Verb structure
Basic verbs consist of three elements linked into a single word, where several would
be required in English.
For example: ni-ta-pata – I will get
1) Verb prefix (i.e. ni-). This indicates the subject of the verb action and is
hence sometimes referred to as a subject marker in this context. It can be
positive (affirmative) or negative
2) Tense marker (i.e. -ta-). This indicates when the verb action took place (e.g.,
past, present, future), i.e. the tense of the verb. (It is an infix, since it comes
between two other elements and cannot be used without them.)
3) Verb stem (i.e. -pata). This is the ‘bare’ form of the verb which carries its
meaning, and which you will find in dictionaries
Tense markers
There are five tense markers, which sometimes change depending on whether the
verb is positive or negative. The three basic ones are, for positive verbs:
 Present: -na- e.g. unafanya nini? – what are you doing?
 Past: -li- e.g. ulifanya nini? – what did you do?
 Future: -ta- e.g. utafanya nini? – what will you do?
More complicated is the so-called perfect tense (really another kind of past tense),
which is used with a verb stem to show that the verb action has been completed, but
that its effects are ongoing; in this context it usually corresponds with English phrases
containing “have” followed by the past participle form of the verb:
 Perfect: -me- e.g. umefanya nini? – what have you done?
Notice the subtle difference between the past and perfect tense examples above: -meis used when the effects of the action are still relevant, whereas with -li- they are
probably not so.
Notice also how, in English, the form of the verb (e.g., do, doing, done) can change
depending on the tense. In Swahili, in most circumstances, only the tense marker
needs to change, as above.
The perfect tense is also used with certain verbs in Swahili to indicate a state which
someone or something is in, where in English we normally use the present tense:
 Nimeshiba – I am full
 Umepotea? – Are you lost?
Infinitive form of verbs (to …)
The infinitive form of a verb is just the form with ‘to’ in front in English (e.g. to go,
to eat, etc.).
In Swahili the infinitive prefix is ku- for all verbs (e.g. kutaka – to want) and is used
in a variety of contexts, e.g., in conjunction with a preceding verb:
Ninapenda kuenda Tanzania – I like to go to Tanzania
Watajaribu kupata kazi – They will try to get work
Note how ‘to go’ and ‘to get’ could also have been translated as ‘going’ and ‘getting’
in the above examples, so these (present participles) are alternative interpretations of
the Swahili infinitive.
Since the infinitive prefix is the same for all verbs, you usually learn verbs in their
stem form, without the ku- (i.e., how they will be found in the Swahili end of
dictionaries).
An exception is verb stems which have only one syllable (e.g., -la – eat), which
retain the ku- prefix in many circumstances, including in verbs using all the tense
markers above (i.e., in the positive):
Ninakula ugali – I am eating ugali (not ninala!)
Nilikula ugali – I ate ugali (not nilila)
Nitakula ugali – I shall eat ugali (not nitala)
Nimekula ugali – I have eaten ugali (i.e., recently, and so maybe, also, nimeshiba!)
[Retention of the ku- for these verbs is entirely dictated by the rules about
stress/emphasis in Swahili. While the penultimate syllable in any Swahili word
always takes the main stress, certain syllables (including the tense markers -na-, -li-,
-ta- and -me-) are not permitted to take stress, so ku- does so instead.]
N.B. Also beware verbs where the stem too begins with ku, e.g. kukutana – to meet
with (stem -kutana)
Commands: the ‘imperative’
In order to tell or command someone to do something (without intending to be
especially polite!) one uses the bare verb stem (often with an accompanying noun).
For example, nunua matunda – buy some fruit; chukua mfuko – carry the bag
Exceptions are the following verbs, where the stem is modified:
Nenda – go! (Verb stem -enda)
Njoo – come! (Verb stem -ja)
Lete – bring! (Verb stem -leta)
The monosyllabic (one-syllable) verbs retain there infinitive prefix ku- to form an
imperative:
Kula – eat! (Verb stem -la)
Kufa – die! (Verb stem -fa)
N.B. There are different rules for commanding more than one person.
Negative verb prefixes
To say that the subject of the verb is not doing the verb action, the verb prefix (or
subject marker) needs to be made negative. The corresponding M/WA prefixes are
as follows:
Positive
Negative
nisiuhuahatuhatumhamwahawaNotice how, with the exception of the irregular first-person singular, the negative
prefix is formed by adding h- or ha- to the positive prefix.
In fact, ha- is the general negative prefix, and is added unaltered to subject markers of
all other classes:
ihaizihazikihakivihavilihaliyahayaNote that these verb prefix changes hold for all tenses and all verbs. Changes to the
tense marker and verb stem differ depending on the tense.
[These prefixes are also the source of the standard Swahili greeting exchange
Hujambo? Sijambo, contracted from use with the verb to have: Huna jambo? Sina
jambo – Nothing the matter? No, nothing’s the matter.]
Present tense negatives


Present tense negative verbs have no tense marker
Present tense negative verb stems (if and only if they end in -a) change their
last (terminal) letter from an -a to -i
Huendi? – Are you not going?
Hawasemi Kiswahili – They don’t speak Swahili
Sipendi mboga – I don’t like/want vegetables [depending on context]
Kompyuta haifanyi kazi – The computer doesn’t work/isn’t working
Kisu hakifai – The knife’s not suitable
Verb stems not ending in -a (i.e. verbs of non-Bantu origin) do not change their final
letter (even if it is not an -i):
Hamfikiri? – Don’t you (all) think?
Mimi, sisahau kitu – Me, I don’t forget a thing
Note that the present tense is the only tense which sees a change to the verb stem and
the only tense which loses its tense marker when forming negatives.
Also note that there is sometimes ambiguity in the above examples as to whether they
are truly present tense, or in fact tenseless, in the sense that they denote a general
statement considered true regardless of the time of statement. As we will see, there are
ways of distinguishing such statements in the positive, but the above is the only
negative formation for these varied meanings.
Hence, for example, ‘hawasemi Kiswahili’ could also have been translated as ‘they
are not speaking Swahili (at the moment)’. Distinctions such as these are usually
made clear by context.
Monosyllabic verb stems
Note that present-tense negatives for the monosyllabic verb stems allow for the
dropping of the ‘ku-’ infinitive prefix.
For example,
Sili nyama – I don’t eat meat / I am not eating meat (verb stem -la – eat)
Musa haji – Musa is not coming / Musa doesn’t come (verb stem -ja – come)
Hawafi? – They are not dying? / They don’t die? (verb stem -fa – die)
Hatunywi pombe! – We don’t drink beer! / We are not drinking beer! (verb stem nywa – drink)
Note the alternative interpretations of all these phrases, as per the above explanation.