Class 5: Fruit, Pairs and Loanwords (ji-) — Swahili Grammar

Class 5 is the class that hides. Most of its nouns carry no prefix at all, so nothing in the word itself announces the class and only the words around it do. Where the stem is very short, a ji- turns up to prop it up.

What Belongs Here

- name
- car
- egg
- window
- fruit
- eye

The class collects fruits, things that come in pairs, and a great many borrowed words, which is why it keeps growing.

The Verb Prefix Is li-

Nothing in bus or shop hints at a class. The verb gives it away at once.

Basi limechelewa.
The bus is late.

li- it, the class 5 subject
-me- done and still true
be late

Duka limefungwa.
The shop is closed.
Jua linamulika ndani ya darasa.
The sun is shining into the classroom.

The Linking Word Is la

For of, class 5 uses . No other class uses that form, so it is a reliable clue.

Nilienda kwenye jengo la ununuzi.
I went to a shopping centre.
Unapenda shati la aina gani?
What kind of shirt do you like?

Possessives Take l-

Jina langu ni Alex.
My name is Alex.
Jina lako ni nani?
What is your name?

Adjectives Usually Take Nothing

A class 5 adjective normally appears bare, with the prop ji- only on the shortest stems.

Anaendesha gari dogo sana.
He drives a very small car.
Wazo zuri. Tufanye hivyo.
Good idea. Let us do that.

and stand with no prefix here; describing a person they would be and .

Where ji- Shows Up

Short stems keep the prop: name, eye, tooth, stone. Longer stems do without it. The same prop is what makes a noun of any other class sound outsized, so class 5 doubles as the home of things larger and rougher than usual.

Pointing at a Class 5 Noun

- this
- that, the one just mentioned
- that one over there

Kila mtu anajua tatizo hili.
Everyone knows this problem.
Nikifikiria tena, hilo ni wazo baya.
Thinking about it again, that is a bad idea.

The Object Marker Is -li-

When a class 5 thing is on the receiving end of the verb, -li- goes inside the word, between the tense and the stem.

Ninaliona gari.
I see the car.

ni- I
-na- now
-li- it, the class 5 object
see

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Swahili course

86 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 4. A few of them, with the words “Class 5: Fruit, Pairs and Loanwords (ji-)” is about in bold:

Shikamoo Daktari. Nina tatizo.
Hello, Doctor. I have a problem.
Lesson 91
Ana gari la taratibu na la bei rahisi.
She has a slow, cheap car.
Lesson 110
Nilienda kwenye jengo la ununuzi.
I went to the shopping mall.
Lesson 172

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