KISWAHILI FOR BEGINNERS: THE VERB “TO BE”KUWA

KUWA,KUWA NA,KUWAKO

THE VERB “TO BE”KUWA

This verb is irregular in the present tense. It has only one form, ni, for “am” “is” and “are” Nouns and independent personal pronouns are used with ni and its negative si,”am not” “is not” and “are not”. These are:

Mimi  I………………………………………………………….Sisi  We

Wewe, you(Singular)…………………………………..Ninyi ,you

Sisi, we…………………………………………………………Nyinyi,you

Yeye, he, she………………………………………………..Wao, they

E.g, Mimi ni mwalimu, I am a teacher

Wewe ni mtoto, you are a child.

Yeye si mwizi, he is not a thief.

Sisi ni wageni Tanzania, we are strangers in Tanzania

Ninyi ni watu wema, you are kind people.

Wao si walevi, they are not drunkards,

Kuwa is regular in the perfect, past and future tenses; eg

Perfect Tense

Nimekuwa, I have been.                                   Tumekuwa, we have been

Umekuwa, you have been.                                Mmekuwa na,you have had

Amekuwa, he/she has been.                             Wamekuwa na, they have had

Past Tense

Nilikuwa na,I had.                                                   Tulikuwa na,we had

Ulikuwa na,you had.                                                Mlikuwa na, you had.

Future Tense

Nitakuwa, I shall be.                                                Tutakuwa, we shall be

Utakuwa, you will be.                                              Mtakua you will be

Atakuwa, he/she will be