Skills

Swahili Skills by StrengthCrownsNameOriginal Order

••• 2 Introduction11 @ 100% 0

emilian · jina · juma · la · lake · lako · langu · mchina · mholanzi · mimi · mkenya · mmarekani · mtanzania · nani · ni · ninyi · rehema · sisi · wachina · waholanzi · wakenya · wamarekani · wao · watanzania · wewe · yeye
26 words

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.

Swahili Pronoun	English Pronoun
Mimi	I/Me
Wewe	You
Yeye	He/She (Him/Her)
Sisi	We/Us
Ninyi	You (pl)
Wao	They/Them

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

Pronoun	Particle	Noun
Mimi/Wewe/Yeye	ni	Mtanzania/Mmarekani/Mkenya
I/You/He or She	am/are/is	(a/an) Tanzanian/American/Kenyan
Mimi/Wewe/Yeye	si	Mtanzania/Mmarekani/Mkenya
I/You/He or She	am/are/is not	(a/an) Tanzanian/American/Kenyan

Plural

Pronoun	Particle	Noun
Sisi/Ninyi/Wao	ni	Watanzania/Wamarekani/Wakenya
We/You (pl)/They	are	Tanzanians/Americans/Kenyans
Sisi/Ninyi/Wao	si	Watanzania/Wamarekani/Wakenya
We/You (pl)/They	are not	Tanzanians/Americans/Kenyans

Note

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

••• 41 Greetings 121 @ 100% 0
asubuhi · baba · babu · bibi · dada · habari · hajambo · hamjambo · hatujambo · hawajambo · hujambo · jioni · kaka · karibu · kazi · leo · mama · mambo · mchana · na · nyumbani · nzuri · poa · safi · salama · sijambo · umeamkaje · umelalaje · umeshindaje · usiku · ya · za
32 words
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.
••• 50 Greetings 231 100
asante · asubuhi njema · baadaye · esther · hodi · jioni njema · kwa heri · marahaba · mchana mwema · pole · rashidi · samahani · shikamoo · siku njema · tafadhali · tutaonana baadaye · usiku mwema
17 words
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.

••• 0 People32 100

asha · daktari · mafundi · mbaya · mdogo · mgeni · mhandisi · mhudumu · mkubwa · mkulima · mpishi · mrefu · msafiri · msichana · mtoto · mtu · muuguzi · mvulana · mwafrika · mwalimu · mwanafunzi · mwanamke · mwanaume · mzazi · mzima · mzuri · na · rafiki · saidi · seremala · si · waafrika · wabaya · wachache · wadogo · wageni · wake · wako · wakulima · walimu · wanafunzi · wanaume · wanawake · wanene · wangu · wapishi · wasafiri · watoto · watu · wavulana · wazazi · wazuri · wenu · wetu
54 words

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.

Singular	Translation	Plural	Translation
- angu	my/mine	- etu	our/ours
- ako	your/yours	- enu	your/yours (pl.)
- ake	his/her	- ao	their/theirs

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:

Singular Example	Translation	Plural Example	Translation
Mwalimu wa Kiswahili	Teacher of Swahili – Swahili Teacher	Walimu wa Kiswahili	Teachers of Swahili – Swahili Teachers
Msichana wa Marekani	American girl	Wasichana wa Marekani	American girls
Mwanafunzi wa hisabati	Math student	Wanafunzi wa hisabati	Math students

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.

-	Pronoun	Subject Prefix
I	Mimi	Ni-
You	Wewe	U-
He/She	Yeye	A-
We	Sisi	Tu-
You (pl.)	Ninyi	M-
They	Wao	Wa-

Examples


Ninatoka Tanzania.	I come from Tanzania.
Mwalimu anapenda Kenya.	The teacher likes Kenya.

••• 0 Relatives422 100

alivyokuja · ambacho · ambao · ambapo · ambayo · kisipoletwa · mlipofika · mtakapomaliza · unavyocheza · usipolala
10 words

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.

Noun Class	Agreement	Amba Relative
M- WA-	Singular	Ambaye
M- WA-	Plural	Ambao
M- MI-	Singular	Ambao
M- MI-	Plural	Ambayo
KI- VI-	Singular	Ambacho
KI- VI-	Plural	Ambavyo
N/N	Singular	Ambayo
N/N	Plural	Ambazo
JI- MA-	Singular	Ambalo
JI- MA-	Plural	Ambayo
U/N	Singular	Ambao
U/N	Plural	Ambazo
Mahali	M-	Ambamo
Mahali	PA-	Ambapo
Mahali	KU-	Ambako

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:

Swahili	English
Huyu ni voluntia ambaye anatoka Marekani.	This is a volunteer who comes from America.
Wale ni mavoluntia ambao wanatoka Marekani.	Those are volunteers who come from America.
Huyu ni mtoto ambaye anaumwa malaria.	This is the chilld who is suffering from malaria.
Hawa ni vijana ambao wana kazi nyingi.	These are youth who have a lot of work.
Yule ni mzee ambaye ana bustani kubwa ya mboga.	That is the old man who has a big vegetable garden.
Hii ni barua ya voluntia ambayo inatoka Marekani.	This is a volunteer’s letter that comes from America.
Zile ni barua za voluntia ambazo zinatoka Marekani.	These are volunteers’ letters that come from America.
Ile ni saa yangu ndogo ya mezani ambayo niliinunua Uingereza.	That is my small table clock which I bought in England.
Zile ni saa zangu ndogo za mezani ambazo nilizinunua Uingereza.	These are my small table clocks which I bought in England.
Alitumia vifaa vilivyovunjika.	S/He used tools which broke.
Nitapika chakula kitamu kinachotoka Uhindi.	I am going to cook good food which comes from India.
Popote uendapo!	Wherever you go!

“-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:

Swahili	English
Nitakufundisha jinsi ninavyofanya kazi yangu.	I will teach you how I do my work.
Utaona jinsi watu wanavyochoma moto misitu.	You will see how people set fire in forests.
Utaelewa jinsi vijana wasivyojali afya zao.	You will understand how youths do not care about their health.
Nilifanya vyote nilivyoweza.	I did as much as I could.

••• 0 Additional Grammar291 100

alishakufa · anapofundisha · hadithi · ipi · kwisha · lipi · ndiye · ndiyo · nilishapika · panda · po · sha · tulishakula · tumeshamaliza · upi · vipi · wameshaenda · yapi · yupi
19 words

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.

Noun Class	Emphatic	Agreement
M- WA-	Ndiye	Singular
M- WA-	Ndio	Plural
M- MI-	Ndio	Singular
M- MI-	Ndiyo	Plural
KI- VI-	Ndicho	Singular
KI- VI-	Ndivyo	Plural
N/N	Ndiyo	Singular
N/N	Ndizo	Plural
JI- MA-	Ndilo	Singular
JI- MA-	Ndiyo	Plural
U/N	Ndio	Singular
U/N	Ndizo	Plural
Mahali	Ndimo	Inside Locative
Mahali	Ndipo	Specific Place Locative
Mahali	Ndiko	Unspecific Place Locative

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

Pronoun	Emphatic	Translation
Mimi	Ndimi	Indeed I/me
Wewe	Ndiwe	Indeed you
Yeye	Ndiye	Indeed he/she or him/her
Sisi	Ndio sisi	Indeed us/we
Ninyi	Ndio ninyi	Indeed you (pl.)
Wao	Ndio wao	Indeed they/them

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Huyu ndiye mwalimu mzuri aliyenifundisha.	This is indeed the good teacher who taught me.
Ndicho hicho!	Indeed that one!
Embe hilo ndilo zuri sana!	That mango is indeed very good!
Ndiwe utakayekwenda huko.	It is indeed you who will go there.

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.

Noun Class	Interrogative -pi	Agreement
M- WA-	Yupi?	Singular
M- WA-	Wepi?	Plural
M- MI-	Upi?	Singular
M- MI-	Ipi?	Plural
KI- VI-	Kipi?	Singular
KI- VI-	Vipi?	Plural
N/N	Ipi?	Singular
N/N	Zipi?	Plural
JI- MA-	Lipi?	Singular
JI- MA-	Yapi?	Plural
U/N	Upi?	Singular
U/N	Zipi?	Plural
Mahali	Kupi?	Singular – Only form of Mahali that takes -pi

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Unataka parachichi lipi?	You want which avocado?
Anakaa nyumba ipi?	He lives in which house?
Tukununulie viatu vipi?	We should buy you which shoes?

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:

Swahili	English
Nimekwishaandika barua.	I have already written a letter.
Umekwishaandika barua.	You have already written a letter.
Tumekwishaandika barua.	We have already written a letter.
Wamekwishaandika barua.	They have already written a letter.

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:

Swahili	English
Nimeishaenda dukani.	I have already gone to the store.
Ulishawahi kula nge?	Have you already tried to eat scorpion?
Wameshafika Marekani.	They have already arrived in America.

