JAMB UTME - Yoruba Language - 2025

In the sentence Ó fi èbùn náà fún mi sí orí tabili (he/she put the gift for me on top of the table), the word sí introduces the location where the gift was placed, on top of the table. A word that links a noun to the rest of the sentence to show relationships such as place, direction, or time is called a preposition, which in Yoruba grammar is termed ọ̀rọ̀ amúlò.

Sí is not a sign of devotion, a demonstrative word pointing something out, or a narrative word used for storytelling; its only job here is to connect the action of placing the gift to the place it was placed, which is exactly the work a preposition does.

To spot a preposition in a Yoruba sentence, look for a short word that answers where, when, or in what direction something happens; sí, ní, and lára are common examples.

The passage opens by defining Yoruba culture directly: "àṣà Yorùbá jẹ́ àfihàn ìdánimọ̀, ìbùkún àti ìpẹ̀yà fún àwọn tí wọ́n bá tẹ̀síwájú nínú rẹ̀" (Yoruba culture is a display of identity, blessing, and heritage for those who continue in it). The passage's own words state that culture is a manifestation of identity.

Good character (ọmọlúwàbí), modern technology, and the religious history of the Egyptians are not statements the passage makes about what culture is; they either appear elsewhere in a different sense or do not appear in the passage's definition at all.

When a comprehension question asks what a passage says something is, return to the exact sentence in the text that defines it rather than relying on general knowledge of the topic.

The passage opens by describing what the villagers discovered every morning: their farmland kept getting damaged and their food supply kept reducing without any clear cause. This was the very first problem the village faced, before any suspects, hunters, or vigilante groups are mentioned.

Wild animals entering the village is only the villagers' first guess about the cause of the problem, not the problem itself, and the passage goes on to say the hunter found no footprints to support that idea. An epidemic disease and a shortage of water are not mentioned anywhere in the passage; neither illness nor lack of water is described as affecting the villagers.

Because the passage explicitly states that the villagers woke to find their farmland ruined and their food reduced without measure, the initial problem they faced was the destruction of their farmland together with the ongoing disappearance of their food.

Examination tip: in a comprehension passage, distinguish the actual event described from characters' guesses about its cause, since a question asking what problem occurred wants the event itself, not the suspected cause.

Traditional Yoruba family life (ẹbí) is organised around close kinship ties, and one of the most basic units within an extended family is the group of children born to the same mother, referred to as ọmọ-ìyá. This bond of shared maternal descent is a defining feature of how a Yoruba family is structured and understood.

A decision, a system of government, and a story are not kinship categories; they describe entirely different aspects of life and cannot define how family membership is organised. Family structure in Yoruba culture is built on blood and marriage ties, and ọmọ-ìyá names exactly one such tie.

When a question asks what a Yoruba family is built with or organised around, look for the option that names a kinship relationship rather than an abstract idea like decision-making or governance.

Orin ewì ni a máa n lò fún ìtósónà àti ìmoràn. O je ohun elo lati koni ati lati taniji.

This question tests knowledge of the Yoruba term for the celebration held to mark a birthday.

In Yoruba culture, a birthday is marked with a festive gathering involving family, friends, food, music, and well-wishes for the celebrant, and the general Yoruba word for this kind of celebration or party is the one that correctly answers the question. It is distinct from the words for a town, a story or historical account, and an unrelated term that does not refer to a festive occasion, none of which describes a celebratory gathering of this kind.

This term applies broadly to festive occasions in Yoruba culture beyond birthdays as well, covering celebrations held for a range of joyful events, which is why it is the word most directly associated with marking an occasion such as a birthday with festivity.

When a Yoruba culture question asks for the term describing a celebration or party, look for the vocabulary specifically tied to festivity and joyful gathering rather than words describing places, records, or unrelated customs.

The passage lists the foundations of Yoruba culture and practice in one sentence: good relationships (íbáṣepọ̀ rere), the blessing of elders, family contentment (ìtẹ́lọrun ídílé), and advice built on the wisdom of the ancestors (ọgbọ́n àwọn baba-nlá wa). The question asks which areas or branches Yoruba culture brings together, so the correct option must match this list.

