Malagasy

Malagasy: Cause and Effect

Causality – how one event causes another – is one of the more interesting aspects of Malagasy. Often, this requires keeping track of tenses; as a reminder, in general:

  • Verbs starting with “m” are in present tense.
  • Verbs starting with “n” are in past tense.
  • Verbs starting with “h” are in future tense.

Some related words showing cause and effect include:

fa but
dia so / then
ka so / then
rehefa then, when, soon, soon after

Watch for these words when reading the following story.

Androany, nandeha niantsena aho. Today, I went shopping. androany – today
mandeha miantsena – to go shopping
nandeha niantsena – to have gone shopping
Te-hividi broccoli aho, fa tsy nisy tany an-tsena, ka nividy soflera sy laisoa. I wanted to buy broccoli, but the market did not have any, so I bought cauliflower and cabbage. fa – but
ka – so / then
soflera
 – cauliflower
laisoa – cabbage
Nila akondro ny reniko, ka nividy akondro telo kilao aho ho azy ary roa kilao ho ahy. My mother needed bananas, so I bought 3 kilos of bananas for her and 2 kilos for me. mila – to need
nila – needed
reni – mother
reniko – my mother
Nahatsiaro ho toy ny rajako na gidro aho. I felt like a monkey or lemur.
mahatsiaro ho toy
– to feel like
rajako – monkey
lemur – gidro
Nividy akondro aho mba manao mofo akondro. I bought bananas to make banana bread. mba – in order to
Nafangaroko lafarinina, akondro, siramamy, ary menaka mba hanaovana mofo matsiro io. I mixed flour, bananas, sugar, and oil to make this tasty bread. mafangaro – to mix
lafarinina – flour
siramamy – sugar
menaka – oil
Natory aho avy eo. After, I took a nap.
Natory aho rehefa avy eo. After, I then took a nap. rehefa – then, when, soon, soon after
Marani-tsaina nyalikako ka nihinana ny mofo raha natory aho. My clever dog ate the bread while I was asleep. matory – to sleep

natory – to have slept

Malahelo aho izao, tsy misakafo ny zanako, ary marary kibo ny alikako satria be loatra sakafony. Now I am sad, my children do not have dinner, and my dog has a stomachache because she ate too much. izao – sad
zanako – children

marary
– sick
kibo – stomach
alikako
– my dog
be loatra
 – too much.

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Resources for Self-Instructional Learners of Less Commonly Taught Languages Copyright © by University of Wisconsin-Madison Students in African 671 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.