Hi everyone, I'm a student learning Yoruba on my own. I made the sentences below to get a feel of how different English tenses are expressed in Yoruba. Can someone please check what I've written for accuracy and please explain the ones I got wrong or didn't know. I'm really excited about learning these Yoruba. Smiley Thank you!

1. I speak Yoruba.
2. I used to play video games.
3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.
4. Last year he was ill.
5. When his parents built the house, he was ill.
6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again.
7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.
8. I’m reading a book now.
9. I was working while she was studying.
10. I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately).

11. I had been lying there for 3 hrs. before I fell asleep.
12. You will have been eating for 10 min. when I finish.
13. He wants me to go home now.
14. I would buy more food but I’m full now.
15. You are baptized now. ‘passive’
16. You were baptized for 5 min. ‘passive’
17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’
18. I had been baptized 3 times by 2001.
19. I will have been baptized 6 times by 2002.
20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)*
21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*


Yoruba:
- mo gbọ́ èdè Yorùbá
- mo máa ń ṣeré video games
- mo jẹ cookie kan ìṣẹ́jú márùnún kọjá
- ọdún t’ó kọjá ó àrùnláìlágbáraṣàìsàn
- ìgbà tí òbí rẹ̀ kọ́ ilé, ó àrùnláìlágbáraṣàìsàn
- bẹ́rẹ́ ọdún, ó àrùnláìlágbáraṣàìsàn ṣùgbọ́n ó reresuwọ́ndára nísisìyí
- ẹsẹ̀ rẹ̀ fọ, bẹ́ẹ̀ ó kò le rìn sí ilè-ẹ̀kọ́
- mo ń kàkàwé ìwé nísisìyí
- mo ń iṣẹ́ “while” ó ń kọkà ṣe-àsàròfiyèsí
- mo ń jẹ síbẹ̀ títí tí mo wá-rí jágbọn pé wà ní aáyán ní ilé ìseńjẹ, lẹ́hìn kì mo fi sílẹ̀ nísisìyí lẹ̀sẹkannáà
- mo ti dùbúẹ̀ síbẹ̀ fún ẹẹ́ta wákàtí kí mo sùnsimi tó   ( ‘kí, tó’ –> ‘before’ )
- o máa jẹ fún ẹẹ́wàá ìṣẹ́jú nígba tí mo paríṣe-tányọrí
- ó fẹ́ pé mo rìn ilé nísisìyí
- mo “would” rà sí i oúnjẹ ṣùgbọ́n mo kún nísisìyí   (I don’t know the conditional tense in Yoruba)
- o rì-sínú omi nísisìyí  (I don't know the passive voice in Yoruba)
- o rì-sínú omi fún 5 ìṣẹ́jú
- ìlú parun títí iná
- mo ti rì-sínú omi ìgbààkókòàsìkòìdayìí mẹ́ta ní 2001
- mo ti rì-sínú omi ìgbààkókòàsìkòìdayìí mẹ́fa ní 2002
- bí ó san-wó mi bá sí i owó, mo “would” dúró    ( ‘bí, bá’ -> ‘if/when’ )
- bí a ní bá “enough” owó, a “would” kọ́ ilé

Thanks again everyone!

what are you?

I'm planning to learn Yoruba because I will be visiting South Africa for 7 weeks in June of 2010 for the World Cup.

Are you aware that they dont speak Yoruba in SA?

yorubalove:

I'm planning to learn Yoruba because I will be visiting South Africa for 7 weeks in June of 2010 for the World Cup.

are u visiting south africa or nigeria?

Most are in the ball park.

Correcting online yoruba grammar is difficult. Its better you find a speaker locally.
Post your location and see if someone will be willing to help you in person.

nice try, where are you from

yorubalove:

I'm planning to learn Yoruba because I will be visiting South Africa for 7 weeks in June of 2010 for the World Cup.

she asked u where u're from, not where you're planning to go.

Are you aware that they dont speak Yoruba in SA?

Huh are u visiting south africa or nigeria?

Yes, I know Yoruba isn't spoken in SA but I will visit Nigeria as a side trip also since I'll be in Africa for such a long time.

she asked u where u're from, not where you're planning to go. Huh

Oops, sorry.    Btw, I'm from Hawai'i.  I don't think there are any Yoruba speakers here,  hehe

Most are in the ball park.

