Pular grammar

Pular grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the Pular language, one of the Fula languages of the Niger-Congo language family spoken in West Africa. It is complicated and varies from region to region. This may explain why it is virtually impossible to find literature that teaches advanced topics in Pular grammar. The following explanation concerns mainly the Pular language spoken in Futa Jallon. To facilitate learning, all expressions are translated into English.

Nouns, pronouns and adjectives

Nouns and their articles

Since the articles of nouns vary significantly, it is better to learn each Pular noun with its appropriate articles. It is also useful to learn the plural and singular forms of Pular nouns together because no simple rules are apparent for going from the singular form to the plural form, however, a few generalizations can be made.

Pular nouns don't have indefinite articles. So the "a" article in English is simply omitted in Pular. Example: a hand = jungo ?????.
The most common, definite articles associated with plural nouns are: ???‎ ɓen, ɗin, and ɗen. The latter two articles are used for nouns referring to objects or things. ??? ɓen, ??? ɗin, and ??? ɗen correspond to "the" in English.
?? on is the singular form of ɓen, and is used for nouns that indicate a single person.
Nouns borrowed from other languages, especially French, follow some systematic patterns. In the singular form of the noun, the definite article is on. If the noun indicates an object or a thing, the plural form of the noun is usually created by adding ?? ji at the end of the singular form, and ɗin is used as the article for the plural form. If the imported noun indicates a person, the singular form of the noun will end with jo, but the plural form will end with ɓe, and ɓen is used as the article for the plural form.

The plural articles ɓen, ɗin, and ɗen correspond to ɓe, ɗi, and ɗe in other varieties of Fula, respectively. Pular pronunciation tends to nasalize these words, which is represented by the trailing letter "n."
Please see the tables below for examples that demonstrate these systematic patterns.

Singular and plural forms of most fruits and vegetables

The nouns of most fruits and vegetables follow a similar pattern when changing from singular to plural. These nouns have a root form, which perhaps was imported from other languages. The singular form of these nouns is created by adding ?? '-re to the root, and ?'??? nden is usually the definite article. By contrast, the plural form is obtained by adding ?? -je to the root, and ??? ɗen' is the definite article for the plural form. The table below provides examples to demonstrate this pattern.

Possessive adjectives

Note that "jungo" can be used for all when it means "responsibility". Example: No e jungo amen = "it is in our responsibility," or "we are in change." Men acci e jungo mon = "We leave it to you."
Also, unlike in English, the possessive adjective comes after the noun in Pular. In the table above, "jungo" is a noun that means hand. Similar to English, the possessive adjective does not vary with the gender or number of what is possessed. It varies only with the noun that possesses. For example:ɓeyngu an --> moodi an. Note here that the gender of the noun changed, but the possessive adjective stayed the same.jungo an --> juuɗe an. Note here that the noun changed from singular to plural, but the possessive adjective stayed the same.
The singular possessive in Pular – an – corresponds exactly with the am used in other varieties of Fula. Again, the pronunciation is more nasalized in Pular.

Object pronouns

lan, ma, te, mo, men, en, on, ɓe.

n	rank	Pular	English
1	1st sing.	Ɓe wallay lan.	They will help me.
2	2nd sing.	Ɓe walle te.	They will help you.
3	2nd sing.	Ɓe wallii ma.	They have helped you.
4	3rd sing.	Ɓe wallay mo.	They will help him/her.
5	1st plu. excl.	Ɓe wallay men.	They will help us.
6	1st plu. incl.	Ɓe wallay en.	They will help us.
7	2nd plu.	Ɓe wallay on.	They will help you.
8	3rd plu.	O wallay ɓe.	He/she will help them.

Interrogative keywords

ko hombo, ko honɗun, ko homɓe, ko honno, ko honto, ko... honɗi, ko... njelo, ko... jelu

n	Pular	English
1	Ko hombo nii?	Who is this?
2	Ko homɓe nii?	Who are these people?
3	Ko honɗun nii?	What is this?
4	Ko dolokaaji honɗi jeyuɗaa?	Which shirts belong to you?
5	Ko honno inneteɗaa?	What is your name?
6	Ko honno o innetee?	What is his/her name?
7	Ko honto yahataa?	Where are you going?
8	Ko cuuɗi honɗi jeyuɗaa?	Which houses do you own?
9	Ko yimɓe njelo ataakunomaa?	How many people attacked you?
10	Ko biiniiji jelu heddi ka frigoo?	How many bottles remain in the refrigerator?

