Swahili

## External Resources

Language Transfer podcast

https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/wiki/index#wiki\_swahili

## INTRODUCTION

### 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.

 Wewe
 Yeye
 Sisi
 Ninyi
 Wao

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:

 Mimi/Wewe/Yeye
 I/You/He or She
 Mimi/Wewe/Yeye
 I/You/He or She

 Sisi/Ninyi/Wao
 We/You (pl)/They
 Sisi/Ninyi/Wao
 We/You (pl)/They

## GREETINGS 1&2

* 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.

Normally older people or those considered to be of higher status are greeted first. In most cases titles would accompany the greetings Shikamoo mwalimu (teacher), mzee (old person), babu (grandfather), kaka (brother), dada (sister) etc.
Shikamoo literally translates to may I hold your feet, a greeting with Islamic roots. We can simply translate this as Hello, or I respect you. The literal translation can be a bit strange!
Similarly, the response to shikamoo, marahaba, literally means I accept. However, that can also be awkward. In this course, we've tried to come up with an acceptable translation.
Generally for Africans, the term family refers to all family and extended relatives, i.e siblings, uncles, aunties, cousins, nephew, nieces, grand fathers and mothers etc.
Family relationships take precedence over age: e.g. a stepmother, even if younger than you, will get the same respect as your mother.
Close family friends are treated and referred to as if they are relatives.
In East African, and especially Tanzanian, culture, it is very common to ask and be asked about family affairs, marital status and age, even when greeting new people.

## PEOPLE

### 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.

 ako
 ake

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

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

#### -a of association

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

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

## PRESENT TENSE

### 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/I cook):

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

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

In the example above, -pika is the modified verb in the present tense. If we want to talk about cooking, or if we refer to the infinitive form, to cook, then we add what we call the infinitive ku. So, to say to cook or cooking, the word is kupika. When we refer to dropping or retaining the infinitive ku, this is what will stay or go!
In Swahili, Bantu-origin verbs end in -a and Arabic/other language-origin verbs end in other vowels. Verbs in Swahili do not end in consonants.

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

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

Monosyllabic verbs retain the infinitive ku as part of the verb stem, like kula - to eat. To make a construction, the infinitive ku is retained. So, to say I eat or I am eating, the Swahili would be Ninakula.
This form of construction, or agglutination, is important in Swahili as all verbage is formed by combining subject prefixes, tense markers, and verbs at the very least, and including object infixes, relatives, and different verb endings as language ability progresses.

### Negative present singular and plural

In negative present:
1- No tense sign is used;
2- If the last vowel is an “a”, it is changed into “i”; and
3- Negative subject prefixes are used.
The negative present can also be used for the negative continuous, ie.- I do not/am not....

Examples:

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

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

 I am eating fish.
 Wewe unakunywa pombe.
 You are drinking alcohol.
 Ninajibu swali.
 I am answering a question.
 Tunadhani kwamba atafika.
 We think she/he will arrive.

## 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.

 wako
 wake
 wetu
 wenu
 wao

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:

 Mshahara wangu
 Mguu wangu

### -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.

 Mlango wa nyumba
 Mtihani wa shule

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.

## FOOD

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 is stiff porridge in English, but you can just call it ugali.

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!

## THE VERB TO HAVE IN PRESENT TENSE

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:

 una - you have
 ana – she/he has

This is how it is used:

 Sasa una bustani.
 Ana malaria.
 Leo tuna mgeni.
 Mna shida?
 Wana maembe mengi!

To negate the sentence, use negative subject prefixes:

 Huna shida.
 Hana virusi.
 Hatuna malaria.
 Hamna kalamu.
 Hawana chakula.

## 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-.

### 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.

 chako
 chake
 chetu
 chenu
 chao

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:

 Kitambaa changu
 Kioo changu

### 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.

 Chumba cha nyumba
 Kioo cha choo

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.

