kuuliza — to Ask | Swahili Grammar

Kuuliza means “ask” in the sense of posing a question or seeking information. Its vowel-initial lexical base is uliz-a: ku-uliz-a → kuuliza, ni-na-uliz-a → ninauliza. Standard spelling keeps the adjacent vowels and never replaces the infinitive with kwuliza.

The English verb “ask” hides two different argument patterns. Swahili uliza selects a person and/or question content, while omba expresses a request, plea, prayer, or request for something. Muulize mhudumu bei means “ask the attendant the price,” but mwombe mhudumu msaada means “ask the attendant for help.”

Practical paradigm

Form	I	you (sg.)	he/she	we	you (pl.)	they
present	ninauliza	unauliza	anauliza	tunauliza	mnauliza	wanauliza
past	niliuliza	uliuliza	aliuliza	tuliuliza	mliuliza	waliuliza
perfect	nimeuliza	umeuliza	ameuliza	tumeuliza	mmeuliza	wameuliza
future	nitauliza	utauliza	atauliza	tutauliza	mtauliza	watauliza
present negative	siulizi	huulizi	haulizi	hatuulizi	hamuulizi	hawaulizi
past negative	sikuuliza	hukuuliza	hakuuliza	hatukuuliza	hamkuuliza	hawakuuliza
subjunctive	niulize	uulize	aulize	tuulize	muulize	waulize

The singular imperative is uliza! and the plural is ulizeni! With a specific human object, an object-marked subjunctive often serves as the command: muulize “ask him/her” and waulize “ask them.”

Ninauliza kwa sababu maelekezo ya mwisho hayakuwa wazi.

I am asking because the final instructions were not clear.

Hawaulizi maswali mengi wakati wa mafunzo, lakini huandika kila kitu.

They do not ask many questions during training, but they write everything down.

Muulize mlinzi lango linafungwa saa ngapi leo.

Ask the guard what time the gate closes today.

The embedded information question follows the person. Unlabelled uses are neutral in (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili.

💡

Do not translate English “ask” until you know its goal: use uliza to obtain information and omba to obtain help, permission, an object, or a favor.

Asking a question or asking for information

Question content can be a noun phrase, a quotation, an interrogative clause, or a kama “whether” clause.

Pattern	Example frame	Meaning
uliza + question noun	uliza swali/bei/sababu	ask a question/the price/the reason
uliza + quotation	aliuliza, “Mtaanza lini?”	ask exact words
uliza + interrogative clause	uliza basi linaondoka lini	ask when the bus leaves
uliza kama + clause	uliza kama kuna nafasi	ask whether there is space

Ningependa kuuliza swali kuhusu gharama za usafirishaji.

I would like to ask a question about the delivery costs.

Ningependa kuuliza swali is a conventional polite opening in (formal) meetings and courteous everyday service encounters. It softens entry into the question; it is not a special tense of uliza.

Mteja aliuliza, “Dhamana hii inaendelea kwa miaka mingapi?”

The customer asked, ‘How many years does this warranty last?’

Direct quotation preserves the customer's wording. For an indirect question, keep the clause without English-style subject–auxiliary inversion:

Mteja aliuliza dhamana hiyo inaendelea kwa miaka mingapi.

The customer asked how many years that warranty lasts.

The question expression miaka mingapi remains in its natural Swahili position. The broader pattern appears in indirect questions.

Asking a person

A specific human addressee is normally indexed by a human object marker. If question content is also present, the neutral order is person + question/content.

Muuguzi alimuuliza mgonjwa maswali mawili kuhusu maumivu ya kifua.

The nurse asked the patient two questions about the chest pain.

The build a-li-mu-uliz-a retains singular-human -mu- before the u-initial stem. The contracted variant alimwuliza also occurs in current Standard Swahili; speakers vary between -mu- and -mw- here. Mgonjwa names that person, and maswali mawili gives the question theme.

Nilimuuliza dereva kama basi linasimama Morogoro njiani.

I asked the driver whether the bus stops in Morogoro on the way.

