Mimi nina simu mkononi.

I have a phone in my hand.

Breakdown of Mimi nina simu mkononi.

• mimi: I
• kuwa na: to have
• simu: the phone
• mkononi: in the hand

Questions & Answers about Mimi nina simu mkononi.

What does each word in Mimi nina simu mkononi literally mean?

Word by word:

• Mimi – I / me (independent pronoun)
• nina – I have / I am with (verb form meaning “have” in the present)
• simu – phone / telephone (also “telephone line” or “call” in other contexts)
• mkononi – in (my) hand
  
  • mkono – hand / arm
  • -ni – locative ending meaning “in / on / at”
    So mkono + ni → mkononi = “in the hand”.

The natural English translation is: “I have a phone in my hand” or “I’m holding a phone.”

Why do we say Mimi nina when both mimi and nina already refer to “I”? Isn’t that redundant?

Yes, they both refer to the first person singular, but they play different roles:

• mimi is an independent pronoun (like stressing “I” in English).
• nina already contains the subject inside it:
  • ni- = I (subject prefix)
  • -na = present tense “have / with”

So nina by itself already means “I have”.

Using both together (Mimi nina…) adds emphasis to the subject, like saying:

• “I have a phone in my hand (not someone else).”

In normal, neutral speech, you can simply say:

• Nina simu mkononi. – “I have a phone in my hand.”

Use Mimi nina… when you want to contrast or emphasize who it is:

• Yeye hana simu mkononi, lakini mimi nina simu mkononi.
  “He/She doesn’t have a phone in (their) hand, but I do.”

Can I drop Mimi and just say Nina simu mkononi?

Yes, and that’s actually the default way to say it.

• Nina simu mkononi. is fully correct and completely natural.

You mainly add mimi when:

• you are contrasting with someone else:
  • Wao hawana simu, lakini mimi nina simu. – “They don’t have phones, but I do.”
• you want extra emphasis on “I” for stylistic reasons.

Otherwise, just using nina is enough.

What exactly is nina grammatically, and what tense is it?

Nina is a verb form meaning “I have / I am with” in the present tense.

Inside nina:

• ni- = I (subject prefix, first person singular)
• -na = present tense marker (here used with the meaning “have / with”)

It comes from the verb kuwa na – “to have / to be with”.

Present tense forms of kuwa na are:

• nina – I have
• una – you (sg) have
• ana – he / she has
• tuna – we have
• mna – you (pl) have
• wana – they have

So nina simu means both:

• “I have a phone” (general possession), and
• “I’m currently with a phone” (depending on context).

With mkononi, the sentence sounds very immediate / physical:

• Nina simu mkononi. – “I (right now) have a phone in my hand.”

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before simu?

Swahili does not use articles like English “a / an / the”.

The bare noun simu can mean:

• “a phone”
• “the phone”
• just “phone(s)” in general

Context supplies the meaning. For example:

• Nina simu mkononi.
  → “I have a phone in my hand.” (most natural reading)

If both speaker and listener already know which specific phone you’re talking about, the same sentence could be understood as:

• “I have the phone in my hand.”

There is no separate word that corresponds directly to English “a / the”.

Is simu singular or plural here? How can I tell?

On its own, simu can be either singular or plural. It belongs to the N-class (class 9/10) of nouns, where:

• singular: simu
• plural: simu (same form)

You figure out singular vs plural from context or from other words in the sentence:

• Nina simu moja. – I have one phone. (singular)
• Nina simu mbili. – I have two phones. (plural)
• Simu yangu – my phone (singular, from agreement in -yangu)
• Simu zangu – my phones (plural, zangu shows plural)

In Mimi nina simu mkononi, with no number marker, it is most naturally understood as one phone: “I have a phone in my hand.”

What is mkononi exactly, and how is it formed from mkono?

Mkononi is a locative form meaning “in (the) hand” or “in (my) hand”.

Formation:

• Base noun: mkono – hand / arm
• Locative suffix: -ni – in / on / at
• Result: mkono + ni → mkononi – “in the hand”

Swahili often uses -ni instead of a separate preposition like “in / on / at”:

• nyumba (house) → nyumbani – at home
• meza (table) → mezani – on the table
• shule (school) → shuleni – at school
• mkono (hand) → mkononi – in (the) hand

So simu mkononi = “a phone (that is) in (the) hand.”
Since the subject is “I”, English naturally makes it “in my hand”.

