Swahili Tips

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1. Introduction
2. Greetings 1
3. Greetings 2
4. People
5. Present Tense 1
6. Chores
7. M/Mi Nouns
8. Food
9. To Have
10. Present 2
11. Ki/Vi Nouns
12. N/N Nouns
13. Ji/Ma Nouns
14. Adjectives
15. Numbers
16. Commands
17. Clothing
18. Interrogatives
19. U/N Nouns
20. Present 3
21. Animals
22. Shopping
23. Past Tense
24. Time
25. Future Tense
26. Immediate Past
27. Body
28. Passive Verbs
29. Locatives
30. Weather
31. Adverbs and Conjunctions
32. Object Infixes
33. Transportation
34. Prepositions and Conjunctions
35. Adjectives 2
36. Emotions
37. Demonstratives
38. School
39. Colors
40. Mahali Nouns
41. Conditional Tense
42. Prepositional Verbs
43. Medicine
44. Sports
45. Piga Idiom
46. Subjunctive
47. Spirituality
48. Politics
49. Reciprocal Verbs
50. Tourism
51. Causative Verbs
52. Stative Verbs
53. Negative Conditional
54. Habitual Tense
55. Narrative and Expeditious -Ka-
56. Conditional 2
57. Holidays
58. Additional Grammar
59. Relatives
60. Conditional Past
61. Comparisons
62. Figures of Speech
63. Pluperfect
64. Participles

Introduction updated 2023-02-16 ^

Pronunciation

Kiswahili pronunciation is, for the most part, easy for a learner whose first language is English. The language has a five vowel system represented by the letter, a, e, i, o, and u, (like Spanish), and most of its consonants are quite similar to English ones. The following points need to be kept in mind when learning Kiswahili pronunciation:

• Kiswahili words are stressed. With a few notable exceptions, stress is placed on the next-to-last (penultimate) syllable, e.g. bába father, káka brother etc. The exceptions are: lázima necessary, obligation; núsura almost, etc. (The accent ‘used here to indicate stress.)
  

• Kiswahili vowels are pronounced as follows:
  

The letter a is approximately pronounced as in English father, e.g. baba-father
The letter e is approximately pronounced as in English debt, e.g. nene-fat
The letter i is approximately pronounced as in English bee, e.g. bibi-grandmother
The letter o is approximately pronounced as in English row, e.g. mtoto-child
The letter u is approximately pronounced as in English moon, e.g. bubu-dumb person

All vowels are pronounced clearly and distinctly regardless of the position of the vowel in a word. They are never pronounced reduced (i.e schwa) as the second vowel in water and butter. Double vowels as in kaa, baa, taa, etc. are pronounced long. Dissimilar vowels as in pea, paua, zuia, etc. are pronounced distinctly as separate syllables; they are not pronounced like a sequence of two vowels one blending into the other as the English diphthong which is considered to form a single syllable.

• Kiswahili consonants are pronounced as follows:
  

p, t, ch, k are pronounced as in English pea, tea, cheer, keep respectively, Examples are: paa-roof, taa-lamp, choo-toilet, kaa-crab

b, d, j, g are pronounced as in English big, dig, jog, give respectively. Examples are: baa-bar, dada-sister, jaa-fill, gugu-weed

m, n, are pronounced as in English. Examples are: mama-mother, nane-eight

ng’ is pronounced like ng in long, bring, sing. Examples are: ng’aa-shine, ng’ombe-cow, ng’amua-realize

ny is pronounced as ni as in the word onion. Examples are: nyanya-tomatoes, nyinyi-you all, manyunyu-drizzle

nj is pronounced like the nge sound in the word fringe. Examples are: njano-yellow, njegere-peas

th, dh are pronounced as English th in thick and this, respectively, Examples are: thelathini-thirty, dhambi-sin

s, z are pronounced as English. Examples are: saa-time, watch, clock, zaa-give birth

sh is pronounced as in English she. Examples: shangaa-be surprised, shinda-win

h is pronounced as in English he. Examples are habari-news, information

f, v are pronounced like the initial sounds in the English words fail, veil respectively, Examples are: faa-be of use, vaa-wear, dress (cloth)

r, l, w, y are pronounced as the initial sounds in the English words; rain, lawyer, way, yes, respectively. Examples are: radi-thunder, lala-sleep, wewe-you (singular), yeye-s/he.

gh is pronounced in the same position in the mouth as English g in go but with friction. Examples are ghali-expensive, ghafla-suddenly

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns and demonstratives vary according to the noun class of the word they refer to.

NOTE: Sometimes, you might see the second person plural written as Nyinyi, but for this course, you will see Ninyi used.

“To Be”

To express the concept of “being” in the present, the particles ni (positive) and si (negative) are used as shown in the following chart:

Singular

Plural

Note

A common mistake for translating the word 'American' is simply changing the 'c' to 'k' - this is incorrect. The translation becomes '-marekani'

Greetings 1 updated 2018-10-24 ^

Greetings

• It is customary in Tanzanian culture to exchange greetings before engaging in a conversation or in any other activities, which is why ‘Greetings’ is one of the first skills of the Swahili course.
  

• Hand shaking is used a lot. In some areas of Tanzania people kneel down or bow, or bend down a little as a sign of respect, children bow their heads for a blessing from elders. In other areas elders bow their heads for a touch from children when being greeted.
  

• People take greetings seriously as they help to maintain good relationships.
  

• The word habari literally means news, but it is often used to ask How is ---?.

• Some Tanzanians use the greeting Jambo when greeting foreigners. In most cases Jambo is considered to be a touristic greeting. Generally foreigners are associated with tourists and for that matter this greeting is commonly used with foreigners.
  

• When using the forms of -jambo, negative prefixes will be used (such as asking, Hujambo?). This can be translated as a way to say Hello! or How are you?. More about this will be explained in later lessons, but for now, just remember that Jambo is technically used for tourists only.
  

• To a friend/colleague, one can say Mambo? or Salama? or Vipi?, but not to an elder or to a senior person. These phrases are slang for Hello.

• Articles "a", "the", and "some" are not used in Swahili. One can say "mtoto" meaning "a" or "the" child.

Greetings 2 updated 2018-10-24 ^

Greetings

• Normally older people or those considered to be of higher status are greeted first. In most cases titles would accompany the greetings Shikamoo mwalimu (teacher), mzee (old person), babu (grandfather), kaka (brother), dada (sister) etc.
  

• Shikamoo literally translates to may I hold your feet, a greeting with Islamic roots. We can simply translate this as Hello, or I respect you. The literal translation can be a bit strange!
  

• Similarly, the response to shikamoo, marahaba, literally means I accept. However, that can also be awkward. In this course, we've tried to come up with an acceptable translation.
  

• Generally for Africans, the term family refers to all family and extended relatives, i.e siblings, uncles, aunties, cousins, nephew, nieces, grand fathers and mothers etc.
  

• Family relationships take precedence over age: e.g. a stepmother, even if younger than you, will get the same respect as your mother.
  

• Close family friends are treated and referred to as if they are relatives.
  

• In East African, and especially Tanzanian, culture, it is very common to ask and be asked about family affairs, marital status and age, even when greeting new people.

People updated 2019-01-15 ^

Noun Classes: M- WA- Noun Class

In Swahili, nouns are grouped according to different classes. These classes have different agreements and grammatical structures in common with very few exceptions. Although learning the different rules of the noun classes can seem daunting, the patterns that each class follow become easily recognizable and mastery over noun classes will set your Swahili apart from a casual learner.

Most nouns referring to humans, animals, and insects fall into the M- WA- noun class because they take the m- prefix in the singular and the wa- prefix in the plural. For example, the word parent(s) is mzazi or wazazi. This is also generally true for adjective stems, and although we will introduce some adjectives here, we will cover adjective stems later in the course in more detail. Unlike Romance languages and others with gendered nouns, Swahili does not have gendered nouns and that distinction is only made through using adjectives.

However, it is important to note that many kinship nouns and almost all animal nouns do not take those prefixes.

Plural Suffix -ni

There are certain words, like karibu, asante, shikamoo, or kwa heri that, when used to address more than one person, take the suffix -ni to indicate plural references. So, saying asante, or thank you, to a group of people would be asanteni. When adding syllables to the end of words, the stress still goes on the penultimate syllable once the addition is made, not the original syllable where the stress once was.

Possessive Pronouns

The following chart shows personal pronouns for singular and plural. These act as vowel stem adjectives and must take different agreements depending on the noun class.

For the M- WA- noun class, the prefix w- is used for both singular AND plural possessive pronouns. For example, my child will be mtoto wangu and my children* will be watoto wangu**.

• Note: The exceptions to this rule are certain kinship nouns that come from Arabic: baba, mama, bibi, babu, shangazi, binamu, rafiki, dada, kaka, etc. These nouns take the y- agreement in the singular and the z- agreement in the plural.
• Accordingly, my sister will be dada yangu whereas my sisters will be dada zangu.

