Usiweke sumu karibu na chakula.

Do not place poison near food.

Breakdown of Usiweke sumu karibu na chakula.

• kuweka: to place
• sumu: the poison
• karibu na chakula: near the food

Questions & Answers about Usiweke sumu karibu na chakula.

How do you form the negative command for weka (“to put”) in Swahili?

Negative imperatives for second-person singular are formed by:

1. Prefixing usi- (the “do-not” marker for you-singular) to the verb stem.
2. Changing the final -a of the verb to -e.
   So weka becomes usiweke (“don’t put”).

What does sumu mean, and does it change in plural?

Sumu means poison (or any toxic substance). It belongs to noun class 9/10, which often has the same form for singular and plural. If you need to show “a lot of poison,” you can say sumu nyingi (“much/many poisons”), but the basic form sumu works for both.

What is the role of karibu na in this sentence?

Karibu is an indeclinable word meaning near. To link it to a noun, you add the preposition na, so karibu na X = near to X. Here, karibu na chakula = “near the food.”

Could you say karibu chakula without using na?

No. Without na, karibu tends to mean “almost” or “approximately,” not physical proximity. For location, Swahili requires karibu na before the noun.

Why is chakula in its singular form rather than plural?

Chakula is a mass/uncountable noun meaning food in general. There’s no need for a plural. If you specifically wanted to talk about various food items, you could use vyakula (“foods”), but in general warnings chakula is standard.

How would you tell more than one person “Don’t put poison near food”?

Use the second-person plural negative imperative prefix musi- plus final -e:
Musiweke sumu karibu na chakula.

If you wanted to soften the command, how could you add “please”?

Insert tafadhali (“please”) at the start or end of the sentence. For example:
• Tafadhali, usiweke sumu karibu na chakula.
• Usiweke sumu karibu na chakula, tafadhali.

Can you break down the literal meanings of each word in Usiweke sumu karibu na chakula?

• Usiweke = “you must not put” (negative you-singular imperative)
• sumu = “poison”
• karibu = “near”
• na = “to/with” (preposition)
• chakula = “food”