## NOUN CLASSES: N- N- NOUN CLASS

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

Indeed, it can be observed that Swahili in Kenya, Uganda, and other countries adopt a two-noun class type of Swahili, with M- WA- and N/N classes being the only classes used.
The biggest note for this noun class is that there is no distinguishing concord between singular and plural nouns. This can sometimes be confusing for Swahili learners, but often the context or the adjectives used with the noun will reflect whether it is singular or plural. The following examples can be either singular or plural.

Mifano:

### Possessive Pronouns

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

 yako
 yake
 yetu
 yenu
 yao

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:

 Nyumba yangu
 Kalamu yangu

### 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.

 Dawa ya homa
 Habari ya taifa

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.

## 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))

Occupational or status nouns can often be found in this class. Examples: dereva/madereva (driver(s)), fundi/mafundi (craftsman/men), tajiri/matajiri (employer(s))

Uncountable nouns are often found in this class. Examples: mafuta (oil), majivu (ashes), maziwa (milk)

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.

 lako
 lake
 letu
 lenu
 lao

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:

 Pipa langu
 Shauri langu

### 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.

 Zulia la kitanzania
 Jiko la shule

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.

## ADJECTIVES

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

Vowel Stem adjectives

Consonant Stem adjectives

\*Arabic-origin adjectives

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

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

### Vowel Stem Adjectives

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

Mifano:

 "-aminifu"
 "-erevu"
 "-ekundu"
 "-ingi"
 "-ingine"

### Arabic-Origin Adjectives

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

Mifano:

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

### Consonant Stem Adjectives

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

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.

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.

## 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:

 Lala!
 Kunywa!
 Amka!
 Fagia!

Irregular Verbs:

 Kuja
 Kwenda
 Kuleta
 Kupa

### Commands(Imperatives) --plural

To make the plural commands, the infinitive ku is dropped, but the suffix ais replaced by the suffix eni. Thus we get;

 Laleni
 Someni
 Kuleni
 Kunyweni

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

 Leteni
 Njooni
 Jibuni

###

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:

## QUESTIONS

### Question Words

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

### The particle “je”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

## NOUN CLASSES: U/N NOUN CLASS

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

### Abstract Nouns

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

Common abstract nouns:

### Uncountable Nouns

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

 Ugali
 Umeme
 Usingizi .
 Wino
 Wali

### 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.

 Ufunguo
 Funguo
 Kuni
 Ulimi
 Ndimi
 Nywele
 Upepo
 Wakati
 Nyakati

### Names of Countries

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

 Ureno
 Ufaransa
 Ulaya
 Uhindi

### 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.

 wako
 wake
 wetu
 wenu
 wao

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

Examples:

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.

 Umeme wa shule
 Uwezo wa wanafunzi
 Kuta za nyumba

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.

## ANIMALS

Animals follow the same agreements as the M- WA- noun class! Even if their concords look like they're in a different class, all of the subject prefix, object infix, and adjective agreements will be from the M- WA- class.

## SHOPPING

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

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

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

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

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

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

## PAST

### 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.

 Ulijifunza Kiswahili.
 Alijifunza Kiswahili.
 Tulijifunza Kiswahili.
 Mlijifunza Kiswahili.
 Walijifunza 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:

 Ulikuwa daktari.
 Alikuwa mwalimu.
 Tulikuwa watoto.
 Mlikuwa walimu.
 Walikuwa wakulima.

#### 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:

 Juzi nilikuwa na kitabu.
 Nilikuwa na wanafunzi wanne.
 Alikuwa na rafiki mmoja.
 Walikuwa na matatizo ya afya.

### 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:

 Ulisikiliza redio.
 Alijifunza Kiswahili.
 Mlipumzika Jumamosi.
 Walifurahi sana.
 Nilikula wali.
 Ulikwenda sokoni.
 Alikunywa 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:

 Ulikuwa na shida.
 Alikuwa na matunda.
 Tulikuwa na watoto.

## 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!

# Animals

Animals follow the same agreements as the M- WA- noun class! Even if their concords look like they're in a different class, all of the subject prefix, object infix, and adjective agreements will be from the M- WA- class.