kukimbia — to Run, Flee | Swahili Grammar

Kukimbia means “run” and, with a threat or unwanted situation, “flee from/escape.” Ordinary running is intransitive: the runner is subject and a path or goal follows outside the verb. In the escape sense, however, the person or danger fled can behave as a direct object: aliwakimbia polisi “he fled from the police.”

Its vowel-final stem produces sikimbii and nikimbie. Causative kimbiza adds a controller or pursuer and means “make run, chase, drive away,” changing both meaning and valency.

Complete practical paradigm

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninakimbia	unakimbia	anakimbia	tunakimbia	mnakimbia	wanakimbia
past	nilikimbia	ulikimbia	alikimbia	tulikimbia	mlikimbia	walikimbia
perfect	nimekimbia	umekimbia	amekimbia	tumekimbia	mmekimbia	wamekimbia
future	nitakimbia	utakimbia	atakimbia	tutakimbia	mtakimbia	watakimbia
present negative	sikimbii	hukimbii	hakimbii	hatukimbii	hamkimbii	hawakimbii
past negative	sikukimbia	hukukimbia	hakukimbia	hatukukimbia	hamkukimbia	hawakukimbia
subjunctive	nikimbie	ukimbie	akimbie	tukimbie	mkimbie	wakimbie

The builds are ni-na-kimbi-a → ninakimbia, si-kimbi-i → sikimbii, and ni-kimbi-e → nikimbie. Imperatives are kimbia/kimbieni; prohibitions are usikimbie/msikimbie.

Ninakimbia uwanjani mara tatu kwa wiki.

I run at the sports ground three times a week.

Hatukimbii barabarani wakati kuna magari mengi.

We do not run on the road when there is heavy traffic.

Tukimbie kidogo kabla jua halijawa kali.

Let us run a little before the sun gets hot.

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The double ii in sikimbii contains the stem vowel plus present-negative final -i. Shortening it produces a different, nonstandard form.

Intransitive running: path, goal, and manner

Mwanariadha alikimbia kwa kasi kuelekea mstari wa mwisho.

The athlete ran quickly toward the finish line.

Mtoto amekimbia kutoka uwanjani hadi nyumbani.

The child has run from the field all the way home.

Kwa kasi/haraka/polepole describes manner; kuelekea introduces direction; kutoka... hadi... gives a path. None is a direct object.

Usikimbie kwenye sakafu yenye maji; unaweza kuteleza.

Do not run on the wet floor; you may slip.

Common collocations include kimbia mbio “run/race,” kimbia kwa kasi “run fast,” and kimbia kuelekea... “run toward.” These are neutral across (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili.

Flee from as a direct-object relation

In the escape reading, kukimbia can take the person, authority, danger, or responsibility avoided as an object, often without a word corresponding to English “from.”

Mwizi aliwakimbia polisi lakini alikamatwa kituoni.

The thief fled from the police but was arrested at the station.

A-li-wa-kimbi-a indexes the specific plural-human threat polisi with -wa-.

Usiyakimbie matatizo; yatafutie suluhisho.

Do not run away from problems; look for a solution to them.

Class 6 object marker -ya- refers to matatizo. This abstract use means avoid rather than move physically.

Familia nyingi zilikimbia mapigano na kutafuta usalama mpakani.

Many families fled the fighting and sought safety near the border.

The object mapigano names what was escaped. A source phrase with kutoka can coexist when physical origin matters.

Threat object versus physical source

The direct object and the kutoka phrase answer different questions. A direct object names what the runner is trying to escape; kutoka + place names the point where motion begins. This is a useful instance of Swahili transitivity: the same surface verb has an intransitive running frame and a transitive avoidance frame.

Wakazi walikimbia kutoka majumbani waliposikia mlipuko.

The residents ran out of their homes when they heard the explosion.

Here kutoka majumbani is a source, not something feared. A threat and a source can both appear if each has a clear role:

Wakazi waliwakimbia washambuliaji huku wakitoka kijijini usiku.

The residents fled the attackers while leaving the village at night.

The object marker -wa- refers to the attackers; subordinate wakitoka kijijini identifies the residents' outward movement from the village. Giving the source its own verb keeps the two roles clear. A denser sequence such as waliwakimbia washambuliaji kutoka kijijini can be temporarily ambiguous, especially in careful (formal) reporting.

💡

Test the meaning: in ordinary running, location is an oblique; in “flee/avoid X,” X can be a direct object and take an object marker.

Causative kimbiza

Kukimbiza is transitive and means chase, make run, or drive away.

It is one of the established lexical outcomes discussed in causative formation. Its passive kimbizwa makes the pursued participant the grammatical subject.

Washukiwa walikimbizwa na polisi hadi walipoingia kichochoroni.

The suspects were chased by the police until they entered an alley.

Mbwa aliwakimbiza kuku hadi nyuma ya nyumba.

The dog chased the chickens behind the house.

A-li-wa-kimbi-z-a adds a pursuer as subject and the fleeing chickens as object.

Kocha aliwakimbiza wachezaji kwa dakika kumi baada ya mazoezi.

The coach made the players run for ten minutes after practice.

The training context selects “make run”; pursuit context selects “chase.” The suffix does not independently distinguish them.

Mlinzi aliwakimbiza watoto waliokuwa wakicheza karibu na lango.

The guard chased away the children who were playing near the gate.

Kimbiza is neutral but can describe forceful action; context determines tone. The -z- outcome is an established causative family form, not a tense ending.

Common Mistakes

Using kimbia for chasing

❌ Mbwa aliwakimbia kuku.

Wrong meaning for ‘chased’; this says the dog fled from the chickens.

✅ Mbwa aliwakimbiza kuku.

The dog chased the chickens.

Adding kutoka before an indexed escape object

❌ Mwizi aliwakimbia kutoka polisi.

Incorrect mixed structure — use the direct escape object or a source phrase, not both this way.

✅ Mwizi aliwakimbia polisi.

The thief fled from the police.

Shortening the present negative

❌ Sikimbi asubuhi.

Incorrect — vowel-final kukimbia gives sikimbii.

✅ Sikimbii asubuhi.

I do not run in the morning.

Treating causative -z- as past

❌ Jana mbwa anawakimbiza kuku.

Incorrect completed-past reference — kimbiza does not mark tense.

✅ Jana mbwa aliwakimbiza kuku.

Yesterday the dog chased the chickens.

Key Takeaways

Ordinary kukimbia is intransitive and takes path, manner, or goal phrases.
In the flee/avoid reading, the escaped threat can be a direct object.
The vowel-final forms are sikimbii and nikimbie.
Causative kimbiza means chase, make run, or drive away according to context.

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