Mastering Sesotho - Beyond the Greeting

1. Letsoho le bohloko. (The arm hurts)
   Subject + Concord + Adjective

2. Lerapo le lecha. (The shoelace is new)
   Subject + Concord + Adjective

3. Lebekere le letle. (The can is beautiful)
   Subject + Concord + Adjective

4. Please write your sentence, record it for me so I can hear how you say it, and share it with me whenever it is convenient for you!

5. What do you observe about the place of the concords in the four sentences above?

Consider the following:

Letsoho le bohloko.

Both letsoho and le — the subject noun and concord — begin with the /l/ sound.

Please review sentences 2, 3, and 4 above and let me know how they behave. When you complete this exercise, you will understand the relationship between the concord and the subject noun, especially when the noun begins with Le.

The Beginning Subject and the Concord Sounds Match

Based on your observation of the components of this sentence, how would you describe the behavior of a Sesotho concord?

In this video, I talk about the Sesotho liquid sound /l/ in the Le- words. The e in the subject Le- word is pronounced on a lower pitch than the e in the following concord.

The easiest way to remember the onset Le- and the concord Le- is that they are spelled the same way.

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Correction: "yesterday I said lebekere was a tin". I said "can", which is correct!

The sample words are part of the Sesotho Le-words vocabulary. Please explore more examples online or in any Sesotho book you have access to. By the end of this session, you will be able to pronounce Le-words correctly and understand their corresponding concords. I encourage you to find your favorite Le-words, as they will help reinforce the concepts presented in the video

Let's consider the positive sentence

We have an action happening in the present tense or as a matter of fact. In Sesotho, we express this tense by adding -a to the subject pronoun.

What would you call the 'e'?

What about 'ja'?

Rea e ja.

('We it eat' is a direct translation.)

We eat it.

Please analyze the negative sentence similarly and

let me know your answers at the end of the course!

In this section, you'll learn something a little different about Basotho culture. This is to help make learning grammar a bit less stressful—so relax and smile!

Thank you for watching the video above on how the Basotho say “Thank you!” As I mentioned, please keep in mind that culture is dynamic. I left Lesotho around 1999, and everything I share is based on my experiences during the time I lived there. I haven’t been back since, so while some things may have changed, these memories still reflect my lived experience—once upon a time!

Now, please replay the video if needed and identify the order of the following sentences. Which one came first, second, third, and fourth?

• U qetile? (Are you done?) — _______________

• Qala (Begin) — _______________

• U qabotsoe ke eng? (Why are you laughing?) — _______________

• Qeta (Finish) — _______________

Let me know if you need any clarifications or help!

In Sesotho present tense, the subject pronoun takes the affix -a. For example: kea, rea, and lea, as in kea ja, rea ja, and lea ja (I eat, we eat, you all eat).

In the past tense, the -a affix is dropped, and verbs typically end in -e instead of -a.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

This video explains that you can learn anything, including Sesotho, if you put your mind to it