Chapter 3 The Infinitive

The main characteristic of the Gĩkũyũ verb is its agglutinative aspect. In order to be functional, to be conjugated and be part of the sentence, we must attach to it a certain number of affixes: prefixes, infixes and suffixes, according to the situation. All these affixes possess a precise position and function.

THE INFINITIVE
In English, the infinitive is shown by the word TO placed before the verb.
In Gĩkũyũ, the infinitive is marked by the prefix KŨ- attached to the verb stem. When the verb stem starts with T, TH, C, K or vowels, the prefix KŨ-, is changed INTO GŨ-

Gĩkũyũ..........English
Gũĩka..............To do
Gũtinda............To stay waiting
Gũtinia............To cut
Gũtwara............To take sth to some place
Kũenda.............To love, to like
Kũgũra.............To buy
Kũhaana............To be alike
Kũhaica............To climb
Kũhara.............To brush
Kũhika.............To be married
Kũhota.............To be able
Kũhumba............To dress
Kũnywa.............To drink
Kũrĩkia............To finish, to decisive
Kũruta wĩra........To work
Gũkinya............To arrive, to reach
Gũtongoria.........To lead
Gũũka..............To come
Kũgeithia..........To greet
Kũhitha............To hide
Gũtarĩria..........To explain
Gũkua..............To die
Gũthoma............To read, to study
Gũkuua.............To carry
Gũtheka............To cook
Kũnina.............To finish
Kũrĩa..............To eat
Kũruga.............To cook
Kũrutana...........To educate, to teach


THE NEGATIVE INFINITIVE :

Kwaga means not to, failure to, not have to.

Kwaga gũthoma............not to read
Kwaga gwĩka..............not to do
Kwaga gũcokia kĩũria.....not to answer
Kwaga gũcoka.............not to come back
Kwaga kũrĩa..............not to eat
Kwaga gũkua..............not to die

Gũcokia kĩũria means to answer a question

“A people without a language is a people without a culture”