To be

The verb ‘to be’ is one of the most important and useful in any language.
In Swahili, the present tense of this verb is a very special case, as it is the same for
all subject nouns, regardless of a) the class of the noun, b) whether it is singular or
plural, and c) (in the case of M/WA nouns) 1st, 2nd or 3rd person (i.e., all the factors we
normally take into consideration to use Swahili verbs correctly).
The positive form is therefore equivalent to the English words ‘am’, ‘are’ and ‘is’
depending on the context of use:
ni – am, are, is

Mimi ni mwingereza – I am British

Wewe ni mjinga! – you are an idiot!
Jina langu ni Joseph – my name is Joseph
Wao ni wanafunzi – they are students

Note that, in spoken and informal contexts, it is quite common and acceptable to miss
out the ni in some sentences, e.g. jina langu Joseph.

Other tenses

For the past and future tenses, ‘to be’ reverts to the standard Swahili verb structure of
verb prefix-tense marker-verb stem, using verb stem -kuwa:
-kuwa – to be

ulikuwa mgonjwa? – were you ill (literally, a sick person)?

nitakuwa mwalimu – I will be a teacher

Note that, since -wa is monosyllabic, we retain the ku prefix in these verb forms.

Use of the perfect tense with -kuwa is complicated, since ‘being’ is not an action
which can easily be seen as having been ‘completed’ (and the present tense ni would
normally be used to describe a state). However, if a state of being has helped you to
your current situation, use of -me- it might be appropriate:
nimekuwa mwanafunzi – I have been a student (until recently)

In this case, the person’s studies may explain why he or she has reached his or her
present situation, or indeed why he or she hasn’t got there sooner. Use of the past
tense here would lose some of that sense of relevance to the present.

-kuwa also has an extended meaning of ‘to become/get’, which can be used with the
perfect, and even the present, tense:
Amekuwa mzee – he/she has become old
Mnakuwa wanene! – you are (all) getting (becoming) fat! (wanene – fat
people/animals (M/WA plural))

Note that these statements could alternatively be expressed using the basic present
tense above, but they would lose the sense of completed or ongoing process, which
the -me- and -na- tense markers respectively provide. Meanwhile, in the past and
future tenses any distinction between ‘be’ and ‘become’ all but disappears.
N.B. There are different rules for talking about where someone or something is.
Unlike in English, one cannot simply use the verb ‘to be’ when talking about
position/location. We will cover the correct form in due course.

To have

One of the other most important verbs is ‘to have’.

The Swahili present tense is another special case, which uses verb prefixes with the
stem -na, but without a tense marker. In the positive:
nina kalamu – I have a pen
ana dada watatu – he/she has three sisters
mna nywele nzuri – you (all) have nice hair
una miaka mingapi? – how old are you? (literally ‘how many years do you have?’)
etc.

Other tenses

Other tenses are formed by expressing ‘to have’ as ‘to be with’, using -kuwa followed
by na (as a separate word) in conjunction with tense markers:
walikuwa na maji – they had water
utakuwa na nafasi? – will you have the opportunity (nafasi – opportunity, chance,
time, space, vacancy)

Na is a word which expresses association, and means ‘with’ in this context

na – and, with, by
[Note how the change of word order between statements and questions in English
(which doesn’t exist in Swahili) separates the English words ‘will’ and ‘have’ in the
last example (a question). They would appear together in the equivalent statement.]

Again, it is possible to imagine using the perfect tense to describe how ‘having’ a
certain thing has helped one reach one’s current circumstances:
umekuwa na mwalimu? – have you had a teacher (until recently)?

Whether or not the person had a teacher might, for example, explain why he or she
has reached his or her current knowledge/skill level so quickly (or slowly!). Again,
use of the past tense would lessen some of that sense of current relevance.

Present tense negatives

To be

The present tense negative for ‘to be’ is as simple as the present tense positive:
si – am/are/is not
Again, this applies regardless of noun class, singular or plural, etc.:

Mimi si mnene! – I am not fat!

Nyinyi si walimu – you (all) are not teachers
Yeye si Mjerumani – he/she is not German
Jina langu si Josephine – my name is not Josephine
To have

The present tense negative of ‘to have’ has the same structure as the present tense
positive, but requires the use of a negative verb prefix. For the M/WA class, the
negative verb prefixes are shown below, alongside their positive counterparts:

Positive Negative
ni- si-
u- hu-
a- ha-
tu- hatu-
m- ham-
wa- hawa-

sina kalamu – I don’t have a pen

hana kaka – he/she doesn’t have/has no brother
hatuna nafasi – we don’t have/haven’t the opportunity

In fact, these negative verb prefixes are used in all tenses for all verbs (except ‘to be’
present tense, above), so it is very important to learn them, just like the positive ones.

Notice how, with the exception of the irregular first-person singular, the negative
prefix is formed by adding h- or ha- to the positive prefix.
In fact, ha- is the general negative prefix, and, as we shall see, is added unaltered to
verb prefixes of all other noun classes.

[These prefixes are also the source of the standard Swahili greeting exchange
Hujambo? Sijambo, contracted from use with the verb to have: Huna jambo? Sina
jambo – Nothing the matter? No, nothing’s the matter.]