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

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Nikishamaliza kazi yangu, nitaenda kucheza mpira.	Once I have finished my work, I will go play soccer.
Ukishasafisha chumbani kwako, osha vyombo.	Once you have cleaned your room, wash the dishes.
Tukishazungumza naye, tutakuambia.	Once we have talked with her, we will tell you.

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:

Swahili	English
Tulipoenda Morogoro, tulijifunza Kiswahili.	When we went to Morogoro, we learned Swahili.
Ninapozungumza Kiswahili, ninaeleweka.	When I speak Swahili, I am understood.
Mama atakapofika nyumbani, atapika wali.	When mother arrives at home, she will cook rice.

••• 50 Narrative and Expeditious -Ka-272 100
kaingie · kanunue · katoke · nika · vuna
5 words
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:

Swahili English

Kalale! Go sleep!

Kalete kalamu yangu. Go bring my pen.

Kale chakula chako sasa hivi. Go eat your food right now.

Nenda kaombe ruhusa! Go and ask for permission!

••• 0 Habitual Tense371 100

huandika · hucheza · huchora · huimba · huishi · huja · hujifunza · hukimbia · hula · hulala · hunywa · hupenda · hupika · husafiri · husafisha · husikiliza · husoma · hutayarisha · hutengeneza · kila siku · kila wakati
21 words

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:

Swahili	English
Baraka huamka saa kumi na moja alfajiri.	Baraka wakes up at five o’clock in the morning.
Yeye huandika barua kila siku.	She/He writes letters every day.
Mimi hula chakula kila siku.	I usually eat food everyday.
Wewe huja shuleni kila asubuhi.	You usually come to school every morning.

••• 0 Conditional 2372 100

ange · asinge · isinge · kisinge · mnge · msinge · ninge · ningekuja · ningemwona · ningepika · singe · tunge · tusinge · ungekwenda · ungemwona · usinge · wange · wasinge · zisinge
19 words

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:

Swahili	English
Ungekuja hapa sasa, ungemwona.	If you came here now, you would see him.
Wangekuwa mjini sasa, wangenunua nguo.	If they were in town now, they would buy clothes.
Ningalimwona jana, ningaliongea naye.	If I had seen her yesterday, I would have talked to her.
Kama angalijua kwamba unakuja, angalipika chakula kingi.	If she had known that you were coming, she would have prepared a lot of food.

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:

Swahili	English
Asingepata mwaliko asingekwenda kwenye harusi.	If he had not been invited, he would have not gone to the wedding.
Barua isingalifika, nisingalifika msibani.	If the letter had not arrived, I would not have been at the funeral.
Tusingeimba vibaya, angefurahi sana.	If we did not sing poorly, he would be very happy.

••• 0 Subjunctive212 100

afadhali · aje · asiandike · asicheze · asome · heri · inafaa · lazima · leta · lime · mle · mlipe · mpike · msinunue · mwite · ni bora · niambie · niamke · niite · nile · nipe · nisifagie · nisisome · nywe · sharti · tafadhali · tucheze · tuje · tusiamke · tusilipe · uandike · ununue · waambie · wafagie · waje · wale · wape · wasipike
38 words

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

Swahili	English
Tafadhali unisaidie.	Please help me.
Lazima uende sokoni	You must go to the market.
Ni bora ujifunze Kiswahili.	It is better (that) you learn Kiswahili.
Inafaa upumzike leo.	It is better (that) you have a rest today.
Heri uende nyumbani.	It is better (that) you go home.
Kabla ya kula sharti unawe.	Before eating you must wash your hands.
Afadhali uende hospitali.	It’s better (that) you go to hospital.

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.

Swahili	English
Usipige picha hapa.	Don’t take photographs here.
Usipike ugali leo.	Don’t cook ugali today.
Usiendeshe baiskeli.	Don’t ride a bicycle.
Msiende shuleni.	Don’t go to school.
Msifanye ngono zembe.	Don’t practice unprotected sex.

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.

Swahili	English
Tafadhali unipikie ugali kwa samaki leo.	Please cook ugali and fish for me today.
Tafadhali waletee maji ya kunywa.	Please bring them some drinking water.

••• 50 Chores72 100
bafu · chumba · chupa · dirisha · faridi · jamila · jiko · kikombe · meza · moto · ndoo · nguo · sabuni · sahani · sufuria · takataka · ufagio · vyombo
18 words
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')
••• 50 Food81 100
bia · chai · chakula · chipsi · juisi · kahawa · karoti · kila · kuku · machungwa · maembe · maharage · maji · maparachichi · matunda · mayai · maziwa · mboga · mbuzi · mkate · ndizi · ng'ombe · nguruwe · nyama ya · nyanya · pilipili hoho · samaki · ugali · viazi · vinywaji · vitunguu · vitunguu saumu · wali
33 words
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!

••• 0 M/Mi Nouns71 100

mche · mchezo · mchoro · mchuzi · mfereji · mfuko · miavuli · mikuki · mipira · misikiti · misitu · misumari · miti · mizizi · mji · mkasi · mkeka · mkutano · mlango · mmea · mnyororo · mpaka · mradi · mti · mto · mtumbwi · muziki · mzigo · wa
29 words

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.

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns	Translation
wangu	yangu	my/mine
wako	yako	your/yours
wake	yake	his/her
wetu	yetu	our/ours
wenu	yenu	your/yours (pl.)
wao	yao	their/theirs

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:

Swahili Singular	Swahili Plural	English
Mfano wangu	Mifano yangu	My example(s)
Mshahara wangu	Mishahara yangu	My salary(ies)
Mguu wangu	Miguu yangu	My leg(s)

-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.

Singular Example	Translation	Plural Example	Translation
Mshahara wa mwezi	Salary of the month – Monthly salary	Mishahara ya mwaka	Salaries of the year – Yearly salaries
Mlango wa nyumba	House door	Milango ya nyumba	House doors
Mtihani wa shule	School exam	Mitihanti ya shule	School exams

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

••• 0 Reciprocal Verbs332 100

andikiana · chezeana · nunuliana · oana · pigiana · rudiana · toleana
7 words

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:

Simple Root – Swahili	Simple Root – English	Reciprocal Form – Swahili	Reciprocal Form - English
Kupenda	To love	Kupendana	To love each other
Kukuta	To find	Kukutana	To find each other – To meet up
Kutembelea	To visit	Kutembeleana	To visit each other
Kuamkia	To greet	Kuamkiana	To greet each other

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:

Prepositional Root – Swahili	Prepositional Root – English	Prepositional Root – Swahili	Prepositional Root – English
Kupikia	To cook for	Kupikiana	To cook for each other
Kusomea	To read for	Kusomeana	To read to each other
Kuandikia	To write for	Kuandikiana	To write for each other
Kusaidia	To help	Kusaidiana	To help each other
Kukubalia	To agree	Kukubaliana	To agree with each other – To be in agreement
Kusalimia	To greet	Kusalimiana	To greet each other

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.

Swahili	English
Tutakutana kesho?	Are we going to meet (up) tomorrow?
Wanasaidiana kujenga nyumba zote.	They are helping each other to build all the houses.
Ukienda kumwona bibi yangu, ni lazima mwamkiane.	If you go to see my grandmother, you have to greet each other.

••• 50 Politics331 100
askari · balozi · bunge · demokrasia · diwani · hotuba · kampeni · kenyata · kura · mapinduzi · mbunge · meya · mwanasiasa · nitachagua · nyerere · rais · serikali · siasa · ubalozi · uchaguzi · usalama · vita · wananchi · waziri · wizara
25 words
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.
••• 50 Spirituality321 100
amini · chinja · dhambi · ibada · imani · kafara · kuabudu · kubatizwa · kusaliwa · madhabahu · majini · malaika · mapepo · mashetani · matambiko · mimbari · motoni · msahafu · msalaba · mswala · mtakatifu · mtume muhamad · mungu · mzimu · peponi · rogwa · roho · sadaka · sali · tasbihi · thawabu · uchawi · uislamu · ukristo · ushirikina · waislamu · wakristo · yesu kristo
38 words
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.

••• 0 Negative Conditional361 100

asipo · choka · lisipo · yasipochemka
4 words

Negative Conditional

Negatives of “kama” and “-ki-”

Negative “kama”

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

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Kama hatutapata pesa, hatutaenda Ulaya.	If we don’t get money, we will not go to Europe.
Kama hatutakula ugali, hatutashiba.	If we don’t eat ugali, we will not be full

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:

Swahili	English
Usipojifunza Kiswahili, hutaweza kuzungumza na watanzania.	If you don’t learn Kiswahili, you will not be able to speak with Tanzanians
Tusipopata pesa, hatutaenda Ulaya.	If we don’t get money, we will not go to Europe.
Tusipokula ugali, hatutafurahi.	If we don’t eat ugali, we will not be happy.
Usipokwenda baharini, hutaogelea.	If you don’t go to the sea you won’t swim.
Asipokuja Tanzania, atakwenda Uganda.	If s/he doesn’t come to Tanzania, s/he will go to Uganda
Usipokula mayai, hutapata protini.	If you don’t eat eggs, you won’t get protein.

