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<div class="pg_page_title">swali / maswali - questions in Swahili</div>
<div class="pg_page_title">swali / maswali - questions in Swahili</div>
[[File:Swahili-Language-PolyglotClub.png|thumb]]
[[File:Swahili-Language-PolyglotClub.png|thumb]]
Hi Swahili Learners! 😃
Hi Swahili Learners! 😃


➡ In today's lesson we will learn how to ask QUESTIONS in Swahili.
Happy learning!


➡ In today's lesson we will learn how to ask QUESTIONS in Swahili.
<span link>Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson:</span> [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Pronouns|Pronouns]], [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Slang-and-Colloquialisms|Swahili (individual language) Grammar → Idioms and Proverbs ...]], [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Nouns|Nouns]] & [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/How-to-Use-Have|How to Use Have]].
__TOC__
 
Listed below are nine commonly used question words:
# Je? – Well, how about?
# Nani? – Who?
# Nini? – What?
# Lini? – When?
# Wapi? – Where?
# Vipi? – How?
# -pi? – What?, Which?, or Where?
# -ngapi? – How many?
# Gani? – What?, What kind (of), How? or Which?
 
The majority of question words listed above can appear at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the sentence. The question word Gani? is the only one which appears either in the middle or at the end of the sentence but NEVER at the beginning of the sentence.


==Question words in Swahili==


Happy learning!
----Interrogative words are usually placed at the end of a sentence in Swahili (with the exception of "kwa nini" (why) which is always placed at the beginning of a sentence).
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!swahili
!swahili
!English
!English
!Examples
!Examples
|-
| -je ?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How?
|Unlike the other question words, ‘je’ is used as an affix of a verb, for example:
* Unasemaje? How do you say it? (people often say this if they didn’t hear you, in the sense of ‘what did you say?)
* Unajuaje? How do you know?
Because the stress is (almost) always on the penultimate syllable of a word, this means that unajua becomes unajuaje, with the stress on the ‘a’ rather than the ‘u’.
|-
|-
|
|
* Nani ?  
* Nani ?  
* Yupi ?
* Yupi ?
|Who?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Who?
|
|
* Jina lako ni nani? What is your name? (literally ‘who is your name’?)
* Question: Jina lako ni nani? What is your name? (literally ‘who is your name’?)
* Jina langu ni Amina.   My name is Amina.
* Answer: Jina langu ni Amina. My name is Amina.
|-
|-
|Vipi?
|Nini ?
|How?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What?
|
|
* Vipi hali? How are you (literally ‘how is your state’?)
* Question: Unafanya nini? What are you doing?
* Nzuri sana. Very well.
* Answer: Ninafanya kazi. I am working.
|-
|-
| -je ?
|Lini ?
|How?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |When?
|Unlike the other question words, ‘je’ is used as an affix of a verb, for example:
|The word Lini? is used to ask questions about when something was done.
* Unasemaje? How do you say it? (people often say this if they didn’t hear you, in the sense of ‘what did you say?)
* Joshua alikwenda lini New York? – When did Joshua go to New York?
* Unajuaje? How do you know?
* Lini utasoma Kifaransa? – When will you study French?
* Mgeni alifika lini? – When did the guest arrive?


Because the stress is (almost) always on the penultimate syllable of a word, this means that unajua becomes unajuaje, with the stress on the ‘a’ rather than the ‘u’.
|-
|-
|Gani?
|Wapi ?
|What type of?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Where?
|
|
* Unafanya kazi gani? What (kind of work) do you do?
* Question: Unatoka wapi? Where do you come from?
* Mimi ni mwalimu. I’m a teacher.
* Answer: Ninatoka Uganda. I come from Uganda.
|-
|-
|Nini ?
|Vipi?
|What?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How?
|
|
* Unafanya nini? What are you doing?
* Question: Vipi hali? How are you (literally ‘how is your state’?)
* Ninafanya kazi. I am working.
* Answer: Nzuri sana. Very well.
|-
| -pi ?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Which?
|The Interrogative Suffix -pi? can be used to ask questions about people and objects by combining the Interrogative Prefixes with the Interrogative Suffix -pi? in both singular and plural forms.
 
