Siku Yangu - My day

Kila siku mimi huamka saa kumi na mbili na dakika arobaini asubuhi. Kwanza hufanya mazoezi kidogo, kisha huoga, hupiga mswaki na hunyoa ndevu. Baada ya hapo huvaa nguo na hunywa chai ya asubuhi. Kawaida hula nafaka (CornFlakes) na mayai. Mimi hunywa chai.

Mimi hujaribu kuacha nyumba kabla ya saa mbili asubuhi. Mimi huenda kazini kwa gari. Kawaida mimi hufika kazini saa tatu asubuhi. Kazini mimi hunywa vikombe vingi vya kahawa.

Mimi humaliza kazi saa kumi na moja mchana. Mimi hurudi nyumbani, kisha huenda kwenye sehemu ya mazoezi. Hurudi kutoka mazoezi saa mbili unusu usiku. Baada ya hapo mimi huoga. Kisha hula chakula cha jioni. Baada ya hapo mimi hulala.

Nyumba Yangu

In this blog I try to describe my house using the language I know.

Nyumba Yangu

Nyumba yangu ni Bangalore. Anuani ni 197 Prestige Ozone, Bangalore, 560066, India.
Nyumba yango ina ukumbi mkubwa na sehemu ya kulia. Ukumbi ina runinga na meza. Ina viti nne.

Nyumba ina jiko kidogo.
Nyumba ina vyumba za kulala vitatu. Vyumba za kulala vyote zina vyoo. Chumba ya kulala changu ni kikubwa. Vyumba viingine ni vidogo. Vyumba viote zina kitanda lakini hazina runinga.
Nyumba ina bustani kijani. Ina sehemu ya kuliza magari. Nymba ina maji ya bomba, lakini haina jenerata.

Mimi nakuipenda nymba yangu.

N- Class Nouns

N- class nouns often begin with a strong "n-' nasal sound. Example of N- class nouns include;
nyumba house(s)
njia road(s)
mbwa dog(s)
ng'ombe cow(s)
ndizi banana(s)
There are many others that don't begin with the n sound such as
tembo elephant(s)
simba lion(s)
chupa bottle(s)

In all cases the singular and plural form are the same.

Subject prefixes used for verb agreement
ndizi inatoka Nairobi the banana comes from Nairobi
ndizi zinatoka Nairobi the bananas come from Nairobi

Demonstratives
hii (this)
ile (that)
hivi (these)
zile (those)

For example;
ndizi hii, ndizi ile, ndize hivi, ndizi zile
this banana, that banana, these bananas, those bananas

Possesives
yangu/zangu
yako/zako
yake/zake
yetu/zetu
yenu/zenu
yao/zao

The Ki-Vi Noun Class (II)

Verbs, adjectives, possessives must all agree with the noun class.

For Ki-Vi Nouns the subject prefix is "ki-" and "vi-"

The demonstrative forms (this, these, that and those) are "hiki", "hive", "kile" and "vile"

Examples

Kisu kirefu hiki kinatoka Kenya.
This long knife comes from Kenya


The possesive forms (my, your, his/her, our, your {p.}, their) are:

changu/vyangu
chako/vyako
chake/vyake
chetu/vyetu
chenu/vyenu
chao/vyao

Note that singular possession and plural possession are distinguished by the different prefixes "ch-" and "vy-"

Hiki ni kitanda changu
This is my bed

Hivi ni vitanda vyangu
These are my beds

Kile ni choo chetu
That is our bathroom

Hivi ni vitanda vyao
These are their beds

Vile ni vitanda vyenu
Those are your beds

Hiki ni kisu chako?
Is this your knife?

Hivi ni vijiko vyetu
These are our spoons.

The Ki-Vi Noun Class

The Ki-Vi noun class mostly includes inanimate objects.

If the root part of the noun does not begin with a vowel, the prefixes are "ki-" and "vi-"

The singular form begins with "ki-"

The plural form begins with "vi-"

Examples

kitanda/vitanda
bed(s)

kiti/viti
chair(s)

kitabu/vitabu
book(s)

kitu/vitu
thing(s)

kichwa/vichwa
head(s)

kikombe/vikombe
cup(s)



If the root part of the noun begins with a vowel the prefixes become "ch-" and "vy-"

chumba/vyumba
room(s)

chakula/vyakala
food(s)

Possessive pronouns like; "my", "your", "his", "our", and "their"

Possesive pronouns show ownership or belonging, like the words "my" and "your" in English.

In Swahili we have possesive roots which must be prefixed depending on the noun class.

-angu my
-ako your (s.)
-ake his
-etu our
-enu your (pl.)
-ao their

For the M-Wa class of nouns the prefix to be used is "w-" for both plurals and singular forms.

Examples

Hawa ni watoto wangu.
These are my children.

Yule ni mwalimu wetu.
That is our teacher.

Hawa ni wazazi wenu?
Are these your parents?

Hawa ni wazazi wetu.
These are our parents.

Wale ni watoto wao.
Those are their children.

Mume wake anasema Kiswahili
Her husband speaks Swahili

Demonstrative pronouns; this, these, that and those

Demonstratives are the words used to point to people or things; "this", "these", "that" and "those".

