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Kiti hiki ni imara.

Kiti hiki ni imara.
This chair is sturdy.
FromLesson 27inHardcore Swahili
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Breakdown of Kiti hiki ni imara.

ni
to be
hiki
this
kiti
the chair
imara
sturdy
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More from this lesson

filamukutengenezwamwigizajiMwigizaji anakunywa juisi asubuhi.maarufuMwandishi maarufu anaandika kitabu kipya jioni.Filamu hiyo imetengenezwa na waigizaji maarufu.ukumbi

Questions & Answers about Kiti hiki ni imara.

Why is the demonstrative hiki placed after kiti, when in English we say “this chair”?
In Swahili the order is always Noun + Demonstrative. So kiti hiki literally reads “chair this,” which corresponds to English this chair.
How do I know it has to be hiki and not hii, huu or something else?

Swahili nouns fall into classes, and demonstratives agree with the class.

  • kiti is class 7 (ki-).
  • The “near-speaker this” for class 7 is hiki.
  • For other classes you’d use huu (class 1/3), hii (class 9), hivi (class 8), etc.
What’s the role of ni in Kiti hiki ni imara?
ni is the copula (the verb “to be”). It links the subject (kiti hiki) to the predicate adjective (imara).
Why doesn’t the adjective imara take a noun‐class prefix like ki- or vi-?
Some adjectives—especially borrowed or stative ones (like imara, “sturdy”)—are indeclinable in Swahili. They never take noun‐class concord, whether after ni (predicative) or next to the noun (attributive).
How would I say “The chairs are sturdy” (making it plural)?
  1. Change kiti → viti (class 8 plural).
  2. Use the class 8 demonstrative hivi.
    Result: Viti hivi ni imara.
How do I turn it into a negative sentence (“The chair is not sturdy”)?

Replace the positive copula ni with the negative si:
Kiti hiki si imara
(literally “Chair this is-not sturdy”).

What’s the difference between hiki, hicho, and kile?

They’re all class 7 demonstratives showing distance:
• hiki = “this” (close to the speaker)
• hicho = “that” (near the listener or a bit further)
• kile = “that over there” (far from both)

Can I omit kiti and just say hiki ni imara?

Yes. In Swahili a demonstrative can stand in for the whole noun phrase.
Hiki ni imara means “This one is sturdy.”