That is great to know, that means that I did pretty good in my translations, correct?  Yay, I'm even more excited now!!   Can anyone offer corrections on my sentences, please??

for 4 and 5:

4: O wa ni idubule aisan ni odun to koja

5 - O wa ni idubule aisan ni igba ti awon obi re ko ile naa

thanks farotika! That's a start at least. Only 19 more to go.

20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)*
[s]- bí ó san-wó mi bá sí i owó, mo “would” dúró    ( ‘bí, bá’ -> ‘if/when’[/s]

Ibaje pe o san owo pupo si, mi nba duro.

21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*
- [s]bí a ní bá “enough” owó, a “would” kọ́ ilé[/s]

Ibaje wipe ani owo naa, a ba ti ko ile naa

She even writes better yoruba than me. shame!

Yorubalove -Here is the way to go.

1. Mo n so Yoruba - I speak Yoruba.
2. Mo ti ta ayo video games ri. - Used to play video games.
3. Iseju marun ti koja nigbati mo je akara oyinbo.
4. O se aisan lodun to koja.
5. Ara re ko ya nigbati awon obi re ko ile.
6. Ni ibere odun yi ni ara re ko ti ya sugbon, ara re ti da nisinsinyi.
7. O ti da lese ni ko je ki o wa si ile iwe.
8. Mo n ka iwe nisinsinyi.
9. Mo n se ise nigbati o n ko eko.
10. Mo n je ounje osan lai mo pe aayan wa ninu ile idana. Mo kuro lesekese.
11. Mo ti dubule sibe bii wakati meta ki orun to gbe mi lo.
12. O ti n jeun/ounje fun bii iseju mewa ti mo fi se tan.
13. O fe ki n ma lo sile nisinsinyi.
14. N o ra ounje sii sugbon mo ti yo nisinsinyi.
15. O ti se ibatisi nisinsinyi.
16. O se ibatisi fun iseju marun.
17. Ilu ti baje nitori ina ti o jo.
18. Mo ti se ibatisi leemeta ni odun 2001.
19. N ko ba ti se ibatisi leemefa ni odun 2002.
20. Ti o ba fi owo kun n o duro tabi n ko ni lo mo.
21. A ko ba ti kole sugbon a ko ni owo.

Visit http://www.oronna.com/oronna/
to read in Yoruba.

Thank you oronna! I'm going to go over these to see how I did now.

6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again.
7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.
8. I’m reading a book now.

6. Omokunrin naa ti nse aisan lati ibere odun yi, sugbon ara re ti ya pada

7. Ko le wa si ile-iwe toripe o kan l'ese

8. Mo nka iwe kan lowo

Thank you to everyone who posted corrections here.  I have gone over all the corrections and I have a number of questions regarding Yoruba grammar.  I hope that the questions I post here be a great help to anyone learning Yoruba on their own somewhere where there are no Yoruba speaking people. 

Also, If anyone is wondering what crappy dictionary I used, this is it:
http://www.yorubadictionary.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/englishyoruba.htm

I don’t think that dictionary is very good since most of the words I looked up there are incorrect.  Anyone know of a better modern online Yoruba dictionary?

1. Mo n so Yoruba

you used ‘so’ here which also means ‘to speak’ so when is ‘gbo’ used?

2. Mo ti ta ayo video games ri.

‘ta ayo’ means ‘to play’ and ‘ri’ means ‘formerly’, right?

3. Iseju marun ti koja nigbati mo je akara oyinbo.

a. what is the difference between ‘marun’ and marunun’?  (here you say ‘iseju marun’ but here ‘peeni marunun’ the correct form is ‘marunun’…)
b. what is the ‘ti’ before ‘koja’ ?
c. ‘nigbati’ means ‘when/at that time’ but is it mandatory here?  If so, why? 
d. ‘akara oyinbo’ means ‘european biscuit’ right?

4. O se aisan lodun to koja.

a. what does ‘se’ mean here?
b. why did you add an ‘l-‘ to ‘odun’ ?
c. what does ‘to’ mean here?  Also does ‘to koja’ mean ‘last’ ?