For nouns in the m-wa class the demonstratives are:-

huyu this
hawa these
yule that
wale those

Examples

Huyu ni Kevin. Yule ni Andrew.
This is Kevin. That is Andrew

Hawa ni Kevin na Fakiri.
These are Kevin and Fakiri

Negation of sentences using "hapana" and "si"

Mimi ni mwanafunzi.
Hapana, mini si mwanafunzi

Wewe ni Mmarekani
Hapana, wewe si Mmarekani

Yeye ni mwalimu
Hapana, yeye si mwalimu

Sisi ni wanfunzi
Hapana, sis si wanfunzi

Nyinyi ni Wamarekani
Hapana, nyinyi si Wamarekani

Wao ni Watanzania
Hapana, wao si Watanzania

Using subject pronouns mimi wewe yeye sisi nyinyi wao

mimi ninasoma Kiswahili
wewe unasoma Kiswahili
yeye anasoma Kiswahili
sisi tunasoma Kiswahili
nyiynyi mnasoma Kiswahili
wao wanasoma Kiswahili

Dialogue using nzuri hujambo tutaonana kwaheri sijambo langu gani nani

Dialogue using nzuri hujambo tutaonana kwaheri sijambo langu gani nani

A: Habari gani?
B: Nzuri!
A: Hujambo
B: Sijambo
A: Jina lako ni nani?
B: Jina langu ni John.
A: Kwaheri
B: Kwaheri
A: Tutaonana!
B: Tutaonana!

Swahili Examples

Mimi ninatoka Ingereza.
I come from England

Wewe unasema Kiswahili
You speak Swahili

Yeye anasoma Kiswahili
You are studying Swahili

Sisi tunakaa Bangalore
We are staying in Bangalore

Nyinyi mnapenda kusoma Kiswahili

You like to study Swahili

Wao wanalala.

They are sleeping

Mimi ninapenda kucheka na kucheza na kuimba.

I like to laugh, dance and sing

Wewe unaandika
You are writing

Yeye anasikia na anaona.

He is hearing and seeing

Yes/No Questions

To ask a yes/no question in Swahili simply prefix the "je" to the beginning of the question.

The question can be answered either positively by using "Ndio" (sometimes spelt "nidyo"), or negatively by using "Hapana"

Je, jina lako ni Ali?
Is your name Ali?

Ndiyo, Jina langu ni Ali.
Yes, my name is Ali.

Hapana, jina langu si Ali.
No my name is not Ali.

Note that the negative form of the verb "to be" is "si"

Some examples

Jina lako ni Liz?
Is your name Liz?

Hapana, jina langu si Liz
No, my name is not Liz.

Present Tense of "to be"

In English the verb "to be" is irrregular; I am, you are, he is. In Swahili the verb "to be" in its present tense form is simple, with just one form "ni".

Jina langu ni John.
My name is John

Mimi ni mzungu
I'm a European

Yeye ni Elizabeth na hayu ni Kevin
She is Elizabeth and this is Kevin

Sisi ni wanafunzi
We are students

Verb Conjugation

Today some practice with basic verb conjugations.

1) Subject pronouns ( I, you, he/she, we, you, they )

• mimi (I)
• wewe (you s.)
• yeye (he, she)
• sisi (we)
• nyinyi (you pl.)
• wao (they)

2) Subject prefixes on verbs

Subject prefixes are added before a verb root to represent the subject of the sentence.

The subject prefixes for personal pronouns are:

• mimi ni-
• wewe u-
• yeye a-
• sisi tu-
• nyinyi m-
• wao wa-

3) Present tense

The present tense of a verb involves adding a second prefix "-na-" between the subject prefix and the root. The verb construction is hence formed by

[subject prefix] + "na" + [verb root]

For example the verb kutoka means to come from. The root is formed by removing the infinitive part of the verb "ku" leaving the verb root toka. The tense infix na representing present tense is added and the subject prefix is added to the start.

mimi ni-na-toka.... I come from....

wewe u-na-toka.... you come from.... (s.)

yeye a-na-toka.... he/she comes from....

sisi tu-na-toka.... we come from....

nyinyi m-na-toka.... you come from.... (pl.)

wao wa-na-toka.... they come from...

5) Some verbs for practice

kutoka to come from

kusema to speak

kusoma to study/read

kukaa to live/stay

kupenda to like/love

kulala to sleep

kucheka to laugh

kuimba to sing

kucheza to play/dance

kuandika to write

kusikia to hear

kuona to see

kuishi to live

kujibu to answer

kujaribu to try

kurudi to return to

kufikiri to think

6) Examples using kusema

• mimi ninasema Kiswahili
• wewe unasema Kiswahili
• yeye anasema Kiswahili
• sisi tunasema Kiswahili
• nyinyi mnasema Kiswahili
• wao wanasema Kiswahili

7) More examples



Mimi ninasoma Kiswahili.
I am studying swahili

Mimi ninakaa Indu.
I live in India

Mimi ninapenda bibi yangu.
I love my wife

Wewe unapenda kulala.
You like to sleep.

nyinyi mnalala.
You are sleeping.

mimi ninapenda kuimba na kucheza.
I like to sing and to dance

mimi ninajaribu kuandika Kswahili.
I try to write swahili

mimi ninafikiri wewe unasoma Kiswahili.
I think you are reading swahili

Habari Gani?

Habari! Jina langu ni John. Mimi ni Mzungu na bibi yangu ni MKenya.
Mimi ninazaliwa Nairobi. Mimi ni bibi yangu tunapenda Nairobi. Sisi tunakaa Hindi.

Mimi ninasoma Kiswahili. Hili ni somo langu la kwanza.

Tutaonana!