McGrath Donovan and Marten Lutz - Colloquial Swahili: The Complete Course for Beginners

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change (slightly) depending on the class of the noun, as we have

already seen with the possessive marker in the last unit. The con-

cord of the M-WA class is a- in the singular, and wa- for plural.

These are placed before the tense the marker and/or the beginning

of the verb:

Mkenya anatoka Nairobi.

The Kenyan (he) comes from Nairobi.

Wakenya wanatoka Kenya.

The Kenyans (they) come from Kenya.

Msichana anatoka Chicago.

The girl comes from Chicago.

Wasichana wanatoka Mbeya.

The girls come from Mbeya.

When used without a noun, a- means simply ‘he’ or ‘she’, and wa-

means ‘they’ – meaning that whoever exactly is meant, he, she, or

they are living beings:

Anaishi Nairobi.

She/he lives in Nairobi.

Wanatoka Ujerumani.

They come from Germany.

The nominal preﬁx m- is a syllable, so it is M-hindi, M-faransa,

etc. Listen carefully to the speakers on the audio material.

There is no expression for ‘the’ or ‘a’, known as the ‘deﬁnite’

or ‘indeﬁnite article’ in Swahili. Mwafrika, for example, can mean

either the African or an African.

When used with an M-WA noun, the possessive marker (cf. Unit

1, Dialogue 3) is formed with the possessive concord w-, for both

singular and plural:

mtoto wangu my child

mgeni wetu our guest

mvulana wake her/his boy

watoto wangu my children

wageni wenu your (pl.) guests

wavulana wao their boys

Language use

Saying where you come from

Ninatoka Uingereza I come from England

Marekani America

Uholanzi Holland

Ujerumani Germany

Ngazija the Comoros

Ulaya Europe

New York New York

London London

Ubelgiji Belgium

Msumbiji Mozambique

Rumi (or Roma) Rome

Kanada Canada

Asking where someone comes from

Unatoka wapi? Where do you (sing.) come from?

Mnatoka wapi? Where do you (pl.) come from?

Anatoka wapi? Where does s/he come from?

Wanatoka wapi? Where do they come from?

Asking someone where they were born

Umezaliwa wapi? Where were you born?

Mmezaliwa wapi? Where were you (pl.) born?

Amezaliwa wapi? Where was s/he born?

Wamezaliwa wapi? Where were they born?

Saying where you were born

Nimezaliwa Paris I was born in Paris

Unguja Zanzibar

Ujerumani Germany

Los Angeles Los Angeles

Hong Kong Hong Kong

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Exercise 1

How would you say the following in English?

1 Mimi ni Mwingereza.

2 Ninatoka Uingereza.

3 Nimezaliwa Uingereza.

4 Unatoka wapi?

5 Umezaliwa wapi?

And how would you say the following in Swahili?

6 Amos comes from Bukoba.

7 Leo comes from London.

8 Kathy comes from New York.

9 Where do you (pl.) come from?

10 Where do they come from?

Exercise 2

Fill in the gaps with the correct singular or plural form.

E.g. Mtanzania Watanzania

1 Mtoto ________

2 Mfaransa ________

3 ________ Waingereza

4 Msichana ________

5 ________ Wageni

Exercise 3

Habari zako? Give some details about yourself: your name, where

you were born and your nationality. Listen again to Dialogue 1.

An example is provided in the answer key.

Dialogue 2

As they become better acquainted the students ask each other further

details about their lifestyles

1 Who among the students lives off campus?

2 Do any of the students in this conversation share accommoda-

tion?

: Bwana Amos, wewe unakaa wapi?

MOS

: Ninakaa Mwenge, nje kidogo ya eneo la chuo kikuu.

: Si mbali na hapa chuo kikuu. Je, unakwenda kwa miguu?

MOS

: La, ninakuja hapa kwa daladala. Na wewe, unakaa wapi?

: Mimi ninakaa hapa hapa chuo kikuu katika Bweni la

Nne.

MOS

: Kwa bahati wewe unaweza kuﬁka darasani kwa miguu.

Na wewe, Bibi Subira, unakaa wapi?

UBIRA

: Ninakaa hapa chuo kikuu katika Bweni la Tatu. Bibi

Kathy pia anakaa Bweni la Tatu.

MOS

: Basi mnaishi pamoja!

ATHY

: Hapana. Sisi tunaishi kwenye jumba moja tu.

: Mr Amos, where do you live?

MOS

: I live in Mwenge, just outside the campus.

: It’s not far from the university. Do you come on foot?

