States with -ik- — Swahili Grammar

The ending -ika or -eka says that something is in a state, with nobody in view who put it there. English usually translates it with an adjective — broken, lost, available — rather than with a verb.

The Pattern

break something, becomes vunjika be broken
haribu damage, becomes be damaged, break down
get, becomes patikana be available

Kiti changu cha zamani cha ofisi kimevunjika.
My old office chair has broken.
Kuna kazi nyingi zinazopatikana.
There is a lot of work available.

Nobody broke the chair in that first sentence. It is simply in a broken state, and that is the whole point of the form.

Not the Same as the Passive

The passive implies somebody did it and lets you say who. The stative does not, and cannot.

Duka limefungwa.
The shop has been closed, by somebody.
Lazima saa yangu iwe imeharibika.
My watch must be broken, all by itself.

Adding by somebody to the second would make it ungrammatical, which is the test that separates the two forms.

Saying Something Is Possible

The same ending expresses that a thing can be done, the sense English carries with -able.

Inawezekana kupanga muda mwingine?
Is it possible to arrange another time?
Kuna kitu kisichoweza kufanyika leo.
There is something that cannot be done today.

is built from be able, and means it is do-able.

How Something Appears

-onekana, built from -ona see, means be visible and so seem.

Unaonekana mnyonge. Nadhani wewe ni mgonjwa.
You look weak. I think you are ill.

Usually with the Perfect

Because this form describes a resulting state, it pairs naturally with -me-, which describes a state that still holds.

Kikombe kimevunjika.
The cup has broken.
Saa yangu imeharibika.
My watch has broken.

Pairs from One Stem

Many stems come in pairs: one verb with somebody doing it, one describing only the state. Which of the two is the plain stem varies.

-vunja - break something, with a doer
-vunjika - be broken, no doer
-potea - be lost, no doer
-poteza - lose something, with a doer

In the first pair the plain stem has the doer and -ik- takes it away. In the second the plain stem is already the state, and the causative -z- adds a doer.

A Note on Shape

Not every verb ending in -ika is a stative. -fika arrive, -pika cook and -andika write simply end that way, and none of them is built from anything.

Mabasi yanafika kituoni.
The buses are arriving at the stop.
Niliandika barua hii kwa mkono.
I wrote this letter by hand.

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