Rahma hapendi bangili nzito; anapendelea pete ndogo tu.

Rahma does not like heavy bracelets; she prefers only a small ring.

Breakdown of Rahma hapendi bangili nzito; anapendelea pete ndogo tu.

• kupenda: to like
• ndogo: small
• kupendelea: to prefer
• yeye: she

Questions & Answers about Rahma hapendi bangili nzito; anapendelea pete ndogo tu.

Why does hapendi mean a negative statement, and how is it built?

In Swahili, hapendi is the negative present form of kupenda (to like / to love).

It breaks down like this:

• ha- = negative subject marker for he/she
• -pend- = verb root meaning like/love
• -i = the final vowel used in this negative form

So:

• anapenda = she likes
• hapendi = she does not like

With a person’s name like Rahma, Swahili still uses the same he/she verb pattern.

Why does hapendi end in -i instead of -a?

That is a very common Swahili pattern. In many negative verb forms, the usual final -a changes to -i.

Compare:

• anapenda = she likes
• hapendi = she does not like

So the -i helps signal that the verb is negative.

What does anapendelea mean grammatically?