MOS

: No. I come here by daladala. And where are you staying?

: I am staying right here at the university, in Hall Four.

MOS

: Fortunately you can come to class on foot. And you, Miss

Subira, where are you staying?

UBIRA

: I’m staying here at the university in Hall Three. Miss Kathy

is also staying in Hall Three.

MOS

: So you live together!

ATHY

: No. We just live in the same building.

Vocabulary

-kaa sit, stay, reside at, inhabit

nje outside

kidogo a little, a bit

eneo la region (of), area (of)

chuo kikuu university

si it (Mwenge) is not

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mbali na far from

hapa here (hapa hapa, right here in this place/spot)

-weza can, be able, be capable

(kw)-enda go, walk

miguu feet, legs (sing. mguu)

-ﬁka arrive, come to

la no (same as hapana in replies)

(ku)-ja (to) come

daladala local minibus (see the following Language point)

bweni dormitory/hall of residence (Bweni la Nne/Tatu =

Hall Four/Three)

bahati luck, chance, fate (kwa bahati, luckily, fortunately)

darasa classroom, lesson, class period (darasani, at/in/to/

from the classroom)

pamoja together

jumba building

moja one

tu only, just

Language point

Daladala, so-named since at the

time they charged a fare of one

dala, ﬁve Tanzanian shillings.

These are small, private mini-

buses that operate in the large

towns in Tanzania. This type

of bus service is often found in

various African countries and is

sometimes given a name, for

example, in Kenya these buses are called matatu.

Language use

Saying where you stay/reside

Ninakaa kwenye Chuo kikuu

I am staying at the university

kwenye jumba kubwa

I am residing in/at a big building

Ninakaa katika nyumba nzuri

I am residing in a ﬁne house

katika nyumba ndogo

I am staying in a small house

Ninakaa hotelini I am staying at a hotel

nyumbani I am staying at home

kijijini I am living in a village

mjini I am living in town

Language structure

Talking about locations

Above you will notice that there are two ways of referring to a loca-

tion: using the preposition kwenye (‘at, in, on’) or katika (‘at, in,

into, inside of’), or the use of the sufﬁx -ni. Both mean ‘at/near/in/on

somewhere’, depending on context. Katika and kwenye are used

when the noun is followed by a word modifying it (i.e. giving more

information about it), for example a possessive or an adjective:

Ninakaa hotelini.

I am staying at/in a hotel.

Ninatoka hotelini.

I am coming from the hotel.

Ninakaa katika hoteli yake.

I am staying at/in his hotel.

Ninakaa kwenye hoteli nzuri.

I am staying at/in a nice hotel.

As you can see from the third example, hoteli is an N-class noun

(note the form of the possessive yake). Like possessives, adjectives

like nzuri follow the noun in Swahili.

The ending -ni turns nouns into locations. It can be added to

almost any noun, with the exception of living creatures. Names of

countries, towns and villages do not take the -ni ending since the

‘locative’ meaning is already clear from the noun:

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Ninakaa Nairobi.

I live in Nairobi.

Msichana anakaa Uingereza.

The girl lives in England.

Ninatoka Arusha.

I come from Arusha.

Some exceptional, usually borrowed, nouns also do not take -ni

even if they are used in a locative sense. These include sinema and

posta:

Ninatoka sinema.

I am coming from the cinema.

Ninatoka posta.

I am coming from the post ofﬁce.

You will ﬁnd that speakers vary the nouns they use with or without

the -ni. For example, hospitali, ‘hospital’, and maktaba, ‘library’,

(from Arabic) are heard in the locative sense, while other speakers

would use hospitalini and maktabani in these contexts.

As mentioned earlier, the stress in a Swahili word is placed on

the last but one (penultimate) vowel. Therefore, with the addition

of the -ni sufﬁx the stress is moved further along the word, for

example (these examples are included on the audio material):

hotéli → hotelíni

nyúmba → nyumbáni

Language use

Saying where you live

Ninaishi Mombasa I live in Mombasa

Tanzania I live in Tanzania

Marekani I live in America

kwenye hoteli I live in a hotel

hotelini I live in a hotel

kwenye jumba kubwa I live in a big building

kwenye nyumba nzuri I live in a ﬁne house

nyumbani I live at home

Describing your means of transportation

Ninakuja kwa miguu I come on foot

kwa daladala I come by minibus

Ninakwenda kwa miguu I travel on foot

kwa daladala I travel by minibus

kwa basi I travel by bus

kwa gari I travel by car

kwa treni I travel by train

Exercise 4

Answer these questions in Swahili:

1 Unatoka wapi?

2 Sasa unakaa wapi?

3 Umezaliwa wapi?

4 Mimi ni Mtanzania, wewe ni . . .?

5 Familia yako wanaishi wapi?

Exercise 5

Say in Swahili:

1 A German

2 An African

3 A Japanese

4 I am an American

Exercise 6

Complete the sentences with the appropriate word from the list.

