Noun phrases must always end in a noun or pronoun. This is the reason why hin and den can never stand alone. Likewise, when multi and xosu are used in noun phrases they must always be followed by either a noun or a pronoun. Although te and to are singular pronouns they may be used with words denoting plurality, such as multi and xosu.
Yu hare multi bete mas mi hare xosu te.
You have many children but I have few (of them).
Yu le yam xosu jubin ji mi le yam multi to.
You ate a little (bit of) cheese and I ate a lot (of it).
Adverbs have the same form as adjectives. They typically precede the verbs they modify but may optionally follow the verb.
Uma velosi pawbu. or Uma pawbu velosi.
The horse runs fast.
If the sentence has a direct object, the adverb may optionally follow it.
Matre multi lubi bete. or Matre lubi bete multi.
The mother loves the child a lot.
Be careful not to place the adverb between the verb and the direct object. A modifying word in that spot would function as an adjective modifying the direct object.
Matre lubi multi bete.
The mother loves many children.
In Globasa, two nouns may be freely joined to produce a compound word.
Fill in the blanks below:
The particle le marks the past tense and the particle xa marks the future tense. Verb particles are used at the beginning of a verb phrase, preceding any adverbs, as well as no. The word order for verb phrases is as follows: verb particle – negation – adverb – verb.
Femixu le hox ore musika.
The woman happily listened to the music.
Manixu le no hox ore musika.
The man didn’t happily listen to the music.
Myaw xa velosi glu sui.
The cat will quickly drink the water.
Bwaw xa no velosi glu sui.
The dog will not drink the water quickly.
Globasa uses prepositions to form prepositional phrases.
Prepositional phrases link to the subject using the verb sen, seen in Lesson 5.
Myaw sen in banyokamer.
The cat is in the bathroom.
Prepositional phrases also modify noun phrases and verb phrases.
Prepositional phrases immediately follow the noun phrases they modify.
Myaw in banyokamer somno.
The cat in the bathroom is sleeping.
Prepositional phrases that modify verbs enjoy relative free word order and may be moved anywhere in the sentence. When moved before the verb, commas are used as seen below.
Myaw yam in kokikamer piu.
Myaw yam piu in kokikamer.
Myaw, in kokikamer, yam piu.
In kokikamer, myaw yam piu.
The cat eats the bird in the kitchen.
Nini le no multi yam.
The kid didn’t eat much.
Bwaw yuxi in parke.
The dog plays in the park.
Patre ergo in neo banko. Matre ergo in day hotel. Bete xwexi in meli eskol.
Bete ji bwaw le yuxi ex ogar. Bwaw no sen safe. Patre xa banyo bwaw in banyokamer. Bwaw xa sen safe. Matre koki risi ji patato in kokikamer. Risi ji patato xa sen bon. Matre xa yam multi risi ji xosu patato. Bete xa yam xosu risi ji multi patato. Patre xa yam multi risi ji patato.
Create your own sentences using the examples above, and examples from previous lessons, as sentence patterns. Tell a story.