Saying 'is' with ni and si

01

One Word for Every Person

• Huyu ni rafiki yangu, Anna. Yeye ni mwanafunzi.

  This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.

• Mimi ni mwalimu wa Kiingereza.

  I am an English teacher.

• Leo ni siku mbaya.

  Today is a bad day.

The same ni serves I am, she is and today is without moving a letter.

02

The Negative Is si

Equally invariable, and equally simple.

• Yeye si mwalimu. Hana kazi.

  She is not a teacher. She has no job.

• Najisikia vyema sana! Mimi si mgonjwa.

  I feel very well! I am not ill.

03

Present Tense Only

Neither word carries tense. For the past or the future Swahili switches to the verb kuwa to be, which conjugates normally.

• Umeona kile? Kilikuwa kinavutia.

  Did you see that? It was interesting.

• Haitakuwa ghali sana.

  It will not be very expensive.

Set ni against kilikuwa and haitakuwa: the present needs no verb at all, and the other tenses need a full one.

04

Often Left Out Entirely

In short answers and quick descriptions the word is simply dropped, and the sentence is still complete.

• Salama, asante.

  Fine, thank you.

• Wazo zuri. Tufanye hivyo.

  Good idea. Let us do that.

05

Where It Cannot Be Used

ni links a thing to what it is. It cannot say where something is, and using it that way is one of the most persistent beginner errors. Location has a set of forms of its own.

• Yeye ni mwanafunzi.

  She is a student.

• Niko sokoni.

  I am at the market.

The first states an identity and takes ni; the second states a position and takes niko.

06

Identity, Job, Origin, Quality

Everything English handles with is plus a noun or an adjective goes through ni.

• Ala! Mizigo yako ni mizito.

  Oh! Your bags are heavy.

• Natokea China. Mimi ni Mchina.

  I come from China. I am Chinese.

07

ndiyo and ndicho: The Emphatic Form

For it is precisely this one, Swahili has a separate emphatic built on ndi- plus the class agreement.

• ndiye - it is he, she
• ndicho - it is this one, class 7
• ndiyo - yes, that is it

• Sushi ndicho chakula nikipendacho zaidi.

  Sushi is the food I like most.

• Huu ndio mkahawa bora zaidi duniani.

  This is the best restaurant in the world.

ndicho does not merely link sushi to food. It singles it out from everything else.

08

Two Words That Look Alike

si the negative is not and si- the negative prefix I do not are different things that happen to share a shape.

• Yeye si mwalimu.

  She is not a teacher.

• Siipendi.

  I do not like it.

The first stands alone as a word. The second is welded to the front of a verb.