••• 0 Comparisons302 100

kuliko · sawa na · zaidi
3 words

Comparison

Comparatives

Comparison in Swahili is very different from English. There are no adjectives for comparative or superlative degrees like adding “-er” or “-est”. Instead, comparative words are used in Swahili after adjectives.

“Kama” is used to mean “as” or “like”
“Sawa na” is used to mean “ equal to” or “the same as”
“Kupita” is used to mean “surpass” or “more than”
“Kuliko” is used to mean “than” and is followed up by the object being compared
“Kushinda” is used to mean “to excel / to exceed / to outnumber / to win”
“Zaidi” is used to mean “more”
“Zaidi ya” is also used to mean “more than” and is followed up by the object being compared

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Bustani yangu ni nzuri kama yako.	My garden is as good as yours.
Kijiji chetu ni sawa na chenu.	Our village is the same as yours.
Mashamba yeti ni makubwa kuliko yenu.	Our farms are bigger than your farms.
Shamba lake ni zuri kuliko langu.	His farm is nicer than mine.
Twiga ni mrefu zaidi ya simba.	The giraffe is taller than the lion.

Superlatives:

When making a superlative construction, use the same words as in comparative construction, except that the adjective “–ote” - all or whole - with correct agreement marker of the noun used comes at the end. This signifies that the comparison is made with all other types of that particular noun being compared.

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Wakenya wanapendelea kukumbia kuliko wote.	Kenyans love to run more than anyone.
Chakula kinapikwa na mama yangu ni kitamu kupita vyote.	Food cooked by my mother is better than all other (food).
Matikitimaji kutoka Tanzania ni makubwa kushinda yote mengine.	Watermelons from Tanzania are bigger than all others.

••• 50 Figures of Speech431 100
aga dunia · amekuwa popo · anguka pa! · bwana ni jabali langu · chemsha bongo · chungulia kaburi · fyata mkia · hana kaba ya ulimi · jiwe lile likasema · jua limesimama · kata choo · kula vumbi · kumeza maneno · kumkalia mtu kitako · kwenda msalani · lia kwi kwi kwi! · lila na fila · mito inaimba · mkono wa birika · mwalimu wetu ni simba · pua na mdomo · sina hali · tamathali ya usemi · tamathali za usemi · tamu kama sukari · uzi na sindano · vunjika moyo
27 words
Here is a brief overview of different types of figures of speech in this lesson. Some phrases in Swahili lose meaning when directly translated to English, but sometimes one can infer the intended meaning through the reference used.

Tashibiha - Similes

a.k.a. Tashbihi, Tashbiha. These have the same form as they do in English, i.e. adjective-preposition-noun. Some English similes translate to their Swahili counterparts e.g.

Similes Tashbihi

Black as coal -eusi kama makaa

Cold as ice baridi kama barafu

Thin as a needle -embamba mithili ya sindano

Note: kama and mithili ya mean the same thing

Other Swahili similes are not quite used as-is when directly translated to English e.g.

Tashbihi Translation

Adhimu kama maziwa ya kuku Rare as chicken's milk

Mlafi kama fisi Greedy as a hyena

Mrefu kama mlingoti Tall as a pole

Tafsida - Euphemism

These are used, as in English, to substitute words or expressions that are considered harsh or improper

Tafsida Direct translation Meaning

Kujifungua To open onself up To give birth

Kujisaidia To help oneself To use the bathroom

Kuaga dunia To say goodbye to the earth To die

Sitiari - Metaphor

a.k.a. Istiari, Istiara. These are similar to similes, but rather than describing someone/thing to be 'like' something else, they are described as that thing.

Sitiari Metaphor Meaning

Rashidi ni kobe Rashidi is a tortoise Rashidi is slow

Amekuwa popo He's become a bat He's become a turncoat

Juma ni chiriku Juma is a canary Juma is a chatterbox

Semi - Sayings

These are common phrases that are widely understood or whose meaning/reference is easy to understand.

Semi Sayings Meaning/use

Shingo upande Bent neck Be reluctant/do something reluctantly

Pua na mdomo Nose and mouth Very close

Lila na fila Good and evil For better or worse

Tashihisi - Personification

a.k.a. uhaishaji. These are phrases that give inanimate objects human attributes e.g. the wind is whistling

Tashihisi Translation

Picha inanikodolea macho The picture is looking at me

Fikira zangu zinazunguka My thoughts are swirling

Muda unakimbia Time is running

Tanakali za sauti - Onomatopoeia

a.k.a. Milio. These are words that mimic sound or how an action is performed. These sounds are typically used to either emphasize or exaggerate a sound or action. Note that not all actions are assigned these sounds.

Often, they appear at the end of the sentence, and are followed by are an excalamation mark, though this is not required.

Mlio Action

Cheka kwa kwa kwa! Laugh (loudly)

Mweusi tititi Very dark

Tumbukia majini chubwi Fall into water

Shusha pumzi hufyu Loud/big sigh

Nahau - Idioms

These are phrases/sayings that always contain verbs. Like euphemisms, they are used to soften harsh words. Often, direct translations will not make much sense

Nahau Translation Meaning

Piga hatua Make steps Move forward/Progress

Meza maneno Swallow words Keep a secret

Pigwa kalamu Have one's pen hit Lose one's job

••• 0 Conditional Past441 100

angali · asingali · ingali · kisingali · lingali · mngali · mngalilewa · msingali · ningali · nisingali · tungali · tusingali · ungali · usingali · wangali · wasingali · wasingalifurahi
17 words

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:

Swahili	English
Ungekuja hapa sasa, ungemwona.	If you came here now, you would see him.
Wangekuwa mjini sasa, wangenunua nguo.	If they were in town now, they would buy clothes.
Ningalimwona jana, ningaliongea naye.	If I had seen her yesterday, I would have talked to her.
Angalijua kwamba unakuja, angalipika chakula kingi.	If she had known that you were coming, she would have prepared a lot of food.

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Asingepata mwaliko asingekwenda kwenye harusi.	If he had not been invited, he would have not gone to the wedding.
Barua isingalifika, nisingalifika msibani.	If the letter had not arrived, I would not have been at the funeral.
Tusingeimba vibaya, angefurahi sana.	If we did not sing poorly, he would be very happy.

Sometimes, these two infixes are used interchangeably

••• 0 Passive Verbs132 100

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.

Active Form	Passive Form
- angalia (look at)	- angaliwa (be looked at)
- andika (write)	- andikwa (be written)
- pima (examine)	- pimwa (be examined)
- choma (inject)	- chomwa (be injected)
- pika (look)	- pikwa (be cooked)
- cheka (laugh)	- chekwa (be laughed at)
- piga (beat)	- pigwa (be beaten)
- saidia (help)	- saidiwa (be helped)

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

Active Form	Passive Form
- zaa (give birth)	- zaliwa (be born)
- fua (wash materials)	- fuliwa (be washed)

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

Active Form	Passive Form
- oa (marry)	- olewa (be married)
- zoa (collect)	- zolewa (be collected)
- toa (pull out, offer)	- tolewa (be pulled out, be offered)

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.

Active Form	Passive Form
- hitaji (need)	- hitajiwa (be needed)
- amini (believe)	- aminiwa (be believed)
- sifu (praise)	- sifiwa (be praised)
	- salimu (greet)

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

Active Form	Passive Form
- sahau (forget)	- sahauliwa (be forgotten)
- dharau (despise)	- dharauliwa (be despised)

The passive forms of the monosyllabic verbs behave irregularly.

Active Form	Passive Form
kunywa (to drink)	kunywewa (to be drunken)
kupa (to give)	kupewa (to be given)
kula (to eat)	kuliwa (to be eaten)
kufa (to die)	kufiwa (to bereaved)

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

Active Form	Passive Form
- ua (kill)	- uawa (be killed)
- samehe (forgive)	- samehewa (be forgiven)

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

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Mtoto alipigwa na mama yake.	The child was beaten by his/her mother.
Mgonjwa atachomwa sindano.	The patient will be given an injection.
Emma alifiwa na mama yake.	Emma was bereaved by her mother.
Chakula kimepikwa na mimi.	The food was cooked by me.
Kazi ya nyumbani imesahauliwa na Robert.	The homework was forgotten by Robert.
Hilo embe limeliwa na wewe?	Was that mango eaten by you?

••• 0 Locatives182 100

chini ya · dodoma · juu ya · kando ya · kati ya · katikati · kuna · mbele ya · mna · ndani · ng'ambo ya · nje · nyuma ya
13 words

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:

Swahili	English
Mimi niko Tanzania.	I am in Tanzania.
Nipo Dar es Salaam.	I am in Dar es Salaam.
Mimi nimo ofisini.	I am in the office.
Yeye yuko Tanzania.	S/He is in Tanzania.
Yeye yupo Dar es Salaam.	S/He is in Dar es Salaam.
Yumo ofisini.	S/He is in the office.
Sisi tuko shuleni.	We are at school.
Visu viko wapi?	Where are the knives?
Wazazi wangu wapo New York.	My parents are in New York.
Maembe yangu yamo jikoni.	My mangoes are in the kitchen.
Funguo za ofisi zipo mezani.	The office keys are on the table.
Mimi sipo shuleni.	I am not at school.
Chakula hakipo sokoni.	The food is not at the market.
Mama hayumo chumbani kwake.	Mother is not in her room.
Vifaa vya kulima havipo shambani sasa,	The farming tools are not at the farm right now.

