Kununua means “buy” or “purchase.” Its regular base nunu-a ends in a vowel sequence that remains visible in ninanunua, sinunui, and ninunue. The two adjacent vowels belong to the lexical base and final-vowel morphology; they are not a long vowel, an optional spelling, or a reason to insert another ku-.
The purchased item is a direct object. A seller or source appears in a kwa or kutoka kwa phrase, while applicative nunulia adds a beneficiary: nilimnunulia mtoto viatu “I bought the child shoes.”
Practical paradigm
| Form | I | you (sg.) | he/she | we | you (pl.) | they |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | ninanunua | unanunua | ananunua | tunanunua | mnanunua | wananunua |
| past | nilinunua | ulinunua | alinunua | tulinunua | mlinunua | walinunua |
| perfect | nimenunua | umenunua | amenunua | tumenunua | mmenunua | wamenunua |
| future | nitanunua | utanunua | atanunua | tutanunua | mtanunua | watanunua |
| present negative | sinunui | hununui | hanunui | hatununui | hamnunui | hawanunui |
| past negative | sikununua | hukununua | hakununua | hatukununua | hamkununua | hawakununua |
| subjunctive | ninunue | ununue | anunue | tununue | mnunue | wanunue |
The singular imperative is nunua! and the plural is nunueni! Regular final-vowel alternation gives nunu-a in the affirmative, nunu-i in present negative, and nunu-e in the subjunctive.
Ninanunua mboga njiani nikirudi nyumbani kila Jumanne.
I buy vegetables on my way home every Tuesday.
Hanunui nguo mtandaoni kwa sababu anataka kuzipima kwanza.
She does not buy clothes online because she wants to try them on first.
Tununue tiketi mapema kabla bei haijapanda.
Let's buy the tickets early before the price goes up.
Unless otherwise labelled, these forms and uses are neutral in (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili.
The purchased item is the object
The thing acquired follows nunua directly. English articles and “some” have no automatic Swahili equivalent; context determines whether the item is definite, indefinite, or generic.
| Collocation | Meaning/register |
|---|---|
| kununua chakula/mboga | buy food/vegetables, neutral |
| kununua nguo/viatu | buy clothes/shoes, neutral |
| kununua tiketi | buy a ticket, neutral |
| kununua simu/gari | buy a phone/car, neutral |
| kununua bidhaa | purchase goods, neutral to (formal) |
| kununua kwa mkopo | buy on credit, neutral |
Tumenunua meza ndogo inayoweza kutoshea kwenye roshani.
We have bought a small table that can fit on the balcony.
Kampuni itanunua vifaa vipya baada ya bajeti kuidhinishwa.
The company will purchase new equipment after the budget is approved.
The second example is ordinary (formal) institutional language. The grammar remains transitive: class 8 vifaa is the item purchased.
A known item may be represented by its object marker:
Kiti kile nimekinunua kwa ajili ya chumba cha wageni.
I bought that chair for the guest room.
Ni-me-ki-nunu-a contains class 7 object -ki- immediately before the base. The finished word nimekinunua preserves nunu-a.
Seller, shop, and source
Use kutoka kwa to identify a human or organizational source unambiguously. Kwa also commonly locates a transaction at a seller's business or identifies the seller when the context is clear. A market or shop can simply be locative: sokoni, dukani.
Nilinunua asali hii kutoka kwa mfugaji wa nyuki wa kijiji jirani.
I bought this honey from a beekeeper in the neighboring village.
The source is kutoka kwa mfugaji. It is not an object inside nilinunua.
Alinunua mkate kwa mwokaji aliyefungua duka karibu na kituo.
He bought bread from the baker who opened a shop near the station.
Here kwa mwokaji identifies the seller in an everyday transaction. If kwa could be mistaken for price, beneficiary, or location, longer kutoka kwa is clearer.
Tulinunua matunda sokoni kwa shilingi elfu kumi.
We bought fruit at the market for ten thousand shillings.
The locative sokoni gives the place, while kwa shilingi elfu kumi gives the price. English “from the market” need not be translated literally when the intended relation is simply transaction location.
Buying for someone: nunulia
Applicative nunulia has build nunu-li-a. The extra -li- introduces a beneficiary or purpose associated with the purchase.
Nilimnunulia mama yangu shuka nyepesi kwa ajili ya safari.
I bought my mother a light shawl for the journey.
Ni-li-m-nunu-li-a indexes the singular-human beneficiary. The theme shuka nyepesi follows that beneficiary.
Tutawanunulia watoto madaftari mapya muhula ukianza.
We will buy the children new exercise books when the term begins.
Plural-human -wa- identifies the beneficiaries; madaftari mapya are the purchased objects. This follows the common person-before-theme order discussed under benefactive applicatives.
Nimenunua maua kwa ajili ya Rehema, lakini sikumnunulia chombo cha maua.
I bought flowers for Rehema, but I did not buy her a vase.
The analytic kwa ajili ya phrase presents purpose/benefit externally. Applicative si-ku-m-nunu-li-a integrates Rehema as a beneficiary. Both are grammatical; the applicative makes her participant role part of the verb's valency.
Price, payment, and neighboring verbs
Price commonly follows kwa + amount. The actual transfer of money can be expressed separately with lipa: Nilinunua koti kwa shilingi elfu hamsini na kulipa kwa kadi “I bought a coat for fifty thousand shillings and paid by card.” Pata “get/obtain” does not itself entail payment, so it is not interchangeable with nunua.
Bei ilikuwa nzuri, lakini sikununua friji kwa sababu usafirishaji ulikuwa ghali.
The price was good, but I did not buy the refrigerator because delivery was expensive.
The negative form si-ku-nunu-a retains past-negative -ku- and the lexical vowel sequence. It is one word.
Common Mistakes
Deleting a vowel before the final ending
❌ Amenuna viatu vipya kwa mtoto.
Incorrect — the base is nunu-a, not nuna.
✅ Amenunua viatu vipya kwa mtoto wake kabla ya shule kufunguliwa.
She has bought new shoes for her child before school opens.
Adding kwa before the purchased item
❌ Tulinunua kwa matunda na mboga sokoni.
Incorrect — the purchased goods are direct objects.
✅ Tulinunua matunda na mboga sokoni kwa ajili ya chakula cha jioni.
We bought fruit and vegetables at the market for dinner.
Treating the seller as the beneficiary
⚠️ Nilimnunulia muuzaji asali chupa mbili.
Grammatical if the seller benefits; wrong for buying from the seller, because nunulia makes that person a beneficiary.
✅ Nilinunua chupa mbili za asali kutoka kwa muuzaji wa sokoni.
I bought two jars of honey from the market seller.
Keeping final -a in present negation
❌ Hatununu bidhaa bila kuangalia tarehe ya mwisho.
Incorrect — present negative changes final -a to -i.
✅ Hatununui bidhaa bila kuangalia tarehe ya mwisho ya matumizi.
We do not buy products without checking the expiry date.
Key Takeaways
- Regular nunu-a preserves its vowel sequence in ninanunua, sinunui, and ninunue.
- The purchased item is the direct object.
- Use kutoka kwa or contextual kwa for the seller, and a locative for the shop or market.
- Applicative nunulia adds the beneficiary, usually before the purchased theme.
- Price uses kwa + amount; payment method belongs to kulipa.
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