Swahili often places the equivalent of English who, which, or that inside the finite verb. In mtoto anayesoma “the child who is reading,” -ye- points back to class 1 mtoto. In vitabu vinavyopatikana “books that are available,” -vyo- points back to class 8 vitabu.
These incorporated relatives are neutral in careful (informal) speech and especially common in (formal) prose. Their main challenge is not meaning but architecture: the relative concord occupies its own verb slot and must agree with the noun being relativized, which may be the relative clause's subject or its object.
Complete relative-concord table
The following are the class-shaped forms of the relative -o series. The class 1 form -ye- is exceptional; several classes share plain -o-.
| Class | Typical head | Relative concord | Present subject-relative example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | mtu | ye | anayesoma |
| 2 | watu | o | wanaosoma |
| 3 | mti | o | unaokua |
| 4 | miti | yo | inayokua |
| 5 | gari | lo | linalokuja |
| 6 | magari | yo | yanayokuja |
| 7 | kiti | cho | kinachovunjika |
| 8 | viti | vyo | vinavyovunjika |
| 9 | nyumba | yo | inayouzwa |
| 10 | nyumba | zo | zinazouzwa |
| 11 | ulimi | o | unaotumika |
| 14 | utoto | o | unaokumbukwa |
| 15 | kusoma | ko | kunakosaidia |
| 16 | specific place | po | panapofaa |
| 17 | general area | ko | kunakofaa |
| 18 | interior | mo | mnamofaa |
The table's final example column exposes the slot; some heavily inflected locative subject relatives are naturally replaced by ambapo, ambako, or ambamo in ordinary prose. The relative concord itself remains po, ko, or mo.
Where the marker sits in a positive finite verb
In the common positive pattern, the order is subject marker + tense/aspect + relative concord + object marker (if present) + verb stem. Hyphens below show analysis only; the real verb is one written word.
| Analysis | Normal spelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| a-na-ye-soma | anayesoma | who is reading |
| wa-li-o-fika | waliofika | who arrived |
| li-na-lo-kuja | linalokuja | that is coming |
| ni-li-cho-ki-nunua | nilichokinunua | that I bought (class 7) |
| tu-li-zo-zi-ona | tulizoziona | that we saw (class 10) |
The future relative uses -taka- rather than ordinary future -ta-: atakayekuja “who will come,” vitakavyowasili “which will arrive.” This is an irregular piece of the relative-tense system, not a free choice between two spellings.
Mtu atakayekuja kesho atanisaidia.
The person who will come tomorrow will help me.
Magari yatakayowasili leo yameagizwa na hospitali.
The cars that will arrive today were ordered by the hospital.
Negative incorporated relatives use a special negative pattern rather than simply inserting ordinary ha-: mtu asiyekuja “a person who is not coming,” vitabu visivyopatikana “books that are unavailable.” Full negative-relative tense choices belong to their dedicated pages, but the same ye/vyo class contrast remains visible.
Subject relatives
When the head noun is the subject of the relative clause, both the verb's subject marker and its relative concord point to that same head.
Mtoto anayesoma sebuleni ni mwanangu.
The child who is reading in the living room is mine.
Gari linalosubiri nje ni la meneja.
The car that is waiting outside belongs to the manager.
Vitabu vinavyopatikana mtandaoni ni vya wanafunzi wa mwaka wa kwanza.
The books that are available online are for first-year students.
The internal chains are class 1 a-na-ye-, class 5 li-na-lo-, and class 8 vi-na-vyo-. English has one invariable that; Swahili repeats class information in both the subject and relative slots.
Object relatives
When the head is the object inside the relative clause, the ordinary subject marker identifies the actor, while the relative concord identifies the extracted object. An object marker may also resume that known object, especially when it is animate or discourse-prominent.
Kitabu nilichokinunua jana kimepotea.
The book that I bought yesterday has gone missing.
Here ni- is “I,” -li- is past, -cho- points to class 7 kitabu, and -ki- is the class 7 object marker. The form nilichonunua without -ki- also occurs with a nonhuman object; object marking depends on animacy and discourse status. The relative marker -cho- itself is not optional.
Watu tuliowaalika wamewasili mapema.
The people whom we invited have arrived early.
Nyumba tulizoziona jana zilikuwa ghali sana.
The houses that we saw yesterday were very expensive.
In the last sentence tu- identifies “we,” while both -zo- and resumptive -zi- refer to class 10 nyumba. Proximity to the subject marker does not change the controller of the relative concord.
Keep amba- counterparts separate
Swahili also has a separate relative word formed from amba- plus the same class concord: ambaye, ambao, ambayo, ambalo, ambacho, ambavyo, ambazo, ambapo, ambako, and ambamo. It stands outside the following finite verb.
This same concord family appears inside the middle, referential demonstrative series, but the constructions are not interchangeable; compare them in the three-series demonstrative table.
Kitabu ambacho unakisoma ni kizuri.
The book that you are reading is good.
Compare incorporated kitabu unachokisoma. Do not mix the architectures by inserting an incorporated -cho- into the verb after ambacho. The amba- strategy is often easier with complex tenses and oblique relations; the incorporated strategy is more compact. Both occur across registers, with amba- especially useful in careful (formal) prose where structural clarity matters.
A controller-outward agreement chain
Relative clauses sit inside larger chains, so the head may control a demonstrative, adjective, relative marker, object marker, and main-clause verb.
Kiti kipya hiki nilichokinunua kimevunjika.
This new chair that I bought has broken.
Class 7 kiti controls ki- in kipya, hiki, relative -cho-, resumptive object -ki-, and main subject ki- in kimevunjika. Debugging any one of those by the nearest sound invites errors. Start at the head and check each dependency separately.
Common Mistakes
Treating the relative word as invariant English “that”
❌ Vitabu vinachopatikana hapa ni vipya.
Incorrect — class 8 vitabu requires relative -vyo-, not class 7 -cho-.
✅ Vitabu vinavyopatikana hapa ni vipya.
The books available here are new.
Putting spaces inside the finite verb
❌ Mtoto a na ye soma ni mwanangu.
Incorrect spelling — all the finite-verb slots form one word.
✅ Mtoto anayesoma ni mwanangu.
The child who is reading is mine.
Doubling amba- and incorporated marking
❌ Gazeti ambalo unalolisoma lina habari mpya.
Incorrect — the same relative relation is marked twice.
✅ Gazeti ambalo unalisoma lina habari mpya.
The newspaper that you are reading has new information.
Repairing only one member of the chain
❌ Gari mpya hii nilichokinunua imeharibika.
Incorrect — adjective, demonstrative, relative concord, object marker, and main verb all mismatch class 5.
✅ Gari jipya hili nililolinunua limeharibika.
This new car that I bought has broken down.
The full correction is mpya → jipya, hii → hili, -cho- → -lo-, -ki- → -li-, and main-clause i- → li-.
Key Takeaways
- The incorporated relative concord occupies a verb slot and agrees with the relativized head noun.
- Subject, tense/aspect, relative, and object markers have different jobs even when they occur in one word.
- Amba- relatives use the same concord series on a separate word; keep the two architectures separate.
- A controller-outward check exposes errors across the entire agreement chain.
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Start learning Swahili →Related Topics
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- Agreement with -ote 'All/Whole'A2 — Attach the right pronominal concord to -ote and distinguish plural ‘all’ from singular ‘whole’ in Standard Swahili.