5. Ara re ko ya nigbati awon obi re ko ile.

a. ‘arare’ means ‘thyself’ here?
b. what does ‘ara re ko ya’ mean?  (my guess is that ‘ara re’ means ‘his body’ and ‘ko’ is the negative marker, but I don’t know what ‘ya’ means…)

6. Ni ibere odun yi ni ara re ko ti ya sugbon, ara re ti da nisinsinyi.

a. ‘yi ni’ means ‘this’ but ‘yi i’, ‘eyini’, and ‘eyi’ also mean ‘this’, right?  are they all used the same? 
b. what is ‘ti ya’, and ‘ti da nisinsinyi’ ??

7. O ti da lese ni ko je ki o wa si ile iwe.

a. what is ‘ti da’ and why does ‘lese’ have an ‘l-‘ on it ??
b. I can’t find these words in the dictionary -> ‘ni ko je ki’ and ‘wa si’  (my guess is ‘ko’ is the negative marker, and ‘wa’ means ‘to come’ …?)

8. Mo n ka iwe nisinsinyi.

what is ’nisinsinyi’ ?

9. Mo n se ise nigbati o n ko eko.

what does the ‘se’ before ‘ise’ mean and what does ’eko’ mean ??

10. Mo n je ounje osan lai mo pe aayan wa ninu ile idana. Mo kuro lesekese.

a. why do you spell ‘lunch’ ‘ounje’ ?  my dictionary list ‘lunch’ as ‘onje’ …??
b. I can’t find these words in the dictionary -> ‘osan lai’, ‘pe’, ‘wa’, and ‘lesekese’  (i think ‘lai’ means ‘not’)

11. Mo ti dubule sibe bii wakati meta ki orun to gbe mi lo.

a. ‘bii’ means ‘for’ here?
b. ‘ki orun to gbe mi lo’ -> what is this?  (my guess is ‘ki…to’ means ‘before’, ‘orun’ means ‘sleep’, ‘gbe’ means ‘to bring’ and I don’t know what ‘lo’ is…?)

12. O ti n jeun/ounje fun bii iseju mewa ti mo fi se tan.   

a. ‘ti n’ is this some kind of grammar pattern?
b. ‘fun’ and ‘bii’ both mean ‘for’, correct?  why did you put both of them here together?
c. what does the ‘ti’ after ‘mewa’ mean and what does the ‘fi’ after ‘mo’ mean?

13. O fe ki n ma lo sile nisinsinyi.

a. what is ‘ma lo’ ?
b. ‘ki’ is the relative pronoun meaning ‘that’, correct?
c. why did you ‘s-‘ to ‘sile’ ?

14. N o ra ounje sii sugbon mo ti yo nisinsinyi.

a. what does ‘n o’ mean here?
b. what does ‘ti’ in ‘ti yo’ mean? 

15. O ti se ibatisi nisinsinyi.

what does ’ti se’ mean here?

16. O se ibatisi fun iseju marun.

what does ‘se’ indicate here?

17. Ilu ti baje nitori ina ti o jo.

a. ‘nitorina’ and ‘nitori’ are the same, correct? 
b. what is ‘ti o jo’ ?

19. N ko ba ti se ibatisi leemefa ni odun 2002.

what does ‘n ko ba ti se’ mean here?

20. Ti o ba fi owo kun n o duro tabi n ko ni lo mo.

a. I don’t know these words -> ‘ba fi’, ‘kun n’, ‘tabi n ko ni lo mo’ ??
b. I think the ‘ti’ before ‘o ba’ means ‘if’ and ‘o duro’ means ‘I stay’  ??

21. A ko ba ti kole sugbon a ko ni owo.

a. what does ‘a ko ba ti kole’ mean?  ( i think ‘a ko’ means ‘we build’)
b. I think ‘a ko ni owo’ means ‘we have no money’  right?  (‘a’ = ‘we’, ‘ko’ = ‘negative marker’, ‘ni’ = ‘to have’, and ‘owo’ = ‘money’  right??)

Yorubalove -It appears as if you are trying to translate English into yoruba word for word without following the rules. For instance, there is odun which represent years and lodun and sodun, li odun and se odun depending on what you are trying to put across or question being asked. Se odun = celebrate a holiday = long way of writing. S'odun = celebrate a holiday but you are removing the "e" but using the apostophy to let people know that the e is missing. Sodun is a refined way to write same. The same thing with li odun, l'odun and lodun. Nobody writes Yoruba using li odun or l'odun=old way. Yoruba language is constantly being revised.

