Difference between revisions of "Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Questions"

Revision as of 14:02, 13 July 2023

◀️ Negation — Previous Lesson	Next Lesson — Dependent Clauses ▶️

swali / maswali - questions in Swahili

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:

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?
are u black?

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..... monkey 🙉 is u

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

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

How to ask questions in swahili?

Learn Swahili: nani? & nini? (Question words)

Sources

Other Lessons

Table of Contents - Swahili (individual language) Course - 0 to A1

Course Presentation

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 ▶️

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 # -ngapi? – How many?
 # Gani? – What?, What kind (of), How? or Which?
+#are u black?
-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.
+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..... monkey 🙉 is u
-==Question words in Swahili==
 {| class="wikitable"
@@ Line 38: / Line 37: @@
 |-
 | -je ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How?
+| 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?)
@@ Line 46: / Line 45: @@
 |-
 |
 * Nani ?
 * Yupi ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Who?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Who?
 |
 * Question: Jina lako ni nani? What is your name? (literally ‘who is your name’?)
@@ Line 54: / Line 53: @@
 |-
 |Nini ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What?
 |
 * Question: Unafanya nini? What are you doing?
@@ Line 60: / Line 59: @@
 |-
 |Lini ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |When?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |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?
@@ Line 68: / Line 67: @@
 |-
 |Wapi ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Where?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Where?
 |
 * Question: Unatoka wapi? Where do you come from?
@@ Line 74: / Line 73: @@
 |-
 |Vipi?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How?
 |
 * Question: Vipi hali? How are you (literally ‘how is your state’?)
@@ Line 80: / Line 79: @@
 |-
 | -pi ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Which?
+| 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.
@@ Line 94: / Line 93: @@
 |M-/WA-
 |yu-/we-
-| rowspan="10" |-pi?
+| rowspan="10" | -pi?
 |-
 !'''Singular/Plural '''
@@ Line 137: / Line 136: @@
 * 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 ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How many?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |How many?
 How much?
 |
@@ Line 152: / Line 151: @@
 |-
 |Gani?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What type of?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What type of?
 |
 * Question: Unafanya kazi gani? What (kind of work) do you do?
@@ Line 159: / Line 158: @@
 |Ni bei gani ?
 Ni bure
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What is the price?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |What is the price?
 It's free
 |
 |-
 |Kwa nini ? Mbona ?
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Why?
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Why?
 |
 * Question: Kwa nini unasoma Kiswahili? Why are you learning Swahili?
 |-
 |Kwa sababu...
-|style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Because...
+| style="background:#e6e6fa;" |Because...
 |
 * Answer: Kwa sababu ninataka kuishi Tanzania. Because I want to live in Tanzania.