Chapter 6: Must, If and More Plurals
Reflexive Verbs with -re
Add -re to show an action done to oneself: puonjore (to learn, literally "teach oneself"), with full conjugation.
📚 Theory: Reflexive Verbs
-re goes after the verb, to indicate that the person or thing doing the verb is also the person or thing that the verb is being done to. In other words, the doer of the verb is doing the action to themselves.
| Dholuo (Base Verb) | English (Base Verb) | Dholuo (Reflexive Verb) | English (Reflexive Verb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yao | To open | Yaore | To open itself |
| Hero | To love | Herore | To love oneself |
| Puonjo | To teach | Puonjore | To teach oneself (i.e to learn) |
| Lwoko | To wash | Lwokore | To wash oneself (i.e to bathe) |
| Kano | To keep | Kanore | To keep itself (i.e to be kept) |
📚 Theory: Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs can be conjugated according to the following pattern
| Dholuo | English |
|---|---|
| Apuonjora | I am teaching myself (i.e I am learning) |
| Ipuonjori | You are teaching yourself (i.e You are learning) |
| Opuonjore | He/she is teaching himself/herself (i.e He/She is learning) |
| Wapuonjore | We are teaching ourselves (i.e We are learning) |
| Upuonjoru | You are teaching yourselves (i.e You are learning) |
| Gipuonjore | They are teaching themselves (i.e They are learning) |
🎯 Practice Exercises
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Create free account✍️ The reflexive verb
Pick 6 dholuo verbs of your choice and write them in their base form as well as in their reflexive form. Let each verb be conjugated to match a different pronoun and include its English translation. Then say it out loud on Echo and get feedback from a native speaker.
Example: Hero/Waherore – To Love/We love each other.
- Pick 6 verbs that weren’t covered in this particular lesson.
Suggested length: up to 100 words.
Speak on Echo
Answer the daily Dholuo prompt or post your own recording on Echo. Other learners listen, and a native Luo speaker reviews how you sound.
Practice speaking on Echo