kujibu — to Answer | Swahili Grammar

Kujibu means “answer, reply, respond.” It can take the person receiving the response, the question or message being answered, or a clause giving the content of the answer. Its final -u is part of an Arabic-derived loan stem, so it remains -u in the present negative and subjunctive: sijibu, nijibu—not forms built by changing -u to -i or -e.

All unlabelled uses below are neutral current Standard Swahili. More institutional response formulas are marked (formal) where relevant.

Practical paradigm: final -u stays

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninajibu	unajibu	anajibu	tunajibu	mnajibu	wanajibu
past	nilijibu	ulijibu	alijibu	tulijibu	mlijibu	walijibu
perfect	nimejibu	umejibu	amejibu	tumejibu	mmejibu	wamejibu
future	nitajibu	utajibu	atajibu	tutajibu	mtajibu	watajibu
present negative	sijibu	hujibu	hajibu	hatujibu	hamjibu	hawajibu
past negative	sikujibu	hukujibu	hakujibu	hatukujibu	hamkujibu	hawakujibu
subjunctive	nijibu	ujibu	ajibu	tujibu	mjibu	wajibu

The singular imperative is jibu and the plural is jibuni. Loan verbs ending in -u add plural -ni without changing that vowel.

Jibu swali la mwisho kwa sentensi moja tu.

Answer the last question in just one sentence.

Jibuni barua zote kabla ya kuondoka ofisini.

Answer all the letters before leaving the office.

Compare ni-na-jibu, si-jibu, ni-jibu, and jibu-ni. The stem remains intact while subject, TAM, or plural-address marking changes around it. This loan-verb pattern differs from Bantu andika → siandiki → niandike. See roots, stems, and infinitives for the structural distinction.

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Before changing a final vowel, identify the verb class. In loan verb jibu, final -u remains in negative and subjunctive forms; plural imperative simply adds -ni.

Answering a question or message

The content-bearing item can be the direct object:

Mwanafunzi alijibu swali la mwalimu kwa ujasiri.

The student answered the teacher's question confidently.

Bado sijajibu ujumbe wako kwa sababu nilikuwa safarini.

I still have not answered your message because I was traveling.

With a definite nonhuman object already active in the conversation, its noun-class object marker can appear:

Umeuona ujumbe wa Asha? Nimeujibu asubuhi hii.

Have you seen Asha's message? I answered it this morning.

Class 3 ujumbe is indexed by -u- in ni-me-u-jibu. Kujibu simu conventionally means “answer the phone/call,” not answer a question produced by the device:

Samahani sikuweza kujibu simu yako nilipokuwa kwenye basi.

Sorry I couldn't answer your call while I was on the bus.

Frequent manner phrases include kujibu kwa kifupi “answer briefly,” kujibu kwa usahihi “answer correctly,” kujibu haraka “reply quickly,” and kujibu kwa ukali “reply sharply.” The last describes tone and can sound confrontational.

Answering a person: recipient marking

When the object is a definite person, human object marking normally appears inside the verb:

Kwa nini hukumjibu mwalimu alipokuita?

Why didn't you answer the teacher when she called you?

The build is hu-ku-m-jibu: second-person negative subject + past negative + class 1 human object + loan stem. The recipient mwalimu may remain overt for identification or emphasis.

Nitakujibu baada ya kuthibitisha tarehe na msimamizi.

I will answer you after confirming the date with the supervisor.

Here -ku- indexes singular “you.” English can use prepositional reply to you, but Swahili treats the addressee as an object of jibu; do not insert kwa mechanically before a person.

If both person and question matter, Swahili often keeps the syntax transparent by making one the direct object and expressing the other as a possessive or separate phrase: kujibu swali la mwalimu “answer the teacher's question” or kumjibu mwalimu kuhusu swali “answer the teacher concerning the question.” This avoids forcing two equal objects onto one verb.

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Ask what receives the answering relation: a person, a question, a message, or a call. Mark a definite human recipient in the verb; let context or a separate phrase identify the response topic.

Giving the content with kwamba

When the answer is a proposition, kwamba introduces the reported content:

Mkurugenzi alijibu kwamba mradi ungeanza mwezi uliofuata.

The director answered that the project would begin the following month.

This clause tells us what was said, whereas alijibu swali identifies what was answered. A person and content can occur together:

Daktari alimjibu mgonjwa kwamba majibu ya vipimo yalikuwa mazuri.

The doctor replied to the patient that the test results were good.

The build a-li-m-jibu indexes mgonjwa as recipient; the kwamba clause supplies the reply. In uncomplicated (informal) speech, kwamba may be omitted—alijibu atakuja kesho—but retaining it is clearer, especially in (formal) reporting or when several clauses are nested.

Do not confuse verb kujibu with noun jibu “answer,” plural majibu:

Sina jibu la swali hilo, lakini nitakutafutia taarifa sahihi.

I do not have an answer to that question, but I will find the correct information for you.

The noun takes noun-class agreement and possessive la; it does not carry verbal subject or tense prefixes.

Common Mistakes

Changing loan-final -u in the negative

❌ Yeye hajibi barua pepe za wateja.

Incorrect — loan verb jibu retains final -u in present negative.

✅ Yeye hajibu barua pepe za wateja wakati wa likizo.

She does not answer customers' emails while on leave.

Forming the plural imperative with -eni

❌ Jibueni maswali matatu ya kwanza.

Incorrect for this loan verb — add -ni to unchanged jibu.

✅ Jibuni maswali matatu ya kwanza kwenye karatasi.

Answer the first three questions on the paper.

Adding kwa before a human recipient

❌ Sikujibu kwa Amina aliponiuliza.

Incorrect recipient pattern — a definite person is marked as the object.

✅ Sikumjibu Amina aliponiuliza kuhusu safari.

I did not answer Amina when she asked me about the trip.

Using a bare finite clause where the boundary is unclear

❌ Katibu alijibu meneja angeondoka kesho.

Unclear — the noun can be misread as part of the reported content.

✅ Katibu alimjibu meneja kwamba angeondoka kesho.

The secretary replied to the manager that she would leave tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

Loan-final -u stays in sijibu and nijibu; plural imperative is jibuni.
A question, message, or phone call can be the direct object.
A definite person normally triggers a human object marker: alimjibu mwalimu.
Kujibu kwamba... gives the propositional content of the answer.
Keep person, topic, and reported content distinct when more than one appears.

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