The option naming relationship, contentment, and the application of wisdom (íbáṣepọ̀, ìtẹ́lọrun, ímúlò ọgbọ́n) directly mirrors these three pillars named in the passage, making it the correct answer.

The other options introduce items the passage never groups together under culture, such as song, fighting, and medicine, or religion, evil, and prayer. These sound like they could belong to a general discussion of Yoruba life, but none of them appear in the specific sentence the question is testing, so they must be rejected.

The proverb "Ìyàwó tí kò mọ ibi tí ọkọ rẹ̀ ti ń ra ẹran, yóò jẹ ẹran ẹlẹ́dẹ̀" (a wife who does not know where her husband buys meat will end up eating pork) uses the risk of unknowingly eating a forbidden meat as a warning image. The point is not literally about meat; it is about the danger of staying ignorant of a husband's dealings and affairs.

The lesson the proverb teaches is that a wife must make it her business to know what her husband does, so that she is not caught off guard or led into something she would not have accepted knowingly. This matches the idea that a woman must know what her husband is doing.

The other statements about home training, eating together, or a boy helping out do not connect to the specific image of being tricked through ignorance that the proverb builds around the meat.

This question tests knowledge of which group of performers is traditionally associated with a specific genre of Yoruba oral poetry.

Ìjálá is a chanted poetic form performed specifically by hunters, traditionally recited to honour Ògún, the deity associated with iron and hunting, and to recount hunting exploits, animal lore, and hunters' experiences in the forest. Its distinctive vocabulary, imagery drawn from wildlife and the bush, and its ceremonial occasions are all tied to hunting culture, which is why hunters, rather than drivers, market traders, or any other occupational group, are the performers historically identified with this chant.

Yoruba oral literature assigns different chant and poetry forms to different social or occupational groups, for example herders, hunters, or praise singers, and recognising which genre belongs to which group is a recurring feature of this area of the syllabus.

When a question names a specific chant genre and asks who performs it, recall the occupational or ceremonial group historically linked to that genre rather than guessing from the sound of the word alone.

Before the arrival of Christianity, the Yoruba people practised a traditional belief system centred on the worship of the òrìṣà, the various deities associated with natural forces, ancestors, and specific areas of life such as Ṣàngó, Ògún, and Ỏyá. This indigenous religious practice is known as ìjọ́sin Òrìṣà, meaning the worship of the deities.

The option naming worship of the Òrìṣà (ìjọ́sin Òrìṣà) correctly identifies this pre-Christian faith, which existed long before missionaries introduced Christianity to Yorubaland.

Teaching, hearing from God in the Christian sense, and naming ceremonies are not religions in themselves; hearing from God in particular reflects a Christian framework rather than the traditional practice the question is asking about. A useful way to check this kind of question is to ask which option names an actual belief system rather than an activity or ritual that could exist within several different belief systems.

"Jẹ" jẹ́ àsọyé tí ó fi ișe tí ẹni náà șe hàn (eating - verb).

The word "yárá" has two different meanings in Yoruba depending on how it is used and pronounced: as a noun it can mean "room", but as an adverb describing how an action is performed, it means "quickly" or "fast". In the sentence "Ó yárá gba ìpè nàà" (He quickly answered the call), "yárá" is placed directly before the verb "gba" (to take or answer), showing that it is describing the manner of the action rather than naming an object.

Because it modifies how the call was answered, "yárá" here means "quickly" (ní kiákiá), which is the correct match.

Options referring to a decision, a burnt house, or a playroom all treat "yárá" as a noun, which does not fit its position in the sentence, since a noun could not sit between the subject "ó" and the verb "gba" in this way. Checking a word's position and function in the sentence, not just its dictionary form, is essential whenever a Yoruba word can serve more than one grammatical role.