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.

Indefinite (ku)	Definite (pa)	Inside (mu)
huku - here/hereabouts	hapa - here/right here	humu - here inside
huko - there/over there	hapo - there/just there	humo - there inside
kule - there/in the distance	pale – there/over there	mle - there in

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.

••• 50 Body181 100
bega · chembechembe · damu · ini · jicho · jino · kichwa · kidole · kinywa · mabega · macho · masikio · mdomo · meno · mguu · miguu · misuli · mkono · mwili · nywele · pua · shingo · sikio · tumbo · ulimi · uso · uti wa mgongo · vidole
28 words
This lesson is an introduction to parts of the body. These feature nouns belonging to different noun classes.

••• 0 Present Tense 161 100

tena
1 words

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:

Pronoun	Subject Prefix	Tense Marker	Verb Stem	Construction
mimi (I)	ni- (I)	-na- (present continuous tense)	-sema (speak)	Ninasema
wewe (you)	u –(you)	-na- (present tense)	-lala (sleep)	Unalala
yeye (she/he)	a – (she/he)	-na- (present tense)	-fikiri (think)	Anafikiri
sisi (we)	tu – (we)	-na- (present tense)	-uliza (ask)	Tunauliza
ninyi (you plural)	m – (ya’ll)	-na- (present tense)	-fundisha (teach)	Mnafundisha
wao (they plural)	wa – (They)	-na- (present tense)	-kimbia (run)	Wanakimbia

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:

Affirmative	Negative
Ninaandika.	Siandiki.
I am writing.	I am not writing.
Unaandika.	Huandiki.
You are writing.	You are not writing.
Anaandika.	Haandiki.
She/He is writing.	She/He is not writing.
Tunaandika.	Hatuandiki.
We are writing.	We are not writing.
Mnaandika.	Hamwandiki.
You (pl.) are writing.	You (pl.) are not writing.
Wanaandika.	Hawaandiki.
They are writing.	They are not writing.

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.

Affirmative	Negative
Mimi ninakula samaki.	Mimi sili samaki.
I am eating fish.	I am not eating/do not eat fish.
Wewe unakunywa pombe.	Wewe hunywi pombe.
You are drinking alcohol.	You are not drinking/do not drink alcohol.

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

Affirmative	Negative
Ninajibu swali.	Sijibu swali.
I am answering a question.	I am not answering/do not answer a/the question.
Tunadhani kwamba atafika.	Hatudhani kwamba atafika.
We think she/he will arrive.	We do not think she/he will arrive.

••• 50 Shopping161 100
bei · fungu · ghali · jumla · kilo · mchele · mnunuzi · mteja · muuzaji · sembe · shilingi · sukari · tambi · unga wa ngano · viungo · wanunuzi · wateja · wauzaji
18 words
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!

••• 0 Past Tense162 100

jana · juzi · mwaka uliopita · mwezi uliopita · usiku uliopita · wiki iliyopita
6 words

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.

Swahili	English
Nilijifunza Kiswahili.	I learned Kiswahili.
Ulijifunza Kiswahili.	You learned Kiswahili.
Alijifunza Kiswahili.	S/He learned Kiswahili.
Tulijifunza Kiswahili.	We learned Kiswahili.
Mlijifunza Kiswahili.	You (pl.) learned Kiswahili.
Walijifunza Kiswahili.	They learned Kiswahili.

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:

Swahili	English
Nilikuwa mwalimu.	I was a teacher.
Ulikuwa daktari.	You were a doctor.
Alikuwa mwalimu.	S/He was a teacher.
Tulikuwa watoto.	We were children.
Mlikuwa walimu.	You were teachers
Walikuwa wakulima.	They were farmers.

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:

Swahili	English
Jana nilikuwa na shida.	Yesterday I had a problem.
Juzi nilikuwa na kitabu.	The day before yesterday I had a book.
Nilikuwa na wanafunzi wanne.	I had four students.
Alikuwa na rafiki mmoja.	S/He had one friend.
Walikuwa na matatizo ya afya.	They had health problems.

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:

Affirmative Past	Negative Past
Nilipika ugali.	Sikupika ugali.
Ulisikiliza redio.	Hukusikiliza redio.
Alijifunza Kiswahili.	Hakujifunza Kiswahili.
Tulizungumza pole pole.	Hatukuzungumza pole pole.
Mlipumzika Jumamosi.	Hamkupumzika Jumamosi.
Walifurahi sana.	Hawakufurahi sana.
Nilikula wali.	Sikula wali.
Ulikwenda sokoni.	Hukuenda sokoni.
Alikunywa bia.	Hakunywa bia.

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:

Affirmative Past	Negative Past
Nilikuwa na gari.	Sikuwa na gari.
Ulikuwa na shida.	Hukuwa na shida.
Alikuwa na matunda.	Hakuwa na matunda.
Tulikuwa na watoto.	Hatukuwa na watoto.
Mlikuwa na nyumba.	Hamkuwa na nyumba.

••• 50 Time163 100
alhamisi · dakika · ijumaa · jumamosi · jumanne · jumapili · jumatano · jumatatu · kalenda · kamili · kasoro · kwa · likizo · miezi · nusu · robo · saa · saa ngapi · sasa · siku · tarehe · wiki
22 words
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.

Date Tarehe

Tenth of May Tarehe kumi mwezi wa tano

2019 Mwaka elfu mbili na kumi na tisa

March Mwezi wa tatu

••• 0 Prepositional Verbs182 100

ananipikia · ananipokelea · ninawaandikia · tunawasomea · walimchukulia
5 words

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:

Swahili	English
Nitakupikia ugali.	I will cook ugali for you.
Watamwandikia.	They will write to him.
Unamchukulia?	Are you taking it for her?
Mwalimu wao anawasomea.	Their teacher is reading to them.
Tunakutolea hela.	We are giving money on behalf of you.

••• 0 Conditional Tense261 100

bahari · hamia · ikiwa · kama · lisipo · mtaona · nikinunua · nikipata · pasipo · tayari · tutaenda · ukijifunza · ukinywa · ukisoma · utalewa · wakienda · wataleta · ziki
18 words

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:

Swahili	English
Kama utajifunza Kiswahili, utaweza kuzungumza na watanzania.	If you learn Kiswahili, you will be able to speak with Tanzanians
Kama tutapata pesa, tutaenda Ulaya.	If we get money, we will go to Europe.
Kama tutakula ugali, tutashiba.	If we eat ugali (porridge), we will be full.

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:

Swahili	English
Ukijifunza Kiswahili, utaweza kuzungumza na watanzania.	If you learn Kiswahili, you will be able to speak with Tanzanians.
Tukipata pesa, tutaenda Ulaya.	If we get money, we will go to Europe.
Tukila ugali, tutashiba.	If we eat ugali (porridge), we will be full.

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

••• 0 Piga Idiom281 100

amepiga miyayo · anapiga deki · anapiga mbizi · anapiga picha · atapiga pasi · mlipiga magoti · mlipiga mluzi · mnapiga teke · nilipiga chenga · nilipiga kengele · nilipiga simu · nilipiga teke · ninapiga mbizi · nitapiga makofi · tulipiga chafya · tulipiga pasi · ulipiga ngumi · umepiga chafya · umepiga kelele · utapiga kengele · utapiga magoti
21 words

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:

Piga Idiom	Translation
Kupiga pasi	To iron clothes
Kupiga simu	To make a telephone call
Kupiga kengele	To ring a bell
Kupiga kelele	To make noise/To shout
Kupiga chafya	To sneeze
Kupiga chenga	To dodge/To avoid/To evade/To sidestep
Kupiga magoti	To kneel down
Kupiga mbizi	To dive
Kupiga miayo	To yawn
Kupiga teke	To kick
Kupiga ngumi	To punch (with a fist)
Kupiga mluzi	To whistle
Kupiga makofi	To clap
Kupiga picha	To take a picture/photograph
Kupiga deki	To mop
Kupiga kofi	To slap

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

••• 0 Interrogatives142 100

gani? · kwa nini · lini? · mbona · nani? · nini? · vipi? · wapi?
8 words

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:

Swahili	English
Wapi?	*Where?*
Unatoka wapi?	Where are you from?
Unakaa wapi sasa?	Where are you staying now?
Gani?	*What sort? Which? What kind?*
Unapenda chakula gani?	What food do you like? What sort of food do you like?
Unatoka nchi gani?	Which country are you from?
Nini?	*What?* (used for objects only)
Unataka nini?	What do you want?
Unafanya nini?	What are you doing?
Nani?	*Who? Whom?*
Nani anafundisha Kiswahili?	Who is teaching Swahili?
Nani anatoka Marekani?	Who is from America?
-ngapi? (Takes the stem of the noun class)	*How many? How much?*
Soda moja ni shilingi ngapi?	How much is a soda?
Una watoto wangapi?	How many children do you have?
Lini?	*When?*
Lini utasafiri?	When are you going to travelling?
Utaanza kufanya kazi lini?	When will you start working?
Kwa nini?	*Why? For what?*
Kwa nini unajifunza Kiswahili?	Why are you learning Swahili?
Kwa nini unapenda Tanzania?	Why do you like Tanzania?
Mbona?	*How come?* (stronger meaning than ‘why?’)
Mbona unalia?	How come you are crying?
Mbona unakimbia?	How come you are running?
Vipi?	*How?*
Unapika ugali vipi?	How do you cook ugali?
Unaenda nyumbani vipi?	How do you go home?
Namna gani?	*How is…?* (not with people)
Maisha namna gani?/Namna gani maisha?	How is life?
Kazi namna gani rafiki yangu?	How is the work my friend?