-a of association

There is a prepositional element in Swahili that is the equivalent of saying of. It follows agreement patterns based on the noun class as well. All nouns, including the Arabic kinship nouns, in the M- WA- noun class take the agreement prefix w- for the “-a of association.” In a way, this linguistic element acts as a way to attach an adjective. See below:

• Note: From the first example, you can see that the “-a of association” can be literally translated to of. However, in conversational English, a speaker would not say “teacher of Swahili” but rather “Swahili teacher”. For the purposes of this course, we will accept both translations, however, since they are both grammatically correct.

Subject Prefixes

Nouns of the M/Wa noun class take the same subject prefixes as the personal pronouns take.

Examples

Present Tense 1 updated 2019-03-16 ^

Affirmative Constructions:

Simple Swahili sentence structure has three parts: a subject prefix, a tense marker, and the verb stem. For example Ninapika (I am cooking):

Ni- = Subject Prefix (I)
-na- = Tense Marker (Simple Present)
-pika = Verb (Cook)

This can be called verb construction or sentence structure, because in Swahili, this construction can constitute a complete sentence with a subject and a verb by itself. The structure will become longer with additional nouns or other modifiers.

In the example above, -pika is the modified verb in the present tense. If we want to talk about cooking, or if we refer to the infinitive form, to cook, then we add what we call the infinitive ku. So, to say to cook or cooking, the word is kupika. When we refer to dropping or retaining the infinitive ku, this is what will stay or go!

In Swahili, Bantu-origin verbs end in -a and Arabic/other language-origin verbs end in other vowels. Verbs in Swahili do not end in consonants.

The following chart shows sample constructions involving the subject prefixes, tense markers, and some sample verb stems:

In these constructions, ni-, u-, a-, tu-, m-, and wa- are subject prefixes, i.e. they refer to the subject noun or pronoun.

Monosyllabic verbs retain the infinitive ku as part of the verb stem, like kula - to eat. To make a construction, the infinitive ku is retained. So, to say I eat or I am eating, the Swahili would be Ninakula.

This form of construction, or agglutination, is important in Swahili as all verbage is formed by combining subject prefixes, tense markers, and verbs at the very least, and including object infixes, relatives, and different verb endings as language ability progresses.

Negative present singular and plural:

In negative present:
1- No tense sign is used;
2- If the last vowel is an “a”, it is changed into “i”; and
3- Negative subject prefixes are used.

The negative present can also be used for the negative continuous, ie.- I do not/am not....

Examples:

Note 1: - Whenever a consonant ‘m’ precedes vowel stem verbs, -w- is inserted between the consonant and the vowels; example: Ninyi hamwandiki.

Note 2: - Monosyllabic verbs like kula, kunywa, and kuja, drop the infinitive ‘ku’ in the negative present.

Note 3: - Verbs with other vowel endings other than “-a” retain their endings.

Chores updated 2022-07-06 ^

This lesson introduces actions and appliances common to the household, therefore the nouns in this lesson belong to an assortment of noun classes that apply to inanimate objects.

This lesson also includes common household action words such as 'cleaning' ('kusafisha')

M/Mi Nouns updated 2018-10-24 ^

Noun Classes: M- MI- Noun Class

The nouns in the M- MI- noun class do not have an overarching commonality like the M- WA- noun class. However, these nouns all begin with m- in the singular and mi- in the plural, so this class is referred to as the M- MI- noun class. Most trees and plants do fall into this class, though.

It is important to note that there is little to distinguish the difference between singular nouns in the M- WA- and M- MI- noun classes since singular nouns in both will start with m-. Therefore, it is necessary to know the meaning of the noun to decide to which class a noun will belong.

You'll see three patterns with the concord prefixes in this noun class:

• Nouns that begin with consonants in the singular will have the m- concord and in the plural, the mi- concord; tree(s) will be mti/miti, bread will be mkate/mikate, luggage will be mzigo/mizigo, etc.
  
• Nouns with vowel stems will have mw- as the concord prefix in the singular, but in the plural, they will take the normal mi- concord; year(s) will be mwaka/miaka, body/bodies will be mwili/miili, mango tree(s) will be mwembe/miembe, etc.
  
• However, nouns that have an “o” as the stem will not have a w in the concord; smoke will be moshi/mioshi, fire will be moto/mioto, heart(s) will be moyo/mioyo, etc.
  

Possessive Pronouns

The following chart shows personal pronouns for singular and plural. These act as vowel stem adjectives and must take different agreements depending on the noun class.

The possessive pronoun that is used will depend on the agreement of the noun. When talking about a singular noun, the possessive pronoun with the prefix w- will be used. For plural nouns, the possessive pronoun with the prefix y- will be used.

Examples:

-a of association

Similar to the prefix for the possessive pronouns, the prefixes for the “-a of association” for the M- MI- noun class are w- for the singular nouns and y- for the plural nouns.

• Note: Again, you can see that the “-a of association” can be literally translated to of. As previously noted, this is not common in conversational English as the noun of association would instead become an adjective. For the purposes of this course, we will accept both translations, however, since they are both grammatically correct.

Subject Prefixes:

For the M/Mi noun class, subject prefixes are U as singular and I as plural

Food updated 2023-02-16 ^

In the Food skill, animals such as cow, pig etc are mentioned when referring to meat from the animals. For example:
nyama ya ng'ombe = Beef

nyama ya nguruwe = Pork

Common food names:

There are specific Swahili words that are used for some popular foods in East Africa. Translations in English do not necessarily exist and are usually just descriptors, so for this course, you can use either the Swahili word in your English exercises, or the descriptor, though it would be better for you to leave the Swahili word as is. For example:

Ugali most closely translates to stiff porridge in English, but this is still an inaccurate description, so the translation ugali still applies. The most basic recipe consists of hot water and corn flour. Water is brought to a boil, and corn flour is gradually mixed in until it goes from a gooey consistency to a play-dough consistency. It's typically prepared with a wooden spoon that has a flat, wide head (no bowl). The mixture must be continuously folded with the wooden spoon to prevent chunks of raw flour in the center. Definitely an arm workout!

Note: although they are conceptually similar, East African ugali and West African fufu are not the same thing!

Pilau is a spiced rice, but you can just call it pilau.

Nyama choma is literally barbecued meat, but made in a special, smoked manner, so it can simply be referred to as nyama choma.

Mtori is literally a banana soup made with green bananas, but that is a long descriptor, so mtori is acceptable!

To Have updated 2018-10-24 ^

The verb kuwa na-to have in present:

When expressing the concept “to have” in the present, we use the element ‘–na’ which forms the verb kuwa na, literally meaning to be with but used for the English phrase “to have”. The following are affirmative examples:

This is how it is used:

To negate the sentence, use negative subject prefixes:

Present 2 updated 2022-07-06 ^

This lesson introduces more verbs in the present tense! These consist of present-tense verbs in the active voice, with examples of different persons as the doer

Ki/Vi Nouns updated 2018-10-24 ^

Noun Classes: KI- VI- Noun Class

The KI- VI- noun class is probably the easiest to recognize. All of the nouns will either start with ki- in the singular or vi- in the plural, unless the stem begins with a vowel. In that case, the concords will be ch- and vy-.

Common KI- VI- nouns:

Possessive Pronouns

The following chart shows personal pronouns for singular and plural. These act as vowel stem adjectives and must take different agreements depending on the noun class.

The possessive pronoun that is used will depend on the agreement of the noun. When talking about a singular noun, the possessive pronoun with the prefix ch- will be used. For plural nouns, the possessive pronoun with the prefix vy- will be used.

Examples:

-a of association

Similar to the prefix for the possessive pronouns, the prefixes for the “-a of association” for the KI- VI- noun class are ch- for the singular nouns and vy- for the plural nouns.

• Note: Again, you can see that the “-a of association” can be literally translated to of. As previously noted, this is not common in conversational English as the noun of association would instead become an adjective. For the purposes of this course, we will accept both translations, however, since they are both grammatically correct.

N/N Nouns updated 2018-10-24 ^

Noun Classes: N/N Noun Class

The N/N noun class features nouns that are generally taken from other languages, like Arabic, English, German, Portuguese, etc. This is the largest noun class in Swahili and there are also few Bantu-origin words found in the noun class.

Indeed, it can be observed that Swahili in Kenya, Uganda, and other countries adopt a two-noun class type of Swahili, with M- WA- and N/N classes being the only classes used.

The biggest note for this noun class is that there is no distinguishing concord between singular and plural nouns. This can sometimes be confusing for Swahili learners, but often the context or the adjectives used with the noun will reflect whether it is singular or plural. The following examples can be either singular or plural.

Mifano:

Possessive Pronouns

The following chart shows personal pronouns for singular and plural. These act as vowel stem adjectives and must take different agreements depending on the noun class.

The possessive pronoun that is used will depend on the agreement of the noun. When talking about a singular noun, the possessive pronoun with the prefix y- will be used. For plural nouns, the possessive pronoun with the prefix z- will be used.

Examples:

-a of association

Similar to the prefix for the possessive pronouns, the prefixes for the “-a of association” for the N/N noun class are y- for the singular nouns and z- for the plural nouns.