Subject pronouns

mi, a, o, men, en, on, ɓe, ɗe, ɗi

n	Pular	English
1	?? ?????? Mi faamii.	I understand.
2	? ?????? A faamii.	You understand.
3	? ?????? O faamii.	He/She understands.
4	??? ?????? Men faamii.	We understand.
5	?? ?????? En faamii.	We understand.
6	?? ?????? On faamii.	You understand.
7	?? ?????? Ɓe faamii.	They understand.
8	?? ?????? Ɗi tuunii.	They have gotten dirty.
9	?? ?????? Ɗe tuunii.	They have gotten dirty.

Demonstrative adjectives

Pular has many demonstrative adjectives, which are keywords that indicate the location of a "noun" with respect to the speaker. However, they are usually derived from the definitive articles described above. Here is a partial list:
oo, ɓee, ɗii, ɗee,
The English equivalent of these adjective demonstratives are: this, these, that, and those.

Indefinite pronouns

Note that this is a partial list.

goɗɗo, goɗɗun, hay e gooto, hay e fus

See the table below for some expressions using indefinite pronouns.

n	Pular	English
1	Goɗɗo no ka hurgo.	Someone is in the bathroom.
2	Goɗɗun luuɓay.	Something will smell.
3	Woɓɓe no arude.	Some people are coming.
4	Goɗɗun muncoto.	Something will be crushed.
5	Mi soodaali hay e fus.	I did not buy anything.
6	A fottaano hay e gooto?	Didn't you meet anyone?
7	Hay e gooto wallaano men.	No one helped us.

Others__location

ɗoo, gaa, ɗaa, too, gaɗa, gaanin

n	Pular	English
1	Aru ɗoo.	Come here.
2	Aru gaa.	Come over here.
3	Yahu ɗaa.	Go over there.
4	Yahu too.	Go way over there.
5	Himo darii ka ɠaɗa caangol.	He is standing across the river.
6	Himo darii ka gaanin caangol.	He is standing on this side of the river.

Verb forms and conjugations

Various verb types

Pular verbs – like those in other varieties of Fula – fall into one of three "voices": active, middle, and passive. Infinitives in Pular are formed with -gol rather than -de as in other varieties of Fula. The endings are:

Active: -ugol
Middle: -agol
Passive: -egol

Verbal extensions can be added between the root and the verb ending to change meaning. Examples of verb endings with this adfixes include: angol, ingol, orgol and others. Please see the table below for examples.

Verb ending	Pular verb	English
ugol	defugol	to cook
ugol	ɲaamugol	to eat
ugol	yarugol	to drink
ugol	windugol	to write
ugol	ronkugol	to get tired
ugol	wallugol	to help
agol	jooɗagol	to sit down
agol	immagol	to get up
agol	sulmagol	to wash one's face
agol	fubbagol	to swim
agol	luɓagol	to borrow
egol	labegol	to look pretty or handsome
egol	foolegol	to be defeated
egol	janfegol	to be cheated
egol	sokegol	to be jailed
angol	gollangol	to work for someone
angol	sonkangol	to yell at someone
angol	addangol	to bring something for someone
angol	aynangol	to keep an eye on something for someone.
angol	defangol	to cook for someone
ingol	findingol	to wake up someone
ingol	jibingol	to give birth to a baby
ingol	sunningol	to "circumcise" someone
ingol	yaggingol	to make someone regret
ingol	aaningol	to make someone worried
orgol	addorgol	to bring along
orgol	naɓorgol	to take someone or something along; to give someone a ride
orgol	okkorgol	to give a gift to someone

Affirmative forms of verbs:

The future form of various verb types

1) Active voice verbs : To express the affirmative form of ugol verbs in the future, simply replace the ugol ending with ay. For example, soodugol turns into sooday. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "soodugol", which means to buy.

