In Sesotho nouns are divided into various noun classes. The noun classdetermines the subject concord for instance - this is very important in the constructionof sentences.
Class
Prefix
Subject concord
Example
Translation of example
1
mo-
o
mosadi
woman
2
ba-
ba
basadi
women
1a
-
o
ntate
father
2a
ba-
ba
bontate
fathers
3
mo-
o
mose
dress
4
me-
e
mese
dresses
5
le-
le
leleme
tongue
6
ma-
a
maleme
tongues
7
se-
se
sefate
tree
8
di-
di
difate
trees
9
-
e
ntja
dog
10
di-
di
dintja
dogs
Classes 11, 12 and 13 are mainly used in languages such as isiZulu and isiXhosa
14
bo-
bo
bohobe
bread
15
ho-
ho
ho tsamaja
to walk
16
-
ho
fatshe
down
17
ho-
ho
hodimo
up
18
mo-
o
mose
abroad
Sesotho word (South African orthography): ya Sesotho word (Lesotho orthography): ea
Possessive concord
This possessive concord joins two nouns or pronouns to indicate possession. For example: Bana ba ka(My children)