Object -mu- identifies the driver; kama + clause supplies the information sought. English uses a separate prepositionless “the driver,” but Swahili integrates the specific human into the verb.

Ulimuuliza nani kuhusu funguo zilizopotea?

Whom did you ask about the missing keys?

Human interrogative nani can co-occur with -mu- (or variant -mw-) in the verb. The marker states the human object role; nani asks for the identity.

💡

In alimuuliza mgonjwa maswali mawili, parse two objects: -mu-/mgonjwa is the person addressed, and maswali mawili is the content. Person-first order is the neutral starting point.

Why the stem behaves like a lexical whole

The shape of uliza has an inherited derivational history, and its two-object profile resembles the participant-adding work associated with applicative morphology. In current Standard Swahili, however, learners should store uliz- as the lexical base “ask/inquire.” Do not strip off -iz-, invent a basic verb for this meaning, or add a new applicative merely to license the person addressed.

This distinction between history and current grammar matters. Productive extensions can still attach outside the lexical base. Passive ulizwa can promote either the person questioned or, in an appropriate context, the question itself.

Mgonjwa aliulizwa maswali kadhaa kabla ya kuonana na daktari.

The patient was asked several questions before seeing the doctor.

A-li-uliz-w-a has the questioned person as class 1 subject. The questions remain after the passive verb.

Swali hilo liliulizwa na wanafunzi watatu katika mjadala.

That question was asked by three students during the discussion.

Here class 5 swali controls li- in li-li-uliz-w-a. The passive agent appears in na wanafunzi watatu.

Kuuliza versus kuomba

Use omba when “ask” means request, seek, beg, or pray. Common combinations are omba msaada “ask for help,” omba ruhusa “ask permission,” omba msamaha “ask forgiveness,” and mwomba mtu afanye jambo “ask someone to do something.”

Nilimwomba jirani msaada wa kubeba sanduku, kisha nikamuuliza mahali pa kuliweka.

I asked the neighbor for help carrying the box, then asked him where to put it.

Ni-li-mw-omb-a seeks help; ni-ka-mu-uliz-a seeks information. English uses “asked” for both, but the Swahili goal determines the verb.

Ameomba ruhusa ya kuondoka mapema; hajauliza ratiba ya kesho.

She has asked permission to leave early; she has not asked about tomorrow's schedule.

The first object is a requested permission. The second is information that could be supplied as an answer.

Common Mistakes

Inventing kw- in the infinitive

❌ Nataka kwuliza swali kabla ya kuondoka.

Incorrect — Standard kuuliza preserves the sequence ku-u.

✅ Nataka kuuliza swali moja kabla ya kuondoka kwenye mkutano.

I want to ask one question before leaving the meeting.

Using kuuliza for a requested thing

❌ Nilimuuliza mhudumu msaada wa kubeba mizigo.

Wrong verb for requesting help — use omba.

✅ Nilimwomba mhudumu msaada wa kubeba mizigo hadi kwenye teksi.

I asked the attendant for help carrying the luggage to the taxi.

Omitting the marker with a specific person

❌ Niliuliza Amina bei ya tiketi za kesho.

Marked for the intended specific-human object — index Amina with -mu- (or variant -mw-).

✅ Nilimuuliza Amina bei ya tiketi za kesho asubuhi.

I asked Amina the price of tomorrow morning's tickets.

Keeping final -a in present negation

❌ Yeye hauliza maswali wakati hajui jambo.

Incorrect — present negative changes final -a to -i.

✅ Yeye haulizi maswali wakati hajui jambo; hukaa kimya.

He does not ask questions when he does not know something; he stays quiet.

Key Takeaways

Vowel-initial uliz-a gives kuuliza, ninauliza, siulizi, and aulize.
Question content may be a noun, quotation, interrogative clause, or kama clause.
A specific person is object-marked and normally precedes the question content.
Treat uliz- as a lexical whole despite its derivational history.
Use uliza for information and omba for requests, help, permission, or favors.

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