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?

••• 50 Clothing141 100
bangili · blauzi · chupi · fulana · gauni · hereni · kanga · kanzu · kaptura · kikoi · kilemba · kitenge · kofia · koti · pete · saa · shanga · shati · sketi · soksi · suruali · suti · tai
23 words
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

••• 0 U/N Nouns143 100

funguo · kuta · nyimbo · nyufa · nyuso · nyuzi · ubaya · uchafu · uchumi · ufa · ufunguo · ukarimu · ukurasa · ukuta · umeme · upendo · upishi · upole · uso · uzi · uzuri · wembe · wimbo
23 words

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:

Swahili	English
Uaminifu	Trustworthiness
Uhodari	Effectiveness
Umoja	Unity
Upendo	Love
Uchafu	Dirtiness
Urefu	Height/Length
Usafi	Cleanliness
Uvivu	Laziness
Utajiri	Wealth
Uzito	Weight
Ujana	Youth
Uzee	Old age
Uzuri	Beauty

Uncountable Nouns

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

Swahili	English
Udongo	Soil
Ugali	Stiff porridge
Umeme	Electricity
Usingizi	Sleepiness
Wino	Ink
Wali	Cooked rice

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.

Swahili	English
Ndevu	Beard - plural form
Ufunguo	Key
Funguo	Keys
Kuni	Firewood - plural form
Ulimi	Tongue
Ndimi	Tongues
Nywele	Hair - plural form
Upepo	Wind
Wakati	Period/Time
Nyakati	Periods/Times

Names of Countries

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

Swahili Name	English Name
Uingereza	England
Ureno	Portugal
Ufaransa	France
Ulaya	Europe
Uhindi	India

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.

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns	Translation
wangu	zangu	my/mine
wako	zako	your/yours
wake	zake	his/her
wetu	zetu	our/ours
wenu	zenu	your/yours (pl.)
wao	zao	their/theirs

Examples:

Swahili
Ubunifu wako	Your creativity
Wali wake	His/Her rice
Nywele zangu	My hair

-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.

Swahili Example	Translation
Uchafu wa chumba	Dirtiness of the room
Umeme wa shule	School's electricity
Uwezo wa wanafunzi	Ability of the students
Kuta za nyumba	House walls

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.

••• 50 Tourism342 100
darubini · iba · kibali cha kazi · kupanda · maasai mara · manyara · mbuga · mizigo · mlima kilimanjaro · mtalii · mtembeza watalii · mwizi · ngorongoro · nitapanda · nyaraka · pasipoti · polisi · pora · serengeti · uhamiaji · ukaguzi · utalii · viza · watalii
24 words
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.
••• 50 Science341 100
asidi · atomu · elektroni · elementi · fomyula · gesi · haidrojeni · hewa · jaribio · kaboni · kemikali · kisayansi · maabara · maonesho · molekuli · mvutano · nadharia · nadharia tete · nishati · nishati tuli · nitrojeni · nutroni · nyukliasi · oksijeni · pima afya · protoni · roketi · sayansi · teknolojia · tungamo · uchanganuzi · ulinganifu · uwiano · uzito
34 words
••• 50 Medicine271 100
afya · ajali · chanjo · cheti cha daktari · cheti cha kifo · cheti cha kuzaliwa · dalili · dawa · homa ya matumbo · jeraha · jikondesha · jipu · kichomi · kipindupindu · konda · kuambukizwa · kunenepa · lishe · maambukizo · malaria · mgonjwa · mwuguzi · nenepesha · sindano · sumu · surua · ugonjwa · unene · upasuaji · utapiamlo · vimba · wasichana · zahanati · zuia
34 words
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.
••• 50 Sports272 100
bao · filimbi · goli · imefunga · imeshinda · kiwanja cha michezo · kuruka kamba · kushinda · ligi · magoli · mashindano · mchezaji · mchezo wa bao · mchezo wa karata · mechi · mieleka · mlifungwa · mmefunga · mpira wa kikapu · mpira wa meza · mpira wa miguu · mpira wa pete · mpira wa wavu · mwamuzi · nilishindwa · timu · tumefungwa · tumeshinda · tunashindwa · wachezaji · walifunga
31 words
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.

••• 0 Causative Verbs251 100

amsha · benki · fahamisha · kataza · kaza · kopesha · mkanda · pasha · tayarisha
9 words

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:

Active Form/Noun	Translation	Causative Form	Translation
Kuamka	To wake up	Kuamsha	To wake (someone else) up
Kuanguka	To fall	Kuangusha	To fell (cause to fall)
Kuchemka	To be boiled	Kuchemsha	To boil
Kuchoka	To be tired	Kuchokesha	To tire
Hakika	Certainty	Kuhakikisha	To ensure/make certain
Kuingia	To enter	Kuingiza	To put inside/enter
Kula	To eat	Kulisha	To feed
Kupotea	To be lost	Kupoteza	To lose
Kusikia	To hear	Kusikiliza	To listen
Tayari	Ready	Kutayarisha	To prepare

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.

••• 0 Verbs 2351 100

eleweki · fahamiki · fanyiki · hai · hazi · ime · inasemekana · julikani · onekana · patikana · pokeleka · sahaulika · someka · someki · wezekani · zoleki
16 words

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:

Active Form	Translation	Stative Form	Translation
Kubadili	To change	Kubadilika	To be changed
Kufunga	To close	Kufungika	To be closed
Kuharibu	To destroy	Kuharibika	To be destroyed
Kukata	To cut	Kukatika	To be cut
Kukubali	To agree	Kukubalika	To be agreed
Kuvunja	To break	Kuvunjika	To be broken
Kula	To eat	Kulika	To be edible
Kuona	To see	Kuonekana	To be seen
Kupata	To get	Kupatikana	To be obtainable/available
Kuweza	To be able	Kuwezekana	To be possible

••• 0 Adjectives 2153 100

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.

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
M- WA-	Mzima	Wote
M- MI-	Wote	Yote
KI- VI-	Chote	Vyote
N/N	Yote	Zote
JI- MA-	Lote	Yote
U/N	Wote	Zote
Mahali	M-	Mwote
Mahali	PA-	Pote
Mahali	KU-	Kote

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Watanzania wote wanaweza kusema Kiswahili.	All Tanzanians can speak Kiswahili.
Wanafunzi walisoma vitabu vyote.	Students read all of the books.
Tulisafisha vyumba vyote.	We cleaned all of the rooms.
Walikula mikate yote.	They ate all of the bread.
Nilipoteza funguo zote.	I lost all of the keys.
Tulilima shamba lote.	We ploughed the whole farm.
Mti wote uliungua.	The whole tree was burned.
Tulibomoa nyumba yote.	We demolished the whole house.

–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.

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
M- WA-	Yeyote	Wowote
M- MI-	Wowote	Yoyote
KI- VI-	Chochote	Vyovyote
N/N	Yoyote	Zozote
JI- MA-	Lolote	Yoyote
U/N	Wowote	Zozote
Mahali	M-	Mwomwote
Mahali	PA-	Popote
Mahali	KU-	Kokote

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

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Pesa yoyote	any money
Fomu yoyote	any form
Kiwango chochote	any rate
Wakati wowote	any time
Mtu wowote	any person

-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.

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
M- WA-	no form	Wengi
M- MI-	Mwingi	Mingi
KI- VI-	Kingi	Vingi
N/N	no form	Nyingi
JI- MA-	no form	Mengi
U/N	Mwingi	Nyingi
Mahali	M-	no form
Mahali	PA-	Pengi
Mahali	KU-	no form

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Wanafunzi wengi	Many students
Matunda mengi	Many fruits
Miti mingi	A lot of trees
Vyumba vingi	Plenty of rooms
Nyumba nyingi	Many houses
Funguo nyingi	A lot of keys
Mahali pengi	Many places

-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.

Noun Class	Singular	Plural
M- WA-	Mwingine	Wengine
M- MI-	Mwingine	Mingine
KI- VI-	Kingine	Vingine
N/N	Nyingine	Nyingine/Zingine
JI- MA-	Lingine/Jingine	Mengine
U/N	Mwingine	Nyingine/Zingine
Mahali	M-	no form
Mahali	PA-	Pengine
Mahali	KU-	Pengine

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Mtu mwingine	Another person
Kitu kingine	Another thing
Viatu vingine	Other shoes
Jambo lingine	Other issue
Mashoka mengine	Other axes
Nyumba nyingine	Another house
Mahali pengine	Other places

-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.