• Note: Again, you can see that the “-a of association” can be literally translated to of. As previously noted, this is not common in conversational English as the noun of association would instead become an adjective. For the purposes of this course, we will accept both translations, however, since they are both grammatically correct.

Subject Prefixes for this noun class are I and Zi in the affirmative sentences.

For example:

Barua hii inatoka Zanzibar. This letter comes from Zanzibar.

Barua hizi zinatoka Zanzibar. These letters come from Zanzibar.

In the negative sentences, the Subject Prefixes are Hai and Hazi.

For example:

Barua hii haitoki Zanzibar. This letter does not come from Zanzibar.

Barua hizi hazitoki Zanzibar. These letters do not come from Zanzibar.

Demonstratives:

Hii ni barua. This is a letter. Hizi ni barua. These are letters.

Ile ni barua. That is a letter. Zile ni barua. Those are letters.

Ji/Ma Nouns updated 2019-10-17 ^

Noun Classes: JI- MA- Noun Class

The JI- MA- noun class takes its name from the fact that there are some nouns that, in the singular form, take the concord ji- at the beginning. However, most of the nouns in this class do not, but in the plural, all of the nouns will take the ma- concord. There are some patterns, though:

• Fruits and produce are usually found in the JI- MA- class. Examples: chungwa/machungwa (orange(s)), nanasi/mananasi (pineapple(s)), embe/maembe (mango(es))
  
• Nouns that begin with ji-, as mentioned. Examples: jicho/macho (eye(s)), jino/meno (tooth/teeth), jibu/majibu (answer(s)), jina/majina (name(s))
  
• Nouns that do not have a singular concord but take the ma- concord in the plural. Examples: bonde/mabonde (valley(s)), daraja/madaraja (bridge(s)/staircase(s)), duka/maduka (shop(s)), shoka/mashoka (ax(es)), yai/mayai (egg(s))
  

Possessive Pronouns

The following chart shows personal pronouns for singular and plural. These act as vowel stem adjectives and must take different agreements depending on the noun class.

The possessive pronoun that is used will depend on the agreement of the noun. When talking about a singular noun, the possessive pronoun with the prefix l- will be used. For plural nouns, the possessive pronoun with the prefix y- will be used.
Examples:

-a of association

Similar to the prefix for the possessive pronouns, the prefixes for the “-a of association” for the JI- MA- noun class are l- for the singular nouns and y- for the plural nouns.

• Note: Again, you can see that the “-a of association” can be literally translated to of. As previously noted, this is not common in conversational English as the noun of association would instead become an adjective. For the purposes of this course, we will accept both translations, however, since they are both grammatically correct.

Exceptions

• Bear in mind that all living creatures, regardless of noun prefix, belong in the noun class M/Wa because of the affixes associated with them. Occupational or status nouns often have the prefixes 'Ji/Ma'. Examples: dereva/madereva (driver(s)), fundi/mafundi (craftsman/men), tajiri/matajiri (employer(s)). However, these nouns are still classed under the noun class 'M/Wa'
• Uncountable nouns with the prefix 'Ma-' e.g. mafuta (oil), majivu (ashes), maziwa (milk), do not belong to this noun class, but rather the noun class 'Ya/Ya', or simply 'Ya'.

Adjectives updated 2018-10-24 ^

Adjectives

We've introduced a few adjectives in pervious lessons, but here, we will delve deeper into the grammatical structure of adjectives. In Swahili, there are three main types of adjectives:

• Vowel Stem adjectives
  
• Consonant Stem adjectives
  *Arabic-origin adjectives
  

Vowel and consonant stem adjectives must take an agreeing concord depending on the noun class. Arabic-origin nouns do not take any form of agreement.

Adjectives must always follow the nouns they modify. They do not come first, like in English. For example, mtu mpole would be a polite person. The order is switched.

Vowel Stem Adjectives

For vowel stem adjectives, the agreeing concord is fairly simple and follows a regular pattern. Though we have not introduced all of the classes yet, we will provide a full chart with all of the classes here that can be used for reference later.

Mifano:

Arabic-Origin Adjectives

As mentioned above, adjectives that originate from Arabic do not take any forms of agreement.

Mifano:

However, in conversation, some Swahili speakers might add agreements to these adjectives. For example, to say clean water, a Swahili speaker might say maji masafi.

Consonant Stem Adjectives

Here are some examples of Bantu-origin consonant stem adjectives:

There are special rules for different noun classes when it comes to consonant stem adjectives of Bantu origin. Some of the classes follow a normal pattern of agreement whereas others have special concords depending on the consonant that the adjective begins with. The normal patterned noun classes are shown in the chart below.

For the other noun classes, there are certain rules to follow:

N/N Noun Class

• 1- In front of adjectives beginning with D, G, and Z, the concord n- is used. Example: ndogo, ngumu, nzito
  

• 2- In front of adjectives beginning with B, V, and P when monosyllabic, the concord m- is used. Example: mbaya, mvivu, mpya
  

• 3- In front of other consonants, no concord is used. Example: chache, chafu, pana
  

• 4- Exceptions are for the adjectives -ema which becomes njema, -refu which becomes ndefu, and -wili which becomes mbili.
  

U/N Plural Nouns

For the U/N noun class, plural nouns take the same rules as the N/N noun class.

JI- MA- Singular Nouns

For the most part, JI- MA- nouns do not take concords with consonant stem adjectives EXCEPT for monosyllabic adjectives such as -pya. With these adjectives, the concord is ji-, so the adjective for this class in the singular form would be jipya.

Numbers updated 2019-12-04 ^

Note: when translating from English to Swahili, numbers should be written in words. Unfortunately, most numbers past 99 are too long to fit in the hints, so those will not be included

Numbers

1 - moja; 2 - mbili; 3 - tatu; 4 - nne; 5 - tano; 6 - sita; 7 - saba; 8 - nane; 9 - tisa; 10 -kumi; 11 - kumi na moja

20 - ishirini; 21 - ishirini na moja 30 - thelathini; 40 - arobaini; 50 - hamsini; 60 - sitini; 70 - sabini; 80 - themanini; 90 - tisini; 100 - mia moja;

1,000 -elfu moja; 10,000 - elfu kumi; 100,000 - laki moja; 1,000,000 - milioni moja; 10,000,000 - milioni kumi; 1,000,000,000 - bilioni moja;

Note: the numbers sita, saba, tisa and kumi never take on noun prefixes i.e. 'Watu saba', 'Viti kumi', etc.

Years

• 1994 - mwaka elfu moja mia tisa tisini na nne
• 1720 - mwaka elfu moja mia saba (na)* ishirini
• 2019 - mwaka elfu mbili na kumi na tisa

(na)* - not necessary

Decimals

5.63 - tano nukta sita tatu

21.5 - ishirini na moja nukta tano

Commands updated 2019-12-25 ^

Commands (Simple Imperatives)

To give a simple command in Swahili, verb stems are used alone without any subject or object concords.

Normally, these commands are used when one orders a person to do something. The monosyllabic verbs retain their infinitives ku-. However, the verbs kuja-to come, kuleta-to bring, and kwenda-to go do not retain the ku. Also, kupa-to give requires an object prefix. See below.

Examples:

Irregular Verbs:

Plural Imperatives

To make the plural commands, the infinitive ku- is dropped, but the suffix -a is replaced by the suffix -eni.

Thus we get;

Other commands that end with vowels e, i, o, and u; add the suffix ni to get its plural form. Thus ;

Imperative vs Declarative

In the imperative, one is always addressing someone/people directly, so the 'you' is not included (it is known as (you) understood). However, sometimes, "you" is included when used as a noun of direct address. An example of a noun of direct address used in the imperative is:

"John, bring me my phone." - "John, niletee simu yangu."

John is the noun of direct address. Similarly, "you" can be used in the same way, although like in English, it is considered more abrasive to address someone in such a way:

• "You, give me my phone!" - Wewe, nipe simu yangu!"/ "Nyinyi, nipeeni simu yangu!"
• "All of you, go home!" - "Nyinyi nyote, nendeni nyumbani!"

Note that "you" as a noun of direct address is always followed by a comma; "you give me my phone" is a declarative sentence (i.e. statement of fact), and not a command.

Without context it is near impossible to decipher if a command in English is meant for one person or more than one; for this reason, both singular and plural translations in Swahili are accepted.

Negative Imperative

This form has relatively much simpler rules:

• The infix -si- is used alongside the subject prefix U- (singular) or M- (plural).
• Only verbs that end in the suffix '-a' change to '-e'. Every other verb suffix else does not change
• the monosyllabic verbs 'kuja', 'kula', 'kunywa', 'kufa' follow the first rule, as well as drop the 'ku-' prefix

As for the irregular verb examples above:

You will notice that the negative imperative forms follow a pretty consistent pattern compared to their affirmative counterparts

Note: There is no such thing as "usinjoo" or "usinende"

Clothing updated 2022-07-06 ^

This lesson is an introduction to different articles of clothing in the Swahili language. You will find that a number of these nouns are derived from their English counterparts - these are typically more traditionally Western clothing such as a coat (koti), suit (suti), shirt (shati), tie (tai), etc.

