09.11.05 Intermediate Notes - 5.11.09-1.doc

To be The verb ‘to be’ is one of the most important and useful in any language. In Swahili, the present tense of this verb is a very special case, as it is the same for all subject nouns, regardless of a) the class of the noun, b) whether it is singular or plural, and c) (in the case of M/WA nouns) 1st, 2nd or 3rd person (i.e., all the factors we normally take into consideration to use Swahili verbs correctly). The positive form is therefore equivalent to the English words ‘am’, ‘are’ and ‘is’ depending on the context of use: ni – am, are, is Mimi ni mwingereza – I am British Wewe ni mjinga! – you are an idiot! Jina langu ni Joseph – my name is Joseph Wao ni wanafunzi – they are students Note that, in spoken and informal contexts, it is quite common and acceptable to miss out the ni in some sentences, e.g. jina langu Joseph. Other tenses For the past and future tenses, ‘to be’ reverts to the standard Swahili verb structure of verb prefix-tense marker-verb stem, using verb stem -kuwa: -kuwa – to be ulikuwa mgonjwa? – were you ill (literally, a sick person)? nitakuwa mwalimu – I will be a teacher Note that, since -wa is monosyllabic, we retain the ku prefix in these verb forms. Use of the perfect tense with -kuwa is complicated, since ‘being’ is not an action which can easily be seen as having been ‘completed’ (and the present tense ni would normally be used to describe a state). However, if a state of being has helped you to your current situation, use of -me- it might be appropriate: nimekuwa mwanafunzi – I have been a student (until recently) In this case, the person’s studies may explain why he or she has reached his or her present situation, or indeed why he or she hasn’t got there sooner. Use of the past tense here would lose some of that sense of relevance to the present. -kuwa also has an extended meaning of ‘to become/get’, which can be used with the perfect, and even the present, tense: Amekuwa mzee – he/she has become old Mnakuwa wanene! – you are (all) getting (becoming) fat! (wanene – fat people/animals (M/WA plural)) Note that these statements could alternatively be expressed using the basic present tense above, but they would lose the sense of completed or ongoing process, which the -me- and -na- tense markers respectively provide. Meanwhile, in the past and future tenses any distinction between ‘be’ and ‘become’ all but disappears.

N.B. There are different rules for talking about where someone or something is. Unlike in English, one cannot simply use the verb ‘to be’ when talking about position/location. We will cover the correct form in due course. To have One of the other most important verbs is ‘to have’. The Swahili present tense is another special case, which uses verb prefixes with the stem -na, but without a tense marker. In the positive: nina kalamu – I have a pen ana dada watatu – he/she has three sisters mna nywele nzuri – you (all) have nice hair una miaka mingapi? – how old are you? (literally ‘how many years do you have?’) etc. Other tenses Other tenses are formed by expressing ‘to have’ as ‘to be with’, using -kuwa followed by na (as a separate word) in conjunction with tense markers: walikuwa na maji – they had water utakuwa na nafasi? – will you have the opportunity (nafasi – opportunity, chance, time, space, vacancy) Na is a word which expresses association, and means ‘with’ in this context na – and, with, by [Note how the change of word order between statements and questions in English (which doesn’t exist in Swahili) separates the English words ‘will’ and ‘have’ in the last example (a question). They would appear together in the equivalent statement.] Again, it is possible to imagine using the perfect tense to describe how ‘having’ a certain thing has helped one reach one’s current circumstances: umekuwa na mwalimu? – have you had a teacher (until recently)? Whether or not the person had a teacher might, for example, explain why he or she has reached his or her current knowledge/skill level so quickly (or slowly!). Again, use of the past tense would lessen some of that sense of current relevance. Present tense negatives To be The present tense negative for ‘to be’ is as simple as the present tense positive: si – am/are/is not Again, this applies regardless of noun class, singular or plural, etc.: Mimi si mnene! – I am not fat! Nyinyi si walimu – you (all) are not teachers Yeye si Mjerumani – he/she is not German Jina langu si Josephine – my name is not Josephine

To have The present tense negative of ‘to have’ has the same structure as the present tense positive, but requires the use of a negative verb prefix. For the M/WA class, the negative verb prefixes are shown below, alongside their positive counterparts: Positive niuatumwa-

Negative sihuhahatuhamhawa-

sina kalamu – I don’t have a pen hana kaka – he/she doesn’t have/has no brother hatuna nafasi – we don’t have/haven’t the opportunity In fact, these negative verb prefixes are used in all tenses for all verbs (except ‘to be’ present tense, above), so it is very important to learn them, just like the positive ones. Notice 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, as we shall see, is added unaltered to verb prefixes of all other noun classes. [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.]