Subject	Future form	English
Mi	sooday	I will buy
A	sooday	You will buy
O	sooday	he/she will buy
En	sooday	We will buy
Men	sooday	We will buy
On	sooday	You will buy
Ɓe	sooday	They will buy

Although the verb does not vary with the subject, it does vary with the object. That is when the object is the singular form of you, the "ay" ending becomes "e". The table below shows some examples of how the future form of "ugol" verbs varies with the object.

Subject	Future form	object	English
O	wallay	lan	He/she will help me.
O	walle	te	He/she will help you.
O	wallay	mo	He/she will help him/her.
O	wallay	en	He/she will help us.
O	wallay	men	He/she will help us.
O	wallay	on	He/she will help you.
O	wallay	ɓe	He/she will help them.

Verbs with "infixes" : To express the affirmative form of these verbs in the future, simply replace the gol ending with ay. For example, jangangol turns into janganay; yaggingol into yagginay; and okkorgol into okkoray. Similar to above, the verb does not vary when the subject varies.
2) Middle voice verbs : To express the affirmative form of agol verbs in the future, simply replace the agol ending with oto. For example, fubbagol turns into fubboto. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "fubbagol", which means to swim.

Subject	Future form	English
Mi	fubboto	I will swim
A	fubboto	You will swim
O	fubboto	he/she will swim
En	fubboto	We will swim
Men	fubboto	We will swim
On	fubboto	You will swim
Ɓe	fubboto	They will swim

3) Passive voice verbs : To express the affirmative form of egol verbs in the future, simply replace the egol ending with ete. For example, weelegolturns into weelete. Note however that this form does not always make sense if the subject is I. For example, "mi sokete" sounds more like "I will have you jailed" than "I will be jailed". The table below provides more examples using the verb "weelegol", which means to be hungry.

Subject	Future form	English
Mi	weelete	I will be hungry
A	weelete	You will be hungry
O	weelete	he/she will be hungry
En	weelete	We will be hungry
Men	weelete	We will be hungry
On	weelete	You will be hungry
Ɓe	weelete	They will be hungry

The imperative form of various verb types

1) Verbs ending in -ugol makes either -u 2nd pers. sing. or -en 1st pers. plur. or -ee 2nd pers. plur.
okkugol: to give makes Okku : Give; Okken: Let us give and Okkee: Let you give
2) Verbs ending in -agol makes either -o 2nd pers. sing. or -oɗen 1st pers. plur. or -ee 2nd pers. plur.
Jooɗagol: to sit makes Jooɗo gaa : Sit here; Jooɗoɗen : Let us sit; Jooɗee : Let you sit.
3) Verbs ending in -egol do not have an imperative forms though an imperative construction is possible.
Rules when the verb has an infix:

The terminated past form of various verb types

1) Verbs ending in "ugol": To express the affirmative form of ugol verbs in the "terminated past" form, simply replace the ugol ending with uno. For example, soodugol turns into sooduno. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "soodugol".

Subject	Terminated Past form	English
Mi	sooduno	I bought
A	sooduno	You bought
O	sooduno	he/she bought
En	sooduno	We bought
Men	sooduno	We bought
On	sooduno	You bought
Ɓe	sooduno	They bought

Here are some simple sentences where "ugol" verbs are conjugated in the Terminated Past form.

Time reference	Subject	Terminated Past form of "ugol" verb	Object	English
Hanki	mi	sooduno	motooru	Yesterday I bought a motocycle.
Rowani	men	yahuno	Pari	Last year we went to Paris.
Hanki	o	ƴettuno	lekki kin	Yesterday he/she took the medicine.
Hande mbimbi	ɓe	yahuno	ka lekkol	This morning they went to school.
Hanki jemma	a	hiruno	moƴƴa.	Last night you snored a lot.

Although the verb does not vary with the subject, it does vary with the object. That is when the object is either me or you, the "ugol" verb can vary. The table below shows some examples of how the Terminated Past form of "ugol" verbs varies with the object. The chosen verb is "wallugol", which means to help.

Subject	Terminated Past form	Object	English
o	walluno	lan	He/She helped me.
o	wallanno	–	He/She helped me.
o	walleno	–	He/She helped you.
o	walluno	ma	He/She helped you.

2) Verbs ending in "agol": To express the affirmative form of agol verbs in the "terminated past" form, simply replace the agol ending with ino. For example, jooɗagol turns into jooɗino. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "immgagol", which means to get up.