A common pattern with English-derived Swahili words is that they fall into the N/N noun class, therefore their plural nouns do not change. Hence, without affixes, determining their quantity requires context.

• Nina tai - 'I have a tie' OR 'I have ties'
• Tai yako ni chafu - 'Your tie is dirty'
• Alinunua koti tatu - 'She/He bought three coats'

On the other hand, some clothing is inherent/very specific to African culture that they do not have an English translation, e.g. 'kikoi', 'kitenge' and 'kanga'. A suggestion would be to Google these terms to get a better understanding of the items, the fabric with which they're made and how they are worn.

From Wikipedia:

• Kanga: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanga_(garment)
• Kitenge: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitenge
• Kikoi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikoi

Interrogatives updated 2022-07-06 ^

Question Words

In Swahili, as in any language, there are different question words which are used to ask questions. When asking a question without a question word in spoken Swahili, intonation changes by raising the voice at the end of the sentence.

The following chart shows examples of question words used in sentences:

The particle “je”

When ‘je’ is used at the beginning of the sentence it draws attention i.e. a question is coming. It usually precedes a yes/no question.

Mfano: Je, unakwenda mjini leo?-Are you going to town today?

When ‘je’ is used at the end of the verb it means ’how’.

Mfano: Unapikaje wali na samaki?-How do you cook rice and fish?

When ‘je’ is used at the end of the noun, it means what about/how about, but it should be preceded by a phrase giving prior information.

Mfano: Sisi tunakwenda sokoni leo, na wao je?-We are going to the market today what about them?

Mfano: Mimi ninatoka Tanzania, wewe je (/je wewe)?-I am from Tanzania,what about you?

U/N Nouns updated 2018-10-24 ^

Noun Classes: U/N Noun Class

In the U/N noun class, nouns in the singular form will likely begin with u-, though there are a handful that begin with w-. Many nouns in this class do not have plurals, either, and some have singular forms but are mainly used in the plural form with the concords ny-, n-, or no concord.

Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns are the first type of nouns in the U/N class. These nouns do not have plural forms and almost all begin with u-.

Common abstract nouns:

Uncountable Nouns

There are also some uncountable nouns in the U/N class that do not take plural forms.

Other nouns

The other nouns in the U/N class will begin with either u- or w-. Plurals will either begin with ny- or a consonant.

Names of Countries

Country names are often given the u- prefix, but their agreements will take those of the N/N class.

Possessive Pronouns

The following chart shows personal pronouns for singular and plural. These act as vowel stem adjectives and must take different agreements depending on the noun class.

The possessive pronoun that is used will depend on the agreement of the noun. When talking about a singular noun, the possessive pronoun with the prefix w- will be used. For plural nouns, the possessive pronoun with the prefix z- will be used.

Examples:

-a of association

Similar to the prefix for the possessive pronouns, the prefixes for the “-a of association” for the U/N noun class are w- for the singular nouns and z- for the plural nouns.

• Note: Again, you can see that the “-a of association” can be literally translated to of. As previously noted, this is not common in conversational English as the noun of association would instead become an adjective. For the purposes of this course, we will accept both translations, however, since they are both grammatically correct.

Present 3 updated 2022-07-06 ^

This lesson introduces additional verbs as well as different contexts for the verbs, including conjugations and how verbs are used as gerund nouns.

negative verbs

Verb conjugations that turn affirmative statements to the negative in the present tense are done so using the following affixes:

• 'Si-verb stem-i' (1st person, singular)
• 'Hatu-verb stem-i' (1st person, plural)
• 'Hu-verb stem-i' (2nd person, singular)
• 'Ham-verb stem-i' (2nd person, plural)
• 'Ha-verb stem-i' (3rd person, singular)
• 'Hawa-verb stem-i' (3rd person, plural)

A more detailed list of examples can be found on this discussion post

passive verbs

Passive verbs are words used to describe actions being done for/to/on behalf of the object noun. As a reminder, noun prefixes are considered standalone representatives of nouns in Swahili. Some examples are included below:

gerund nouns

Gerund nouns are verbs ending in -ing that are used as nouns. In Swahili, gerund nouns are denoted by the prefix ku-.

Animals updated 2022-07-06 ^

Animals

Animals follow the same agreements as the M- WA- noun class! Even if the noun words themselves have different conjugations in singular and plural, all of the subject prefix, object infix, and adjective agreements will be from the M- WA- class, e.g.

Shopping updated 2018-10-24 ^

Shopping

• Shopping in Tanzania is mainly done at local markets and shops. Only in bigger cities are there walk-in stores with fixed prices. Most local areas will have store fronts that sell the basic necessities.
  

• Though there are generally accepted prices for most commodities, bargaining is very common in the marketplace.
  

• In rural communities, there are frequent minada or open-space markets which are either weekly or monthly. These often travel from village to village and many items, from food to animals to clothes to housewares to fabrics, can be bought.
  

• Culturally, a buyer is not expected to smell/sniff market items while buying items such as fruit. This is a sign of mistrust by assuming that the items a vendor is selling are rotten. Smelling is accepted when one is buying aromatic items like spices, rice etc.
  

• Remember to check the quality of the items-e.g. the expiry date.
  

• It’s common to ask for availability of items and prices at the shop. This is due to the fact that in most shops items do not have price tags and buyers do not have an opportunity of walking through shops to explore the available items. Window shopping is not a widely practiced thing in Tanzania!

Past Tense updated 2018-10-24 ^

Past Tense

Affirmative Past Tense

The past tense affirmative constructions are formed with the tense marker -li- and it is inserted between a subject prefix and a verb stem.

The verb “kuwa” as “to be” in the past

The verb “kuwa”-“to be” in the past is used as a normal verb. It behaves regularly; ie- the infinitive ku is not dropped when constructing a sentence.

Mifano:

The verb “kuwa na” as “to have” in the past

In the past, kuwa na is used for the verb “to have”. It behaves regularly as well.

Mifano:

Negative Past Tense

To form the negative simple past in Swahili:

• Change the positive subject prefixes into negative subject prefixes.
• Change the past tense marker -li- into -ku- and drop the infinitive ku- from monosyllabic and irregular verbs (kula, kunywa, kuja, kufa, kwenda). The negative past -ku- should not be confused with the infinitive ku-.
  

Mifano:

The verb “kuwa na” as “to have” in the negative past

Although the verb “kuwa na” - “to have” keeps “ku-” in the affirmative past, the negative form of kuwa na in the past takes characteristics of the other monosyllabic verbs - it drops its infinitive “ku-”. However, because the negative past tense marker is “-ku-”, it gives the illusion that it has not dropped the infinitive ku-. Again, these should not be confused.

Mifano:

Time updated 2019-05-06 ^

Time

• In English, the morning starts after 12:00 am while in Swahili it starts after 6:00 am, hence a difference of six hours. In other words, the day is considered to be from sunrise to sunset. The night starts from sunset to sunrise.
  

• Swahili speakers use asubuhi, mchana, jioni and usiku to be more specific on the time they are referring to if it is not clear by context. However, these words will more often than not be included whenever a Swahili speaker is talking about time.
  

• In Swahili, 6 AM would be “saa 12 asubuhi”, 7 AM would be “saa 1 asubuhi”, etc.
  

• To indicate minutes, the word “dakika” and then the amount is added. 7:23 AM would be “saa 1 na dakika ishirini na tatu asubuhi”. Similarly, quarter and half hours can be used.
  

• After the half-hour mark, the word “kasoro” can be used as “less”. For example, 8:48 AM might be said as “saa 3 kasoro dakika kumi na mbili asubuhi.”
  

• In Swahili, dates are indicated by the ordinary numbers whereby one tells the date first then the month, and lastly the year. The word “tarehe” comes before the numbers. For example, the 8th of July 1994 would be “tarehe nane, mwezi wa saba, mwaka elfu moja mia tisa tisini na nne.”
  

• In Swahili, people tell months by saying which number month it is. For example, May would be “mwezi wa tano”, or the 5th month. Anglicized versions of the months do exist, but are not widely used. The anglicized months are: Januari, Februari, Machi, Aprili, Mei, Juni, Julai, Agosti, Septemba, Oktoba, Novemba, Desemba.
  

• Traditionally in many East African cultures, relationships (either professional or social) are more valued than time. More time is always available – hence the popular saying, “Haraka haraka haina baraka!” - Haste has no blessing!

Note Numerical dates i.e. date, month, year, will have the words tarehe, mwezi, mwaka preceding them. Otherwise, the meaning becomes ambiguous. e.g.

Future Tense updated 2019-01-14 ^

Affirmative Future Tense

The future tense marker is -ta-. As it is with the past tense, it is also inserted between a subject prefix and a verb stem.

Mifano :

The verb kuwa-“to be” and kuwa na-to have in the future

The verb kuwa to be in the future follows the same rules as in the past. It is also a regular pattern. The same is true with kuwa na. Neither drops the infinitive ku and they keep the same -ta- tense marker.

