Adjectives in Igbo

Hi! Welcome back,
Today we are going to be doing something different, we have looked at making simple sentences in Igbo in our previous lessons and in today’s lesson, we are going to look at how to spice up those simple sentences with adjectives.

Adjectives in Igbo are known as ‘ǹkọ́wáàhà’ (nnh-koh-wah-hah) and there are a whole load of different Igbo adjectives you can use in your Igbo sentences.

Let’s take a look at the adjectives below:

Adjectives in Igbo

Igbo	English
Ójíī	Dark/black
Ọ̀chá	Fair/white
Ógólógó	Tall/long
Ḿkpụ́ḿkpụ́	Short
Úkwú	Big
Ńtà	Small
Íbù	Fat
Gị́rị́gị́rị́	Slim/thin
Ọ́má	Good
Ọ́jọ́ọ	Bad
Ọ̀tụ́tụ́	Several/many
Ḿméē	Red
Èdò	Yellow
Ànụ̀nụ̀	Blue
Ǹchárá	Brown
Ákwụ́kwọ́ńdụ̀	Green
Òdòdó	Purple

Now that you know some of the common adjectives in Igbo, we are going to look at how to use these adjectives in sentences. Note that in English, adjectives come before the noun, but in Igbo, adjectives come after the noun.

For example:

In English

1. White man

2. Tall woman

In Igbo

1. Nwókē Ọ́chá = White man (where “Nwókē” means man & “Ọ́chá” means “white” i.e. “man white”)

2. Nwáànyị̀ ógólógó = Tall woman (where “Nwáànyị̀” means “woman” & “ógólógó ” means “tall”i.e. “woman tall”)

Igbo sentences with Adjectives

Igbo	English
Nwókē ọ́jọ́ọ	Bad man
Nwáànyị̀ ọ́má	Good woman
Ósísí ógólógó	Tall tree
Óché ḿkpụ́ḿkpụ́	Short chair
Ákwà ḿméē	Red cloth
Nwókē úkwú	Big man
Ńkị́tā ńtà	Small dog
Éhí ọ́chá	White cow
Ụ́lọ̀ ànụ̀nụ̀	Blue house
Ónyé ójíī	A black person
Nwátà nwókē gị́rị́gị́rị́	Slim boy
Òkóòkó òdòdó	Purple flower

That’s it for today on adjectives.

Now you have learnt how to use adjectives in your sentences to make your sentences more colourful and to spice them up.

Make sure you continue to practice through speaking with people around you in Igbo, this will help you a lot in retaining what you’ve learnt.

You are getting there, keep learning and having fun!

Ka ọ dị!