The ﬁrst one has been answered for you.

Mwingereza Mchina

Waingereza Wachina

Mfaransa Mjerumani

Wafaransa Wajerumani

Mwafrika Mmarekani

Waafrika Wamarekani

1 Nimezaliwa Uingereza kwa hiyo mimi ni Mwingereza.

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2 Amezaliwa Afrika kwa hiyo yeye ni ________

3 Wamezaliwa Uchina kwa hiyo wao ni ________

4 Umezaliwa Ufaransa kwa hiyo wewe ni ________

5 Tumezaliwa Marekani kwa hiyo sisi ni ________

6 Mmezaliwa Ujerumani kwa hiyo nyinyi ni ________

Dialogue 3

It seems that some of the information the students shared among

themselves has been forgotten during their conversation, so they need

to get things straight

1 Amos is conﬁdent that he has not forgotten what he was told,

but what does Subira think?

2 Amos is a little concerned about their inability to remember

what they have told each other about themselves. Why?

UBIRA

: Eti Bibi Kathy, je, wewe ni Mwingereza?

ATHY

: Hapana, mimi si Mwingereza. Mimi ni Mmarekani.

UBIRA

: Samahani. Nimesahau habari zako. Unatoka sehemu

gani?

ATHY

: Ninatoka New York, lakini nilizaliwa katika jiji jingine,

Los Angeles.

UBIRA

: Ndiyo, ndiyo. Sasa ninakumbuka.

MOS

: Hebu Bibi Subira mimi sisahau habari zako. Wewe ni

Mkenya, tena umezaliwa Nairobi na sasa unaishi katika

kijiji.

UBIRA

: Hapana bwana, siyo! Umeshindwa kukumbuka habari

zangu zote. Kweli mimi ni Mkenya lakini sikai kijijini.

Nimezaliwa kijijini, lakini siku hizi ninaishi mjini Nairobi.

ATHY

: Bwana Leo, wewe na Bwana Amos mnakaa pamoja

kwenye Bweni la Nne au siyo?

: Umekosea bibi. Hatuishi pamoja. Mimi ninakaa hapa

hapa chuo kikuu, bali mwenzetu, Bwana Amos, anakaa

Mwenge.

MOS

: Jamani! Inaonekana kwamba hatukumbuki habari zetu.

Ninatumai tunaweza kukumbuka masomo yetu! (Wote

wanacheka!)

UBIRA

: Hey there Miss Kathy, are you British?

ATHY

: No, I’m not British. I am an American.

UBIRA

: I’m sorry. I’ve forgotten about you. What part do you

come from?

ATHY

: I come from New York, but I was born in another city,

Los Angeles.

UBIRA

: Yes indeed. Now I remember.

MOS

: Hey Miss Subira, I don’t forget what you said. You are

Kenyan, and what’s more you were born in Nairobi, and

now you’re living in a village.

UBIRA

: No sir, that’s not it! You have failed to remember every-

thing about me. True, I am Kenyan but I don’t live in a

village. I was born in a village, but nowadays I live in

town, in Nairobi.

MOS

: Thanks a lot for reminding me miss.

ATHY

: Mr Leo, aren’t you and Mr Amos living together in Hall

Four?

: You’re wrong there, miss. We don’t live together. I am

living right here at the university, on the other hand our

companion, Mr Amos, is living in Mwenge.

MOS

: My goodness! It seems that we don’t remember what we

said to each other. I hope we can remember our studies!

(They all laugh!)

Vocabulary

eti (to get attention) listen here

si am not, are not, isn’t (see Language structure)

samahani excuse me, I’m sorry

-sahau forget

sehemu part, section, portion

jiji city (jiji jingine, another city)

-kumbuka remember, recall

hebu an expression used to draw attention (also ebu,

‘Look here!’, ‘Listen!’, ‘Hey there!’)

siyo it is not so, no

-shindwa be beaten, fail

zote all (in reference to habari, news)

kweli true

sikai I don’t live/stay (from -kaa, live/stay, see Language

structure)

-kosea make an error, be mistaken, be wrong

hatuishi we don’t live (from -ishi, live, see Language structure)

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