Conversational Twi | Daily Activities & Routines | Dialogue 2: Before, Now, After

追加: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Let's check out another dialogue and we are going to use this one to learn to talk about what happened before, what is currently happening and what will happen after something. And this conversation is between Amma and Kufi. So says so we have this as which literally means as if or as though. So I can say for example let's put it here which is pitiful. This is all by the way.

[00:00:50]He or she has made his face look pitiful. So as if as though as if he or she is a good child, right?

[00:01:03]A good boy or a good girl. So literally that is what it means. So we are able to begin a sentence with this to say it appears, right? It's as if and that is what is being used here. So says means to tire like to be tired right. So it's as if you are tired. It looks as if it appears that you are tired.

[00:01:31]The question word why right? And then Kofi agrees with that. So Kofi says it is true. So this is how you say it is true.

[00:01:49]So da means to sleep. The negative of da you bring in front and the causes the d to change into as well. So we end up with to not sleep. So if you say you are saying I did not sleep early in term early is yesterday. So the full word is enra.

[00:02:15]So enra is yesterday and we learn that today is and we also learn that tomorrow is so is the night right? So is yesterday's night last night. So I did not sleep early last night.

[00:02:41]So we have which is the negative of t. I told you t is what we use to convey often right and if you negate it you get and that becomes seldom right so not often. So that is what is being used here.

[00:03:00]The negative of that to sleep early. I told you this ana is or literally but you can bring this to the end of a statement to turn that statement into a question typically a yes or no question. So without this this would have been a statement. So you don't often sleep early right? So that would have been a statement but you bring to turn that into a question.

[00:03:33]Is it the case that you don't sleep early often? And then to that Kofi responds with ohm I sleep early.

[00:03:51]I told you is every and we have which is a day. So is every day. So I sleep early every day.

[00:04:05]often I often go to sleep right about around approximately 8:00 cuz we have from the number eight and we have no so 8:00 and then Amma asks we said is what right literally and you have when you bring in after something you are saying because of right because of what came before that. So if you ask d literally you are asking because of what. So when we pair these up we are able to use them as a unit to ask why.

[00:04:57]Because if you ask because of what you're essentially asking why, right? So why is it that you did not sleep early yesterday? So we have as yesterday and then Kofi answers that he says we said means to arrive or to get to. Right? Now the negative of this you bring N in front because this verb starts with D right and we said if a verb does not start with MB nor you form its negative by bringing N in front right and if that verb starts with a D the goes on to change the D into as well. So you end up with instead of right. So that is what is being used here.

[00:05:57]I did not get home. I did not arrive home early.

[00:06:04]So this is how you would ask where did you go? Right? So if someone goes somewhere and you want to ask where did you go, you can ask.

[00:06:13]So we have the he from a he which from the lesson where we learned to ask and respond to questions we said he or he is right the question word and to that says so this means to visit right but to visit someone as in a person right if you visit a place you don't say Ghana for example no So if you visit Ghana on a tour for example you say Ghana. So for that you use all right. So if you visit a place on a tour you say Ghana. It can even be a tourist site Cape Coast Kakum National Park. But if you are visiting someone then you say Kufi for example or In this case, I went to visit my parents. So, we have here as parents.

[00:07:21]The singular is right for a parent.

[00:07:31]So, is somewhere and we said is today.

[00:07:36]So, coming from which is today. So will you go somewhere today? And to that says, this is how you convey the future negative.

[00:08:01]You bring re plus the negative verb and then you have the future negative. So that is what we have here. We have the r and then we have the future verb. Right?

[00:08:14]So there's co but it's negative. Right?

[00:08:17]So if you combine these you get the future negative. And as you can see, if you are to pronounce this as it's written, you would say right.

[00:08:30]And you will not be wrong to say this as that.

[00:08:34]That's fine. But you should note that on the ground, we typically pronounce such constructions as. So in this case, for example, we would say and that would be the future negative.

