Past Relatives with -li- | Swahili Grammar

Past incorporated relatives place class-agreeing relative concord after -li-: a-li-ye-kuj-a → aliyekuja “who came,” li-li-lo-fik-a → lililofika “that arrived.” They present the relative-clause event as completed in a past narrative frame.

The order is subject concord + -li- + relative concord + optional object concord + root/extensions + final vowel. The initial subject marker and relative marker may both agree with the head in a subject relative; in an object relative they can point to different participants.

Past subject-relative paradigm

Class	Head	Build	Finished opening
1	mgeni	a-li-ye-	aliye-
2	wageni	wa-li-o-	walio-
3	mti	u-li-o-	ulio-
4	miti	i-li-yo-	iliyo-
5	gari	li-li-lo-	lililo-
6	magari	ya-li-yo-	yaliyo-
7	kiti	ki-li-cho-	kilicho-
8	viti	vi-li-vyo-	vilivyo-
9	barua	i-li-yo-	iliyo-
10	barua	zi-li-zo-	zilizo-
11/14	ulimi/utoto	u-li-o-	ulio-
15	kusubiri	ku-li-ko-	kuliko-

Some finished openings resemble ordinary words: kuliko is also familiar in comparison constructions. The following verb stem and clause context identify a past relative. Analytic segmentation prevents guessing by surface shape.

Mgeni aliyekuja bila miadi alisubiri kwenye ukumbi wa mbele.

The visitor who came without an appointment waited in the front hall.

Viti vilivyovunjika viliondolewa kabla ya hafla.

The chairs that broke were removed before the event.

Nyaraka zilizopotea zilipatikana ndani ya droo iliyofungwa.

The documents that went missing were found inside a locked drawer.

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Repeated syllables are meaningful. In class 5 li-li-lo-fika, the first li- is subject concord, the second is past TAM, and -lo- is relative concord.

The same class 5 head with amba-

Gari lililofika alfajiri lilibeba dawa za hospitali.

The vehicle that arrived at dawn carried hospital medicine.

Gari ambalo lilifika baada ya mvua lilibeba vifaa vya maabara.

The vehicle that arrived after the rain carried laboratory equipment.

Incorporated li-li-lo-fik-a is one word. Analytic ambalo li-li-fik-a puts class 5 relative concord on ambalo and follows it with an ordinary past verb. Both are neutral across (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili.

The amba- version becomes useful when the relative clause is long, coordinated, contrastive, or built with an aspect that cannot enter the compact past template.

Past object relatives

When the head is the object, the left-edge subject identifies the actor. Relative concord and any resumptive object marker agree with the head.

Gari tulilolikagua jana limeidhinishwa kwa safari ndefu.

The vehicle that we inspected yesterday has been approved for long journeys.

The build tu-li-lo-li-kagu-a contains first-person plural tu-, past -li-, class 5 relative -lo-, and class 5 object -li-.

Gari ambalo tulilikagua asubuhi linahitaji tairi mbili mpya.

The vehicle that we inspected in the morning needs two new tires.

Here ambalo carries the class 5 relative link; ordinary tu-li-li-kagu-a contains past and object concord but no incorporated relative marker.

Wafanyakazi tuliowahoji walieleza tatizo kwa njia tofauti.

The employees whom we interviewed explained the problem in different ways.

In tu-li-o-wa-hoji, class 2 -o- identifies the relativized people and human object -wa- resumes them. Definite human objects normally take object marking in careful Standard Swahili.

With a nonhuman head, object marking varies. Barua niliyoandika is standard without class 9 object -i-; an explicit object marker can foreground a specific tracked object. The relative concord itself is obligatory.

Narrative anchoring

Past -li- locates the relative event before or within a past narrative span; the main clause can itself be past, present, perfect, or future.

Mwanafunzi aliyeshinda shindano atapokea tuzo kesho.

The student who won the competition will receive the prize tomorrow.

The relative event is past, while main atapokea is future. English tense in one clause does not force the other.

Nimeweka mezani risiti uliyonipa baada ya chakula cha mchana.

I have put on the table the receipt that you gave me after lunch.

The main perfect is relevant now; embedded u-li-yo-ni-p-a identifies a completed giving event. First-person object -ni- follows class 9 relative -yo-.

Tulirudisha bidhaa iliyokuwa na hitilafu iliyoonekana baada ya siku mbili.

We returned the product that had a defect which appeared after two days.

Two past relatives create a sequence recoverable from lexical meaning and time phrases. When exact anteriority is crucial, an amba- clause with explicit compound aspect is clearer than expecting -li- alone to encode “had.”

Past versus perfect

An incorporated -li- relative often translates naturally with English simple past or present perfect: mgeni aliyefika can be “the guest who arrived” or “the guest who has arrived.” Swahili has framed the arrival as completed past; English chooses its own discourse viewpoint.

To assert negative perfect or continuing perfect explicitly, use amba- with an ordinary -me-/-ja- verb:

Mgeni ambaye amekuwa akisubiri kwa saa moja apewe taarifa mpya.

The guest who has been waiting for an hour should be given an update.

Forms such as aliyemekuwa are not part of the Standard incorporated tense inventory. See perfect relatives.

Negative past: use an explicit strategy

The simple negative relative has no ordinary past marker. Compare a general negative property with a specific past non-event:

Gari lisilofika kwa wakati haliwezi kuingia kwenye msafara.

A vehicle that does not arrive on time cannot join the convoy.

Gari ambalo halikufika jana limeondolewa kwenye ratiba.

The vehicle that did not arrive yesterday has been removed from the schedule.

Li-si-lo-fika is time-neutral; ambalo ha-li-ku-fik-a explicitly marks past negative. Do not insert negative -si- beside past -li- inside one incorporated form.

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Use -li- for affirmative completed relatives. For an explicitly negative past, let amba- carry the relative link and an ordinary -ku- negative-past verb carry time.

Common Mistakes

Putting relative concord before past

❌ Gari lilo-li-fika alfajiri limeondoka.

Incorrect order and spelling — past -li- precedes class 5 relative -lo-.

✅ Gari lililofika alfajiri limeondoka.

The vehicle that arrived at dawn has left.

Using the embedded subject’s class for the head

❌ Gari tuliyelikagua jana limeuzwa.

Incorrect — human -ye- does not agree with class 5 gari.

✅ Gari tulilolikagua jana limeuzwa.

The vehicle that we inspected yesterday has been sold.

Omitting the relative marker

❌ Ripoti tuliikagua jana ina makosa mawili.

Incorrect for the intended relative clause — object -i- cannot replace relative -yo-.

✅ Ripoti tuliyoiangalia jana ina makosa mawili.

The report that we examined yesterday has two errors.

Combining past and negative relative markers

❌ Gari lilisilofika jana limeondolewa kwenye ratiba.

Incorrect — there is no incorporated past-negative sequence -li-si-.

✅ Gari ambalo halikufika jana halitawekwa kwenye ratiba mpya.

The vehicle that did not arrive yesterday will not be placed on the new schedule.

Key Takeaways

Affirmative past relatives use subject–li–relative–object–stem order.
Subject and relative markers share a controller only when the head is the embedded subject.
Past relative events can modify a main clause in any tense.
Incorporated -li- can translate English simple past or present perfect, but explicit complex aspect uses amba-.
Negative past relatives require a time-neutral negative form or amba- plus ordinary negative past.

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