Language/Swahili-individual-language/Grammar/Tenses
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Tenses in Swahili
➡ In today's lesson you will learn how to form tenses in Swahili.
Happy learning!
Rules
Swahili has a syllable slot for tenses, which you can fill with the appropriate syllable. -ni is for present tense, -ta- is for future, -me- for present perfect, and -li- for past tense.
Example:
- ni-na-kula = I am eating.
- ni-ta-kula = I will eat.
- ni-me-kula = I have eaten (present perfect)
- ni-li-kula = I ate (past tense)
The whole thing is very regular, so you should be able to build your own words easily.