Subject	Terminated Past form	English
Mi	immino	I got up
A	immino	You got up
O	immino	he/she got up
En	immino	We got up
Men	immino	We got up
On	immino	You got up
Ɓe	immino	They got up

Here are some simple sentences where "agol" verbs are conjugated in the Terminated Past form.

Time reference	Subject	Terminated Past form of "ugol" verb	Object	English
Hanki	mi	gosino	laaɓi tati.	Yesterday I brushed my teeth three times.
Rowani	ɓe	waajino	lan moƴƴa.	Last year they gave me good advice.
Hanki	o	janfino	miɲan an	Yesterday he/she cheated my younger sibling.

3) 7Verbs ending in "egol": To express the affirmative form of egol verbs in the "terminated past" form, simply replace the egol ending with ano. For example, lamminegol turns into lamminano. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "weelegol", which means to be hungry.

Subject	Terminated Past form	English
Mi	weelano	I was hungry
A	weelano	You were hungry
O	weelano	he/she was hungry
En	weelano	We were hungry
Men	weelano	We were hungry
On	weelano	You were hungry
Ɓe	weelano	They were hungry

Here are some simple sentences where "egol" verbs are conjugated in the Terminated Past form.

Time reference	Subject	Terminated Past form of "ugol" verb	Object	English
Hanki	mi	weelano	moƴƴa.	Yesterday I was hungry a lot.
Rowani	ɓe	jattano	otowal maɓɓe ngal.
Hanki	o	ɲawlano	dolaarji sappo.	Yesterday he/she was loaned ten dollars.

The simple past form of various verb types

1) Verbs ending in "ugol": To express the affirmative form of ugol verbs in the "simple past" form, simply replace the ugol ending with ii. For example, soodugol turns into soodii. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "ɲaamugol", which means to eat.

Subject	Simple Past form	English
Mi	ɲaamii	I have eaten.
A	ɲaamii	You have eaten.
O	ɲaamii	he/she has eaten.
En	ɲaamii	We have eaten.
Men	ɲaamii	We have eaten.
On	ɲaamii	You have eaten.
Ɓe	ɲaamii	They have eaten.

Here are some simple sentences where "ugol" verbs are conjugated in the Simple Past form.

Subject	Simple Past form of "ugol" verb	Object	English
mi	hewtii	ka suudo.	I have arrived at the house.
Gando	foolii	piiro ngon.	Gando has won the fight.
Ɓe	ronkii.	–	They have gotten tired.
A	tampii	moƴƴa.	You have suffered a lot.
Boobo on	nawnii.	–	The baby has gotten sick.

2) Verbs ending in "agol": To express the affirmative form of agol verbs in the "simple past" form, simply replace the agol ending with ike. For example, jooɗagol turns into jooɗike. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "immgagol", which means to get up.

Subject	Simple Past form	English
Mi	immike	I got up
A	immike	You got up
O	immike	he/she got up
En	immike	We got up
Men	immike	We got up
On	immike	You got up
Ɓe	immike	They got up

Here are some simple sentences where "agol" verbs are conjugated in the Simple Past form.

Subject	Simple Past form of "agol" verb	Object	English
mi	ɓortike	dolokke maa on.	I have taken off your shirt.
mi	ɲawlike	mo dolaarji joy.	I have borrowed five dollars from him/her.
Boobo on	suumitike	yeeso ngon.	The baby has covered his/her face.
A	ɓornike	dolokke tuunu-ɗo.	You have put on a dirty shirt.

3) Verbs ending in "egol": To express the affirmative form of egol verbs in the "simple past" form, simply replace the egol ending with aama. For example, lamminegol turns into lamminaama. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "weelegol", which means to be hungry.

Subject	Terminated Past form	English
Mi	weelaama	I have gotten hungry.
A	weelaama	You have gotten hungry.
O	weelaama	He/she has gotten hungry.
En	weelaama	We have gotten hungry.
Men	weelaama	We have gotten hungry.
On	weelaama	You have gotten hungry.
Ɓe	weelaama	They have gotten hungry.

Here are some simple sentences where "egol" verbs are conjugated in the Simple Past form.