"marunun" does not represent any word in Yoruba. Five = marun or aarun. Ti se= has done eg. O ti kole or ko ile=he has built a house.
nitorina’ and ‘nitori’ . Nitorina=because of this, nitori=because. Depends also on the statement being invoked or a precursor to the statement.
I do not know what kind of dictionary that you are using but the Yoruba language for food is ounje. Oune aaro=breakfast, ounje osan lunch but osan stands for afternoon and ounje ale stands for dinner but ale=night. Also, there nothing like night food. This is why you can not translate Enhlish to Yoruba rod for word. "O n je" = he or she is eating it, whatever it may bi. to koja’ or ti o koja= past, but "ti o koja" is long way.

The best way is to read Yoruba book, news or magazine and follow the sentence structure, pattern and grammar. By so doing, you will be able to pick up on how the language is constructed. I write and speak Yoruba and I run into new things in the language daily.

Go to http://www.oronna.com/oronna/ there is a link to Yoruba dictionary under "Iwe i tumo Yoruba." meaning: Yoruba translation or dictionary. Hope this helps.

"marunun" does not represent any word in Yoruba. Five = marun or aarun. Ti  se= has done eg. O ti kole or ko ile=he has built a house.
nitorina’ and ‘nitori’ . Nitorina=because of this, nitori=because. Depends also on the statement being invoked or a precursor to the statement.
I do not know what kind of dictionary that you are using but the Yoruba language for food is ounje. Oune aaro=breakfast, ounje osan lunch but osan stands for afternoon and ounje ale stands for dinner but ale=night. Also, there nothing like night food. This is why you can not translate Enhlish to Yoruba rod for word. "O n je" = he or she is eating it, whatever it may bi. to koja’ or ti o koja= past, but "ti o koja" is long way.

this is exactly the kind of help that I'm referring to.  this is great.  You see like I said there aren't any Yoruba speakers here so my problem is always grammar/dictionary.  I have no-one here to help me proofread my translation attempts. 

I don't want to make it seem as if I'm translating Yoruba word for word because believe me I know better than that.  (I speak 4 other languages as well)  I really would appreciate it if you or someone would help out with the remaining questions that oronna has not addressed yet.  great explanations again, oronna.   

I have also been trying to teach myself Yoruba. I found this site that helped more than that online dictionary: http://www.abeokuta.org/yoruba.htm
It didn't help as much with understanding sentence structure, but it helped me see the differences.

Yorubalove, are you working from Antonia Yetunde Folarin Schleicher's book? I am, and a lot of your phrases are what I would have picked up from said book - particularly the weird word used for 5. However, I noticed on the CD, they never say marunun, only marun, which is consistent with what I have picked up from internet study.

yorubalove:


Also, If anyone is wondering what crappy dictionary I used, this is it:
http://www.yorubadictionary.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/englishyoruba.htm

Yeah, this online dictionary (I've used it a few times) sucks royally!

Oronna - thanks for the link!

Mordern or Urbane Yoruba-Speak and Interpretation - My tenses that is Yoruba tense mark or "Ami" are horrible so bear with my interpretation.


1. I speak Yoruba.

1.Mo le so Yoruba. or Mo gbo Yoruba dada



2. I used to play video games.

2. Mo ma'n play video game. or Mo ma'n ta video Game.


3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.

3. Mo ti je biscuits 5 minutes ago or Ebi o pa mi Mo ti je Biscuits 5 minuute ago - Cookie being the American Interpretation of Biscuits, most people tend to use biscuits as against cookie on this side of the pond.



4. Last year he was ill.

4. Ara re koya ni odun to koja



5. When his parents built the house, he was ill.

5. Ni gba ti baba re ati iya re ko ile yen ara re ko ya- Mordern speak would just be " Ni gba ti won kole yen ara re oya"


6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again.

6. Ati ibere odun ni ara re ko ti ya, sugbon ni isin ara re ti ya


7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.

7. O se ara re le se ni to ri e ni ko fi wa si school(or ile iwe)


8. I’m reading a book now.

8. Mo ka iwe ko ni isi iyin


9. I was working while she was studying.


9. Mo shey se lowo nigbati toun ka we


10. I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately).


Mo je ni ibe yen(ni orsun) mo wa ri kokoro ni nu kitchen igba yen ni mo wa kuro ni inu kitchen kia kia.