Mifano ya Kuwa:

Mifano ya Kuwa na:

Negative Future Tense

If you want to make negative statements in Kiswahili in the future: Change the positive subject prefixes into negative subject prefixes. Retain the future tense marker -ta- and retain the infinitive ku-in monosyllabic and irregular verbs (kula, kunywa, kuja, kufa, kwenda).

Mifano:

The negative of the verb kuwa na in the future takes negative prefixes and the tense marker -ta- is inserted between the negative prefixes and the verb.

Mifano:

Immediate Past updated 2019-01-18 ^

Immediate Past

To express things that happened in the immediate past, the tense particle -me- is used after any action which has just been completed. It is used interchangeably with the -li- tense marker in conversation. Generally, people will use -me- when there has not been discernible time between the action and the time of conversation.

Examples:

Similarly, the -me- tense is used with immediate states of being. There are some verbs that, grammatically, can use the present -na-, but generally must be used with -me-. These include kuchoka - to be tired (to become tired), kuchelewa - to be late (to have been made late), and kushiba - to be satisfied/full (to have been made satisfied/full)*. However, in English, they will take the present tense.

Examples:

Negative -ja-

To form the negative immediate past tense in Swahili:

• Change the positive subject prefixes into negative subject prefixes.
• Change the immediate past tense marker -me- into -ja- and drop the infinitive ku- from monosyllabic and irregular verbs (kula, kunywa, kuja, kufa, kwenda).

Mifano:

Body updated 2022-07-06 ^

This lesson is an introduction to parts of the body. These feature nouns belonging to different noun classes.

Passive Verbs updated 2018-10-24 ^

Passives

Passive forms of verbs are used to reflect a condition and are more indirect than active verbs. In Swahili, various forms of verbs can be changed into the passive form by inserting the infix “-w-” before the last vowel of the verb. Because these verbs are passive, they are usually being done by someone; we reflect this in Swahili by following the verb with na to show by who the action is being performed.

The passive form of verbs ending in the double vowels “–aa“ and “-ua” is formed by inserting “-liw-” before the last vowel.

The passive form of verbs ending in the double vowels ”-oa” is formed by inserting “-lew-” before the last vowel.

The passive form of the verbs ending in vowels “–i” and “–u” is made by dropping the last vowel and adding “-iwa” at the end of the verb.

The passive form of the verbs ending in double vowels “–au” is formed by adding “-liwa” at the end of the verbs.

The passive forms of the monosyllabic verbs behave irregularly.

The passive form of the verbs kuua and kusamehe are formed by adding “-wa” on them.

• Note: When constructing sentences in passive form, object infixes are excluded.
  

Mifano:

Locatives updated 2019-01-05 ^

Locatives

Locative suffixes -ko, -po, -mo

In Swahili, the locations are shown by the suffixes -ko, -po, and -mo depending on the location to which one is referring. If a location referred to is an indefinite one, the suffix -ko is used. If a location referred to is a definite one, then the suffix -po is used. If it is inside or in an enclosed location, the suffix -mo is used.

For all noun classes, the subject prefix will be used followed by the locative suffix. The personal pronoun can be used in front of the locative, or omitted as well once it becomes clear to whom the locative is referring. To negate, the negative subject prefix is used.

• Note: The subject prefix for the third personal pronoun (singular) becomes yu- with the locative suffixes. This is the only irregular case.

Mifano:

Preposition Suffix -ni

In Swahili, some common nouns can be suffixed by –ni to form locations which mean: in, on, at, and to, as seen in some of the examples above. Proper nouns are not suffixed by the suffix –ni, like countries.

• Chumba will become chumbani – in the room
  
• Shule will become shuleni - at/to the school
  
• Kijiji will become kijijini – in the village
  

Locative Demonstratives

The demonstrative forms of the Mahali class are actually locatives as well and are used in a lot of question/answer phrases regarding location.

Mfano:

Kisu kiko wapi? - Kisu kipo hapa. : Where is the knife? - The knife is (definitely) here.

Note the agreement with the locative for kisu and the locative demonstrative of position for the work here. Both are the definite pa construction.

Direction Nouns

Kaskazini - North
Mashariki - East
Kusini - South
Magharibi - West

Locative Phrases

Mbele ya - In front of
Nyuma ya - Behind
Juu ya - On top of, on, above
Chini ya - Under, below

Mfano:

Gari liko wapi? - Gari lipo nyuma ya nyumba. : Where is the car? - The car is behind the house.

• Note: The suffix -ko is normally used in asking questions. It should however be noted that the distinction of definiteness/indefiniteness between -po and -ko is not always maintained by many speakers, so mixing those two locatives might be heard in a single sentence. Technically, that would be grammatically incorrect, but it is colloquially accepted.

Weather updated 2018-10-24 ^

Weather

• The majority of East Africans practice farming activities to generate income.
  

• Cultural activities and ceremonies sometimes depend on the seasons. For example, hunting takes place after the rainy season.
  

• Some infectious diseases are more prevalent depending on the season. During dry and windy season, cold and flu are both common. During the rainy season, cholera, diarrhea, and malaria become more common throughout East Africa.

Adverbs and Conjunctions updated 2018-10-24 ^

Adverbs

Just as in English, adverbs are sometimes created from adjectives. In Swahili, there are some adverbs that take on what appears to be agreement with the KI- VI- noun class.

Vibaya - badly
Kidogo - a little, slightly
Vigumu - difficult
Vizuri - well, nicely

However, a lot of examples exist only in adverbial form.

Baadaye - later, afterwards
Bado - not yet, still
Halafu - then, afterwards
Hasa - especially
Labda - maybe, perhaps
Pia - as well, also, too
Tu - only, just

Some adverbs are also preceded by the word kwa.

Kwa bahati - luckily
Kwa haraka - quickly
Kwa kawaida - usually
Kwa kusudi - purposely, on purpose
Kwa hiyo - therefore
Kwa sababu - because

Adverbs usually come after the noun, but sometimes with the kwa constructions, they might come before the main clause.

Mifano:

Object Infixes updated 2018-10-24 ^

Object Infixes

If you haven't noticed yet, Swahili doesn't have articles. Words like “the,” “a/an,” or “it” don't exist, at least not in isolation. Therefore, in order to express a a direct or indirect object in Swahili, object infixes must be used. In this course, English articles could be added through implication, but they are truly present when the object infix is included. If you want to say you are looking at “me”, for example, an object infix for me - “-ni-” - must be inserted after the tense but before the verb stem. Therefore, “you are looking at me” becomes “unaniangalia”.

The object infixes for the M- WA- noun class are as follows:

Notes:

• The object infix for third person singular is -m-, but it will become -mw- if preceding a verb that starts with a vowel.
• The object infixes for second and third person plural are the same and will either be determined by context or by adding the pronoun in the sentence itself.
• There is another object infix for the M- WA- class – the reflexive -ji-.

The object infixes for the other noun classes are the same as the subject prefixes but are placed between the tense marker and the verb.

Mifano:

Transportation updated 2018-10-24 ^

Transportation

• East Africa has an extensive transportation system based on buses and smaller forms of transport.
  

• For long distance routes, there are normally bus charts for assigned seating and it is recommended to book tickets 2-3 days in advance.
  

• In major towns, there will be a bus stand - stendi - where many people, especially youth, try to carry luggage for money or pedal goods and food.
  

• It is generally recommended to cross-check the cost of the fare and information about buses and schedules from colleagues, neighbors, friends, or other resources before going to the stendi to purchase a ticket.
  

• Other forms of transportation around East Africa include bajajis, which are similar to tuktuks, and motorcycles, or pikipikis, which are commonly used as forms of public transportation.
  

• Small buses range in sizes - in increasingly size, you might hear the words noah, daladala, coasta, or basi being used.

Prepositions and Conjunctions updated 2018-10-24 ^

Prepositions and Conjunctions

In Swahili, there are a lot of different prepositions and conjunctions that can be used. The most interesting is the preposition “kwa”. Other prepositions indicate location and are fairly easy to use, but kwa can be slightly confusing. When “kwa“ is used in different sentences, it has different uses like at, by, on, of, from, for, to and with – all depending on the context!

Mifano:

Adjectives 2 updated 2019-07-14 ^

More Adjectives

-ote as all/whole

As seen in the previous lessons, adjectives have to agree with the nouns they modify. The particle -ote- is used to express the concept of all/whole in Swahili.

The particle -ote is prefixed with respective noun class prefix in order to maintain agreements between the noun and the adjectival particle. Examples of agreement are vyakula vyote - all foods, or watu wote - all people.

Because -ote begins with a vowel, it takes the vowel stem adjective agreements listed in the previous adjective lesson.

Mifano:

–o –ote as any

The concord prefix to be used with adjective root “–o –ote” in a sentence or phrase has to agree with the noun in modifies.

• Mwomwote is hardly used.
• The -o -ote form can also be used to mean whatever/whichever in English.
  

Mifano:

-ingi and -engi as many

Ingi and -engi in Swahili mean many, a lot, or plenty, but the agreements differ according to the noun classes they modify. Usually, this adjective only occurs in the plural form, though some classes do take singular agreements.

