Swahili Adjectives

Welcome to the second Swahili lesson about adjectives. This time we will first learn about colors, followed by grammar rules, then weather expressions, finally a conversation in Swahili to help you practice your daily phrases.

black nyeusi

grey kijivu

white nyeupe

blue bluu

green kijani kibichi

yellow manjano

red nyekundu

brown hudhurungi

Adjectives Grammar Rules

In general adjectives are words which describe or modify another person or object in a given sentence. For example: a beautiful flower the adjective is [beautiful] because it describes the noun [flower]. The following examples use adjectives in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Grammar Rules - Swahili
my house is white [noun + adjective] nyumba yangu ni nyeupe
your country is big [noun + adjective] nchi yako ni kubwa
new books are expensive [plural + adjective] vitabu vipya ni ghali
we are happy here [pronoun + verb + adjective] sisi tuna furaha hapa
she has three small dogs [adjective + plural] yeye ana mbwa watatu wadogo
this language is very easy [adverb + adjective] lugha hii ni rahisi sana
I have a small green house [adjective + adjective] nina nyumba ndogo rangi ya kijani kibichi

We're not done yet! The following is a list of more adjectives for you, often used when referring to weather conditions. I think it would be wise to memorize them.

cold baridi

hot joto

cloudy mawingu

rainy kunyesha

snowy kunyesha theluji

sunny jua

windy upepo

warm joto

Conversation in Swahili

Now we finally reach the most exciting part, the practice of the daily expressions used in almost every conversation. I recommend memorizing these phrases, because you will need them for sure.

English - Swahili
hi hi
how are you? habari gani?
I'm good, thank you nzuri
and you? labda wewe?
what is your name? jina lako ni nani?
my name is Maya jina langu ni maya
nice to meet you nafurahi kukutana na wewe

I hope you enjoyed this lesson about adjectives in Swahili. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below.