Why isn’t “my” written explicitly, like simu mkononi mwangu?

Swahili often omits possessive words like “my” with body parts and things very closely associated with the subject, when it’s obvious whose they are.

Because the subject is I, and we’re talking about a hand attached to me, mkononi is automatically understood as “in my hand”.

You only add an explicit possessive when you need to be very clear or contrast something:

• Nina simu mkononi mwangu. – I have a phone in my hand.
  (emphasizing it’s my own hand)
• Nina simu mkononi mwake. – I have a phone in his/her hand.
  (unusual situation, so the possessive is important)

In everyday speech, Nina simu mkononi is enough and natural for “I have a phone in my hand.”

How would I say similar sentences like “I have a phone in my pocket” or “in the bag”?

You keep the same pattern: Nina simu + [place-form].

Some common-location examples:

• Nina simu mfukoni.
  – I have a phone in my pocket.
  (mfuko – pocket/bag, mfukoni – in the pocket)

• Nina simu kwenye mfuko. / Nina simu ndani ya mfuko.
  – I have a phone in the pocket / in a bag.
  (kwenye / ndani ya both work like “in / inside”.)

• Nina simu kwenye begi. / Nina simu ndani ya begi.
  – I have a phone in the bag.

The structure is:

• Nina [thing] [location]
  = “I have [thing] in/on/at [location].”

Is there any difference between Nina simu mkononi and Nimeshika simu?

They are close in meaning but with a slight nuance:

• Nina simu mkononi.
  Literally: “I have a phone in (my) hand.”
  Focus: the phone’s location (it is in your hand, being held or resting there).

• Nimeshika simu.
  ni-me-shika = I-have-held / I am holding.
  Focus: the act of holding / gripping the phone.

In many everyday situations they can both be translated as:

• “I’m holding a phone.”

But:

• If you just want to say where the phone is, Nina simu mkononi is more natural.
• If you want to stress the action of gripping, Nimeshika simu is clearer.

Can I change the word order, for example Simu nina mkononi or Nina mkononi simu?

Basic, neutral word order in Swahili is Subject – Verb – Object – (Place):

• Mimi nina simu mkononi.
• (or just) Nina simu mkononi.

About your examples:

• Simu nina mkononi.
  This can be used, but it is marked / emphatic, like saying:
  “It’s a phone that I have in my hand” (answering “What do you have in your hand?”).

• Nina mkononi simu.
  This is not natural. The location mkononi goes after the noun it modifies (simu), so they normally stay together as simu mkononi.

For learners, it’s best to stick to:

• (Mimi) nina simu mkononi.

How would I ask “Do you have a phone in your hand?” in Swahili?

Use the same structure, changing the subject and adding question intonation (or je):

• Una simu mkononi?
  – Do you have a phone in your hand?

More explicitly:

• Je, una simu mkononi?
  – Do you have a phone in your hand?

If you want to emphasize “you”:

• Wewe una simu mkononi?
  – You have a phone in your hand?

Is nina ever written as two words (ni na), and is it the same as “I am”?

In modern standard Swahili, it’s written as one word: nina.

• Historically, it comes from the combination of ni (I) and na (with/have), but it has fused into a single verb form.

Also, nina is not the same as “I am”:

• mimi ni… = I am …
  
  • Mimi ni mwalimu. – I am a teacher.
• mimi nina… = I have …
  
  • Mimi nina simu. – I have a phone.

So:

• ni (as a copula) = am/is/are (linking to a noun/adjective)
• nina (as a verb) = I have / I am with.

How do I pronounce Mimi nina simu mkononi?

Pronunciation (roughly):

• Mimi – MEE-mee
• nina – NEE-na
• simu – SEE-moo
• mkononi – m-ko-NO-nee
  
  • The initial mk: you briefly say m then k together, like “m’ko-NO-nee”.

Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:

• MI-mi
• NI-na
• SI-mu
• mko-NO-ni

Said smoothly: MEE-mee NEE-na SEE-moo m-ko-NO-nee.