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