"Tálákà" is a Yoruba word describing a person who lacks material wealth or resources, someone who is poor or in need. The word carries the same sense as aláìní, which literally means "one who lacks" or "one in need", making it the correct match for the meaning being tested.

A student who confuses "tálákà" with its opposite, ọlọ́rọ̀ (a wealthy person), has reversed the meaning entirely, since the two words describe opposite economic conditions. The remaining options, referring to rebellion and to a child, describe unrelated concepts that share no connection with poverty or need.

When learning paired opposites in vocabulary such as tálákà and ọlọ́rọ̀, it helps to memorise them together so that an exam question testing one cannot be mistaken for its opposite.

Oríkì is a well known genre of Yoruba oral poetry recited to celebrate a person, a lineage, a town, or even an animal, by listing their attributes, achievements, and defining qualities. Its whole purpose is to praise and honour its subject, which is why it is correctly described as ìyin eni, the praising of a person.

Oríkì is different from a news report, since it does not narrate current events; it is different from an explanation of how something is done; and it is different from general knowledge about the world, since its content is always centred on exalting a specific subject rather than teaching a fact.

Remember oríkì by its function: whenever a Yoruba literature question asks what a genre is used for celebrating someone's identity and achievements, the answer is oríkì, and its defining feature is praise.

The opening lines of the passage state that Yoruba culture and practice are built on good relationships, the blessing of elders, family contentment (ìtẹ́lọrun ídílé), and advice grounded in the wisdom of the ancestors. The question asks specifically what culture did for the family at the beginning of the passage, so the answer must come straight from that opening sentence rather than from later parts about children's attitudes toward culture.

The option describing culture as something that shows contentment and blessing (ó fi ìtẹ́lọrun àti íbùkún hàn) restates exactly what the passage says: family satisfaction and the blessing that comes from elders. This is why it is the correct answer.

The other options either introduce ideas the passage never mentions, such as going to church or causing arguments, or describe something too vague, such as "bringing enjoyment", that is not the specific benefit the writer names for the family. When answering a comprehension question about what a text says at the beginning, always trace the exact sentence being tested rather than a general impression of the whole passage.

This question tests understanding of how marriage is traditionally regarded within Yoruba culture, specifically whose approval and involvement a marriage requires.

In Yoruba tradition, marriage is not treated as a private arrangement between two individuals alone; it is a union that involves and must be approved by the families of both the bride and the groom. Elders from each family are consulted, rites such as introduction visits and bride price negotiations are carried out between the families, and the marriage is considered properly sanctioned only once both families have given their consent. This is why family, rather than a title such as "mister," a leadership role, or the idea of just two individuals in isolation, is what Yoruba tradition holds as the party whose approval validates a marriage.

This family-centred view of marriage reflects a broader value in Yoruba culture, which treats major life events as matters affecting the wider kin group rather than individuals alone.

When Yoruba culture questions ask who approves or is involved in a traditional practice such as marriage, look for the answer that reflects the communal, family-based structure of Yoruba society rather than an individual-centred one.

This question tests recognition of which Yoruba word is a standard, correctly formed term as opposed to unfamiliar or non-standard combinations.

"Àkọ́lé," meaning a title or heading, is a well-established, single unit of Yoruba vocabulary that is used consistently across written and spoken Yoruba, for example as the heading placed at the top of a letter, essay, or newspaper article. It has a fixed, recognisable form and a clear, stable meaning, which is what makes it the word that reads as genuinely well-formed among the options presented.

The other options combine or modify related word parts in ways that either alter the core meaning, as with a word suggesting unification of separate things into one, or produce a less commonly attested form, which makes them less secure choices when a question is testing familiarity with standard vocabulary rather than word-building rules in the abstract.

When a Yoruba vocabulary question asks which word is correct or fitting among similar-looking options, favour the option you can confidently recall being used in ordinary written or spoken Yoruba, since JAMB vocabulary questions often include one authentic, frequently used word alongside less common variants.

