Swahili Pronouns

Swahili Pronouns
Learning the Swahili Pronouns is very important because its structure is used in every day
conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Swahili
language. But first we need to know what the role of Pronouns is in the structure of the grammar
in Swahili.
Swahili pronouns include personal pronouns (refer to the persons speaking, the persons spoken
to, or the persons or things spoken about), indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns (connect parts
of sentences) and reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted
on by verb's subject).
Grammar Tips:
In English personal pronouns are (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they), and (me, you, him, her, it, us,
you, them), In Swahili, the personal pronouns are:
Mimi (I), wewe (you), yeye (he/she),
sisi (we), ninyi/nyinyi (you)

wao (they masc/fem.)

Examples: mimi husoma(I learn), wewe husoma(you learn), yeye husoma (he/she
learns), ninyi/nyinyi husoma (you learn ), sisi husoma (we learn),), wao husoma
(they learn),
1st person- Mimi (singular) sisi ( plural)
2nd Person wewe(singular) ninyi/nyonyi( plural)
3rd person- yeye( singular)- wao(plural)
The above are called free pronouns.
There are bound/indirect pronouns as used in the section of negation for the same.
1st Peson- ni/tu for example ninaenda (I am going), tunaenda (we are going)
2nd Person u/m for example unaenda (you are going), mnaenda (you (plural) are going)
3rd person a/wa for example anaenda(she/he is going), wanaenda( they are going)

The above examples are in present tense. You can do the same for the past and
future tense

Possessive Pronouns:
The possessive pronouns in Swahili have no feminine or masculine aspect. They
depend mainly on the pronouns and the noun class.
The roots are
1st person: -angu((mine-singular),- etu ((ours-plural) For example: yangu ni hii(this is
mine), yetu ni hii(this ours) This is in the class of I-ZI
Changu ni hiki (this is mine), chetu ni hiki( this ours). This is in the class of KI-VI
2nd person:ako( yours)(singular),- enu(yours-prulal) For example: yako ni hii( this is
yours), yenu ni hii( these are yours-prulal)
Chako ni hiki(this is yours), chenu ni hiki(this is yours-prulal)
3rd person: -ake( hers/his), -ao(theirs) For example: yake ni hii( this is hers/his) yao ni
hii( these are theirs)
Chake ni hiki( this is hers), Chao ni hiki( this is theirs)
Note: in Swahili the possessive pronouns are used without the nouns. If you use them
together with the nouns they become adjectives.
For example: Yangu ni hii(this is mine) Yangu is a possessive pronoun here
Nyumba yangu ni hii(this is my house) Yangu is a possessive adjective

Here are some examples:

English Pronouns

Swahili Pronouns

Pronouns
I
you
he
she
we
they

Viwakilishi
mimi
wewe
yeye
yeye
sisi
wao

me
you
him

mimi
wewe
yeye

English Pronouns

Swahili Pronouns

her
us
them

yeye
sisi
wao

my
your
his
her
our
their

yangu
yako
yake
yeye
yetu
yao

mine
yours
his
hers
ours
theirs

yangu
yako
yake
yake
yetu
yao

As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Pronouns in Swahili has a logical
pattern. Locate the Pronouns above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in
Kiswahili.

List of Pronouns in Swahili

Below is a list of the Personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns, reciprocal or
reflexive pronouns in Swahili placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very
useful and important words to your Swahili vocabulary.
English Pronouns

Swahili Pronouns

I speak
you speak
he speaks
she speaks
we speak
they speak

ninasema
unasema
anasema
anasema
tunasema
wanasema

give me
give you
give him
give her
give us
give them

nipe
upewe
mpe
mpe
tupe
wape

English Pronouns
my book
your book
his book
her book
our book
their book

Swahili Pronouns
kitabu changu
kitabu chako
kitabu chake
kitabu chake
kitabu chetu
kitabu chao