

Aff.: SP - VS - ile

Neg.: a - SP⁻ - VS - ile

Examples:

Uyafa.	He is dying.
Ufile.	He is dead.
Ngiyalamba.	I am becoming hungry.
Ngilambile.	I am hungry.
Siyabuya.	We are turning back.
Sibuyile.	We have returned.

Note that the form verbs with certain endings, the ending -ile is not used. These are:

Verb stem	Stative
-al-, -el-	-ele
-an-, -en-	-ene
-am-, -em-	-eme
-ath-, -eth-	-ethe
-as-, -es-	-ese
-aw-^1	-ewe

¹ This is a unique case, namely the irregular passive -bulaw- from -bulal-.

The preterite

The preterite is used to indicate the distant past, the past preceding the perfect, and as a narrative perfect.

Formation of the preterite:

Aff.: SP + a - (OP) - VS - a

Neg.: a - SP⁻ - (OP) - VS - anga (cf. the perfect)

In the affirmative, because of the merger of the SP with a following a in the spoken language, the following subject prefixes result for the preterite:

Person	Singular	Plural
1.	nga-	sa-
2.	wa-	na-
Class	Singular	Plural
1/2	wa-	ba-
1a/2b	wa-	ba-
3/4	wa-	ya-
5/6	la-	a-
7/8	sa-	za-
9/10	ya-	za-
11/10	lwa-	za-
14	ba-
15	kwa-

Examples:

Sahamba.	We went.
Asihambanga.	We did not go.
Asimbonanga.	We did not see him/her.

The consecutive

Formation of the consecutive:

Aff.: SP + a - (OP) - VS - a

Neg.: SP + a - nga - (OP) - VS - a

The consecutive is used to describe a sequence of consecutive events in the preterite, and differs from it only in the negative.

Examples:

Wavuka wagqoka wahamba.	He woke up, dressed, and went out.
Wabaleka wangabheka emuva.	He ran away and did not look back.

The future I

Formation of the future tense I:

Aff.: SP - zo - (OP) - (ku) - VS - a

Neg.: a - SP⁻ - zu - (ku)- (OP) - VS - a

The marker of the future tense is the prefix zo- in the affirmative and the corresponding zu- in the negative. The form is constructed from the auxiliary verb uku-za (or with the auxiliary uku-ya) and the infinitive of the verb. So, ngiza ukuzosiza (I am coming to help) = ngizosiza (I will help), or, alternatively ngiya ukuyosiza (I am going to help) = ngiyosiza (I will help) - English (as well as French and others) has had a similar development, whereby the verb to go has become the marker of the future tense. To form the negative, the auxiliary verb is negated and then merged with the following verb, thus angizi ukusiza = angizusiza. In the case of monosyllabic verb stems, as well as those that begin with vowels, the prefix -ku- is added to the stem – this becomes -k- before o and -kw- in front of other vowels.

Examples:

Ngizokuza.	I will come.
Angizukuza.	I will not come.
Ngizokwakha.	I will build
Angizukwakha.	I will not build.
Ngizomsiza.	I will help him.
Angizokumsiza	I will not help him.

Other tenses

Other forms, such as the pluperfect, the future II, the progressive forms or the conjunctive forms are somewhat complicated. They are formed with single or double uses of the auxiliary verb -ba-, to be, but in practical usage are abbreviated further.

References

1. Zulu Tonal Morphology, A. T. Cope, section 2.2.1 and 2.2.4
2. The Internal Structure of the Zulu DP, Merijn de Dreu

External links

• Analytical English-Zulu Zulu-English dictionary at Isizulu.net