11. I had been lying there for 3 hrs. before I fell asleep.

11. Mo dubule si ibe yen fun 3 hours( OR "wakati meta" mi O mo gba ti mo fi sun lor

12. You will have been eating for 10 min. when I finish.

12. Wati ma jeun fun 10 minutes ni igba yen mati pari ounjen mi, e mi ama wa duro de re ko se tun

13. He wants me to go home now.

13. Ofe kin lole ni si si in yi


14. I would buy more food but I’m full now.

14. Ma ra ounje si sugbon mo ti yo ni si si iyin


15. You are baptized now. ‘passive’

15. O ti se baptizing ni si si iyin OR "ko pe at all oti se baptizing"


16. You were baptized for 5 min. ‘passive’

16. Oti se baptizing fun iseju marun



17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’

17. Gbogbo ilu lo jo ina tan ni igba ti inor yen bere



18. I had been baptized 3 times by 2001.

18. Mo ti se Baptizing le meta igba ti oma di 2001



19. I will have been baptized 6 times by 2002.

19. By 2002 mo ti se baptising le mefa, e le believe e




20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)*


20. To ba fun mi lowo si ma duro ke or ma duro to ba funmi benbele si



21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*

21. Ati ko ile yen ke ta ba ni owo or "Aii  lowo ni o je kako ile

KnowAll:

Mordern or Urbane Yoruba-Speak and Interpretation - My tenses that is Yoruba tense mark or "Ami" are horrible so bear with my interpretation.


1. I speak Yoruba.

1.Mo le so Yoruba. or Mo gbo Yoruba dada



2. I used to play video games.

2. Mo ma'n play video game. or Mo ma'n ta video Game.


3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago.

3. Mo ti je biscuits 5 minutes ago or Ebi o pa mi Mo ti je Biscuits 5 minuute ago - Cookie being the American Interpretation of Biscuits, most people tend to use biscuits as against cookie on this side of the pond.



4. Last year he was ill.

4. Ara re koya ni odun to koja



5. When his parents built the house, he was ill.

5. Ni gba ti baba re ati iya re ko ile yen ara re ko ya- Mordern speak would just be " Ni gba ti won kole yen ara re oya"


6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again.

6. Ati ibere odun ni ara re ko ti ya, sugbon ni isin ara re ti ya


7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school.

7. O se ara re le se ni to ri e ni ko fi wa si school(or ile iwe)


8. I’m reading a book now.

8. Mo ka iwe ko ni isi iyin


9. I was working while she was studying.


9. Mo shey se lowo nigbati toun ka we


10. I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately).


Mo je ni ibe yen(ni orsun) mo wa ri kokoro ni nu kitchen igba yen ni mo wa kuro ni inu kitchen kia kia.

11. I had been lying there for 3 hrs. before I fell asleep.

11. Mo dubule si ibe yen fun 3 hours( OR "wakati meta" mi O mo gba ti mo fi sun lor

12. You will have been eating for 10 min. when I finish.

12. Wati ma jeun fun 10 minutes ni igba yen mati pari ounjen mi, e mi ama wa duro de re ko se tun

13. He wants me to go home now.

13. Ofe kin lole ni si si in yi


14. I would buy more food but I’m full now.

14. Ma ra ounje si sugbon mo ti yo ni si si iyin


15. You are baptized now. ‘passive’

15. O ti se baptizing ni si si iyin OR "ko pe at all oti se baptizing"


16. You were baptized for 5 min. ‘passive’

16. Oti se baptizing fun iseju marun



17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’

17. Gbogbo ilu lo jo ina tan ni igba ti inor yen bere



18. I had been baptized 3 times by 2001.

18. Mo ti se Baptizing le meta igba ti oma di 2001



19. I will have been baptized 6 times by 2002.

19. By 2002 mo ti se baptising le mefa, e le believe e




20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)*


20. To ba fun mi lowo si ma duro ke or ma duro to ba funmi benbele si



21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.*

21. Ati ko ile yen ke ta ba ni owo or "Aii  lowo ni o je kako ile

Is this yoruba?

"Mo maa n PLAY"? "Biscuit"? Dont we have words for this words?

Knowall, "mo ti BAPTIZE"?