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |'''Interrogative Prefixes'''
|-
!'''Singular/Plural '''
!'''Noun Class '''
!'''Interrogative Prefix '''
!'''Interrogative Suffix'''
|-
!'''Singular/Plural'''
|M-/WA- 
|yu-/we-
| rowspan="10" |-pi?
|-
!'''Singular/Plural '''
|M-/MI- 
|u-/i- 
|-
!'''Singular/Plural '''
|JI-/MA- 
|li-/ya- 
|-
!'''Singular/Plural '''
|KI-/VI- 
|ki-/vi- 
|-
!'''Singular/Plural '''
|N- 
|i-/zi- 
|-
|-
|Ipi ?
!'''Singular/Plural '''
|Which?
|U- 
|
|u-/zi- 
|-
! rowspan="3" |'''Singular/Plural '''
| rowspan="3" |PA- 
|pa- 
|-
|ku-
|-
|m-
|-
!'''Singular '''
|KU- 
|ku- 
|}
 
If we want to ask: “Which person?” we combine the Interrogative Prefix yu- with the Interrogative Suffix -pi? to form Yupi? (Which person?) for third person singular.
 
For plural form we combine the Interrogative Prefix we- with the Interrogative Suffix -pi? to form Wepi? (Which people?).
 
Hence we get:
* Mtu yupi? – Which person?
* Watu wepi? – Which people?
Examples:
* Mwanajeshi yupi alipata nishani? – Which soldier received a medal?
* Mti upi ulianguka? – Which tree fell?  
* Maneno yapi? – Which words?
|-
|-
|Ngapi ?
|Ngapi ?
Kiasi gani ?
Kiasi gani ?
|How many?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How many?
How much?
How much?
|
|
* Ni shillingi ngapi? How much is it?  (literally ‘how many shillings is it?’)
* Question: Ni shillingi ngapi? How much is it?  (literally ‘how many shillings is it?’)
* Shillingi elfu tano.  5000 shillings.
* Answer: Shillingi elfu tano.  5000 shillings.


Ngapi is the only question word which changes form to agree with the class of the noun it describes. So you would ask ‘watoto wangapi?’ (how many children) or ‘miaka mingapi?’ (how many years). Don’t worry about this for now, and just use ‘ngapi’ until you learn the correct form with each noun class.
Ngapi is the only question word which changes form to agree with the class of the noun it describes. So you would ask ‘watoto wangapi?’ (how many children) or ‘miaka mingapi?’ (how many years). Don’t worry about this for now, and just use ‘ngapi’ until you learn the correct form with each noun class.
|-
|Gani?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What type of?
|
* Question: Unafanya kazi gani? What (kind of work) do you do?
* Answer: Mimi ni mwalimu. I’m a teacher.
|-
|-
|Ni bei gani ?
|Ni bei gani ?
Ni bure
Ni bure
|What is the price?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What is the price?
It's free
It's free
|
|
|-
|-
|Wapi ?
|Kwa nini ? Mbona ?
|Where?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Why?
|
|
* Unatoka wapi? Where do you come from?
* Question: Kwa nini unasoma Kiswahili? Why are you learning Swahili?
* Ninatoka Uganda. I come from Uganda.
|-
|-
|Lini ?
|Kwa sababu...
|When?
|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Because...
|
|
* Answer: Kwa sababu ninataka kuishi Tanzania. Because I want to live in Tanzania.
|}
==More Examples==
Below is a list of the Questions and interrogative expressions in Swahili:
{| class="wikitable"
!English Questions
!Swahili Questions
|-
|where is he?
|yuko wapi?
|-
|what is this?
|ni kitu gani?
|-
|why are you sad?
|mbona una huzuni?
|-
|how do you want to pay?
|wataka kulipa vipi?
|-
|can I come?
|naweza kuja?
|-
|is he sleeping?
|amelala?
|-
|do you know me?
|wanijua?
|-
|do you have my book?
|je, una kitabu changu?
|-
|how big is it?
|waweza kueleza ukubwa wake?
|-
|can I help you?
|ninaweza kukusaidia?
|-
|can you help me?
|Unaweza kunisaidia?
|-
|do you speak English?
|Waongea kiingereza
|-
|-
|Kwa nini ? Mbona ?
|how far is this?
|Why?
|waweza kueleza umbali wake?
|
|-
* Kwa nini unasoma Kiswahili? Why are you learning Swahili?
|what time is it?
|ni saa ngapi?
|-
|how much is this?
|ni kiasi gani?
|-
|-
|Kwa sababu ...
|what is your name?
|Because ...
|Jina lako?
|
* Kwa sababu ninataka kuishi Tanzania. Because I want to live in Tanzania.
|-
|-
|jibu / majibu
|where do you live?
|the answer(s)
|Unaishi wapi?
|
|}
 