Mifano:

-ingine and -engine as another/other

If one wants to say other or another in Swahili, the use of adjective particles -ingine or –engine is unavoidable. These adjective particles always take agreement from the nouns they describe as shown in the chart below.

Mifano:

-enye and enyewe

-Enye and -Enyewe are two other adjectives that take concords depending on the noun class.

-Enye is used to mean with, and -enyewe is used to mean itself/themselves. They follow normal vowel stem adjective agreements.

Emotions updated 2018-10-24 ^

Hisia - Emotions

The following verbs act as emotions as they are forms of conditions:

The above verbs are used with immediate -me- tense or the -ja- tense for positive or negative clauses.

Mifano:

Demonstratives updated 2018-10-24 ^

Demonstratives

Demonstratives refer to words like this or that indicating a particular noun object as opposed to others. Though Swahili does not use regular articles like a/an or the, demonstratives are frequently used in speech to construct well-structured sentences. The two demonstratives will depend on the proximity to the speaker and the context of the sentence. Just as in English, certain contexts will require the word this whereas others will require that.

In Swahili, the root for this begins with h and is followed by an agreeing suffix depending on the noun class. For that, the agreement takes the suffix -le. See the chart for the demonstratives of each class.

In terms of order, the demonstrative can come after the noun, just as other adjectives, if referring to a noun. It can also precede the noun as well. The order will largely depend on the context of the sentence, but with practice, a speaker will understand where in the sentence to place the demonstrative.

Mifano:

School updated 2022-07-06 ^

Education in Tanzania

• The education system in Tanzania is managed by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training.
  

• The Tanzanian education system is a remnant of the German and British colonial school systems.
  

• The first level of education is at the pre-primary level. Attendance is not compulsory for students and it lasts for two years (ages 5 and 6).
  

• The first compulsory level of education is the primary level. Grade levels are called standards and there are seven standards in primary school. The language of instruction is Swahili. Students must pass an exam at Standard Four to continue to Standard Five and then another exam at Standard Seven in order to complete primary school and advance to secondary school.

• Secondary school is divided into two levels, Ordinary Level (O-Level) and Advanced Level (A-Level). Forms 1-4 are O-Level and Forms 5-6 are A-Level. Once students pass Standard 7, they can enroll in secondary school as a Form 1 student. Students must pass a Form 2 exam to continue to Form 3. In order to progress to A-Levels, a student must pass a Form 4 exam. The language of instruction is English.
  

• If a student passes his/her Form 4 exam, he/she can enroll in A-Level school to continue to advanced studies and then to university. If a student fails, he/she has the option to enroll in a vocational college or a teachers' college to teach at the primary school level.

• The language of instruction is a subject of much debate in Tanzania as the switch from Swahili to English comes after the critical brain development stage when language learning is much easier. The abrupt switch also results in high rates of failure from secondary school as students are unable to master English and therefore other subjects.
  

• Lack of proper study environments, poor nutrition, health, and sanitation, economic hardships, and the language of instruction are the major obstacles for Tanzanian students.
  

• Corporal punishment is still widely used in Tanzanian schools and is also a major impediment to learning and a common source of gender-based violence in Tanzania.

Education in Kenya

• The education system in Kenya is managed by the Ministry of Education.
  

• The Kenya education system is a remnant of the British colonial school systems. All primary and secondary schools mandate school uniforms.

• The first level of education is at the pre-primary/kindergarten level. Attendance is not compulsory for students and it lasts for 1-2 years. Over the years, preschool for children aged 2-4 has gained popularity.

• The first compulsory level of education is the primary level, which the government provides for free. Grade levels are called standards and there are eight standards in primary school. The language of instruction is English, with Swahili taught from standard one. Students must pass an exam at Standard Eight to continue to secondary school.

• Secondary school consists of Forms 1-4. Once students pass Standard 8, they can enroll in secondary school as a Form 1 student. The language of instruction is English.

• From primary to secondary school, Mathematics, English and Swahili are mandated by law to be taught in all schools. Both Christian and Islamic religious education are commonly taught in primary school, but are often optional in secondary school. Secondary schools decide what subjects in the sciences and humanities are mandatory for their students, and which they can select to drop.

• If a student passes their national Form 4 exam, they can enroll in university for their selected vocation (interestingly, these selections are made before the exam is taken) - this is completely dependent on their grade. If a student fails, they have the option to enroll in a vocational college or parallel degree programs (C+ minimum required).

• A significant disparity exists in the quality of education, more so in the secondary school level, where a hierarchy of school "elite" status is maintained as only Standard 8 students with the highest scores are admitted to certain schools. The emphasis on academic prowess during primary and secondary education discourages students from pursuing artistic talents and interests.

• Corporal punishment is still widely used in Kenyan schools and is also a major impediment to learning.

Learn more about the historical progression of the Kenyan education system here

Colors updated 2022-07-06 ^

This lesson introduces colors in Swahili. You'll notice that many of these color names are adopted from their English counterparts! Can you guess what 'buluu' is? Other colors are named after items that naturally have these colors, e.g. 'green' is kijani, which literally translates to 'leaf-like'. 'Gray' is kijivu, which translates to 'ash-like' (ash is gray)

Mahali Nouns updated 2018-10-24 ^

Noun Classes: Mahali Noun Class and locative prefixes

Ku-, pa-, and m(u)- are prefixes of the locative class, also referred to as the Mahali class. The class itself has one “primary “ noun, mahali, sometimes heard as pahali, mahala, or pahala, all meaning place in English. However, many nouns from other classes are capable of becoming locative nouns by use of the suffix -ni, e.g. nyumbani at home). chumbani (in the room), etc.

The ku-, pa-, and m(u)- prefixes are traditionally been associated with the following meanings:

• Ku-: general/non-specific/far away place
  
• Pa-: specific/near by place
  
• M(u)- : inside a place
  

Mifano :

Possessives:

• Note: Many Swahili speakers will, in conversation, mix agreements between the three distinctions of Mahali. For example, one might hear Hapa hakuna vitu! - Here, there is no war!. However, using hapa with hakuna is not in correct grammatical agreement, but it will regularly be used.

Conditional Tense updated 2019-10-31 ^

Conditional Tense

The use of kama as ’if’

Conditional sentences in Kiswahili can be expressed by the word kama, which is followed by the future form in the second part of the sentence. Kama is not a particle.

Note: kama is synonymous to ikiwa and ijapo

Examples:

The use of -ki- as ’if’

Conditional sentences in Kiswahili can also be formed by including the tense particle -ki- between the subject prefix and the verb. It is followed by the future form in the second part of the sentence.

When -ki- is used with monosyllabic verbs, the infinitive ku- is dropped.

Examples:

Note that for (near) future conditional tenses, the use of '-ki-' can be ambiguous in whether it means 'when' vs 'if' e.g.

Akipiga simu, nitakuambia

This can be interpreted as:

• If [she/he] calls, I will tell you
• When [she/he] calls, I will tell you

Prepositional Verbs updated 2018-10-24 ^

Prepositional form of the verb

When you do something for/ to/at or on behalf of someone, you have to use the prepositional form of verbs. These are also generally used with object infixes to clearly show for whom an action is being performed. There are some rules when it comes to forming the prepositional form of verbs:

If the first vowel of the verb is “a”, “i”, or “u”, then insert “i ” before the last vowel “a”.

Mifano:
Pika becomes Pikia - cook for/to/on behalf of
Andika becomes Andikia - write to /for/on behalf of

If the first vowel of the verb is “a” ,”i”, or “u” but the verb ends with a double vowel, insert “li” before the last vowel “a”.

Mifano:
Nunua becomes Nunulia - buy for
Chukua becomes Chukulia - take for

If the first vowel of the verb is “o” or “e”, insert “e” before the last vowel.

Mifano:
Soma becomes Somea - read to /for/on behalf of
Peleka becomes Pelekea - send to /for /on behalf of

If the first vowel of a verb is “o” or “e” but the verbs ends with a double vowel, insert “le” before the last vowel “a”.

Mifano:
Toa becomes Tolea - give for/to/on behalf of
Pokea becomes Pokelea - receive for

Mifano ya Utumizi:

Medicine updated 2022-07-06 ^

Medicine and Medical Needs in East Africa

• Inquiring about each other's general health is a normal aspect of Tanzanian/Kenyan life and comprises a set of common greetings between people.
  

• However, when someone is suffering from a disease of a discrete nature, there are ways to tell "white lies" to avoid details; saying one as a fever, or homa, is a cover-all for most diseases or infections. Similarly, saying ninaumwa tumbo, or "my stomach hurts", can cover many afflictions as well. Mental health awareness has only recently been voiced, particularly on social media, but has a long way to go towards breaking away from the stigma surrounding mental health.

• Expressing sympathy for the sick is one of the most important aspects of social interaction. In Kenya and Tanzania, people prefer to be visited when sick, which is very much contrary to Western culture. People try their best to visit sick friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors, etc, and never with empty hands - it is common to give money or food to sick friends, reflecting the communalism inherent in East African culture.
  