••• 0 Prepositions and Conjunctions212 100

ama · au · baada ya · badala ya · basi · hata · ila · ingawa · kabla ya · katika · kisha · kwa · kwa ajili ya · kwa maana ya · kwamba · lakini · licha ya · mbalimbali · sawasawa · toka · wala · zaidi ya
22 words

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:

Swahili	English
Nitakwenda mjini kwa baiskeli.	I will go to town by bicycle.
Nililala kwa nusu saa.	I slept for* half an hour.*
Nitapiga simu kwa mama.	I will phone (to)* my mother.*
Tulifua nguo kwa sabuni.	We washed clothes with* soap.*
Waliishi nyumbani kwa mjomba wao.	They lived at their uncle’s home.
Watakufa kwa njaa.	They will die of hunger.
Anatoka kwa jirani.	She is (coming) from* the neighbor's (house).*

••• 50 Transportation211 100
baiskeli · bandari · barabara · basi · boti · dereva · gari · kituo cha basi · kondakta · meli · nauli · ndege · pikipiki · reli · siti · stesheni · tiketi · treni · usafiri · uwanja wa ndege
20 words
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.

••• 0 Participles312 100

alikuwa alianza kujifunza kiswahili · ki
2 words

Participles

Participles can be tricky, even in English. In Swahili, they aren't commonly used in normal speech, but it is possible to find them used in writing or in very formal settings.

To form participial phrases, the conditional -ki is used, although it occurs in the second verb of the sentence instead of the first. It can be used with any tense marker.

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Niliwaona wakitembea.	I saw them walking.
Alifika akibeba mizigo.	He arrived carrying luggage.
Watakuwa wakicheza.	They will be playing.
Nimekuwa nikuumwa.	I was sick.
Ulikuwa ukinifundisha kupiga mbizi baharini.	You were teaching me how to dive in the ocean.

Similarly, these constructions can be made using conditional forms as the main verb in the participial phrase: ie - -nge-, -singe-, -ngali-, and -singali-.

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Ningekuwa Marekani sasa, ningekuwa nikisoma chuoni.	If I were in America right now, I would be studying at university.
Ningalisoma historia, ningalikuwa nikiishi Ugiriki kufundisha akiolojia.	If I had studied history, I would have been living in Greece to teach archaeology.
Usingefika mapema, usingekuwa ukinisaidia.	If you had not arrived early, you would not be helping me.
Tungalioana mwaka uliopita, usingalikuwa ukiweza kupata kazi hiyo nzuri.	If we had married each other last year, you would not have been able to get that good job.

••• 0 Pluperfect311 100

ilikuwa imejengwa · kilikuwa kimepikwa · mlikuwa mmekwenda · ulikuwa umekatwa · walikuwa wamepumzika
5 words

Pluperfect Constructions

The pluperfect construction is a fancy way of saying that something has been done or completed. It is also called past perfect in English. It combines the past tense with the condition of being perfect, which, from its Latin derivative, means that it is complete - or completely finished!

In Swahili, this construction is made by combining the simple past with the immediate past. Pretty easy! This is true for both affirmative and negative sentences.

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Nilikuwa nimefanya kazi nyingi.	I had done a lot of work.
Alikuwa ameenda nyumbani.	S/He had gone home.
Tulikuwa tumekubali kusafirisha mizigo yote.	We had agreed to transport all of the packages.
Hukuwa umemaliza kuandika barua.	You had not finished writing the letter.
Hawakuwa wamechoma takataka shimoni.	They had not burned all of the trash in the hole.

••• 0 Mahali Nouns252 100

arusha · dar es salaam · florida · kenya · marekani
5 words

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 :

Swahili	English
Kuna wanyama wengi Tanzania.	There are many animals in Tanzania.
Pana wanyama wachache Muheza.	There are few animals in Muheza.
Mna mnyama mmoja zizizni.	There is one animal in the cow shed.
Mahali hapo palikuwa na watu wengi.	That place had many people.
Mezani palijaa na uchafu.	The table was full of dirt.
Kijijini kulikuwa na mbuzi wengi.	In the village there were many goats.
Nchini kuna njaa.	In the country there is hunger.
Chumbani mlikuwa na viti viwili.	In the room there were two chairs.
Kabatini mlikuwa na sahani nyeupe.	in the cupboard there were white plates.

Possessives:

Swahili	English
Mahali pake	His/her place
Nyumbani kwake	His/Her home
Mahali penu	Your (pl.) place
Nyumbani kwenu	Your (pl.) home
Chumbani mwao	Their room

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.

••• 50 Colors251 100
bluu · dhahabu · kijani · kijivu · njano · pinki · rangi · zambarau
8 words
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)

••• 0 To Have91 100

hana · hatuna · hawana · huna · sina
5 words

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:

Singular	Plural
nina - I have	tuna – we have
una - you have	mna - you (pl) have
ana – she/he has	wana - they have

This is how it is used:

Swahili	English
Sasa nina kalamu moja.	Now I have one pen.
Sasa una bustani.	Now you have a garden.
Ana malaria.	She/He has malaria.
Leo tuna mgeni.	Today we have a guest.
Mna shida?	Do you (plural) have a problem?
Wana maembe mengi!	They have a lot of mangoes!

To negate the sentence, use negative subject prefixes:

Swahili	English
Sina bustani.	I don’t have a garden.
Huna shida.	You don’t have a problem.
Hana virusi.	She/He doesn’t have a virus.
Hatuna malaria.	We don’t have malaria.
Hamna kalamu.	You (pl) don’t have a pen.
Hawana chakula.	They don’t have food.

••• 50 Present 292 100
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

••• 0 Ki/Vi Nouns101 100

cha · chakula · chandarua · choo · chuo · kiatu · kijiko · kingereza · kisima · kisiwa · kisu · kiswahili · kitabu · kitanda · kiti · viatu · vijiko · visu · vitabu · vitanda · viti · vyakula
22 words

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:

Singular	Plural	Translation
Kiatu	Viatu	Shoe(s)
Kichwa	Vichwa	Head(s)
Kidole	Vidole	Finger(s)
Kijiji	Vijiji	Village(s)
Kijiko	Vijiko	Spoon(s)
Kikombe	Vikombe	Cup(s)
Kitanda	Vitanda	Bed(s)
Kisima	Visima	Water well(s)
Kisu	Visu	Knife(ves)
Kitabu	Vitabu	Book(s)
Chakula	Vyakula	Food(s)
Choo	Vyoo	Toilet(s)
Chuo	Vyuo	College(s)
Chumba	Vyumba	Room(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.

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns	Translation
changu	vyangu	my/mine
chako	vyako	your/yours
chake	vyake	his/her
chetu	vyetu	our/ours
chenu	vyenu	your/yours (pl.)
chao	vyao	their/theirs

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:

Swahili Singular	Swahili Plural	English
Kitabu changu	Vitabu vyangu	My book(s)
Kitambaa changu	Vitambaa vyangu	My cloth material(s)
Kioo changu	Vioo vyangu	My mirror(s)

-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.

Singular Example	Translation	Plural Example	Translation
Kipimo cha kichwa	Measurement of the head – Head measurement	Vipimo vya mwili	Measurements of the body – Body measurements
Chumba cha nyumba	House room – Room of the house	Vyumba vya nyumba	House rooms – Rooms of the house
Kioo cha choo	Bathroom mirror	Vioo vya choo	Bathroom mirrors

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.

••• 50 Numbers121 100
arobaini · elfu · hamsini · ishirini · kumi · kwanza · laki · mia · milioni · mwaka · mwisho · saba · sabini · sita · sitini · tano · thelathini · themanini · tisa · tisini
20 words
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
••• 50 Commands132 100
amka · andikeni · angalia · angalieni · beba · bila · cheza · chukua · fanya kazi · furaha · furahi · hapa · haraka · imbeni · ingia · jaribu · jibu · jibuni · kaa · kimbia · kula · kunyweni · lala · lete · nenda · njoo · njooni · nunua · nunueni · oga · ogeni · polepole · rudi · sasa · sema · semeni · soma · someni · tembea · tembeeni · weka
41 words
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:

Swahili English

Kula! Eat!

Lala! Sleep!

Kunywa! Drink!

Amka! Wake up!

Fagia! Sweep!

Irregular Verbs:

Infinitive Swahili Command English

Kuja Njoo! Come!

Kwenda Nenda! Go!

Kuleta Lete! Bring (it)!

Kupa Nipe! Give it to me!

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;

Swahili English

Fanyeni! Do!

Laleni! Sleep!

Kunyweni! Drink!

Kuleni! Eat!

Someni! Read!

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

Swahili English

Fikirini! Think!

Leteni! Bring!

Njooni! Come!

Jibuni! Answer!

