Adjective Concord: Complete Table

A regular Swahili adjective follows its noun and takes concord selected by that noun's agreement class. The stem -zuri “good, beautiful” produces mtoto mzuri, watoto wazuri, kitabu kizuri, and vitabu vizuri. The meaning remains recognizable, while the prefix shows which noun the adjective describes.

English adjectives do not normally change for number or noun type, so English speakers often leave the Swahili stem unchanged or copy the noun's visible prefix. Neither strategy works. The noun class selects an adjective-concord series, and the stem's first sound determines the finished surface form. All unlabelled examples below are neutral in both (informal) speech and (formal) standard writing.

The core paired table

The table uses consonant-initial -zuri and vowel-initial -ema “good, kind, fine.” The “class-pair label” describes the nouns; the adjective column gives the actual finished concord. This distinction matters especially for class 11 u- nouns, whose regular singular adjective is m-/mw-, not u-.

This is the complete table for the core count-noun pairs named in the brief. Class 14 abstract u- nouns share the class 11 singular adjective pattern, as in upendo mkubwa “great love,” but normally have no count plural. Infinitive and locative classes have their own ku-, pa-, ku-, m(u)- concords and are treated on their dedicated pages.

Consonant-initial stems

Before many consonant-initial stems, the main series are visually straightforward: m-/wa-, m-/mi-, ma-, ki-/vi- and the conditioned N-class forms. Compare -refu “long/tall”:

Class 5 is not consistently visible before consonants. It often has zero adjective concord with stems such as -kubwa, -dogo, -zuri, and -baya: tunda kubwa, gari dogo, jicho zuri. Certain short stems show ji-, most importantly -pya → jipya. The plural is transparent: matunda makubwa, magari madogo, macho mazuri, majina mapya.

There is no honest single formula that turns every class 5 adjective stem into its surface form. Learn high-frequency short and vowel-initial stems with their class 5 form instead of inventing a universal ji-.

N-class is nasal behavior, not the letters n + stem

Classes 9 and 10 use a nasal concord whose surface result depends on the stem's first consonant. It does not always appear as a simple written n-:

These are established phonological outcomes. Nrefu, npya and nkubwa are not acceptable “more regular” spellings. Because classes 9 and 10 share the N-class adjective, number may remain invisible on the adjective: nyumba kubwa can describe one large house or large houses until a demonstrative, possessive, numeral or verb resolves the number.

Vowel-initial stems change the prefix shape

Before a vowel, a prefix vowel may become a glide or fuse with the stem vowel. These forms are written as single words, without analytic hyphens:

• class 1/3 m- + -ema → mwema
• class 2 wa- + -ema → wema
• class 4 mi- + -ema → myema
• class 5 ji- + -ema → jema
• class 6 ma- + -ema → mema
• class 7 ki- + -ema → chema
• class 8 vi- + -ema → vyema
• class 9/10 nasal + -ema → njema

Class 4 my- is genuine adjective concord even though the noun prefix normally remains mi- in established nouns such as miembe “mango trees.”

Do not respell the noun as myembe by analogy with the adjective. Noun morphology and adjective-concord allomorphy operate at different sites.

The stem -eupe “white” supplies another useful set: mweupe/weupe, myeupe, jeupe/meupe, cheupe/vyeupe, and N-class nyeupe. These finished forms are common enough to learn as a paradigm.

Adjective concord is not universal modifier concord

Only true agreeing adjective stems take this table directly. The regular adjective guide develops their noun-phrase behavior. Common invariable modifiers and loans such as safi “clean,” ghali “expensive,” rahisi “easy/cheap,” and bora “better/best” do not acquire the regular prefixes merely because English calls them adjectives.

Both safi forms remain unchanged while hiki/vile, changu/vya track the controllers. Other property meanings use -enye, associative -a, a relative clause or a stative verb rather than an adjective stem. Use those established constructions instead of manufacturing forms such as kisafi.

Regular adjectives normally follow the noun in the unmarked order. Predicate adjectives and marked information structure have their own clause patterns; the table here remains the same agreement resource, but full clause building belongs on the predicate-adjective page.

Three parallel full chains

Adjective concord works alongside every other agreement target. Compare three noun classes with vowel-initial adjectives:

The controllers select class 1 mwema, class 4 myema and class 8 vyeupe. The same decision also selects huyu/hii/hivi, wangu/yangu/vyangu, and a-/i-/vi- on the verb. Checking from the head outward catches a wrong adjective and every neighboring concord error at once.

Common Mistakes

Leaving a regular adjective as a bare English-like form

Copying u- from a class 11 noun

Ignoring vowel-conditioned allomorphy

Correcting the adjective but leaving a mixed chain

The final correction changes hii → hivi, mpya → vipya, yangu → vyangu, and verbal i- → vi-. The head vikombe controls all four choices; sound or proximity does not.

Key Takeaways

Regular adjective stems take a noun-class concord, but the finished form depends on both class and the stem's first sound. Learn the core m-/wa-, m-/mi-, class 5/6, ki-/vi-, N-/N-, and class 11/10 patterns from complete words. Pay special attention to class 5 variation, N-class nasal outcomes and vowel-initial forms such as mwema, myema, jema, mema, chema, vyema, and njema. Then verify the adjective as one member of the controller's full concord chain.