Grammar Flashcards
Simple verb construction
Subject prefix + tense prefix + verb
E.g ninasoma - I am reading
Self standing personal pronoun: you (sing)
Wewe
Self standing personal pronoun: I
Mimi
Self standing personal pronoun: he/she
Yeye
Self standing personal pronoun: we
Sisi
Self standing personal pronoun: you pl
Ninyi
Self standing personal pronoun: they
Wao
Subject prefix: I
Ni
Subject prefix: you sing
U
Subject prefix: he/she
A
Subject prefix: we
Tu
Subject prefix: you pl
M
Subject prefix: they
Wa
Negative subject prefix: I
Si
Negative subject prefix: you sing
Hu
Negative subject prefix: he/she
Ha
Negative subject prefix: we
Hatu
Negative subject prefix: you pl
Ham
Negative subject prefix: they
Hawa
Baba, mama, dada, kaka, rafiki, ndugu - how to saw my/you/his/hers
These words are the same in the singular and plural form and therefore are in the 9/10 class.
Singular: y
Plural: z
My: angu
You: ako
His/her: ake
My friend: rafiki yangu
My friends: rafiki zangu
Your friend: rafiki yako
Your friend: rafiki zako
His/her friend: rafiki yake
His/her friends: rafiki zake
To indicate a preposition
Prepositional suffix: ni
E.g. shuleni - to/in/at school
Nyumbani - to/in/at home
Mjini - to/in/at town
With proper nouns e.g. Sydney, you do not need to add ‘ni’
Class of locational nouns
Locational nouns (ie with ‘ni’ ending) are in class 17 (but the normal nouns are in their own classes)
My home: nyumbani kwangu
Your home: nyumbani kwako
His/her home: nyumbani kwake
‘to be’ in the present tense
ni (note does not change with person, number. noun class)
e.g. mkate ni chakula
yeye ni daktari
types of verbs
normal verbs - drop the ‘ku’ and then conjugate accordingly (e.g. kupika - ninapika I am cooking)
monosyllabic verbs - keep the ‘ku’ when conjugating e.g. ninakula (i am eating)
non-monosyllabic verbs which act like monosyllabic verbs e.g. kwenda -> ninakwenda (tho at times will be shortened to ninaenda anyway)
