kula — to Eat | Swahili Grammar

Kula means “eat.” Its lexical base is exceptionally short: root -l- plus final vowel -a. After ordinary affirmative TAM markers, the verb retains a supporting ku-: ninakula, nilikula, nimekula, nitakula. Present negation, the subjunctive, and object-marked forms use different support and omit that syllable.

The result looks irregular only if every ku is translated as English “to.” In a finite form such as amekula, it supports the short root inside one verb word; in past negative hakula, -ku- is the negative-past TAM marker itself.

Practical paradigm

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninakula	unakula	anakula	tunakula	mnakula	wanakula
past	nilikula	ulikula	alikula	tulikula	mlikula	walikula
perfect	nimekula	umekula	amekula	tumekula	mmekula	wamekula
future	nitakula	utakula	atakula	tutakula	mtakula	watakula
present negative	sili	huli	hali	hatuli	hamli	hawali
past negative	sikula	hukula	hakula	hatukula	hamkula	hawakula
subjunctive	nile	ule	ale	tule	mle	wale

The singular imperative is kula! and the plural is kuleni! Compare ni-na-ku-l-a “I eat/am eating,” present negative si-l-i “I do not eat,” and subjunctive ni-l-e “that I eat.”

Tumekula mapema ili tuondoke kabla barabara haijajaa magari.

We have eaten early so that we can leave before the road fills with traffic.

Babu hali nyama, lakini anakula samaki na mboga.

Grandfather does not eat meat, but he eats fish and vegetables.

Daktari amemshauri babu ale matunda zaidi na atumie chumvi kidogo.

The doctor has advised Grandfather to eat more fruit and use less salt.

A-l-e is subjunctive after amemshauri babu. There is no support ku- because mood and the final -e provide the short verb's required shape.

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Memorize the contrast as a set: anakula — hali — alikula — hakula — ale. Do not add or delete ku- by looking only at the English translation.

The support syllable after TAM

Common affirmative -na-, -li-, -me-, and -ta- are followed by support ku-:

Build	Finished form	Meaning
a-na-ku-l-a	anakula	he/she is eating
a-li-ku-l-a	alikula	he/she ate
a-me-ku-l-a	amekula	he/she has eaten
a-ta-ku-l-a	atakula	he/she will eat
ha-ta-ku-l-a	hatakula	he/she will not eat
a-nge-ku-l-a	angekula	he/she would eat

Negated future retains future -ta- and therefore support ku-. Present negative instead replaces affirmative -na- and changes final -a to -i. See monosyllabic roots for the complete architecture.

Watoto watakula shuleni kesho kwa sababu wana mazoezi ya jioni.

The children will eat at school tomorrow because they have evening practice.

Objects can be stated or understood

Kula may take an overt food object or stand alone when “food/a meal” is understood.

Unataka kula nini kabla ya safari?

What do you want to eat before the journey?

Asante, nimekula tayari; nitakunywa chai tu.

Thank you, I have already eaten; I will only drink tea.

The second nimekula is complete because the meal is recoverable. It does not need a dummy object equivalent to English “something.”

When an object marker stands immediately before the short root, support ku- disappears:

Unmarked object	Marked known object	Build
anakula maembe	anayala	a-na-ya-l-a
atakula chakula	atakila	a-ta-ki-l-a
ule maembe	uyale	u-ya-l-e

Maembe yameiva; tuyale leo kabla hayajaharibika.

The mangoes are ripe; let's eat them today before they spoil.

Class 6 object -ya- touches root -l- in subjunctive tu-ya-l-e. Adding support ku would wrongly create another slot.

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An object marker supplies material immediately before short root -l-: anayala and tuyale never insert support ku- between the marker and the root.

Meals and ordinary collocations

Expression	Meaning/register
kula chakula	eat food/have a meal, neutral
kula kifungua kinywa	eat/have breakfast, neutral
kula chakula cha mchana	have lunch, neutral
kula chakula cha jioni	have dinner, neutral
kula kwa mikono	eat with one's hands, neutral
kula pamoja	eat together, neutral

Tutakula chakula cha jioni pamoja wageni wakifika.

We will have dinner together when the guests arrive.

Metaphorical collocations must be learned as wholes. Kula rushwa means “take bribes” and is common in (formal) news and anti-corruption language; kula hasara means “incur/suffer a loss.” Neither should be translated as literal food consumption.

Afisa huyo alifukuzwa kazi kwa kula rushwa kutoka kwa wafanyabiashara.

That official was dismissed for taking bribes from businesspeople.

The passive of the short root uses liwa, analyzed l-iw-a. The causative lisha means “feed.”

Chakula hiki kitaliwa baada ya wageni wote kuketi.

This food will be eaten after all the guests sit down.

Class 7 chakula controls ki- in ki-ta-liw-a. The expanded passive stem no longer requires support ku-.

Imperatives and politeness

Kula supu yako kabla haijapoa.

Eat your soup before it gets cold.

Bare Kula! is ordinary advice to a child or familiar equal but may sound commanding. Polite (formal) requests use tafadhali or a subjunctive: Tafadhali ule kwanza “Please eat first.”

Common Mistakes

Dropping support ku- after perfect -me-

❌ Nimele wali wote.

Incorrect — perfect -me- requires support ku- before short root -l-.

✅ Nimekula wali wote kwa sababu nilikuwa na njaa.

I have eaten all the rice because I was hungry.

Keeping support ku- in present negation

❌ Hakuli mayai asubuhi.

Incorrect for ordinary ‘does not eat’ — present negative is hali.

✅ Hali mayai asubuhi kwa sababu ana mzio wa mayai.

He does not eat eggs in the morning because he is allergic to them.

Adding a second ku- in past negation

❌ Sikukula jana usiku.

Wrong for unmarked ‘I did not eat’ — the extra ku- would be the object ‘you.’

✅ Sikula jana usiku kwa sababu nilichelewa kurudi.

I did not eat last night because I returned late.

Retaining support ku- in the subjunctive

❌ Daktari amesema akule matunda zaidi.

Incorrect — the short-root subjunctive omits support ku-.

✅ Daktari amesema ale matunda zaidi kila siku.

The doctor said that he should eat more fruit every day.

Key Takeaways

Short root -l- retains support ku- after ordinary affirmative TAM: anakula, alikula, amekula, atakula.
Present negatives and subjunctives omit it: hali, ale.
Past-negative -ku- is TAM, yielding hakula, not a retained infinitive prefix.
An object marker replaces support next to the root: anayala, tuyale.
Imperatives are kula and kuleni; passive liwa and causative lisha are established expanded stems.

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