Somali nouns name people, animals, places, objects and ideas. Understanding Somali nouns is one of the foundations of Somali grammar.
Somali nouns can have grammatical gender and number, and their forms and accompanying words can change according to grammatical context.
What is a Somali noun?
A noun is a word used to name something.
Examples:
- nin — man
- naag — woman
- guri — house
- buug — book
- miis — table
- baabuur — car
- magaalo — city
- dal — country
- biyo — water
- jacayl — love
Common Somali nouns
| Somali | English |
|---|---|
| nin | man |
| naag | woman |
| ilmo | child |
| gabar | girl |
| wiil | boy |
| qof | person |
| guri | house |
| dugsi | school |
| buug | book |
| miis | table |
| kursi | chair |
| baabuur | car |
| waddo | road |
| magaalo | city |
| dal | country |
| cunto | food |
| biyo | water |
| shaqo | work/job |
| lacag | money |
| saaxiib | friend |
Gender in Somali nouns
Somali nouns have grammatical gender. Many nouns are masculine or feminine, although learners should not rely only on the meaning of a noun to determine its grammatical gender.
Gender affects other parts of the sentence, including adjectives and verb forms.
For this reason, it is useful to learn a noun together with example sentences.
Singular and plural nouns
Somali has several ways of forming plurals. Unlike English, there is not one universal plural ending that applies to every noun.
Plural formation can involve changes to the word or the use of different plural patterns.
Examples learners may encounter include:
buug — book
buugaag — books
guri — house
guryo — houses
ilmo — child
carruur — children
Because Somali plural formation is varied, learners should learn the plural form alongside the singular.
Definite nouns
Somali can mark definiteness through suffixes.
For example:
guri — a house
guriga — the house
buug — a book
buugga — the book
The exact form of the definite marker depends on the noun and its grammatical properties.
Nouns in sentences
Gurigu waa weyn yahay.
The house is big.
Buuggu wuxuu saaran yahay miiska.
The book is on the table.
Carruurtu way ciyaarayaan.
The children are playing.
Possession
Somali uses several constructions to express possession.
Examples:
buugga Axmed
Ahmed’s book
guriga hooyaday
my mother’s house
saaxiibkay
my friend
Possessive structures should be learned as complete patterns because Somali possession can differ significantly from English.
Countable and uncountable nouns
Somali, like English, distinguishes between different types of nouns, although the grammatical behaviour is not always identical.
Common mass or uncountable concepts include:
- biyo — water
- caano — milk
- sonkor — sugar
- bariis — rice
Tips for learning Somali nouns
When learning a new Somali noun, record:
- Singular form
- Plural form
- Gender where relevant
- Definite form
- English meaning
- Example sentence
- Related words