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
Singular Plural Infinitive verb

Usile! Msile! Kula

Usilale! Msilale! Kulala

Usinywe! Msinywe! Kunywa

Usifikiri! Msifikiri! Kufikiri

Usijibu! Msijibu! Kujibu

As for the irregular verb examples above:

Singular Plural Infinitive verb

Usije! Msije! Kuja

Usiende! Msiende! Kwenda

Usilete! Msilete! Kuleta

Usinipe! Msinipe! Kupa

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"

••• 0 Object Infixes201 100

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:

Singular Pronoun	Infix	Plural Pronoun	Infix
Mimi	-ni-	Sisi	-tu-
Wewe	-ku-	Ninyi	-wa-
Yeye	-m-/-mw-	Wao	-wa-

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.

Noun Class	Agreement	Object Infix
M- MI-	Singular	-u-
M- MI-	Plural	-i-
KI- VI-	Singular	-ki-
KI- VI-	Plural	-vi-
N/N	Singular	-i-
N/N	Plural	-zi-
JI- MA-	Singular	-li-
JI- MA-	Plural	-ya-
U/N	Singular	-u-
U/N	Plural	-zi-
Mahali	M-	-m(w)-
Mahali	PA-	-pa-
Mahali	KU-	-ku-

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Uilete sasa.	Bring it now.
Hapa ni kisu ulikiomba.	Here is the knife you asked for
Wanavisoma vitabu.	They are reading the books.
Amezichukua.	She took them.
Nitayakula maembe yote.	I am going to eat all of the mangoes.
Ninahitaji kujisaidia!	I have to help myself (to go to the bathroom)!
Mnajiandaa?	Are you preparing yourselves?

••• 50 Weather191 100
baridi · hali ya hewa · inanyesha · joto · jua · kiangazi · kipupwe · masika · mawingu · mvua · ngurumo · radi · theluji · upepo · vuli
15 words
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.

••• 0 Adverbs and Conjunctions192 100

bado · ghafla · halafu · hasa · hivyo · kidogo · kwa bahati · kwa hiyo · kwa kawaida · kwa kifupi · kwa kusudi · kwa kweli · kwa sababu · labda · mapema · mno · polepole · sana · sikuzote · taratibu · tu · upesi · vigumu · vilevile · vizuri
25 words

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:

Swahili	English
Uliamka mapema.	You woke up early.
Fanya vizuri!	Do it properly!
Kwa kweli, umenidanganya sana.	Truthfully, you really deceived me.
Ninasikia vibaya.	I feel bad.
Bado hajarudi nyumbani?	S/He still has not returned home?
Wanaelewa vigumu, wanafunzi hawa!	It is difficult for them to understand, those students!
Acha tu!	Just stop!
Nilimpiga teke kwa kusudi.	I kicked him/her on purpose.

••• 50 Holidays391 100
harusi · idd el fitr · iddi-el-hadj · ijumaa kuu · jando · krismasi · maulid · maulidi · mei mosi · muungano · mwaka mpya · nanenane · pasaka · sherehe · sikukuu · unyago
16 words
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.

Date Tarehe

Tenth of May Tarehe kumi mwezi wa tano

2019 Mwaka elfu mbili na kumi na tisa

March Mwezi wa tatu

••• 0 Immediate Past172 100

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:

Swahili	English
Nimeandika.	I have written.
Nimesema.	I have said.
Nimesikia.	I have heard.
Umesikia.	You have heard.
Amesikia.	S/He has heard.
Tumesikia.	We have heard.
Mmesikia.	You (pl) have heard.
Wamesikia.	They have heard.

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:

Swahili	English
Nimechoka.	I am tired
Umechoka.	You are tired.
Amechelewa.	He/She is late.
Tumechelewa.	We are late.
Mmeshiba.	You (pl) are full.
Wameshiba.	They are full.

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:

Affirmative Past	Negative Past
Nimepika chakula.	Sijapika chakula.
Umefagia nyumba.	Hujafagia nyumba.
Amejifunza Kiswahili.	Hajajifunza Kiswahili.
Tumezungumza pole pole.	Hatujazungumza pole pole.
Mmepumzika Jumamosi.	Hamjapumzika Jumamosi.
Wamefurahi sana.	Hawajafurahi sana.
Nimekula wali.	Sijala wali.
Umekwenda sokoni.	Hujaenda sokoni.
Amekunywa bia.	Hajanywa bia.

••• 0 Future Tense171 100

kesho · kesho kutwa
2 words

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 :

Swahili	English
Nitajifunza Kiswahili.	I will learn Swahili.
Utajifunza Kiswahili.	You will learn Swahili.
Atajifunza Kiswahili.	S/He will learn Swahili.
Tutajifunza Kiswahili.	We will learn Swahili.
Mtajifunza Kiswahili.	You (pl.) will learn Swahili.
Watajifunza Kiswahili.	They will learn Swahili.

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:

Swahili	English
Nitakuwa mwalimu.	I will be a teacher.
Utakuwa mwanamazingira.	You (sing.) will be an environmentalist.
Atakuwa mkulima.	S/He will be a peasant.
Tutakuwa madaktari.	We will be doctors.
Mtakuwa wanafunzi.	You (pl.) will be students.
Watakuwa wanamazingira.	They will be environmentalists.

Mifano ya Kuwa na:

Swahili	English
Nitakuwa na kitabu.	I will have a book.
Utakuwa na shida.	You will have a problem.
Atakuwa na chakula.	S/He will have food.
Tutakuwa na muda.	We will have time.
Mtakuwa na muda.	You (pl.) will have time.
Watakuwa na nyumba.	They will have a house.

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:

Affirmative	Negative
Nitapika ugali.	Sitapika ugali.
I will cook stiff porridge.	I will not cook stiff porridge.
Utaandika barua.	Hutaandika barua.
You will write a letter.	You will not write a letter.
Atauliza maswali.	Hatauliza maswali.
S/He will ask questions.	S/He will not ask questions.
Tutacheza mpira wa miguu.	Hatutacheza mpira wa miguu.
We will play soccer.	We will not play soccer.
Mtalalamika sana.	Hamtalalamika sana.
You (pl.) will complain a lot.	You (pl.) will not complain a lot.
Watasoma barua pepe.	Hawatasoma barua pepe.
They will read emails.	They will not read emails.
Nitakunywa soda baridi.	Sitakunywa soda baridi.
I will drink a cold soda.	I will not drink a cold soda.
Utakuja shuleni kesho.	Hutakuja shuleni kesho.
You will come to school tomorrow.	You will not come to school tomorrow.
Atakula wali na samaki.	Hatakula wali na samaki.
S/He will eat rice and fish.	S/He will not eat rice and fish.

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:

Affirmative	Negative
Nitakuwa na gari.	Sitakuwa na gari.
I will have a car.	I will not have a car.
Utakuwa na shida.	Hutakuwa na shida.
You will have a problem.	You will not have a problem.
Atakuwa na watoto.	Hatakuwa na watoto.
S/He will have children.	S/He will not have children.
Tutakuwa na baiskeli.	Hatutakuwa na baiskeli.
We will have bicycles.	We will not have bicycles.
Mtakuwa na muda.	Hamtakuwa na muda.
You (pl.) will have time.	You (pl.) will not have time.
Watakuwa na nyumba.	Hawatakuwa na nyumba.
They will have a house.	They will not have a house.

••• 0 Adjectives122 100

ghali · maridadi · maskini · pia · rahisi · safi · tajiri
7 words

Adjectives

We've introduced a few adjectives in previous 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.

Noun Class	Agreement	Vowel Stem Concord
M- WA-	Singular	mw-
M- WA-	Plural	w-
M- MI-	Singular	mw-
M- MI-	Plural	my-
KI- VI-	Singular	ch-
KI- VI-	Plural	vy-
N/N	Singular	ny-
N/N	Plural	ny-
JI- MA-	Singular	j-
JI- MA-	Plural	m-
U/N	Singular	mw-
U/N	Plural	ny-
Mahali	M-	m(w)-
Mahali	PA-	p-
Mahali	KU-	kw-

Mifano:

Vowel Stem Adjective	Swahili	English
-embamba	Mwanafunzi mwembamba	Skinny student
-aminifu	Wazazi waminifu	Honest parents
-erevu	Mtoto mwerevu	Clever child
-ekundu	Kisu chekundu	Red knife
-ingi	Barua nyingi	A lot of letters
-ingine	Mananasi mengine	Other pineapples

Arabic-Origin Adjectives

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

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Bora	Best
Bure	Free/Useless
Ghali	Expensive
Kamili	Complete
Kila	Each/Every
Laini	Smooth/Soft
Maskini	Poor
Rahisi	Easy/Cheap
Safi	Clean/Good
Sawa	Equal/Alike
Tayari	Ready
Wazi	Open

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:

Swahili	English
-baya	bad
-chache	few
-dogo	little/small
-fupi	short
-kali	sharp/fierce/strict
-kubwa	big/large
-pya	new
-refu	tall/long
-tamu	sweet
-zima	whole/complete
-zito	heavy

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.

