tinoita

Tinoita is a Shona verb form that means "we do" or "we are doing." It represents the present tense for the first-person plural subject and is used when the speaker is referring to actions carried out by a group that includes themselves. As a form of the verb kuta or kuita (to do, to make), tinoita functions in everyday speech to describe current activities, routines, or general habits.

In usage, tinoita appears with a following element that specifies the action or object of the activity. It can convey ongoing activity or habitual behavior depending on context and accompanying words. For example, tinoita basa redu means "we do our work." Tinoita zvokudya means "we are cooking (food)" or, in a habitual sense, "we cook." Tinoita zvakanaka can be translated as "we do well" or "we are doing well." The form is common in conversation and informal writing, and it appears in questions as well, such as tinoita sei? meaning "how are we doing?" or "what are we doing?"

Linguistically, tinoita illustrates how Shona uses subject concords with verb stems to express person and number. It is part of a broader system in which the infinitive is marked by ku- and the present tense by appropriate prefixes attached to the verb stem. The form is widely understood across Shona-speaking communities and appears in many dialects with minor pronunciation or phonological variations.

See also: Shona language, Kuita, Verb conjugation, Bantu languages.