Subject	Simple Past form of "egol" verb	Object	English
mi	weelaama	haa reedu an ndun mutii.	I have gotten hungry to the point my belly has disappeared.
O	lamminaama	fii hitaa'de.	He has been elected for one year.
En	negliizaama	pandi.	We have been neglected too much.
A	halfinaama	sekeree on.	You have been entrusted with the secret.

The past participle form of various verb types

1) Verbs ending in "ugol": To express the affirmative form of ugol verbs in the "past participle" form, simply replace the ugol ending with i. For example, nawnugol turns into nawni. Note that the past participle form of the verb behaves as an adjective and is preceded by the verb to be conjugated in the present. The table below provides more examples using the verb "ronkugol", which means to be tired.

The verb to be in the present	Past Participle form of "ugol" verb	English
Miɗo	ronki	I am tired.
Hiɗa	ronki	You are tired.
Himo	ronki	He/she is tired.
Hiɗen	ronki	We are tired.
Meɗen	ronki	We are tired.
Hiɗon	ronki	You are tired.
Hiɓe	ronki	They are tired.

Here are some simple sentences where "ugol" verbs are converted to the Past Participle form and used as adjectives.

Verb to be	Simple Past form of "ugol" verb	Object	English
Miɗo	juuti	–	I am tall.
Hiɗa	raɓɓidi	–	You are short.
Veloo-an on no	boni.	–	My bicycle is broken down.
Lekkol-an on no	woɗɗi	–	My school is too far.
Hiɓe	nawni.	–	They are sick.

Subject	Simple Past form	English
Mi	immike	I got up
A	immike	You got up
O	immike	he/she got up
En	immike	We got up
Men	immike	We got up
On	immike	You got up
Ɓe	immike	They got up

Here are some simple sentences where "agol" verbs are conjugated in the Simple Past form.

Subject	Simple Past form of "agol" verb	Object	English
mi	ɓortike	dolokke maa on.	I have taken off your shirt.
mi	ɲawlike	mo dolaarji joy.	I have borrowed five dollars from him/her.
Boobo on	suumitike	yeeso ngon.	The baby has covered his/her face.
A	ɓornike	dolokke tuunu-ɗo.	You have put on a dirty shirt.

Subject	Terminated Past form	English
Mi	weelaama	I have gotten hungry.
A	weelaama	You have gotten hungry.
O	weelaama	He/she has gotten hungry.
En	weelaama	We have gotten hungry.
Men	weelaama	We have gotten hungry.
On	weelaama	You have gotten hungry.
Ɓe	weelaama	They have gotten hungry.

Here are some simple sentences where "egol" verbs are conjugated in the Simple Past form.

Subject	Simple Past form of "egol" verb	Object	English
mi	weelaama	haa reedu an ndun mutii.	I have gotten hungry to the point my belly has disappeared.
O	lamminaama	fii hitaa'de.	He has been elected for one year.
En	negliizaama	pandi.	We have been neglected too much.
A	halfinaama	sekeree on.	You have been entrusted with the secret.

Negative forms of verbs:

The future, negative form of various verb types

1) Verbs ending in "ugol": To express the negative form of ugol verbs in the future, simply replace the ugol ending with ataa. For example, soodugol turns into soodataa. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "soodugol", which means to buy.

Subject	Future, negative form	English
Mi	soodataa	I will not buy
A	soodataa	You will not buy
O	soodataa	he/she will not buy
En	soodataa	We will not buy
Men	soodataa	We will not buy
On	soodataa	You will not buy
Ɓe	soodataa	They will not buy

2) Verbs ending in "agol": To express the negative form of agol verbs in the future, simply replace the agol ending with ataako. For example, fubbagol turns into fubbataako. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "fubbagol", which means to swim.

Subject	Future, negative form	English
Mi	fubbataako	I will not swim
A	fubbataako	You will not swim
O	fubbataako	he/she will not swim
En	fubbataako	We will not swim
Men	fubbataako	We will not swim
On	fubbataako	You will not swim
Ɓe	fubbataako	They will not swim

3) Verbs ending in "egol": To express the negative form of egol verbs in the future, simply replace the egol ending with ataake. For example, janfegol turns into fubbataake. Note that the verb does not vary with the subject. The table below provides more examples using the verb "janfegol", which means to be cheated.

