Hakuna shida; usijali.

do not worry

Breakdown of Hakuna shida; usijali.

• hakuna shida: no problem

Questions & Answers about Hakuna shida; usijali.

What does hakuna mean literally?

Hakuna literally means there is not or there are no.

It is made from:

• ha- = negative
• -kuna = there is / there are

So hakuna shida literally means there is no problem.

This is a very common Swahili pattern:

• Kuna watu. = There are people.
• Hakuna watu. = There are no people.

Why is it hakuna shida instead of something like si shida?

Hakuna shida is the natural Swahili way to say no problem in the sense of there is no problem.

Using si would be a different kind of sentence. Si is used more for is not:

• Hii si nzuri. = This is not good.

But when you want to say that a problem does not exist, Swahili normally uses hakuna:

• Hakuna shida. = There is no problem.
• Hakuna tatizo. = There is no issue.

So this is an existential idea, not just an X is not Y sentence.

What does shida mean, and is it the only word I can use here?