kumaliza — to Finish | Swahili Grammar

Kumaliza means “finish, complete, use up.” It is normally transitive: a person finishes kazi “work,” chakula “food,” or an activity expressed by an infinitive. When the finished item itself runs out or comes to an end, Standard Swahili commonly uses intransitive kwisha: Nimemaliza maji “I have used up the water,” but Maji yameisha “The water has run out.”

The stem maliz- contains an established causative/transitivizing -iz- formation: the subject brings something to its endpoint. Modern speakers learn maliza as a complete lexical stem; it is not the regular conjugation of kwisha.

Complete practical paradigm

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninamaliza	unamaliza	anamaliza	tunamaliza	mnamaliza	wanamaliza
past	nilimaliza	ulimaliza	alimaliza	tulimaliza	mlimaliza	walimaliza
perfect	nimemaliza	umemaliza	amemaliza	tumemaliza	mmemaliza	wamemaliza
future	nitamaliza	utamaliza	atamaliza	tutamaliza	mtamaliza	watamaliza
present negative	simalizi	humalizi	hamalizi	hatumalizi	hammalizi	hawamalizi
past negative	sikumaliza	hukumaliza	hakumaliza	hatukumaliza	hamkumaliza	hawakumaliza
subjunctive	nimalize	umalize	amalize	tumalize	mmalize	wamalize

The build ni-na-maliz-a gives ninamaliza; present negative si-maliz-i gives simalizi. Imperatives are maliza and malizeni; negative commands are usimalize/msimalize.

Ninamaliza ripoti, halafu nitakutumia nakala kwa barua pepe.

I am finishing the report, then I will email you a copy.

Hawakumaliza chakula kwa sababu kilikuwa na pilipili nyingi.

They did not finish the food because it had too much chili.

Tumalize kazi hii kabla umeme haujakatika.

Let us finish this work before the electricity goes off.

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Kumaliza requires an understood endpoint-bearing object or activity. If the thing itself reaches its endpoint without an external finisher, test kwisha.

Finishing a noun

Common objects include tasks, documents, food, school stages, money, and periods of service.

Asha amemaliza chuo na anatafuta kazi sasa.

Asha has finished college and is now looking for work.

Tulimaliza fedha zote tulizotenga kwa ukarabati.

We used up all the money we had set aside for repairs.

Dereva alimaliza zamu yake saa sita usiku.

The driver finished his shift at midnight.

Perfect amemaliza frequently highlights a current result: the work is now complete. Simple past alimaliza reports the completion as part of a past sequence.

A specific object can be indexed:

Pendekezo hilo tumelimaliza; sasa tujadili bajeti.

We have finished that proposal; now let us discuss the budget.

Tu-me-li-maliz-a contains class 5 object marker -li- for pendekezo. The object marker belongs before the full lexical stem maliz-.

Finishing an activity

A following infinitive names the activity brought to completion.

Nimemaliza kusoma barua yako ndefu.

I have finished reading your long letter.

Watoto wakimaliza kucheza, waambie waoge.

When the children finish playing, tell them to bathe.

The two verbs are separate: ni-me-maliz-a ku-som-a. The same subject normally performs the finishing and the infinitive’s activity. The construction belongs to the linked infinitive system.

Tutamaliza kujenga paa kabla msimu wa mvua haujaanza.

We will finish building the roof before the rainy season begins.

An event noun can sound more institutional: (formal) kumaliza ujenzi “complete construction.” The infinitive kumaliza kujenga foregrounds the work itself and is neutral in all registers.

Kumaliza versus kwisha

Question	Use	Example
Who finishes/uses it up?	maliza + object	Nimemaliza mafuta.
What runs out/ends?	subject + isha	Mafuta yameisha.
Who completes an activity?	maliza + infinitive	Amemaliza kupika.
Has the event ended?	event + isha	Mkutano umeisha.

Maji yameisha kabla sijamaliza kuosha vyombo.

The water ran out before I finished washing the dishes.

The same sentence shows the valency contrast: maji is subject of intransitive yameisha; understood “I” is subject of transitive/aspectual sijamaliza.

For the full decision, see kumaliza and kwisha.

Causative history and further causation

The segment -iz- in mal-iz-a historically contributes “cause to reach an end.” Synchronically, however, maliza is an ordinary high-frequency verb. If someone makes another person finish, careful speech often uses an explicit causative clause rather than piling on morphology.

Meneja alitufanya tumalize hesabu kabla ya kuondoka.

The manager made us finish the accounts before leaving.

This transparent pattern has alitufanya plus subjunctive tumalize. Extended malizisha occurs with a further causative sense in some contexts, but it is heavier and should be learned from established usage, not coined automatically.

Register and collocations

Kumaliza kazi, shule, chakula, fedha, and muda are neutral in (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili. (Formal) reports often prefer kukamilisha for “complete” when emphasizing fulfillment of requirements, but ordinary kumaliza remains fully standard.

Passive malizwa is possible when the completed item is foregrounded and an agent is understood or expressed.

Kazi ilimalizwa na timu nyingine baada ya mkandarasi kuondoka.

The work was finished by another team after the contractor left.

I-li-maliz-w-a contains passive -w- outside the lexical stem maliz-. Do not confuse that passive with intransitive iliisha: the passive still describes something an agent completed.

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Kazi ilimalizwa na timu retains an external finisher; kazi iliisha simply says the work came to an end. The presence of an agent phrase is a strong diagnostic.

Common Mistakes

Making the exhausted item objectless with maliza

❌ Maji yamemaliza.

Incorrect for ‘the water has run out’ — maliza is transitive.

✅ Maji yameisha.

The water has run out.

Using kwisha with an external finisher

❌ Nimeisha kazi yangu.

Incorrect for ‘I have finished my work.’

✅ Nimemaliza kazi yangu.

I have finished my work.

Attaching the infinitive

❌ Tumemalizakupika.

Incorrect spelling — the activity infinitive is separate.

✅ Tumemaliza kupika.

We have finished cooking.

Treating -iza as future

❌ Kesho nilimaliza ripoti.

Incorrect future reference — -iz- belongs to the lexical stem and does not mark time.

✅ Kesho nitamaliza ripoti.

Tomorrow I will finish the report.

Key Takeaways

Kumaliza is transitive or takes an infinitive; kwisha presents the ending item/event as subject.
Perfect -me- often highlights the completed result.
The established stem contains causative/transitivizing -iz- but conjugates regularly.
Use object markers before maliz- and keep an infinitive complement as a separate word.

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