Once the hunter's report ruled out wild animals as the cause of the damage, the passage says the village head called all the villagers together and set up a group whose job was to keep watch at night, in order to find out who or what was really responsible.

The passage does not say the village head went to the second village himself, that only happens later, after the culprits are caught, and it is the elders in general, not the village head alone, who make that visit. There is no mention in the passage of the village head ordering a separate investigation apart from setting up the night watch, or of him holding any kind of festival or ceremony.

Because the passage specifically describes the village head gathering everyone and forming a night-watch group to guard the farmland, that is the action he took to identify the culprit.

Examination tip: track each character's specific action as the passage narrates it in sequence, the village head's contribution here is organising the night watch, distinct from the later reconciliation visit made by the elders.

The question Asa ayeye omode ni ...? asks: "What is the cultural celebration for a child?" This tests knowledge of Yoruba traditional customs and ceremonies.

The correct answer is Iko omo, which refers to the naming ceremony in Yoruba culture. The naming ceremony is the traditional celebration held for a newborn child, typically on the seventh or eighth day after birth. It is one of the most important cultural rites associated with children in Yoruba society. During this ceremony, the child is formally given a name, prayers and blessings are offered, and symbolic items such as honey, kola nut, water, palm oil, and salt are used to express wishes for the child's future.

The other options refer to different cultural events:

• Ikave refers to a reading or educational ceremony
• Ikore is the harvest festival, a celebration of agricultural abundance
• Ipeya refers to a different type of cultural gathering, not specifically associated with children

The naming ceremony (Iko omo) is the defining cultural celebration directly tied to the arrival of a new child.

In the sentence "Mo ń lọ sí ilé" (I am going home), the particle "ń" placed before the verb "lọ" signals that the action is ongoing at the moment of speaking. This particle functions as a tense or aspect marker, showing the listener that the movement is happening right now rather than having been completed in the past or planned for the future.

The option identifying "ń" as a tense marker (àmì àsíkò) correctly names this grammatical role, which is why it is the correct answer.

"ń" is neither an example, a noun, nor a communication device; it carries no meaning of its own outside of the grammatical signal it gives about when an action takes place. Whenever a short particle like "ń" or "yóò" appears directly before a Yoruba verb, checking what it tells the listener about timing is the fastest way to identify its grammatical function.

The passage closes by stating that Yoruba culture must not be allowed to die or be forgotten, and that it should instead be used to help children through education, work, and daily life (ó yẹ́ kí a fi ran àwọn ọmọ wa lọ́wọ́ nínu ẹ̀kọ́, iṣẹ́, àti ìgbésí-ayé wọn). The question asks what should be done with culture as a conclusion to the passage, so the answer has to match this closing recommendation.

The option that says culture should be used to build education and livelihood matches this closing instruction, which is why it is correct.

Leaving culture for other nations, destroying it, or abandoning trust in it all contradict the passage's message, which argues for preserving and actively using culture rather than discarding it. A concluding recommendation in a passage is usually the opposite of the problem described earlier in the text, and here the problem was children abandoning their culture, so the solution must be to actively pass it on.

The passage describes what a culturally untrained child lacks: "ọmọ tí kò mọ̀ ìtẹ́ríba, kò ní lè mọyì àgbà, kó sì ní ìfọkàn tán láti fi ọgbọ́n gbà ìpinnu" (a child who does not know respect cannot value elders, and will not have the confidence to make wise decisions). The passage explicitly names respect and the wisdom to make sound decisions as what such a child is missing.

The passage does not connect this lack to the ability to lie, to food choices, or to relationships in general; those ideas are not part of the sentence describing what the child fails to know.

When a question asks what a passage says someone lacks, match your answer to the exact qualities the text lists, here respect and sound judgement in decision-making.

This question tests knowledge of the specific Yoruba term for a well-known cultural rite, the ceremony held to welcome and name a newborn child.