[00:08:50]Even though if you are writing it, you don't write it as as that. No, because if you write it like this, this will be confused as the present negative.

[00:09:01]I don't go, right? I don't go. But there's a pronunciation difference between the two. So there's I don't go and then there's I will not go. So that is how you are able to tell the difference.

[00:09:20]I don't go. Right. I don't go.

[00:09:25]I will not go.

[00:09:28]We have a lesson on this on the website.

[00:09:31]So this is if you are to pronounce it as it's written, but I'm telling you that on the ground you will almost always hear this being pronounced as right. Yeah. So you raise the front part of it in terms of tone. I told you if you put this de after something you'll be saying as for or for right today. So for today or as for today so you have to sleep early very right. So temper I will sleep very early. And then asks so yeah he said is to do and you have the r which is the ing to show that the action of the verb that comes after is ongoing right it's a continuous verb. So is what and you have see as now. What are you doing now? So we are getting into what is happening now. And then Kofi responds to that with means to learn, right? To study. And again, we have the progressive marker here. So I am learning. I am studying. So this is how you tell what you're doing right now. So if you replace this phrasal verb with any verb at all, you'll be saying I am doing that at the moment. Okay? So I am bathing I am eating. So Amma asks so you are studying because you have the in front you are studying what the interrogative pronoun and then says I am studying is English and you have language speech.

[00:11:44]So I am studying English language and then says is very inquisitive.

[00:11:57]So is to see. So in this case to take note of here means to be on to be kept on. So I have seen that TV the TV is on right it's kept on right the question word so is to watch is movie is also so why are you watching a movie as well so I've seen that the TV is on why are you you know watching a movie at the same time that you are studying and then says so you have as no is to listen and you have as music so I am listening to music and then asks So we have which I said is to learn right to study and you have which by itself we said it means finish to finish or to complete to be done with right but I told you if you bring it after an action verb you'll be saying to be done with the action of that verb so in this case to learn and then we have the a which is an extension of the s ah which we said marks the if or when clause. So whatever comes between the s and the a is what is contained within the if or when clause. But I told you you can do away with the s as long as you have the a at the end. You still have an if or when clause which is what we did here, right? So there's no s in front.

[00:14:01]When you are done studying, right? When you are done learning.

[00:14:07]So we have the which is to do. You have as what and you have bet here as will the future tense marker. So what will you do? You will do what? And then says so here we have the s right? We using both to mark the if or when clause in this case a when clause right. So to study. To finish, to complete, but it comes after an action verb. So, it's to be done with the action of that verb.

[00:14:49]When I'm done studying, we said means to prepare food.

[00:14:55]Literally, to make or prepare and then we have food as we said this ben is the interrogative determiner. We bring it after something to ask what you know specific thing that is right or which specific thing what came before that is so we have as food.

[00:15:20]So when you bring ben after you are saying what food let's put it here and then says this verb is what we use when you are preparing food that you have to you know turn like when we turn with that wooden spatula right so you put it in a pot and you be turning it right so for foods like banconte mutu and all those foods you turn them Right? This is the verb that we use for that action. Right? So the act of turning you know those kinds of food in a port. In Ghana we have translated this to English as to drive. So I don't know if that is correct or not but they will say I'll drive bank. I think it's because ca also means to drive as in to drive a car. And since you'll be doing this with your hand it's similar to that. So they say I'll drive.

[00:16:17]And then Amma asks is very inquisitive.

[00:16:24]We are using the action of the set ah right the if or when clause marker. We have which is to eat and we have which is to finish to be done. So when you are done eating yeah to do what? Well you so you will do what? what will you do? And then says major.

[00:16:58]So, as you can tell, we've been using this if or when clause marker in its two forms. The forms that you can use them.

[00:17:05]I told you you can use the s a or you can use just the a without the s. So, that's what we've been doing. So we have to finish to eat. So when I'm done eating to bathe to sleep. So when I'm done eating, I will bathe and then I'll