kufanya — to Do, Make | Swahili Grammar

Kufanya is the broad Standard Swahili verb for “do,” “carry out,” and many meanings of English “make.” Its stem fany- is morphologically regular, but natural use depends heavily on collocations: speakers fanya kazi “work,” fanya mazoezi “exercise,” and fanya uamuzi “make a decision,” but use more specific verbs for cooking food, building an object, or making a bed.

The same stem forms causative fanyisha “make someone do” and passive fanywa “be done.” Because these forms change argument structure, learning kufanya means learning both its regular paradigm and which nouns conventionally accompany it.

Complete practical paradigm

Remove infinitive ku- and place subject and TAM markers before fany-.

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninafanya	unafanya	anafanya	tunafanya	mnafanya	wanafanya
past	nilifanya	ulifanya	alifanya	tulifanya	mlifanya	walifanya
perfect	nimefanya	umefanya	amefanya	tumefanya	mmefanya	wamefanya
future	nitafanya	utafanya	atafanya	tutafanya	mtafanya	watafanya
present negative	sifanyi	hufanyi	hafanyi	hatufanyi	hamfanyi	hawafanyi
past negative	sikufanya	hukufanya	hakufanya	hatukufanya	hamkufanya	hawakufanya
subjunctive	nifanye	ufanye	afanye	tufanye	mfanye	wafanye

Thus ni-na-fany-a is ninafanya, while present negative si-fany-i is sifanyi. The imperative is fanya to one person and fanyeni to several; negative commands are usifanye and msifanye.

Ninafanya kazi nyumbani leo kwa sababu ofisi imefungwa.

I am working from home today because the office is closed.

Hatukufanya mazoezi jana kwa sababu mvua ilinyesha siku nzima.

We did not exercise yesterday because it rained all day.

Nataka ufanye uamuzi kabla ya mwisho wa wiki.

I want you to make a decision before the end of the week.

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The final vowel changes to -e in the subjunctive and to -i in the present negative: afanye “that he/she do,” hafanyi “he/she does not do.” These are mood and negation patterns, not irregular stems.

High-utility collocations

Kufanya often acts as a light verb: the following noun supplies the specific activity.

Collocation	Natural meaning
kufanya kazi	work
kufanya mazoezi	exercise; practice
kufanya biashara	do business
kufanya uamuzi	make a decision
kufanya juhudi	make an effort
kufanya uchunguzi	conduct an investigation/examination
kufanya vizuri/vibaya	do well/badly
kufanya haraka	hurry

Daktari amefanya uchunguzi, lakini bado anasubiri majibu ya maabara.

The doctor has conducted an examination, but is still waiting for the laboratory results.

Tulifanya biashara pamoja kwa miaka mingi kabla hajahamia Mombasa.

We did business together for many years before he moved to Mombasa.

Fanyeni haraka, basi la mwisho linaondoka baada ya dakika kumi.

Hurry, the last bus leaves in ten minutes.

These collocations are neutral in (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili. Kufanya uchunguzi and kufanya uamuzi are especially frequent in (formal) institutional language; conversation may prefer kuamua for “decide.”

Objects and object markers

When kufanya has a specific object already active in the conversation, an object marker appears before the root.

Kazi hii ni ngumu, lakini tutaifanya pamoja kesho.

This task is difficult, but we will do it together tomorrow.

Tu-ta-i-fany-a contains class 9 object marker -i- referring to kazi hii. With class 6 maandalizi, the marker is -ya-:

Maandalizi yote tumeyafanya mapema ili tusichelewe.

We have done all the preparations early so that we are not late.

Object marking follows normal noun-class agreement; it is not part of the lexical stem fany-.

“Do” and “make” do not map word for word

Kufanya is natural when “make” means produce a result, carry out an act, or participate in an established light-verb phrase. For concrete creation, preparation, and arrangement, Swahili frequently chooses a more specific verb.

Seremala alitengeneza meza hii kwa mbao za mninga.

The carpenter made this table from mninga wood.

Nimepika wali wa kutosha kwa wageni wote.

I have cooked enough rice for all the guests.

Using kufanya in these sentences would sound like direct transfer from English. Learn the activity with its normal verb: kutengeneza meza, kupika chakula, kutandika kitanda, and kupiga kelele.

Causative fanyisha

Adding causative -ish- gives fanyisha, which introduces a causer and turns the original doer into a causee.

The participant change follows the broader causative formation pattern, even though fanyisha is best learned as a high-frequency lexical item.

Mwalimu aliwafanyisha wanafunzi zoezi la ziada baada ya darasa.

The teacher made the students do an extra exercise after class.

The build a-li-wa-fany-ish-a has teacher as causer, students as the human plural object indexed by -wa-, and zoezi as what they do. Depending on context, fanyisha can suggest instruction, requirement, or arrangement; it does not independently encode cruelty or force.

Kocha atawafanyisha wachezaji mazoezi mepesi kabla ya mechi.

The coach will have the players do light exercises before the match.

Passive fanywa

Passive fanywa has the build fany-w-a. It promotes what is done and permits the agent in a na phrase.

Ukarabati ulifanywa na mafundi wa kampuni hiyo.

The renovation was carried out by that company's technicians.

Malipo yatafanywa kwa njia ya benki pekee.

Payment will be made by bank transfer only.

Do not confuse fanywa with fanyiwa, which contains applicative plus passive and means that something is done for/to someone. Also distinguish fanyika “happen/be possible,” where stative -ik- removes an external agent.

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Use fanywa when an actual action is performed and its agent can be named: ulifanywa na mafundi. Use fanyika when reporting that something happens or is feasible: mkutano utafanyika kesho.

Common Mistakes

Using kufanya for every English “make”

❌ Mama amefanya wali kwa chakula cha jioni.

Incorrect collocation — food is cooked with kupika.

✅ Mama amepika wali kwa chakula cha jioni.

Mother has cooked rice for dinner.

Keeping -a in the present negative

❌ Yeye hafanya kazi Jumamosi.

Incorrect present negative — native -a verbs end in -i.

✅ Yeye hafanyi kazi Jumamosi.

She does not work on Saturday.

Confusing passive and stative

⚠️ Mkutano utafanywa ukumbini saa tatu.

Grammatical if someone will conduct the meeting; for neutral ‘take place,’ use kufanyika.

✅ Mkutano utafanyika ukumbini saa tatu.

The meeting will take place in the hall at nine.

Omitting the causee marker

❌ Mwalimu alifanyisha wanafunzi wale zoezi.

Marked for the specific human causees — Standard Swahili expects -wa-.

✅ Mwalimu aliwafanyisha wanafunzi wale zoezi.

The teacher made those students do an exercise.

Key Takeaways

Kufanya is regular in form but highly collocational in use.
Use its object marker for a specific, discourse-active object: tutaifanya, tumeyafanya.
Fanyisha adds a causer and causee; fanywa is passive; fanyika expresses happening or feasibility.
English “make” often requires a more specific Swahili verb.

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