Swahili Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Swahili grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Swahili and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Swahili and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Swahili.

Prepositions - Swahili
and na
above juu
under chini ya
before kabla
after baada ya
in front of mbele ya
behind nyuma
far from mbali na
near karibu
in katika
inside ndani
outside nje
with na
without bila
about kuhusu
between kati ya
but lakini
for kwa
from kutoka
to kwa

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Swahili
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] mimi hula bila kisu
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] yeye anaishi karibu na kanisa
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] yeye ni mirefu kumliko
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] alikuja na mbwa wake mdogo
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] unaweza kuja na mimi?

Negation in Swahili

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Swahili
I understand you [affirmative form] ninaelewa
I don't understand you [negation + verb] siekuelewi
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] hili si neno sahihi
don't leave me [imperative negation] usiniache
no problem [negation + noun] hakuna shida

Negative Sentences - Swahili
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] sielewi kifaransa
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] yeye hakuenda ziara ya ujerumani
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] hawezi kutuona
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] hawezi kucheza saratanji?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] je sisi si kuja mwishoni mwa

Questions in Swahili

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Swahili
how? aje?
what? nini?
who? nani?
why? kwa nini?
where? wapi?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Swahili
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] unaishi wapi?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] yeye huelewa kichina?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] ni kiasi gani hii?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] ninaweza kukusaidia?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] jina lako ni nani?

Adverbs in Swahili

It's time to learn the adverbs in Swahili. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Swahili
now sasa
yesterday jana
today leo
tonight usiku wa leo
tomorrow kesho
soon hivi karibuni
quickly haraka
slowly polepole
together pamoja
very sana
almost karibu
always kawaida
usually kawaida
sometimes mara kwa mara
rarely mara chache
never kamwe

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Swahili
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] mnanielewa sasa?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] ninahitaji usaidizi mara moja
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] yeye ni mwerevu sana
I will always love you [verb + adverb] nitakupenda daima
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] tunaweza kujifunza kijerumani pamoja?

Pronouns in Swahili

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Swahili. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Swahili
I mimi
you wewe
he yeye
she yeye
we sisi
they wao

Object Pronouns - Swahili
me mimi
you wewe
him yeye
her yeye
us sisi
them wao

Possessive Pronouns - Swahili
my yangu
your yako
his yake
her yeye
our yetu
their yao

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Swahili
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] mimi ni rafiki yako
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] unaongea haraka sana
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] ana mbwa watatu
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] anaweza kuonge kijerumani
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] hatutachelewa
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] walinunua maziwa na mkate

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Swahili
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] unaweza kuniambia jina lako?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] nitakupa fedha
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] alimwandikia barua
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] walienda kwake jana
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] anaweza kutusaidia?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] aliwapa chakula

Possessive Pronouns - Swahili
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] jina langu ni maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] ndugu yako anaishi hapa
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] mama yake hutupikia
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] starehe yake ni kusoma vitabu
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] tungependelea sana kuzuru paris
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] nyumba yao ni mbali

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Swahili
this is my house hii ni nyumba yangu
that restaurant is far mkahawa huo uko mbali
these apples are delicious haya tofaa ni matamu
those stars are shiny haya nyota yang'aa

I hope you learned a lot about the Swahili grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!