In Yoruba tradition, a newborn is formally given a name during a dedicated ceremony that usually takes place about a week after birth, attended by family and community elders who bless the child and confer names chosen for their meaning. The Yoruba term for this specific rite, literally "naming a child," is the one that correctly answers the question. It is distinct from a burial rite, from an ordinary story-telling occasion, and from a general discussion or meeting, none of which refers to a newborn-child ceremony.

A useful way to recognise this vocabulary is to notice how the word is built from "so," to make or turn something into, "ọmọ," child, and "orúkọ," name, so that the whole word literally means "to make the child into a name-bearer."

When a Yoruba vocabulary question describes a life-stage ritual, break the compound word into its parts to confirm what activity it names before choosing an answer.

This question is loosely worded, but it is asking for something in Yoruba speech that people habitually point to or refer back to when making an argument, described here as an àtọ́ka (a pointer or reference). In Yoruba oral tradition, that role belongs to àwọn òwe, proverbs.

Yoruba speech leans heavily on proverbs as ready-made points of reference: a speaker cites a proverb the way a writer cites a source, to point to accepted wisdom and strengthen an argument. This function is captured in the well known saying that a proverb is the horse used to trace and recover a lost line of speech.

Application, complex sentence structure, and machinery do not serve this referencing function in everyday speech, while proverbs are specifically kept and reused as fixed points that a speaker points back to; that is why proverbs are the best fit here, even though the question's phrasing is not fully precise.

Ewì oníròyìn (epic) ni ewì tí ó sọ ìtàn ayé tabi ìṣe eniyan.

This question tests the ability to complete a sentence with the clause that follows logically from what has already been stated.

The sentence begins by stating that the speaker is going to the hospital. A hospital is a place people visit specifically for medical reasons, so the continuation that makes sense is one that gives a medical reason for the visit, namely that the speaker is unwell. This connects cause to effect directly: being unwell is the reason for going to a hospital, in the same way going to a place of worship would logically follow a statement about wanting to pray, not about visiting a hospital.

The other options either describe an unrelated destination, an unrelated intention to turn back, or an unrelated errand to buy herbs, none of which follows naturally from the specific statement about heading to a hospital.

For sentence-completion questions, test each option by asking whether it gives a reason, result, or detail that a listener would naturally expect to follow the opening statement, rather than one that is merely grammatically possible.

Èsìn ìbílẹ̀ means the indigenous or traditional religion of a people, as opposed to religions introduced from outside, such as Christianity or Islam. Traditional Yoruba religion centres on the worship of the orisa, deities such as Ògún, Ṣàngó, and Ọbàtálá, so worship of Ọbàtálá is a genuine example of an indigenous Yoruba religion.

Cherub worship belongs to a Christian tradition, and the other two options do not name a recognised indigenous Yoruba deity or practice, so they cannot represent the original faith of the Yoruba people the way orisa worship does.

When a question asks for an example of Yoruba traditional religion, look for the name of an orisa; worship built around one of the orisa is always the indigenous option.

This question tests reading comprehension: understanding the situation of a character based on details stated later in the passage, not simply the first impression given earlier.

Early in the story, the villagers guarding the farm at night hear a commotion and discover young people from a neighbouring village carrying away stolen food. At that point their action looks like theft. But the passage goes on to explain the cause: a serious flood had destroyed the crops and farmland belonging to those children's own village, leaving them without enough to eat, so they took food from a place they knew simply to survive.

This detail is essential to answering the question correctly. The children were not habitual robbers, abandoned orphans, or associated with witchcraft; their circumstance was that a flood had ruined their family's farm produce, which is why they resorted to taking food. Recognising this shows the reading skill of following cause and effect across a passage rather than stopping at the first surface impression a scene creates.

When a comprehension passage answers "why" something happened later in the text, always check that later explanation before settling on an answer, since it often overturns an earlier assumption.

The passage explains that many children and young people have abandoned the teachings and culture of their forebears. It goes on to say exactly what accusation these young people make: they claim that culture is ohun ateyinwa, meaning something outdated or old-fashioned, and that it no longer has anything useful to offer.