==Videos==
===How to ask questions in swahili?===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCT9lPCWueM</youtube>
 
===Learn Swahili: nani? & nini? (Question words)===
<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfHHN0s2F9Q</youtube>
 
==Sources==
* https://hist.hse.ru/data/2019/06/14/1486229732/16.%20Question%20Words,%20Phrases%20and%20Statements.pdf
* http://lang.swahili.free.fr/index_uk.php
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfHHN0s2F9Q
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCT9lPCWueM
* http://mylanguages.org/swahili_questions.php
 
==Other Lessons==
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Tenses|Tenses]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Nouns|Nouns]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Pronouns|Pronouns]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Conditional-Mood|Conditional Mood]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Adjectives|Adjectives]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Plurals|Plurals]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Future-Tense|Future Tense]]
* [[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Negation|Negation]]
 
{{Swahili-individual-language-0-to-A1-Course-TOC}}
 
[[Category:Course]]
[[Category:Swahili-individual-language-Course]]
[[Category:0-to-A1-Course]]
[[Category:Swahili-individual-language-0-to-A1-Course]]
<span links></span>
<span pgnav>
{| class="wikitable pg_template_nav"
 
|[[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Negation|◀️ Negation — Previous Lesson]]
|[[Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Dependent-Clauses|Next Lesson — Dependent Clauses ▶️]]
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Latest revision as of 09:05, 14 July 2023

◀️ Negation — Previous Lesson Next Lesson — Dependent Clauses ▶️

swali / maswali - questions in Swahili
Swahili-Language-PolyglotClub.png

Hi Swahili Learners! 😃

➡ In today's lesson we will learn how to ask QUESTIONS in Swahili.

Happy learning!

Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: Pronouns, Swahili (individual language) Grammar → Idioms and Proverbs ..., Nouns & How to Use Have.

Listed below are nine commonly used question words:

  1. Je? – Well, how about?
  2. Nani? – Who?
  3. Nini? – What?
  4. Lini? – When?
  5. Wapi? – Where?
  6. Vipi? – How?
  7. -pi? – What?, Which?, or Where?
  8. -ngapi? – How many?
  9. Gani? – What?, What kind (of), How? or Which?

The majority of question words listed above can appear at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of the sentence. The question word Gani? is the only one which appears either in the middle or at the end of the sentence but NEVER at the beginning of the sentence.

Question words in Swahili[edit | edit source]

swahili English Examples
-je ? How? Unlike the other question words, ‘je’ is used as an affix of a verb, for example:
  • Unasemaje? How do you say it? (people often say this if they didn’t hear you, in the sense of ‘what did you say?)
  • Unajuaje? How do you know?

Because the stress is (almost) always on the penultimate syllable of a word, this means that unajua becomes unajuaje, with the stress on the ‘a’ rather than the ‘u’.

