Tag: Marshallese Language

  • Lesson 44: Another coconut, the other coconut, the other coconuts

     In the last lesson you learned the word ‘bar’ and its many uses.  There is another use of the word ‘bar’ to mean ‘other’: bar juon                      = or juon bar                  = again/one one/again = another bar ruo/jilu/emān        = or ruo/jilu/emān bar    = again/two,three,four two,three,four/again = two/three/four other bar jet                         = or jet bar                     = again/some…

  • Lesson 43: Again, back, also, else

     There is an extremely useful word in Marshallese: ‘bar.’  The basic meaning is ‘again,’ and you put it before the verb: Ij bar kōṃṃane      = I-PRES/again/do-it = I am doing it again Iban bar kōṃṃane = I-will not/again/do-it = I won’t do it again – With some words, we would translate it instead as ‘back’: Bar…

  • Lesson 9: The future tense

    Lesson   9: The future tense

    This lesson introduces the marker for the future tense. This marker is usually written as ‘naaj,’ but much more often pronounced ‘nāj’ or ‘nij.’ In this book it will be written as ‘naaj’ since this is the normal spelling, but bear in mind that it is usually pronounced differently.

  • Lesson 8: The Past Tense

    Lesson   8: The Past Tense

    In this lesson you will learn another marker that you can put onto the subject pronouns, this one for the past tense. This marker is ‘-ar.’

  • Lesson 7: The present tense

    Lesson   7: The present tense

    You can form the present tense in Marshallese by adding “-j” to subject pronouns. Unlike Spanish or French, you do not conjugate the verb.

  • Lesson 6: Verbs that work like adjectives

    Lesson   6: Verbs that work like adjectives

    Some Marshallese verbs act like adjectives. You can make sentences with these verbs (but not most other verbs) in exactly the same way as you use adjectives.

  • Lesson 5: Marshallese Subject Pronouns

    Lesson   5: Marshallese Subject Pronouns

    In Marshallese there is a set of pronouns that is very much like ‘I,’ ‘you,’ ‘he,’ ‘she,’ ‘it,’ ‘we,’ and ‘they’ in English. These are called the ‘subject pronouns.’ In this lesson and future ones, you will learn how to use these words to make many kinds of sentences.

  • Lesson 4: Marshallese Words from English

    Lesson   4: Marshallese Words from English

    ver since the Marshall Islands has had contact with the outside world, it has adopted many foreign words. This makes learning Marshallese a bit easier for English speakers.

  • Lesson 3: Numbers, time, age, and price

    Lesson   3: Numbers, time, age, and price

    Learn how to count in Marshallese.