The option stating that culture is accused of being something outdated (oun ateyinwa) reproduces this claim word for word from the passage, which is why it is the correct answer.

The remaining options describe accusations that never appear in the text, such as culture being noisier than music or eating excessively. When a comprehension question asks what a group of people is quoted as saying, the safest approach is to locate the sentence that reports their words directly, since paraphrase distractors are usually built from unrelated vocabulary that sounds plausible but is absent from the source.

In Yoruba culture, several traditional customs (\u00e0\u1e63\u00e0) mark different stages and events in life, each with its own name. \u00cck\u00e0w\u00e9 refers to the practice or culture of reading. \u00cck\u00f3r\u00e8 is the harvest festival, celebrating the gathering of crops such as yam or maize. \u00cc\u1eb9\u0300y\u00e0 relates to separation or parting. \u00ck\u1eb9\u0301 \u1ecdm\u1ecd (the naming ceremony) is the custom performed to welcome and formally name a newborn child, usually within the first seven to nine days after birth, when family and community gather to bless the child and confer its name.

Since the question asks specifically about the custom of celebration connected with a child, the practice that fits is the naming ceremony, because it is the traditional celebration organised specifically to welcome a child into the family and community.

Examination tip: match each Yoruba custom to the life event it marks, the naming ceremony for a newborn child, marriage rites for a wedding, and burial rites for a death.

The two simple sentences Ọmọ náà wà ní ilé (the child is at home) and Ó ń ka iwe rẹ̀ (he/she is reading his/her book) describe two separate but related actions happening at the same time. The standard way to combine two such simple sentences into one compound sentence in Yoruba is with the connector sì (and/also), giving Ọmọ náà wà ní ilé, ó sì ń ka iwe rẹ̀.

The other combinations either force an unnatural focus construction, or turn the second sentence into a relative clause describing the child rather than simply joining two parallel actions, which changes the sentence type from a compound sentence to a complex one.

To build a compound sentence from two short Yoruba sentences, keep both actions as independent clauses and link them with sì rather than folding one inside the other with tí.

This question tests recognition of a collective or plural noun, a word used to refer to a group of people together, as opposed to individual family terms.

The words for father, mother, and child each refer to a single, specific individual within a family. The remaining option combines the plural marker "àwọn" with the word for kinsmen or community members, producing a term that refers to a group of people considered together rather than to any one person. That is precisely what a collective noun does: it names a body of people as a unit rather than naming an individual role within a family.

The prefix "àwọn" is the standard Yoruba marker of plurality when attached to a noun referring to people, and recognising it is a reliable way to identify collective or group nouns in Yoruba sentences.

When asked to identify a word showing a group of people, look for the plural marker attached to a noun, since individual kinship terms such as father, mother, and child will never by themselves indicate a collective group.

A correctly formed Yoruba compound sentence joins two related clauses smoothly, often with a connector such as sì (and/also), as seen in sentences like they arrived and they left, he went and bought it, and he worked and slept. Each of those reads as a natural, grammatically sound coordination of two actions.

Ó lọ s'òun òun does not follow this pattern; the phrase repeats òun awkwardly and lacks the coherent structure a proper compound sentence needs, making it the example of faulty coordination among the choices given.

When asked to spot an incorrectly joined sentence, check whether the coordinating word links two complete, sensible clauses; a sentence that repeats or garbles a pronoun without adding a second clause is a sign of faulty construction.

Gbolohun àșe máa ń bẹ̀rẹ̀ pẹ̀lú àsọyé tí ó fún ní ìtọ́sọ́nà tàbí àṣẹ.

"Șe" jẹ́ ọ̀ro ìfarapa tí a fi n dá àtẹ̀gùn gbolohun àșẹ sílẹ̀.

This question tests knowledge of the author of a foundational work of Yoruba prose literature.

