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Swahili for Beginners

Ooooops. I cheated you. I added one word to the exercises, which I hadn't explained in the lesson...


	Samahani. (Sorry / Excuse me)

Asante. (Thank you.)
Sisi ni rafiki tena ? (Are we friends again ?)
 Asante sana. (Thank you very much.)

 Let me explain to you now:


 'Je' is a question particle which remains untranslated in English. It introduces a Yes/No question and is optional. It is at the very beginning of the sentence and therefore makes clear that what follows is a question, not a statement.


 Ok. That's done. Let's go on...


 I still owe you some personal pronouns...

<table class="ui celled table">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td>yeye</td>
 <td>he/she</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>ninyi</td>
 <td>you (pl) </td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

 Yeye ni mvuvi. - He is a fisherman.


 Yeye ni mwanamke. - She is a woman.


 Je ninyi ni wavuvi? - Are you (pl) fishermen?


 The possessive pronouns are:

<table class="ui celled definition table">
 <thead>
 <tr>
 <th>Personal pronouns</th>
 <th>Possessive pronouns</th>
 <th>M/Wa class</th>
 <th>N/N class sg</th>
 <th>N/N class pl</th>
 </tr>
 </thead>
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td>yeye - he/ she</td>
 <td>-ake - his /her</td>
 <td>wake</td>
 <td>yake</td>
 <td>zake</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>ninyi - you(pl) </td>
 <td>-enu - your</td>
 <td>wenu</td>
 <td>yenu</td>
 <td>zenu</td>
 </tr>
 
 </tbody>
</table>
 Mvuvi na samaki wake - The fisherman and his fish(es)* 
 
*fishes are taking M/Wa possessives as you should know by now.


 Samaki wako na samaki wake - your fish and his fish


 Baba yake ni mkali. - His father is severe.


 Dada zake ni wazuri. - His (her) sisters are beautiful.

Mbwa wenu ni mkubwa. - Your (pl) dog is big.


 Ninyi na mbwa wenu na paka wenu - You (pl) and your dog(s) and your cat(s)

 
 So let's have one table showing it all:

<table class="ui celled definition table">
 <thead>
 <tr>
 <th>Personal pronouns</th>
 <th>Possessive pronouns</th>
 <th>M/Wa class</th>
 <th>N/N class sg</th>
 <th>N/N class pl</th>
 </tr>
 </thead>
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td>mimi - I</td>
 <td>-angu - my</td>
 <td>wangu</td>
 <td>yangu</td>
 <td>zangu</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>wewe - you (sg)</td>
 <td>-ako - your</td>
 <td>wako</td>
 <td>yako</td>
 <td>zako</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>yeye - he/ she</td>
 <td>-ake - his /her</td>
 <td>wake</td>
 <td>yake</td>
 <td>zake</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>sisi - we</td>
 <td>-etu - our</td>
 <td>wetu</td>
 <td>yetu</td>
 <td>zetu</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>ninyi - you (pl) </td>
 <td>-enu - your</td>
 <td>wenu</td>
 <td>yenu</td>
 <td>zenu</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>wao - they</td>
 <td>-ao - their</td>
 <td>wao</td>
 <td>yao</td>
 <td>zao</td>
 </tr>
 
 </tbody>
</table>

	zaidi following an adjective means more (comparative)


 mkubwa zaidi - bigger


 kuliko - than


 mkubwa zaidi kuliko - bigger than


 mzuri zaidi kuliko - better than / nicer than


 mdogo zaidi kuliko - smaller than


 Mambo wangu ni wakubwa zaidi kuliko wako. - My crocodiles are bigger than yours.*


 *How do we know that there are crocodileS and not just one for each of us? Wangu and Wake don't tell us anything about the number, but there is Wakubwa in the sentence which is definitely plural. Had we each only one crocodile it should be Mkubwa.

 
 Rafiki yangu ni mzuri zaidi kuliko wako. - My friend is nicer than yours.
 
 
 Mpishi wao ni mzuri zaidi kuliko wetu. - Their cook is better than ours.
 
 
 Mkulima ni mrefu zaidi kuliko mvuvi. - The farmer is taller than the fisherman.

Question	Answer
he / she	yeye
you (pl)	ninyi
He is a fisherman.	Yeye ni mvuvi.
thank you	asante
very	sana
thank you very much	asante sana
She is a woman.	Yeye ni mwanamke.
He is a boy.	Yeye ni mvulana.
You are girls.	Ninyi ni wasichana.
Are you fishermen?	Je ninyi ni wavuvi?
sorry	samahani
again	tena
Are we friends again?	Sisi ni rafiki tena?
her cat(s)	paka wake
her mother	mama yake
her sisters	dada zake
the fisherman and his fish	mvuvi na samaki wake
your fish and his fish	samaki wako na samaki wake
His father is severe.	Baba yake ni mkali.
Her sisters are nice.	Dada zake ni wazuri. = His sisters are nice.
Your (pl) dog is big.	Mbwa wenu ni mkubwa.
You (pl) and your dogs and your cats.	Ninyi na mbwa wenu na paka wenu.
more	zaidi
than	kuliko
bigger than	mkubwa zaidi kuliko
better than / nicer than	mzuri zaidi kuliko
smaller than	mdogo zaidi kuliko
My crocodiles are bigger than yours.*	Mamba wangu ni wakubwa zaidi kuliko wako. *How do we know that there are crocodileS and not just one for each of us? Wangu and Wake don't tell us anything about the number, but there is Wakubwa in the sentence which is definitely plural. Had we each only one crocodile it should be Mkubwa.
My friend is nicer than yours.	Rafiki yangu ni mzuri zaidi kuliko yako.
Their cook is better than ours.	Mpishi wao ni mzuri zaidi kuliko wetu.
The farmer is taller than the fisherman.	Mkulima ni mrefu zaidi kuliko mvuvi.
Your (pl) sisters are shorter than she.	Dada zenu ni wafupi zaidi kuliko yeye.
His cockroaches are worse than your (pl) spiders.	Mende wake ni wabaya zaidi kuliko buibui wenu.
Her bird is very beautiful.	Ndege wake ni mzuri sana.
His parents are so nice.	Wazazi wake ni wazuri sana.
Your (pl) mothers are so honest.	Mama zenu ni waaminifu sana.
His friend is more trustworthy than him.	Rafiki yake ni mwaminifu zaidi kuliko yeye.
The giraffe is taller than the lion.	Twiga ni mrefu zaidi kuliko simba.
The crocodile is more fierce than the fish.	Mamba ni mkali zaidi kuliko samaki.
The travelers are worse than my guests.	Wasafiri ni wabaya zaidi kuliko wageni wangu.