Mimi sina pochi leo.

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Breakdown of Mimi sina pochi leo.

• kuwa na: to have
• leo: today
• pochi: the purse

Questions & Answers about Mimi sina pochi leo.

Is the pronoun Mimi necessary here?

No. The verb form sina already shows the subject (1st person singular). You can simply say Sina pochi leo. Keeping Mimi adds emphasis, roughly “As for me, I don’t have a purse today.”

What exactly is sina and how is it formed?

Sina is the negative present form of “to have.” It comes from the negative subject prefix si- (I don’t) + na (have/with), fused as one word. Other persons:

• I have: nina | I don’t have: sina
• You (sg.) have: una | don’t: huna
• He/She has: ana | don’t: hana
• We have: tuna | don’t: hatuna
• You (pl.) have: mna | don’t: hamna
• They have: wana | don’t: hawana

Why isn’t it written as two words (si na)?

Standard Swahili writes it as one word: sina. You may see si na informally, but the correct, usual spelling is fused.

Where is the verb “to have” in Swahili?