The verb kuendelea means “continue, proceed, progress.” Before another action, finite kuendelea is followed by a same-subject infinitive: Aliendelea kusoma “She continued reading.” With a noun or established activity, kuendelea na means “continue with”: Aliendelea na kazi “She continued with the work.”
This lexical verb actively presents continuation as a phase. Adverb bado “still/yet” instead evaluates whether a situation persists beyond an expected point. Both can occur together, but they occupy different grammatical positions. Unless labelled otherwise, the patterns below are neutral in (informal) and (formal) Standard Swahili.
Finite kuendelea across TAM
| Finished word | Analytic segmentation | Viewpoint |
|---|---|---|
| ninaendelea | ni-na-endele-a | I am continuing |
| aliendelea | a-li-endele-a | he/she continued |
| ameendelea | a-me-endele-a | he/she has continued |
| tutaendelea | tu-ta-endele-a | we will continue |
| haendelei | ha-endele-i | he/she is not continuing |
| hawakuendelea | hawa-ku-endele-a | they did not continue |
| ikiendelea | i-ki-endele-a | if/as it continues, class 9 |
The verb begins with a vowel, so subject/TAM vowels remain visible in forms such as ninaendelea and tutaendelea. Present negative ha-endele-i surfaces as haendelei. Hyphens belong only to analysis.
Ninaendelea kuhariri ripoti; nitakutumia rasimu mpya jioni.
I am continuing to edit the report; I will send you a new draft this evening.
Finite ni-na-endele-a carries first-person and current viewpoint. Infinitive ku-hariri names the continued activity.
Tutaendelea kujadiliana hadi tupate suluhisho linalokubalika.
We will continue discussing until we find an acceptable solution.
Future tu-ta-endele-a is followed by reciprocal lexical infinitive ku-jadiliana. The purpose/result boundary hadi tupate takes subjunctive tu-pat-e.
Kuendelea plus infinitive
The controller of the finite verb normally performs the infinitive action as well.
Mvua iliendelea kunyesha hadi barabara zikafungwa.
The rain continued falling until the roads were closed.
Class 9 mvua controls i-li-endele-a; weather activity ku-nyesh-a remains infinitival.
Musa ameendelea kufanya mazoezi licha ya kuumia goti.
Musa has continued exercising despite injuring his knee.
Perfect a-me-endele-a views persistence through the current situation. English “has kept exercising” is a natural translation, but Swahili uses a lexical continuative verb rather than a dedicated “keep” suffix.
Wafanyakazi waliendelea kupakia mizigo baada ya mvua kupungua.
The workers continued loading the luggage after the rain eased.
The subject of wa-li-endele-a controls ku-paki-a. The separate class 9 infinitival clause mvua kupungua has an overt subject and is licensed by the temporal construction.
Kuendelea na plus a noun or established topic
Use na when the complement is an entity, task, discussion, journey, or other activity packaged as a noun.
Baada ya mapumziko, tuliendelea na kikao hadi saa kumi na moja.
After the break, we continued with the meeting until five o'clock.
Endelea na maelezo yako; nitasubiri hadi umalize.
Continue with your explanation; I will wait until you finish.
Imperative endelea addresses one person. Na maelezo yako names the discourse already underway.
Serikali itaendelea na mradi huo baada ya tathmini ya mazingira.
The government will proceed with that project after the environmental assessment.
Class 9 serikali selects i-ta-endele-a. Here “proceed with” is more natural English than “continue doing” because mradi is a project noun.
An infinitive is itself a class 15 verbal noun, so kuendelea na kufanya... can occur when the speaker deliberately treats the activity as a topic or item. The unmarked same-subject continuative is shorter kuendelea kufanya.... This is not a completely rigid noun-versus-verb ban; it is a difference in packaging.
-Kiendelea in a dependent clause
The -ki- form commonly sets a continuing condition or background: subject + -ki- + endelea + complement.
Mvua ikiendelea kunyesha, tutahamisha sherehe ndani ya ukumbi.
If the rain continues falling, we will move the celebration inside the hall.
I-ki-endele-a is a dependent conditional/background form. It requires a main clause here; by itself, Mvua ikiendelea kunyesha leaves the consequence or frame incomplete.
Hali ikiendelea kuwa mbaya zaidi, hospitali itaomba msaada zaidi.
