Buying and Selling: Transactional conversations
Can Do Statement
- Talk about different places for shopping
- Talk about the prices of items
- Talk about different markets
- Use appropriate vocabulary relating to buying and selling
- Use the Yoruba number system for price negotiations.
Vocabulary List
Click the audio icon below to play the recorded pronunciation for each word. You can also open the list below in a new tab, which can be downloaded or printed.
Practice: Interpretive Communication
Presentational Communication
Context: Tolú responds to a letter from her professor that asks about the places Tolú prefers to shop.
Transcript:
Ọ̀jọ̀gbọ́n Adéọla,
Àlàáfíà ni mo wà, ẹ ṣé. Oríṣiríṣi ilé ìtajà ni mo ti máa ń ra àwọn nǹkan tí mo fẹ́, ṣùgbọ́n èyí tí mo máa ń lọ lọ́sọ̀ọ̀sẹ̀ ni ilé ìtajà Shoprite. Bí ó tilẹ̀ jẹ́ pé àwọn nǹkan míràn ti wọ́n ń tà máa ń wọ́n, mo fẹ́ràn pé mo máa ń rí àwọn oríṣiríṣi nǹkan tí mo fẹ́ ní Shoprite, pàápàá àwọn nǹkan tí n kò ní rí ní àwọn ọjà tí ó wà ní àdúgbò mi. Síbẹ̀síbẹ̀, mo máa ń lọ sí ọjà Bódíjà àti ojà Gbagi, ní ìlú Ìbàdàn..Tí mo bá lọ sí ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó, mo máa ń fẹ́ràn láti lọ sí ọjà Téjúoṣó, àti ọjà Kétu.
Tiyín ní tòótọ́,
Tolúlọpẹ́.
Practice: Presentational Communication
- Watch the video file.
- Write down the vocabulary you can understand
- Record yourself saying the vocabulary
- Write a short paragraph narrative about the store you like to shop at.
Interpersonal Communication
Context: Tọ́ba shares his shopping experience with Toyin
Transcript:
Tóyìn: Báwo ni Tọ́ba, ṣé dáadáa ni ?
Tọ́ba: Dáadáa ni, a dúpẹ́.
Tóyìn: Àwọn èso yìí dára o. Níbo lo ti rà wọ́n?
Tọ́ba: Hà, ọjà Bódìjà ni, ṣùgbọ́n mo rò pé ó wọ́n díẹ̀.
Tóyìn: Élòó ni?
Tọ́ba:: Igba náírà ni máńgòrò méjì, ọ̀pẹ̀yìnbó jẹ́ irínwó náírà
Tóyìn: Ḱilódé? Ìyẹn ti wọ́n jù. Ṣé o ò na ni?
Tọ́ba: Mo na. Mo ní kí eléso gba àádọ́ta náírà fún máńgòrò kan, àti igba náírà fún ọ̀pẹ̀yìnbó kan, ṣùgbọ́n kò gba.
Tóyìn: Ha, ìyẹn ni wípé irínwó náírà ni ọ̀pẹ̀yìnbó yìí jálẹ̀.
Tọ́ba:: Bẹ́ẹ̀ni o.
Tóyìn: Hmm, ó dàbì ẹni pé nǹkan wọ́n púpọ̀ ní ọjà Bódìjà ní ìlú Ìbàdàn.
Tọ́ba: Òótọ́ ni. Kò rí bẹ́ẹ̀ rárá ní ọjà Tẹ́júoṣó ní ìlú Èkó tí mò ń gbé tẹ́lẹ̀.
Tóyìn: Hmm, ó ga o.
Practice: Interpersonal Communication
- Read the transcript out loud
- Practice talking about the prices of items with your classmate
Grammar Notes
Expressing conditions
In Yoruba, conditional sentences are expressed using the conditional marker: tí or bí, “if.”
Examples:
- Tí ọ̀rẹ́ mi bá dé, pè mí. “If my friend arrives, call me.
- Mo máa sùn bí òjò bá rọ̀ “I will sleep if rain falls.”
Note: In examples 1 and 2, “tí” and bí are not only used interchangeably; they also begin the subordinate clauses occurring at the start of the sentence in example 1, and after the main clause “Mo máa sùn” in example 2. Also, the tí “if,” in example 1 is not the same as the tí “that,” which usually starts subordinate clauses in Yoruba sentences.
Example:
3. Ọmọ tí ó lọ sí ọjà “The child that went to the market.”
Conditional sentences can also be expressed when the conditional markers tí and bí splits within the sentence, occurring as tí…bá or bí…bá “if” either at the beginning or middle of a sentence.
Examples:
4. Tí mo bá lọ sí ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó, mo máa ń fẹ́ràn láti lọ sí ọjà Téjúoṣó, àti ọjà Kétu. “If I go to Lagos State, I usually like to go to Téjúoṣó and Kétu markets.”
- *Note: “mo” is inserted in the split: Tí … ba = Tí mo bá, “if”. Also, it begins the sentence as a subordinate clause. Meaning that the first statement Tí mo bá lọ sí ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó, ” If I go to Lagos State” is incomplete without the second sentence, máa fẹ́ràn láti lọ sí ọjà Téjúoṣó, àti ọja ̀Kétu” “I will like to go to Téjúoṣó and Kétu markets.
5. Mo máa kọ́lé bí mo bá lówó ” I will build a house if I am rich.
- Example 5 also expresses a a condition, only that the marker “bí…bá” occurs in the later part of the sentence, unlike in example 4.