Subject	Future, negative form	English
Mi	janfataake	I will not be cheated
A	janfataake	You will not be cheated
O	janfataake	he/she will not be cheated
En	janfataake	We will not be cheated
Men	janfataake	We will not be cheated
On	janfataake	You will not be cheated
Ɓe	janfataake	They will not be cheated

Adjectives and adverbs

The word "very" in English takes many different forms in Pular depending on what adjective is being emphasized. Here are a few examples:

kaani kas means very ugly.
laaɓi pos means very clean.
woɗɗi pon means very far.
raɓɓiɗi pot means very short.

However, in general, most of these Pular adverbs could be replaced with moƴƴa to emphasize the adjective. But the style would be lost. The table below contains additional examples with their appropriate adverbs.

n	Pular	English
1	luuɓi dus	smells very bad
2	ɲaaɗi ɲas	very mean person
3	rawni pen	very white
4	ɓawli kiron	very black
5	satti ken	very difficult
6	ronki kof	very tired
7	sembi pimpitin	very fat
8	sewi ɲila	very thin

Sentence structure

Making Comparisons

Comparing with "ɓuri"

n	Pular	English
1	Veloo an on no tuuni ɓuri veloo maa on.	My bicycle is dirtier than your bicycle.
2	salon maɓɓe on no yaaji ɓuri salon men on.	Their living room is wider than our living room.
3	Binɗi maa ɗin no jangoo ɓuri binɗi an ɗin.	Your hand writing is more legible than mine.
4	Faransee no satti ɓuri matematik.	French is more complicated than Math.
5	Hanki hari hiɓe ronki ɓuri ko woowi kon.	Yesterday they were more tired than usual.
6	Ko arata mi antereenoto ɓuri ko mi antereenii rowani kon.	Next year I will train more than I did last year.
7	Miɗo faalaa soodude ɓuri killooji tati teewu.	I want to buy more than three kilos of meat.
7	Seppugol soondowoo no wondi e cellal ɓuri dogugol wondewonde.	Walking often is more healthy than running occasionally.

Comparing with "wa"
Comparing with "fotta"

Contrasting ideas

Expressing contrasting ideas with "kono"

Pular	English
Kotoo an no juuti, kono jaaja an no raɓɓiɗi.	My older brother is tall, but my older sister is short.
Himo weelaa, kono o sali ɲaamude.	He/she is hungry, but he/she refuses to eat.
Hiɓe jogii jawdi, kono ɓe wallataa tampuɗo	They are rich, but they don't help poor people.
Mi waɗii duuɓi joy ameriki, kono mi ronku waawude ingiliisi.	I have lived in America for five years, but I can't speak English.

Cause and effect

Expressing cause with "ɓayru"

#	Pular	English
1	Ɓayru a moƴƴaa, hay e gooto wallataa ma.	Because you are not nice, no one will help you.
2	Ɓe inni: "O naatataa ɓayru doloke makko on no kaani."	They said: "He/she will not come in because his/her shirt is ugly."
3	Ɓayru a sattinii pirii on, mi waawataa soodude buy.	Since the price is too high, I cannot buy a lot.
4	Ɓayru o jangaano, o paasaano.	Since he/she did not study, he/she did not pass.
5	Ɓayru ɓe juulataa, ɓe naatataa aljanna.	Since they don't pray, they will not go to heaven.
6	Ɓayru a fiimay, a waɗataa espoor ekadi a vaksinataako, a nawnay soondowoo.	Since you smoke, you don't exercise and you don't get vaccinated, you will often be sick.

Time clauses

Expressing time clauses with "tuma"

#	Pular	English
1	Tuma reedu maa ndun fetti, a accay ɲaamugol haa feƴƴintina.	After your belly explodes, you will stop eating too much.
2	Tuma o arti, mi yeetoto mo.	After he/she returns, I will tell him/her.
3	Tuma mi ndikki, mi fuɗɗitoto gollude.	After I get better, I will go back to work .
4	Tuma boobooɓe ɓen waawi wowlude, ɓe jentataako.	After the babies learn to speak, they will not be quiet.
5	Tuma fenoowo wowli goonga, lagine gaɲay Cup-Dafrik.	After a lier tells the truth, Guinea will win the African Cup of Nations.
6	Tuma otowal ngal gayni wulude, ayskriim maa on yoosay.	After the car is done warming up, your ice-cream will melt.