If the situation continues to worsen, the hospital will request more assistance.
Class 9 hali controls i-ki-endele-a. Infinitive ku-wa introduces the continuing property mbaya.
Bei zikiendelea kupanda, tutalazimika kupunguza matumizi.
If prices keep rising, we will have to reduce spending.
Class 10 bei selects zi-ki-endele-a. The English phrase “keep rising” does not license present -na- or habitual hu- automatically; Swahili chooses dependent -ki- because the clause conditions the main future.
The broader conditional and simultaneous uses of this marker are covered in the -ki- condition.
Kuendelea versus bado
Compare lexical continuation with adverbial persistence:
Asha anaendelea kusoma ripoti.
Asha is continuing to read the report.
Asha bado anasoma ripoti.
Asha is still reading the report.
The first makes continuation the predicate: she proceeds with the activity. The second says the reading remains true later than an expectation boundary. In many situations both fit, but the emphasis differs.
Asha bado anaendelea kusoma ingawa wengine wameondoka.
Asha is still continuing to read although the others have left.
Both can co-occur: independent adverb bado scopes over finite a-na-endele-a, whose controlled infinitive is ku-som-a. The combination strongly emphasizes persistence and may be heavier than either form alone.
Negating continuation
Negation applies to finite kuendelea, not to an imagined English auxiliary.
Hatuendelei kutumia mfumo wa zamani; tumehamia programu mpya.
We no longer use the old system; we have moved to new software.
Present negative is hatu-endele-i, with no -na- and final -i. A more idiomatic English translation may simply be “We no longer use,” but the Swahili explicitly denies continuation.
Hawakuendelea na safari kwa sababu daraja lilikuwa limefungwa.
They did not continue the journey because the bridge was closed.
Past negative hawa-ku-endele-a uses -ku- and keeps final -a. The noun complement follows na.
Bado hajaendelea kuandika baada ya mapumziko.
She has still not resumed writing after the break.
Negative perfect ha-ja-endele-a says the expected continuation has not begun up to now. Bado reinforces the open expectation.
Common Mistakes
Dropping ku- from the continued action
❌ Tunaendelea jadili tatizo hili.
Incorrect — the same-subject action is an infinitive.
✅ Tunaendelea kujadili tatizo hili.
We are continuing to discuss this problem.
Repeating subject and TAM on the complement
❌ Waliendelea walipakia mizigo.
Incorrect for “continued loading” — the second verb should not be finite past.
✅ Waliendelea kupakia mizigo.
They continued loading the luggage.
Keeping present -na- under negation
❌ Hatunaendelea na mazungumzo leo.
Incorrect — ordinary present negative removes -na-.
✅ Hatuendelei na mazungumzo leo.
We are not continuing the talks today.
Treating -kiendelea as an independent “still” verb
❌ Asha akiendelea kusoma ripoti sasa.
Incomplete as a standalone neutral statement — akiendelea creates a dependent frame.
✅ Asha anaendelea kusoma ripoti sasa.
Asha is continuing to read the report now.
Key Takeaways
- Finite kuendelea plus an infinitive asserts continuation of a same-subject action.
- Kuendelea na packages a noun, task, project, or discussion as what is continued.
- -Kiendelea creates a dependent continuing condition or background and normally needs a main clause.
- Bado marks persistence relative to expectation; it is a separate adverb, not a form of kuendelea.
- Negation changes the finite continuative verb while its complement structure remains intact.
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Start learning Swahili →Related Topics
- Inceptive Aspect with kuanzaB1 — Use kuanza with an infinitive or activity noun to mark entry into an action, and choose TAM according to how that beginning is viewed.
- Completion with kumaliza and kwishaB1 — Distinguish an agent finishing an activity with kumaliza from an event or supply reaching its endpoint with kwisha or kuisha.
- Still and Yet with badoB1 — Use bado to mark persistence beyond an expected point, and combine it with affirmative TAM or negative -ja- to distinguish still from not yet.
- Chains of InfinitivesB1 — Build clear chains in which one finite verb controls successive aspectual, modal, and lexical ku- infinitives.
- Conditional and Circumstantial -ki-B1 — Use subject-marked -ki- clauses for open conditions and circumstances interpreted as if, when, whenever, or while from context.