• Generally, talking about STDs including HIV/AIDS is not talked about publicly. Private parts of the body are collectively called sehemu za siri and are not talked about either as they are considered immodest, taboo subjects in normal conversation.

Sports updated 2018-10-24 ^

Sports

• Football, or soccer, is the most popular sport in Tanzania. Even in extremely rural villages, TV sets powered by solar panels can be found in areas where locals will gather to watch games for a fee. Tanzanians are big fans of the English Premier League, especially!
  

• In Tanzania, there is a nation-wide football league, but the two biggest clubs are the Young African Sports Club (Yanga) and the Simba Sports Club (Simba).
  

• The Tanzanian National Team - Taifa Stars - has never qualified for a FIFA World Cup.
  

• Other popular sports in Tanzania include basketball, netball, volleyball, handball, and rugby.
  

• Tanzania has had two Olympic medalists in the past and competes in the Commonwealth Games and the African Championships in Athletics.

Piga Idiom updated 2019-12-31 ^

The Idiom -piga

While the verb “kupiga” in Swahili literally means to beat or to hit, it is often used as an idiom. When paired with various nouns, it actually translates to a different verb in English. This makes the verb kupiga the most versatile in Swahili!

Mifano:

Note: when an object is involved, there are two ways to construct the sentence:

Simple SVO:

• He ironed a shirt - Alipiga shati pasi
• He kicked a black ball - Alipiga mpira mweusi teke

Sentences with clauses following the object:

• He kicked the ball that was under the table - Alipiga teke mpira uliokuwa chini ya meza

Subjunctive updated 2019-04-24 ^

Subjunctives

Subjunctive is often used when:

• There is a change in subject
• When giving a polite imperative
• When making a suggestion
• Asking politely for things
  

In Swahili, the subjunctive is constructed by changing the last vowel “a” of the verb stem into “ e”. The subject prefixes remain at their positions but without tense markers. Words like bora and tafadhali should be used although in practice they are sometimes omitted. These obligatory words will require subjunctive be used.

Positive Subjunctives

Negative Subjunctives: The negative subjunctives are made by inserting -si- between the subject prefixes and the stems of the verbs. This is also the way to construct negative commands.

Prepositional Subjunctive: This form of the verb means to do something for/ to/on behalf of somebody. In order to get this form of the verb you need to change the verb into a propositional form first and then to subjunctive form.

Spirituality updated 2018-10-24 ^

Religion

• Religious surveys have not been conducted in Tanzania since 1967 and Tanzania observes freedom of religion. However, it is widely accepted that Tanzania is approximately 50/50 split between Muslims and Christians, though there are small populations of individuals from others faiths, including Hindus, in Tanzania.
  

• In general, it is very easy to see the mix of Islamic and Christian faiths in Tanzania and the two major religions co-exist fairly peacefully.
  

• In some areas, one of the two major religions is clearly dominant. For example, Zanzibar is almost exclusively Muslim, while Christianity is the dominant faith in the interior of the country (Southern Highlands) where missionary activity during colonialism was high.
  

• In rural areas, traditional, more animistic beliefs are still common, though these have often been incorporated in some form into the two major religions.
  

• Atheism is not common and is sometimes not/misunderstood. Asking the religion of a new acquaintance is not considered rude or impolite.

Politics updated 2018-10-24 ^

Politics

• Tanzania is a unitary presidential democratic republic between mainland Tanzania, formerly Tanganyika, and Zanzibar.
  

• Tanganyika, also known as German East Africa, was both a German and a British colony during the period of European colonialism.
  

• Tanganyika gained independence from Great Britain in 1961 and existed as a sovereign nation from 1962-1964.
  

• In 1964, Tanganyika joined with Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania.
  

• The first president of Tanzania was Julius Kambarage Nyerere. He was known as Mwalimu, or teacher, and was a very popular leader in Africa and a proponent of African socialism.
  

• Tanzania was a one-party state from 1961-1980s, with Chama cha Mapinduzi, or Party of the Revolution, holding power. Even until the present day, CCM has been the only party in power since independence.
  

• Tanzania's executive branch is headed by a President who appoints a Prime Minister to serve as a the government's leader in the National Assembly.
  

• The legislative branch of Tanzania is called the Bunge. It is unicameral and parliamentarians, or wabunge, serve 5 year terms.
  

• Tanzania's judiciary is made up of five levels which all incorporate tribal, Islamic, and British common law.
  

• As Zanzibar was once a sovereign nation itself, there exists a precarious relationship between Mainland Tanzania and the Islands. Zanzibar has its own Head of Government, its own Parliament, and special judiciary courts. However, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania is still the Head of State for the Republic as a whole. The issue of Zanzibari autonomy has been a common political point in recent elections.
  

• Administratively, Tanzania has 26 regions which are divided into districts. Districts are then divided into wards and wards into villages. Various levels of government exist between these levels.

Reciprocal Verbs updated 2019-04-23 ^

The Reciprocal Form

The reciprocal form of the verb is formed by suffixing -na- to the verb root (simple or extended). It expresses the idea reciprocating an action for one another.

It is important to distinguish verbs that can take –na- directly after the simple root.

Mifano:

However, some verbs need to be derived into other forms of the verbs before they are put into the reciprocal. Usually, this form will be the prepositional form as all verbs, including Arabic-origin verbs, will take an -a- ending in the prepositional form. This will accommodate for the -na- reciprocal suffix.

Mifano:

Negative constructions would simply be made by using negative subject prefixes and changing the end of the verb as usual.. The reciprocal form can take subjunctive endings as well.

Tourism updated 2018-10-24 ^

Tourism

• Tourism is a huge portion of income for Tanzania. With over 35% of its land protected for conservation, 16 national parks, over 25 game reserves, and many controlled conservation areas, Tanzania is widely recognized as one of the top tourist destinations in Africa.
  

• Tanzania is home to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.
  

• Some of the most popular safari destinations in Tanzania include the Serengeti, Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
  

• In the Kigoma region, Gombe National Park is where Jane Goodall conducted her famous survey of chimpanzees.
  

• The semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar is home to Stone Town, the former capital of the Sultanate of Zanzibar and colonial Oman. It is a United Nations UNESCO World Heritage site, along with the Kilwa ruins and the Kondoa Cave Painting sites. There is also world-class scuba diving available off of Pemba and Zanzibar and an annual whale shark migration off of Mafia Island.

Causative Verbs updated 2018-10-24 ^

Causative Verbs

Causative verbs express the idea of something having caused something else to happen; ie- cause and effect. Causative verbs in Swahili are derivatives of other verbs, nouns, or adjectives. There are a wide variety of ways in which causative verbs can be formed in Swahili, so instead of recognizing patterns or memorizing rules to form causative verbs, understanding the theory and memorizing the verbs themselves is often more helpful. General derivations are often formed by adding -sha or -za as suffixes to verbs, but this is not always the case.

Rule 1

For verbs containing A, I, or U as the last vowel, the verb stem will become -isha at the end. For example:

• Kuhama (to move) will become Kuhamisha (to move something – cause to be moved)
• Kufika (to arrive) will become Kufikisha (to make arrive – cause to be arrived)

Though it sounds strange in English, the best way to literally translate a causative verb would be “to cause to --”. Kurudi means to return in the active sense of the verb, as in Ninarudi nyumbani (I return home). But the causative form will be Kurudisha, as in Ninarudisha vitu vyako (I return your things).

Rule 2

For verbs containing E or O, the verb stem will become -esha at the end. For example:

• Kwenda (to go) will become Kuendesha (to drive something/someone – cause to go)
• Kukopa (to borrow) will become Kukopesha (to lend)

Rule 3

Some verbs will take the verb stem -za without following the previous two rules. The endings will either be -iza or -eza. For example:

• Kupenda (to like/love) will become Kupendeza (to look good/nice – cause to like/love)
  

Rule 4

Verbs with double vowels will usually take a -z- in between them to form the causative verb. For example:

• Kujaa (to be full) will become Kujaza (to fill up)
  
• Kulegea (to be loose) will become Kulegeza (to loosen)
  

Rule 5

Many verbs that end in -ka or -ta will change the ends to -sha. For example:

• Kuwaka (to be lit) will become Kuwasha (to light)
  
• Kupata (to get) will become Kupasha (to warm up)
  

Rule 6

Some nouns and adjectives can be turned into causative verbs. For example:

• Lazima (mandatory/necessary) will become Kulazimisha (to compel/persuade)
  
• Sawa (equal) will become Kusawazisha (to make equal)
  

Exceptions to the Rules

Invariably, there are a lot of exceptions to these rules when forming causative verbs. It will take some memorization and familiarization to recognize the causative forms, but repetitive use will help understand the formation and use of causative verbs.

Common Causative Verbs:

• Note: It is possible to make a causative form of a passive verb as well. For example, the causative kutayarisha can be made into a passive-causative by adding the passive infix, -w-, making the verb become kutayarishwa (to be prepared), as in Chakula kinatayarishwa - The food is being prepared.

