Negation — Swahili Grammar

Swahili adds no word for not. It rebuilds the front of the verb, and in the present it changes the end as well. Each tense negates differently, so the four patterns are best learned as four separate shapes.

The Negative Subject Prefixes

si- I do not
hu- you do not
ha- he, she does not
hatu- we do not
ham- you all do not
hawa- they do not

Sina huzuni.
I am not sad.
Hana kazi.
She has no job.
Huna kazi?
Do you not have a job?

For things rather than people the prefix is ha- joined to the class agreement: , , .

The Present Loses -na- and Changes Its Vowel

This is the pattern that surprises learners most. The tense marker disappears completely, and the stem's final -a turns into -i.

Siipendi.
I do not like it.

si- I do not
-i- it
pendi like, with its final vowel changed
I like becomes I do not like
he knows becomes he does not know
we see becomes we do not see

Sizioni miwani yangu. Sijui nilipoziweka.
I cannot see my glasses. I do not know where I put them.

Verbs borrowed from Arabic end in something other than -a and so have nothing to change: , .

The Past Uses -ku-

The past drops -li- and puts -ku- in its place. The final vowel stays as it is.

I read becomes I did not read
he arrived becomes he did not arrive

Nilifaulu mtihani, ingawa sikusoma.
I passed the exam, although I did not study.
Sikuiona. Nini kimetokea?
I did not see it. What happened?

The Future Simply Swaps the Prefix

Nitakuja na kamera. Tutumai mvua haitanyesha.
I will bring a camera. Let us hope it will not rain.
Haitakuwa ghali sana.
It will not be very expensive.

-ta- stays exactly where it was. Only the front of the word has changed.

The Perfect Uses -ja-

The negative perfect means not yet, which is a stronger claim than simply denying the event.

Sijakuona kwa miaka tisa!
I have not seen you for nine years!
Sijui filamu hiyo. Sijaiona.
I do not know that film. I have not seen it.

Two Words That Negate by Themselves

denies an identity and denies existence. Neither is built from a verb stem.

Yeye si mwalimu. Hana kazi.
She is not a teacher. She has no job.
Hapana, hakuna tatizo.
No, there is no problem.
Naamini hakuna chakula kilichobaki.
I believe there is no food left.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Swahili course

52 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 16. A few of them, with the words “Negation” is about in bold:

Yeye pia amelala. Yeye hajalala.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16
Najisikia vyema sana! Mimi si mgonjwa. Nina afya njema.
I feel great! I am not sick. I am healthy.
Lesson 64
Sijakuona kwa miaka tisa!
I haven't seen you for nine years!
Lesson 175

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