"Ògbójú Ọdẹ nínú Igbó Irúnmalẹ̀" is a landmark Yoruba novel that follows a hunter's adventures through a world of forests, spirits, and mythical creatures, blending Yoruba folklore with narrative fiction. It was written by D.O. Fagunwa, widely regarded as a pioneer of written Yoruba fiction, whose works established the fantastical hunter's-tale genre in Yoruba literature. This distinguishes his authorship from other well-known Yoruba literary figures, whose own works are associated with different titles and genres, such as drama or poetry rather than this particular hunter's narrative.

Knowing which author is linked to which title is a recurring feature of Yoruba literature questions, since JAMB frequently pairs a well-known book title with a set of plausible author names.

When asked to match a Yoruba literary title to its author, recall the genre and subject matter of the work, since an author's known body of work, such as Fagunwa's hunter narratives, usually points directly to the correct name.

Yoruba sentences are classified by the purpose they serve: a declarative sentence states a fact or gives information, an interrogative sentence asks a question, and an imperative sentence gives a command. "Ó ra aṣọ tuntun" (He bought new clothes) simply reports an event that took place, without asking anything or instructing anyone to act.

Because it states information rather than questioning or commanding, this sentence is a declarative sentence, called gbolohun àfihàn in Yoruba grammar, which is the correct classification.

It cannot be a question, since it contains no question word or rising interrogative structure, and it cannot be a command, since it describes a completed action rather than instructing someone to act. Checking whether a Yoruba sentence states, asks, or instructs is the quickest way to sort it into its correct grammatical type.

This question tests knowledge of the standard layout used for a Yoruba informal letter, specifically what the second address in the letter refers to.

A properly structured Yoruba letter opens with the writer's own address and the date, placed at the top. Beneath the salutation, a second address identifies the person the letter is being written to, that is, the recipient, so that the letter is clearly directed at a specific individual. This is why the second address corresponds to the person addressed, rather than to the writer, the location the letter was written from, which is already covered by the first address, or an unrelated person such as a child mentioned only within the body of the letter.

Keeping the two addresses distinct, one for where the letter comes from and one for who it is going to, mirrors the structure expected in formal correspondence generally and is a detail JAMB checks directly in letter-writing questions.

When answering questions on letter format, work through the layout in order, writer's address and date first, then salutation, then who the letter is addressed to, so that each address is matched to its correct role.

The proverb "Bí iná kò bá tàn, ẹ̀fúfù ò lè mú un lọ" (If the fire does not catch, the wind cannot carry it away) uses fire as a picture of trouble that a person themselves must first start, and wind as a picture of outside forces or people that only make an existing problem worse. The proverb's real message is that outside forces cannot create trouble out of nothing; there must already be an opening or spark from the person involved.

The option stating that if a person does not give room for trouble, they will not experience trouble (bí ẹnìyàn kò bá fi àyè fún wàhálà, kò ní ṣe wàhálà) expresses this figurative meaning correctly: without an initial cause from the person, external pressure has nothing to act on.

Restating the proverb literally, that fire spreads once lit and wind fans it, only repeats the surface image without explaining its figurative lesson, while claiming that wind never carries anything contradicts the proverb's own words. Yoruba proverbs almost always carry a figurative lesson about human behaviour, so the correct interpretation should explain the underlying moral, not restate the literal scene.

This question tests recognition of a compound noun, a noun formed by joining two or more words into a single naming unit, as opposed to a simple, single-word noun or a verb.

Among the options, a river and a spouse or vehicle are each a single, unanalysed noun, while a word meaning "to know" is a verb rather than a noun at all. The remaining option joins the general word for a vehicle with a second word describing motion by wheel, combining two separate elements into one naming unit for a specific kind of vehicle, a car. That structure, two independent words fused together to name one distinct thing, is exactly what defines a compound noun in Yoruba grammar.

Spotting compound nouns is useful because Yoruba builds a large part of its modern vocabulary this way, joining an existing word to a descriptive term to name something more specific, much as "aṣọ" (cloth) combines with other words to name particular garments.

When identifying a compound noun, check whether a word can be split into two independently meaningful Yoruba words that together narrow down to one specific thing; if it can, it is compound rather than simple.