Yeye ni rafiki.

to be

Breakdown of Yeye ni rafiki.

• yeye: he/she
• rafiki: the friend

Questions & Answers about Yeye ni rafiki.

Why is yeye used instead of separate words for "he" or "she"?

In Swahili, yeye is a gender-neutral pronoun. It can mean either "he" or "she" depending on context. There are no separate words for "he" and "she" in Swahili, so yeye covers both.

Does yeye ever mean "it" in Swahili?

Typically, yeye is used for people. If you’re referring to an object, you’d use different words based on the noun class of that object. So yeye rarely means "it."

What does ni mean in this sentence?

Ni is the verb "to be" in Swahili. It’s used to link the subject and the complement. In this sentence, it functions like the English "is."

Why is rafiki used in this form? Does it change for plural?

Rafiki means "friend" in the singular. For the plural form, you add an m- prefix to get marafiki, which means "friends." However, some speakers also simply say rafiki for both singular and plural in informal contexts.

How would you negate this sentence?

To negate Yeye ni rafiki, you would say Yeye si rafiki. Here, si is the negation marker that replaces ni in this context.