Kipeto kiko hapa.

to be

Breakdown of Kipeto kiko hapa.

• hapa: here
• kipeto: the parcel

Questions & Answers about Kipeto kiko hapa.

What does kiko mean in this sentence?

Kiko is the part that means is here / is there / is located for this kind of noun.

In other words, Swahili is not using a separate word exactly like English is here. Instead, kiko already carries that idea of being in a place.

So Kipeto kiko hapa is literally something like Kipeto is located here.

Why does kiko start with ki-?

The ki- shows noun class agreement.

In this sentence, Kipeto is being treated grammatically as a class 7 singular noun, so the verb has to match it. That is why you get ki-ko rather than i-ko, li-ko, ya-ko, and so on.

This matching system is very important in Swahili:

• kitabu kiko hapa = the book is here
• vitabu viko hapa = the books are here

So the beginning of the verb changes to agree with the noun.

Why isn’t ni used for is here?