Expressing time clauses with "haa"

n	Pular	English
1	Jiwo on jombataake haa o heɓa duuɓi sappoo e jeetati.	The girl will not be wedded until she turns eighteen.
2	Fewndo men waynondiraynoo ka ayropooru, mi wulluno haa gite an ɗen ɓuuti.	While we were saying our good-byes at the airport, I cried until my eyes got swollen.
3	Mo suttii sigareeti, o fiimay haa ɲalaande o maayi.	If someone gets addicted to cigarettes, he/she will smoke until the day he/she dies.
4	Fii Alla, sabbolan haa mi gayna.	Please, wait for me until I finish.
5	Den ɲande mi huluno. Ɓayru gayuurindin jokkiilan, mi doguno haa koythe an ɗen acci meemude leydi.	That day I was really terrified. When the lion chased me, I ran until my legs stopped touching the ground.

Expressing time clauses with "tuma woo"
Expressing time clauses with "fewndo"

n	Pular	English
1	Fewndo mi hewti ka labutaane, hari moodi makko no wullude.	When I arrived at the hospital, her husband was crying.
2	Fewndo laamu Seeku Tuuree, hari gineyen ɓe ɓen no tampi.	During Seeku Tuuree's administration, the Guineans were suffering.
3	Ee, awa oo debbo no wakkilii! Fewndo mi feƴƴaynoo ɗoo bimbi, hari himo gollude. Haa jooni o fowtaaki.	Men, let me tell you this lady is a hard worker! While I was passing here this morning, she was working. She still has not taken a break.
4	Fewndo mi wonunoo ka koleez hari moodi an no ka liisee	While I was in middle school, my husband was in high school.
5	Rowani, fewndo ka vakansiigi, hari miɗo Pari.	Last year, during the summer vacations, I was in Paris.

Relative clauses

Relative clauses in Pular are often used to give more details about a noun or an idea within a sentence. Thus they play a similar role in English. They are often associated with the following relative pronouns:ɗo = who. This pronoun usually comes after a conjugated verb. Ex:... gorko nawnu ɗo. =... a man who is sick.mo = who. Unlike ɗo, mo usually comes after a noun. Ex:... gorko mo nawnaa.... a man who is not sick.ɓe = who wondema = thatɗi, ɗe, ko, ɗan, ngal, etc... = thatmo/ɓe/ɗi/ɗe... mun = whose. This is a partial list since these pronouns are related to the definitive articles of the nouns.
Please see the table below for examples that demonstrate the use of relative clauses.

n	Pular	English
1	Miɗo jogii ɓibbe ɗiɗo hoɗu ɓe Pari.	I have two children who live in Paris.
2	Suka an hoɗu ɗo Niw york on no nawni.	My son who lives in New York is sick.
3	Miɗo andi mawɗo mo suka mun jogii otooje tati.	I know an old man whose son has three vehicles.
4	Ko hombo jeyi ɗii vellooji ɗi pineeji mun haajitoraa hendu.	Who owns these bicycles whose tires don't need air?
5	Meɗen yewtude fii worɓe ɓe ɓeynguuli mun dogi sabu angal kaalisi.	We are talking about men whose wives left because of a lack of money.
6	Mi faalaaka gorko mo maraa jawdi.	I don't want a man who does not have money.
7	Mi yiɗaa ɲaamugol maafe ko waɗaaka ɲamaku.	I don't like any sauce that doesn't have pepper.
8	Miɗo andi hiɗa seytini.	I know that you are upset. Note that the relative pronoun is omitted here.
9	Mi nanii wondema hanki hari hiɓe nawni.	I heard that they were sick yesterday.
10	Mi jangii e deftere wondema leydi ndin no murliɗiri wa balonre.	I read in a book that the earth is round like a soccer ball.
11	Ɓe hoolaaki wondema wakkilaare ɓeyday arsike gorko.	They don't believe that hardwork can increase a man's luck.
12	Miɗo sikki tun o alaa e yeetaade en ngoonga on.	I just think that he/she is not telling us the truth.
13	Mi nanuno ka radioo hanki woo gere on ɓuttii.	I heard on the radio yesterday that the war has ended.

Conditional clauses

Expressing conditional clauses with "si"