Malagasy grammar, step by step

Malagasy is Verb–Object–Subject: the predicate comes first, the object in the middle, and the subject last. That final subject position is called the trigger — the most important, focused slot in the clause.

The article "ny" marks a noun as definite (specific, known). A bare noun without "ny" is indefinite. The trigger (clause-final subject) must always be definite — it must take "ny", a proper name, or a pronoun. Indefinite nouns cannot be triggers.

The "mi-" prefix marks actor focus: the trigger (final argument) is the doer of the action. When the doer is what the sentence focuses on, the verb takes the "mi-" prefix. This is the most common voice in Malagasy.

Actor focus verbs mark tense by swapping the first part of the prefix: "mi-" = present, "ni-" = past, "hi-" = future. The root stays fixed; only the prefix tells you when.

Malagasy verbs do not conjugate for person or number. The pronoun in the trigger position (the very last slot) carries that information. The verb form is the same regardless of who is speaking or how many subjects there are.

Patient focus promotes the object to the trigger position. The verb gains the suffix "-ina" (or "-ana"), and the original doer shifts to a genitive phrase with the clitic "'".

A large class of Malagasy verbs uses "man-"/"ma-" for actor focus. The tense shift is parallel: "man-"/"ma-" = present, "nan-"/"na-" = past, "han-"/"ha-" = future.

Malagasy adjectives always follow the noun they modify. The definite article "ny" precedes the entire noun phrase. This postpositive order applies to all modifiers including demonstratives.

The particle "efa" signals that an action is already complete or has already happened. It comes before the (tense-marked) verb and can combine with any tense.

Possessors attach directly to the noun as suffixes. The definite article "ny" still precedes the whole phrase. Each pronoun corresponds to a possessive suffix that replaces any free possessor word.

Negation is expressed by placing "tsy" immediately before the verb. The verb does not change form. The same "tsy" works before any tense prefix.

Wh-questions front the question word, followed by the focus particle "no", then the rest of the clause in normal VOS order. For yes/no questions, rising intonation alone is enough — word order stays unchanged.

Only the trigger of a clause can become the head of a relative clause. To relativize the object (the book), you must shift to patient focus so the book becomes the trigger — and then the patient-focus verb heads the relative clause.

Reduplication — repeating part or all of the root — signals repeated, habitual, or casual action. It can also convey a diminutive or "a bit of X" sense for adjectives.

Clauses and noun phrases join with "ary" (and), "fa" (but / because), or "na" (or). Each clause in a coordination maintains its own verb-first, subject-last structure.

Imperatives drop the tense prefix and the subject pronoun, leaving just the verb root. Negative imperatives replace "tsy" with "aza" before the full verb form.

Malagasy grammar radiates from one core idea: the trigger is always last, always definite, and the verb's prefix or suffix signals whose argument fills that slot. Tense, aspect, negation, and possession all layer around this spine.