Stative Verbs updated 2020-04-28 ^

Stative Verbs

Stative verbs are similar to passive verbs in describing the state of a noun. Passive verbs must say by whom to action was done, however, and stative verbs do not. They express a state instead of an action. The stative stem is a variation of -k-, either as it is or in the form of -ika- or -eka-.

Rule 1

If a Bantu-origin verb ends in double vowels, then just the -k- is inserted between them. For example:

• Kufungua (to open) will become Kufunguka (to be opened)
  

Rule 2

If a Bantu-origin verb ends in double a's, then -lik- is inserted between the two a's. For example:

• Kukaa (to stay) will become Kukalika (to be inhabitable)
  

Rule 3

Arabic-origin verbs ending in double vowels take the suffix -lika at the end. For example:

• Kusahau (to forget) will become Kusahaulika (to be forgotten)

Common Stative Verbs:

Negative Conditional updated 2018-10-24 ^

Negative Conditional

Negatives of “kama” and “-ki-”

Negative “kama”

When negating the conditional sentences with “kama”, follow the procedure of negative future:

Mifano:

The particle “-sipo-” as negative of “-ki-”

When negating the conditional tense “-ki-”, it must be replaced by the particle “-sipo-” and then the second half of the sentence takes the appropriate negative prefixes. However, sometimes the second clause does not have to be negative depending on the clause itself; ie- not doing one thing will result in something else happening. With monosyllabic verbs, the infinitive ”ku-” is retained.

Mifano:

Habitual Tense updated 2018-10-24 ^

The Habitual Tense

The hu- aspect marker expresses a habitual action.

Unlike -na- tense, the hu- aspect marker does not take a subject prefix instead it must be preceeded by a noun or a personal pronoun.

It is important to note that hu- is the typical habitual marker, and -na- the typical present tense and progressive aspect marker. When one uses -na - as a habitual marker, it is appropriate to use it with the expressions,such as kila asubuhi-every morning. However, hu- can also be used with those expressions.

When hu- is used with monsyllabic verbs, the infinitive ku- is dropped.

Examples:

Narrative and Expeditious -Ka- updated 2018-10-24 ^

Describing past events by using time infix ‘-ka-’

The time infix -ka- is used to describe a series of past events. When we use -ka-, the -li- tense appears first at the beginning of the sentence with the first verb and then it is replaced with the -ka- infix in the next verbs in order to denote that the narrative is in past tense. Hence, using -ka- in this sense is called the narrative tense.

Note: Monosyllabic verbs drop in infinitive ku- when used with -ka- infix.

Mfano:

Wikiendi, Mkude alipokwenda kwa dada yake kumtembelea, akampikia chakula. Baadaye wakala, wakazungumza, halafu wakaenda Mjini.

This weekend, when Mkude went to visit her sister, she cooked her food. Later they ate, they talked, and then they went to town.

Using -ka- as a command

The infix -ka- can also be used in the form of an expeditious command when combined with the subjunctive. Generally, subject pronouns will be dropped before the -ka- as well as the commands are directed at a specific audience. Sometimes, phrases will be preceded by normal commands, such as nenda. As with the narrative tense, monosyllabic verbs drop the infinitive ku-.

Mifano:

Conditional 2 updated 2018-10-24 ^

The hypothetical conditional –nge- and -ngali-

The-nge- form is used to express a hypothetical condition tense in present. -Ngali- is used for the past. Generally, both clauses in a sentence using the hypothetical conditional will use the form as the tense marker.

Mifano:

The negative constructions are formed with insertion of the –si- negative marker which is inserted before -nge- or -ngali-. Positive and negative hypothetical conditional tenses can be combined.

Mifano:

Holidays updated 2019-04-23 ^

Holidays

• In Tanzania, Christian and Islamic religious holidays are observed as public holidays by all Tanzanians. This is similar in other East African countries as well.
  

• Celebrations of religious festivals are featured with new clothes for children, relatives inviting one another to eat with a wide variety of food and drinks, and general relaxation.
  

• Many Islamic holidays depend on the sighting of the moon - like Eid-el-Fitri.
  

• During the month of Ramadhan, people do not eat or drink in public, especially on Zanzibar. Normally, in the evening Muslims will break their fasts by eating outside on mats and inviting passersby to partake in iftar, or the breaking of the fast.
  

• Traditionally, circumcision is also widely celebrated according to various tribal customs. Local governments will observe these celebrations.
  

• At funerals, women of all religions generally wear khanga and cover their heads.
  

• Women do not go to the graves on burial days for Muslims.
  

• Relatives, friends, neighbors, and bereaved colleagues normally visit the family to give their condolences, or rambirambi.
  

• For weddings in East Africa, it is common to give contributions, or mchango, for the wedding party as it is seen as a more communal celebration than in Western culture.
  

• Send-off parties are common in urban areas, as are kitchen parties for the bride to be taught about marital affairs by elder women and given household gifts, much like a bachelorette party with a more domestic focus.

Note

Numerical dates i.e. date, month, year, will have the words tarehe, mwezi, mwaka preceding them. e.g.

Additional Grammar updated 2018-10-24 ^

Additional Advanced Grammar

Are you ready for this skill? There are four main areas of advanced grammar that will be explored here that will really embellish your Swahili.

Emphatics

An emphatic is a word used to add stress to a noun. In English, we usually say “indeed” or “the very” to emphasize a noun, though this is not commonly used. However, in Swahili, it is indeed very important! The word for yes - ndiyo - is derived from the emphatic form.

The stem for an emphatic is “ndi- and it takes the relative agreement depending on the noun class.

Personal pronouns in the singular form also have emphatics. Plurals are proceeded by ndio followed by the personal pronoun.

Mifano:

Forms for “Which?”

For the interrogative form of “which”, a word can be used with the subject prefix and the stem -“pi”. This must be used in relation to a noun with some degree of specificity, otherwise the relative “which” - gani - can be used. Technically, gani is literally translated as “what sort?”, but it is colloquially and commonly used for “which” nowadays. However, using this form will enhance a learner's Swahili.

Mifano:

The use of –kwisha as “already”

“-Kwisha-” is literally translated as “already”. It is one of the Kiswahili constructions which describes complete events. Also, it is the most emphatic. Mifano:

However, in many parts of Tanzania and East Africa as a whole, the “kw-” or kwi- is dropped in sentences without changing the meanings. Indeed, using only -sha- is becoming the most popular form of this construction.

Mifano:

This form is also commonly used with the conditional -ki- to indicate conditional future tenses in conversation.

Mifano:

The particle -po- as “when”

In Swahili, “when” is indicated by the question word “lini”. But, “lini” is used only when one is asking a question. In a statement of fact, instead of using “lini”, the relative marker of time “-po-” is used. The marker “-po-” is not used with “hu-” or “-me-” tenses, only with simple present, past, and future. However, with the future, instead of “-ta-”, the tense marker becomes “taka”.

Mifano:

Relatives updated 2018-10-24 ^

Relative Constructions

The amba relative

The amba relative means “who”, “whom”, “that”, or “which”. It is suffixed with respective relative marker from each noun class.

The amba relative takes a suffix depending on the noun class.

Relative Constructions

In Kiswahili there are three types of relative clause constructions:

1- The amba- relative clause; e.g. Basi ambalo linakwenda Arusha – The bus that goes to Arusha.

2- The infix relative clause with the marker -lo-, or the amba suffix, before the verb root; e,g. Basi linalokwenda Arusha – The bus that goes to Arusha.

3- The suffixal relative clause with the relative suffix after the verb stem but without the tense marker; e.g. Basi liendalo Arusha – The bus that goes to Arusha.

All of the three forms above are commonly used. The following points need to be noted in relation to the use of these forms of relative clause:

• The prefixal relative marker is used with the past, present and future tense markers. When used with the future tense, the marker -taka- is used instead of -ta-.; e.g. Basi litakaloenda Arusha. - The bus that will go to Arusha.
  

• All verbal constructions with the tense markers –me-, -mesha-, and -ja- use the amba relative preceeding the verb construction.; e.g. Basi ambalo limekwenda Arusha. - The bus that went to Arusha.
  

• The suffixal relative does not take tense markers and has a general meaning, as mentioned above.; e.g. Basi liendalo Arusha. - The bus that goes to Arusha.
  

Mifano:

“-Vyo-” as “how”

“-Vyo-“ is a relative marker infix which is used to express the manner through which something is done or how action is taking place. In most cases, the verb that takes the infix “-vyo-“ is proceeded by words like “jinsi” or ”namna”which literally mean “how”. The use of the infix “-vyo-“ in a verb can also mean “as far as”.

Mifano:

Conditional Past updated 2019-02-19 ^

The hypothetical conditional –nge- and -ngali-

The-nge- form is in conditional clauses for events that can be changed. -Ngali- is used for conditional clauses expressing events that cannot be changed. Generally, both clauses in a sentence using the hypothetical conditional will use the form as the tense marker.

Mifano:

The negative constructions are formed with insertion of the –si- negative marker which is inserted before -nge- or -ngali-. Positive and negative hypothetical conditional tenses can be combined.

Mifano: