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[ARCHIVE] To Be and To Have

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Fnirk1
Sweden

[ARCHIVE] To Be and To Have

Post by Fnirk1 »

Originally posted by: machieng https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/37396011


This is part 2 of the 'KU' notes (here)

-wa (be)

Here are the forms of the verb in different tenses:

  • this verb is a state of being, so present continuous tense does not apply
  • in present simple tense, the verb is just ni

e.g. Yeye ni mwalimu - She/He is a teacher

This is typically the translation for am (I am - Mimi ni), is (She is - Yeye ni) and are (They are - Wao ni). Because the verb in this form has no subject prefix, you must include the subject pronoun. This also applies in present habitual tense.

  • in the negative, 'ni' becomes 'si'
  • in present habitual tense, the verb is just huwa i.e.

Wao huwa wavivu - They are (usually) lazy.

  • in the negative, 'huwa' changes format, where the prefix 'hu-' is replaced by the subject prefix in the negative, and '-wa' becomes '-wi'. Note that because it takes on the subject prefix, unlike in the affirmative form, the subject pronoun is excluded:
Mimi-SisiWewe-NyinyiYeye-Wao
Siwi mvivu - Hatuwi wavivuHuwi mvivu-Hamwi wavivuHawi mvivu-Hawawi wavivu
  • in past tense, the verb is formatted as subject prefix-past tense infix-*kuwa* i.e.

Mama alikuwa sokoni - Mother was at the market

Wao walikuwa wanafunzi wangu - They were my students

  • in the negative, they adopt the same subject prefixes as any other verb in the negative e.g.

Wao hawakuwa wanafunzi wangu - They were not my students

  • in future tense, the verb is similarly formatted as subject prefix-future tense infix-*kuwa* i.e.

Anna atakuwa mwimbaji - Anna will be a musician

Nitakuwa Mombasa kesho - I will be in Mombasa tomorrow

  • again, in the negative, the same prefixes as any other verb in the negative apply


-wa na (have)

  • again, present continuous tense does not apply
  • in present simple tense, the verb stem is simply '-na', and the formatting is subject prefix-*na* i.e.

Nina - I have, Una - You have, Wana - they have

  • in the negative, the only thing that changes is the subject prefix - it switches to subject prefixes in the negative i.e.

Sina - I don't have, Huna - You don't have, etc

  • in present habitual tense, the verb is just huwa na e.g.

Watoto wake huwa na vitabu vingi - Her/His children (usually) have many books

  • in past and future tense, it's the exact same format as 'to be', with the addition of na, i.e. subject prefix-tense infix-*kuwa na* e.g.

Tutakuwa na wageni - We will have guests

Tulikuwa na wageni - We had guests

  • the negatives in the present habitual, past and future tenses are all the same as '-wa', just add 'na'

the formats above generally apply to different situations e.g. -ngali-, -singali-

:sweden: N :gb: C1 :ru: B2 :fr: :es:B1 :de: :it: :netherlands: A1

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