kutumia — to Use, Spend | Swahili Grammar

Kutumia means “use,” “employ,” or “spend.” Its regular base tumi-a takes instruments and resources as direct objects: tumia simu “use a phone,” tumia pesa “spend money,” and tumia muda “spend time.” English changes verbs across these meanings, but Swahili keeps one argument pattern: a resource is put to some purpose.

Because tumi-a ends in -ia, present negative ends in written -ii: situmii, hatumii. Passive tumiwa presents the used thing as subject, while an object marker can represent a known tool or resource inside the verb.

Practical paradigm

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninatumia	unatumia	anatumia	tunatumia	mnatumia	wanatumia
past	nilitumia	ulitumia	alitumia	tulitumia	mlitumia	walitumia
perfect	nimetumia	umetumia	ametumia	tumetumia	mmetumia	wametumia
future	nitatumia	utatumia	atatumia	tutatumia	mtatumia	watatumia
present negative	situmii	hutumii	hatumii	hatutumii	hamtumii	hawatumii
past negative	sikutumia	hukutumia	hakutumia	hatukutumia	hamkutumia	hawakutumia
subjunctive	nitumie	utumie	atumie	tutumie	mtumie	watumie

The singular imperative is tumia! and the plural is tumieni! The forms tu-mi-a, tu-mi-i, and tu-mi-e illustrate affirmative, present-negative, and subjunctive endings; the root does not lose its i.

Ninatumia kompyuta ya maktaba ninapohitaji intaneti yenye kasi.

I use the library computer when I need fast internet.

Hatumii sukari nyingi anapotengeneza juisi ya matunda.

She does not use much sugar when she makes fruit juice.

Tumieni mlango wa nyuma wakati ukumbi huu unasafishwa.

Use the back door while this hall is being cleaned.

Unless otherwise labelled, these forms are neutral in (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili.

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Treat the tool or resource as a direct object: tumia kalamu, muda, or pesa. The phrase kwa kutumia kalamu means “by using a pen,” but that outer kwa does not belong before the object of finite tumia.

Tools, methods, and language

The instrument itself follows directly. A purpose can follow as an infinitive, an ili clause, or another appropriate complement.

Collocation	Natural meaning/register
kutumia simu/kompyuta	use a phone/computer, neutral
kutumia kisu/mashine	use a knife/machine, neutral
kutumia njia/mbinu	use a method/technique, neutral to (academic)
kutumia lugha	use language, neutral to (academic)
kutumia nguvu	use force/energy, context-dependent

Tumia kisu hiki kukata mkate; kile kingine si kikali.

Use this knife to cut the bread; the other one is not sharp.

Mtafiti alitumia mbinu mbili kukusanya taarifa kutoka vijijini.

The researcher used two methods to collect data from rural areas.

The second is standard (academic) usage. Mbinu mbili is the direct instrument object, and the infinitive kukusanya states its purpose.

Katika barua rasmi, tumia lugha ya heshima na sentensi zilizo wazi.

In a formal letter, use respectful language and clear sentences.

Here (formal) register is part of the context, not a special grammatical form of tumia.

Known instruments and object marking

When the instrument is known or contrastive, its noun-class object marker can occur before tumi-a.

See the object-marker guide for the full class inventory and discourse conditions.

Programu hii ninaitumia kuhariri picha, lakini ile ninaitumia kutengeneza video.

I use this program to edit photos, but I use that one to make videos.

Class 9 programu is indexed by -i- in ni-na-i-tumi-a → ninaitumia. The object marker is not an English-style free pronoun.

Vifaa hivyo hatuvitumii tena kwa sababu vimeharibika.

We no longer use that equipment because it is broken.

Class 8 vifaa controls object -vi- in hatu-vi-tumi-i. The finished negative hatuvitumii retains the final ii.

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Object marking and the final vowel do different jobs: -vi- identifies known class 8 equipment, while -ii in hatuvitumii marks the lexical i plus present-negative ending.

Spending money

With money, tumia means “spend.” The amount is a direct object, and the purchase or purpose can follow with kwa, katika, or an infinitive according to meaning.

Tumetumia shilingi elfu arobaini kununua chakula cha mkutano.

We have spent forty thousand shillings buying food for the meeting.

Usitumie pesa zote kwa starehe; weka sehemu yake kwa ajili ya dharura.

Do not spend all the money on entertainment; set some aside for emergencies.

Negative subjunctive u-si-tumi-e gives usitumie. Kwa starehe identifies the spending domain, not the money object.

In (formal) budgets, kutumia fedha and noun matumizi “expenditure/use” are frequent. Pesa remains neutral everyday vocabulary; fedha often suits institutional finance.

Idara ilitumia fedha zilizotengwa kununua vifaa vya usalama.

The department used the allocated funds to buy safety equipment.

Spending time

With a duration, tumia means “spend time.” The duration follows directly, and the activity commonly appears as an infinitive.

Ametumia saa mbili kuandaa mawasilisho ya kesho.

She has spent two hours preparing tomorrow's presentation.

Tulitumia wikendi nzima kusafisha nyumba baada ya ukarabati.

We spent the entire weekend cleaning the house after the renovation.

This pattern differs from simple duration tulifanya kazi kwa saa mbili “we worked for two hours.” With tumia, the duration itself is the resource spent, so it does not require kwa.

Passive tumiwa

Passive tumiwa has build tumi-w-a. The tool, resource, method, or even person being used becomes the subject; an agent may follow na.

Mfumo huu unatumiwa na hospitali kuhifadhi taarifa za wagonjwa.

This system is used by the hospital to store patient records.

Class 3 mfumo controls u- in u-na-tumi-w-a. Na hospitali identifies the institutional user.

Maneno hayo yanatumiwa zaidi katika maandishi ya kitaaluma.

Those words are used more often in academic writing.

Class 6 maneno controls ya- in ya-na-tumi-w-a. No agent is needed because distribution across (academic) writing is the point.

When a human is the passive subject, tumiwa can mean “be used/exploited,” often with a negative implication. State the context rather than assuming every human passive is neutral.

Common Mistakes

Adding kwa before the instrument object

❌ Ninatumia kwa simu kuangalia ratiba ya mabasi.

Incorrect — the phone is the direct object of finite kutumia.

✅ Ninatumia simu kuangalia ratiba ya mabasi kabla ya kuondoka.

I use my phone to check the bus timetable before leaving.

Putting a duration in a kwa phrase after kutumia

❌ Ametumia kwa saa tatu kuandika pendekezo hilo.

Incorrect in the spend-time construction — the duration is the direct object.

✅ Ametumia saa tatu kuandika pendekezo hilo kwa ajili ya kamati.

She has spent three hours writing that proposal for the committee.

Dropping the second i in present negation

❌ Hatumi programu hiyo kwa sababu ni ya zamani.

Incorrect — base tumi- plus negative final -i gives hatumii.

✅ Hatumii programu hiyo kwa sababu haipokei masasisho mapya.

He does not use that program because it no longer receives new updates.

Giving a nonhuman tool human agreement

❌ Mashine hii anatumiwa na wafanyakazi wote kiwandani.

Incorrect — class 9 mashine controls i-, not human a-.

✅ Mashine hii inatumiwa na wafanyakazi wote katika kiwanda hicho.

This machine is used by all the workers in that factory.

Key Takeaways

Tumia takes tools, money, and time as direct objects.
Present negative preserves ii: situmii, hatumii.
A known resource takes its noun-class object marker: ninaitumia, hatuvitumii.
Money and time remain direct objects; following phrases state purpose or domain.
Passive tumiwa promotes the resource and follows its noun-class agreement.

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