Noun Class	Agreement	Consonant Stem Concord
M- WA-	Singular	m-
M- WA-	Plural	wa-
M- MI-	Singular	m-
M- MI-	Plural	mi-
KI- VI-	Singular	ki-
KI- VI-	Plural	vi-
JI- MA-	Plural	ma-
U/N	Singular	m-
Mahali	M-	mu-
Mahali	PA-	pa-
Mahali	KU-	ku-

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.

••• 0 Ji/Ma Nouns112 100

blanketi · embe · maarifa · mabadiliko · maendeleo · mafuta · matope · mawe · mazingira · mazungumzo · taifa
11 words

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.

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns	Translation
langu	yangu	my/mine
lako	yako	your/yours
lake	yake	his/her
letu	yetu	our/ours
lenu	yenu	your/yours (pl.)
lao	yao	their/theirs

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:

Swahili Singular	Swahili Plural	English
Gari langu	Magari yangu	My car(s)
Pipa langu	Mapipa yangu	My barrel(s)
Shauri langu	Mashauri yangu	My advice

-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.

Singular Example	Translation	Plural Example	Translation
Kanisa la Wakristo	Christian church – Church of the Christians	Makanisa ya Wakristo	Christian churches – Churches of the Christians
Zulia la kitanzania	Tanzanian carpet	Mazulia ya kitanzania	Tanzanian carpets
Jiko la shule	School kitchen	Majiko ya shule	School kitchens

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'.

••• 0 N/N Nouns111 100

barua · barua pepe · bustani · chumvi · dawa ya wadudu · familia · kalamu · kamera · karatasi · kompyuta · nchi · nyota · nyumba · ofisi · pesa · picha · pombe · shule · simu · taa · tanzania · zanzibar · zawadi
23 words

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:

Swahili	English
Bahati	Luck
Barabara	Road(s)
Baridi	Cold/Coldness
Barua	Letter/Mail
Bia	Beer
Bei	Price
Chai	Tea
Chumvi	Salt
Chupa	Bottle(s)
Dakika	Minute(s)
Dawa	Medicine(s)
Kahawa	Coffee
Kalamu	Pen(s)
Kazi	Work
Meza	Table(s)
Nafasi	Opportunity/Space
Panga	Machete
Pasi	Iron
Pesa	Money
Rafiki	Friend
Sababu	Reason(s)
Sabuni	Soap(s)
Shida	Problem/Difficulty
Siagi	Butter
Suruali	Trousers
Takataka	Rubbish/Trash

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.

Singular Nouns	Plural Nouns	Translation
yangu	zangu	my/mine
yako	zako	your/yours
yake	zake	his/her
yetu	zetu	our/ours
yenu	zenu	your/yours (pl.)
yao	zao	their/theirs

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:

Swahili Singular	Swahili Plural	English
Nguo yangu	Nguo zangu	My clothes
Nyumba yangu	Nyumba zangu	My house(s)
Kalamu yangu	Kalamu zangu	My pen(s)

-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.

Singular Example	Translation	Plural Example	Translation
Bia ya baridi	Beer of the cold – cold beer	Bia za baridi	Cold beers
Dawa ya homa	Fever medication/medicine	Dawa za nyumba	Fever medications/medicines
Habari ya taifa	National news	Habari za mataifa	International news

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.

••• 0 Emotions221 100

Hisia - Emotions

Hisia	Emotions
Kushangaa	To be amazed
Kukasirika	To be angry
Kusikitika	To be disappointed/sorry
Kuhuzunika	To bereave
Kushtuka	To be startled/shocked
Kufurahi	To be happy
Kuudhika	To be annoyed
Kufadhaika	To be depressed/perplexed

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

Swahili	English
Kushiba	To be full (food)
Kuchoka	To be tired
Kulewa	To be drunk
Kuchelewa	To be late

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

Mifano:

Swahili	English
Tumelewa.	We are drunk.
Wamechoka.	They are tired.
Nimekasirika sana kwa sababu mwizi ameiba pesa zangu.	I am very angry because a thief stole my money.
Umefurahi sana kupata zawadi nzuri.	You are very happy to get a nice gift.
Amehuzunika mno kwa sababu mama yake alifariki jana.	He is very bereaved because his mother died yesterday.
Bob hajafurahi kwa sababu amekula ugali baridi.	Bob is not happy because he ate cold stiff porridge.
Dora na Bob hawajashangaa kuwaona twiga Mikumi.	Dora and Bob were not shocked to see giraffes in Mikumi.

••• 50 School223 100
andalio la somo · bendera ya taifa · jumlisha · kipindi · kiranja · mkuu wa shule · mtihani · mwalimu mkuu · mwalimu wa darasa · mwalimu wa zamu · somo la baiolojia · somo la fizikia · somo la hisabati · somo la jiografia · somo la kemia · somo la kingereza · somo la kiswahili · somo la sayansi · somo la uraia · wimbo wa taifa · zamu
21 words
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

••• 0 Demonstratives222 100

hawa · haya · hii · hiki · hili · hivi · hizi · huu · huyu · ile · kile · lile · ule · vile · wale · yale · yule · zile
18 words

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.

Noun Class	Agreement	This	That
M- WA-	Singular	Huyu	Yule
M- WA-	Plural	Hawa	Wale
M- MI-	Singular	Huu	Ule
M- MI-	Plural	Hii	Ile
KI- VI-	Singular	Hiki	Kile
KI- VI-	Plural	Hivi	Vile
N/N	Singular	Hii	Ile
N/N	Plural	Hizi	Zile
JI- MA-	Singular	Hili	Lile
JI- MA-	Plural	Haya	Yale
U/N	Singular	Huu	Ule
U/N	Plural	Hizi	Zile
Mahali	M-	Humu	Mle
Mahali	PA-	Hapa	Pale
Mahali	KU-	Huku	Kule

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:

Swahili	English
Huyu ni mwalimu wangu wa Kiswahili.	This is my Swahili teacher.
Hawa ni walimu wetu wa Kiswahili.	These are our Kiswahili teachers.
Nimeshamwambia yule!	I already told him/her (ie- that person).
Unataka viti vile?	Do you want those chairs?
Maembe hayo yameharibika.	Those mangoes have spoiled.
Ninahitaji kutumia ufunguo huu?	Do I need to use this key?
Alipoteza barua zile zamani.	S/He lost those letters a long time ago.

••• 0 Present 3151 100

kuwa
1 words

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)

English	Swahili
I don't want food (to want)	Sitaki chakula (kutaka)
We are not leaving (to leave)	Hatuondoki (kuondoka)
You are not traveling today (to travel)	Husafiri leo (kusafiri)
They don't like bananas (to like)	Hawapendi ndizi (kupenda)
She is not entering the kitchen (to enter)	Haingii jikoni (kuingia)

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:

English	Swahili
The food is being cooked	Chakula kinapikwa
It is broken	Limevunjika *

gerund nouns

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

English	Swahili
I want to start reading now	Ninataka kuanza kusoma sasa
Esther likes running	Esther anapenda kukimbia
Cooking is easy!	Kupika ni rahisi!

••• 50 Animals152 100
buibui · chui · duma · farasi · inzi · jongoo · kiboko · kifaru · kombakoche · kondoo · konokono · mamba · mbwa · mdudu · mende · mkunga · mnyama · ng'e · ngisi · nyangumi · nyati · nyigu · nyoka · nyuki · nyumbu · paa · paka · panya · papa · pomboo · pundamilia · pweza · samaki · simba · tembo · twiga · uduvi · vifaru · wadudu · wanyama
40 words
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.

Swahili English

Kifaru huyu ni mdogo This rhino is small

Vifaru hawa ni wadogo These rhinos are small

Cached // 2019-09-230.045

Words

Tips and Notes

··········· Table of Contents ···········

Introduction
Greetings 1
Greetings 2
People
Intro 2
Jobs
Present Tense 1
M/Mi Nouns
Chores
Food
Common Verbs
To Have
Present 2
Ki/Vi Nouns
N/N Nouns
Ji/Ma Nouns
Numbers
Adjectives
Adjectives of Quantity
Commands
Passive Verbs
Clothing
Interrogatives
U/N Nouns
Present 3
Animals
Adjectives 2
Shopping
Past Tense
Time
Future Tense
Immediate Past
Body
Locatives
Prepositional Verbs
Weather
Adverbs and Conjunctions
Object Infixes
Transportation
Prepositions and Conjunctions
Subjunctive
Emotions
Demonstratives
School
Food 2
Animals 2
With
Colors
Causative Verbs
Mahali Nouns
Stative Verbs
Conditional Tense
Medicine
Sports
Narrative and Expeditious -Ka-
Piga Idiom
Additional Grammar
Comparisons
Subjunctive 2
Pluperfect
Countries & Languages
Participles
Spirituality
Politics
Reciprocal Verbs
Tourism
Verbs 2
Negative Conditional
Habitual Tense
Conditional 2
Holidays
Self
Relatives
Figures of Speech
Conditional Past

Introduction 3 · 2024-11-05 ^

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:

Kiswahili consonants are pronounced as follows: