SWAHILI: UNIT 10 ADJECTIVES,

ADVERBS, AND SYNTAX

UNIT OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Modify adjectives beginning with consonants and vowels for nouns

of all classes

Form and use adverbs properly

Form basic descriptive sentences (subject, verb, object, adjective)

Master the following vocabulary: Swahili Unit 10 Vocabulary

ADJECTIVES
Swahili words come from several sources: the primary sources are African
languages of the Bantu family. About 30% of the lexicon comes from Arabic. A
small portion of words come from European or Asian languages of the Indian
Ocean Basin.
The rules for adjective formation actually follow the origins of the adjectives
themselves. Adjectives of Bantu origin follow the rules of basic Bantu grammar:
they are formed by combining noun class prefixes with adjective stems.
Adjectives of Arabic origin dont follow these same rulesthey take no prefixes.
Lets look at these rules of adjective formation in detail.
Phonetic Rules for (Bantu) Adjective Formation
Basic Prefixes for Adjectives beginning with Consonants

So, as we know, constructing most adjectives in Swahili requires the affixation

of an appropriate noun class prefix to an adjectival stem. Every noun class has a
particular prefix, though three noun classes (5, 9, 10) shape adjectives by the
absence of an adjectival prefix (just as the nouns within these classes
themselves take no noun class prefix). In fact, for nearly every class, the
adjectival prefix is the same as the noun class prefix (the exceptions are classes
11 and 14).
We briefly introduced the basic adjectival prefixes in Unit 6, but lets review
them again here. Please note that these prefixes appear in the form below when
affixed to adjectives that begin withconsonants. For each noun class, a sample
noun and sample adjective (using the stem kubwa, which means big) are
included:

Noun Class

Sample Noun

Adjectival Prefix

Sample Adjective

mtu

m-

mkubwa

watu

wa-

wakubwa

mti

m-

mkubwa

miti

mi-

mikubwa

tunda

(-)

kubwa

matunda

ma-

makubwa

kitu

ki-

kikubwa

vitu

vi-

vikubwa

nyumba

(-)

kubwa

10

nyumba

(-)

kubwa

11

ukuta

m-

mkubwa

14

upendo

m-

mkubwa

16

mahali

pa-

pakubwa

17

mahali

ku-

kuzuri

Many people consider adjectives the be the trickiest piece of Swahili grammar
to master (but master them, you will!). This is because they are the one part of
speech whose rules contain significant exceptions. They are as follows:
Modifying Animate Nouns Not in Classes 1&2
As you know, there are many nouns for animate beings that do not fall in noun
classes 1&2 (mama, baba, rafiki, simba, etc). Just as these nouns take the noun
classes 1&2 subject prefixes for verb conjugation (mama anapika, simba
wanakula), so too do adjectives used to describe them require the noun classes
1&2 adjectival prefixes (baba mkubwa, simba wakubwa).
Exceptions to Prefixes for Adjectives Beginning with Consonants
Noun Classes 9/10
Adjectives whose stems start with D, G or Z take the prefix n- when
describing nouns in classes 9 and 10.

Nyumba nzuri: Good house

Nyumba ndogo: Small house

Adjectives whose stems start with B, P or V take the prefix m- when

describing nouns in classes 9 and 10:

Nyumba mbaya: Bad house

Nyumba mpya: New house

The adjective -refu, meaning long, is modified to ndefu for noun classes 9
and 10. So a long journey is a safari ndefu
Prefixes for Adjectives Beginning with Vowels
If an adjective stem begins with a vowel, the adjectival prefix is modified
phonetically as follows:
Noun Classes 1 & 2 (m/wa)

M- + -a = Mwa: Mwalimu mwaminifu (An honest teacher)

M- + -e = Mwe: Mtu mwema (a good/nice person)

M- + -i = Mwi: Mteja mwingine (another customer)

Wa- + -a = Wa: Walimu waminifu (honest teachers)

Wa- + -e = We: Watu wema (good people)

Wa- + -i = We: Wateja wengine (other customers)

Noun Classes 3 & 4 (m/mi)

M- + -e = Mwe: Mti mweupe (white tree)

M- + -i = Mwi: Mtihani mwingine (another test)

Mi- + -e = Mye: Miti myeupe (white trees)

Mi- + -i = Mi: Mitihani mingine (other tests)

Noun Classes 5 & 6 (-/ma)

When describing a noun in class 5 with an adjective that begins with a vowel,
you use the prefix ji- (many nouns in class 5 start with ji-). The prefix is
modified further in phonetic fashion:

Ji- + -e = Je: Gari jeusi (Black car)

Ji- + -i = Ji: Tunda jingine (Another fruit)

Ma- + -e = Me: Magari meusi (Black cars)

Ma- + -i = Me: Matunda mengine (Other fruits)

Noun Classes 7 & 8 (ki/vi)

Ki- + -e = Che: Kiatu chekundu (Red shoe)

Ki- + -i = Ki: Kitu kingine (Another thing)

