Differentiation of person and number are familiar from the study of non—Bantu languages. But these six prefixes are used only when the subject is personal. For nonpersonal third person subjects (and for some personal ones) Kirundi uses other subject prefixes. Just which one is chosen depends on the identity of the noun that is the subject:
| inyama ziraziimvye | 'meat is expensive' |
| umukaáte uraziimvye | 'bread is expensive' |
| ibiríibwa biraziimvye | 'foodstuffs are expensive' |
| imicúungwa iraziimvye | 'oranges are expensive' |
For this reason, it will be necessary in this discussion of verb forms, to glance briefly at the nouns of the language.
In some, but not all cases, the student will soon learn to perceive an alliterative relationship between the subject prefix of a verb and the prefix that begins the noun subject of that verb.
After each of the words in the list, write either /iraziimvyye/ or /uraziimvye/ or /biraziimvye/:
| Umukaáte | ______________ | 'Bread is expensive.' | [uraziimvye] |
| Imikaáte | ______________ | 'Breads are expensive.' | [iraziimvye] |
| Ibiintu | ______________ | 'Things are expensive.' | [biraziimvye] |
| Imidúga | ______________ | 'Cars are expensive.' | [iraziimvye] |
| Ibitabo | ______________ | 'Books are expensive.' | [biraziimvye] |
| Umudúga | ______________ | 'The car is expensive.' | [uraziimvye] |
Generally, about half of the prefixes are used with singular meaning, and most of the rest are used with plural meaning. Most noun stems, then,occur with at least two prefixes—one
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