  • Nani ?
  • Yupi ?
 Who?
  • Question: Jina lako ni nani? What is your name? (literally ‘who is your name’?)
  • Answer: Jina langu ni Amina. My name is Amina.
Nini ? What?
  • Question: Unafanya nini? What are you doing?
  • Answer: Ninafanya kazi. I am working.
Lini ? When? The word Lini? is used to ask questions about when something was done.
  • Joshua alikwenda lini New York? – When did Joshua go to New York?
  • Lini utasoma Kifaransa? – When will you study French?
  • Mgeni alifika lini? – When did the guest arrive?
Wapi ? Where?
  • Question: Unatoka wapi? Where do you come from?
  • Answer: Ninatoka Uganda. I come from Uganda.
Vipi? How?
  • Question: Vipi hali? How are you (literally ‘how is your state’?)
  • Answer: Nzuri sana. Very well.
-pi ? Which? The Interrogative Suffix -pi? can be used to ask questions about people and objects by combining the Interrogative Prefixes with the Interrogative Suffix -pi? in both singular and plural forms.
Interrogative Prefixes
Singular/Plural  Noun Class  Interrogative Prefix  Interrogative Suffix
Singular/Plural M-/WA-  yu-/we- -pi?
Singular/Plural  M-/MI-  u-/i- 
Singular/Plural  JI-/MA-  li-/ya- 
Singular/Plural  KI-/VI-  ki-/vi- 
Singular/Plural  N-  i-/zi- 
Singular/Plural  U-  u-/zi- 
Singular/Plural  PA-  pa- 
ku-
m-
Singular  KU-  ku- 

If we want to ask: “Which person?” we combine the Interrogative Prefix yu- with the Interrogative Suffix -pi? to form Yupi? (Which person?) for third person singular.

For plural form we combine the Interrogative Prefix we- with the Interrogative Suffix -pi? to form Wepi? (Which people?).

Hence we get:

  • Mtu yupi? – Which person?
  • Watu wepi? – Which people?

Examples:

  • Mwanajeshi yupi alipata nishani? – Which soldier received a medal?
  • Mti upi ulianguka? – Which tree fell?
  • Maneno yapi? – Which words?
Ngapi ?

Kiasi gani ?

How many?

How much?

  • Question: Ni shillingi ngapi? How much is it?  (literally ‘how many shillings is it?’)
  • Answer: Shillingi elfu tano.  5000 shillings.

Ngapi is the only question word which changes form to agree with the class of the noun it describes. So you would ask ‘watoto wangapi?’ (how many children) or ‘miaka mingapi?’ (how many years). Don’t worry about this for now, and just use ‘ngapi’ until you learn the correct form with each noun class.

Gani? What type of?
  • Question: Unafanya kazi gani? What (kind of work) do you do?
  • Answer: Mimi ni mwalimu. I’m a teacher.
Ni bei gani ?

Ni bure

What is the price?

It's free

Kwa nini ? Mbona ? Why?
  • Question: Kwa nini unasoma Kiswahili? Why are you learning Swahili?
Kwa sababu... Because...
  • Answer: Kwa sababu ninataka kuishi Tanzania. Because I want to live in Tanzania.

More Examples[edit | edit source]

Below is a list of the Questions and interrogative expressions in Swahili:

English Questions Swahili Questions
where is he? yuko wapi?
what is this? ni kitu gani?
why are you sad? mbona una huzuni?
how do you want to pay? wataka kulipa vipi?
can I come? naweza kuja?
is he sleeping? amelala?
do you know me? wanijua?
do you have my book? je, una kitabu changu?
how big is it? waweza kueleza ukubwa wake?
can I help you? ninaweza kukusaidia?
can you help me? Unaweza kunisaidia?
do you speak English? Waongea kiingereza
how far is this? waweza kueleza umbali wake?
what time is it? ni saa ngapi?
how much is this? ni kiasi gani?
what is your name? Jina lako?
where do you live? Unaishi wapi?

Videos[edit | edit source]

How to ask questions in swahili?[edit | edit source]

Learn Swahili: nani? & nini? (Question words)[edit | edit source]

Sources[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

Table of Contents - Swahili (individual language) Course - 0 to A1[edit source]


Introduction to Swahili Grammar


Greetings and Introductions


Swahili Culture and Society


Swahili Syntax


At Home and Around Town


Swahili Literature and Art


Advanced Topics in Swahili Grammar


Nature and the Environment


Swahili Festivals and Celebrations


Idioms and Proverbs

◀️ Negation — Previous Lesson Next Lesson — Dependent Clauses ▶️

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