Vi- + -e = Vye: Viatu vyekundu (Red shoes)

Vi- + -i = Vi: Vitu vingine (Other things)

Noun Classes 9 & 10: (-/-)

N- + -e = Nye: Nyumba nyeusi (Black house)

N- + -i = Nyi: Nguo nyingi (Many clothes)

Exception: N- +-ema = Njema (good)

Noun Classes 11 & 14: (u/u)
Noun classes 11&14 follow the same phonetic modification rules that noun
classes 1&2 follow.
Non-Bantu Adjectives
Several of the most frequently used Swahili adjectives are of non-Bantu
(Arabic) origin. When we use these adjectives, we do not modify them with
noun class prefixes.
Some key examples:
Safi: Clean Eneo safi / A clean area
Ghali: Expensive Bei ghali / An expensive price
Rahisi: Easy/cheap Lengo rahisi / An easy goal
Bora: High quality/Excellent/Better Maisha bora / Better life
Key Modifiers: -ingi, -ingine

Two particularly important adjectives are ingi (many) and ingine (other). As
we have already seen from examples above, The construction of these
adjectives follows the basic adjectival rules, but given their frequency of use
(and the challenge of remembering all the different rules for constructing
adjectives that begin with vowels), its worth separating these two out. The
constructions are as follows:

Noun

Sample

Adjectival

-ingi (many)

-ingine (other)

Class

Noun

Prefix

mtu

m-

mwengine/mwingine*

watu

wa-

wengi

wengine

mti

m-

mwingine

miti

mi-

mingi

mingine

tunda

(-)

jingine / lingine**

matunda

ma-

mengi

mengine

kitu

ki-

kingi (only used

kingine

with chakula)

vitu

vi-

vingi

vingine

nyumba

(-)

nyingine

10

nyumba

(-)

nyingi

nyingine or zingine

11

ukuta

m-

mwingine

14

upendo

m-

mwingine

16

mahali

pa

pengi

pengine

17

mahali

ku

kwingi

kwengine

*You will occasionally encounter mwingine used for nouns in class 1

**You will often (even most commonly) hear people use lingine rather than
jingine for class 5, though jingine may be more technically accurate.
Some more examples:
Noun Classes 1 &2
Mzee mwengine: Another elder
Mama mwengine: Another mother

Wazee wengine: Other elders

Wakulima wengi: Many farmers
Noun Classes 3 & 4
Mkopo mwingine: Another loan
Mtihani mwingine: Other exams
Mikopo mingine: Other loans
Mitihani mingi: Many exams
Noun Classes 5 & 6
Shamba lingine: Another farm
Zao lingine: Another crop
Mashamba mengine: Other farms
Mazao mengi: Many crops

Noun Classes 7 & 8

Kitabu kingine: Another book

Kitenge kingine: Another kitenge

Vitabu vingine: Other books
Vitenge vingi: Many kitenges

Noun Classes 9 & 10

Siku nyingine: Another day
Wiki nyingine: Another week
Siku nyingine: Other days
Wiki nyingi: Many weeks

Noun Class 11
Ufunguo mwingine: Another key

Noun Class 14
Utaratibu mwingine: Another system

Note: When used together, -ingi comes before -ingine: watoto wengi wengine
wanacheza mpira
ADVERBS
Swahili adverbs function almost identically to adjectives. Within a sentence, we
place adverbs immediately after the verb it describes. The number of adverbs
that are used is very limited; in fact most of the most commonly used adverbs
come from adjective stems: zuri (well/good), baya (badly),
gumu (difficult), rahisi (easy). Just as with adjectives, some adverbs require a
prefix modification. To modify adjective stems as adverbs, we attach the prefix
vi- to the stem. For those adverbs that do not require stems, we leave them as
they are:
Ulifanya vizuri: You did well
Alipanga vibaya: He planned poorly
Mtihani ulikuwa rahisi: The exam was easy
Mnakimbia haraka! You are running fast!
Dont forget that we can use sana and tu to modify both verbs and adverbs.
So for example, we could say:
Amesoma sana: He has really studied a lot
Mmezoea haraka sana: You all have acclimated very quickly!
Nenda polepole tu: Just go slowly!

Endelea tu: Just continue

SYNTAX
Key rules to remember:

Adjectives come after the objects they describe: mtoto mdogo

Associatives always come last in a sentence: shamba kubwa la

shule

Possessives come before adjectives: Gari langu jekundu

Demonstratives come immediately after the object they refer

to: nyumba hii kubwa

-ote and -o-ote come before other adjectives: matango yote

mabovu / wanafunzi wote wengine

-ingine and -ingi come before other adjectives: masomo mengine

magumu
CONCLUDING ADVICE
It will take a lot of time and practice to get some of the adjectives down. Be
disciplined, and push yourself to get them right from the start, because its very
easy to develop bad and lazy habits with adjectives.
EXERCISES
Swahili Unit 10 Worksheet
Swahili Unit 10 Worksheet Answers