In the next few minutes we’re going to learn how to construct a simple Swahili sentence. As you read every word of this tutorial, you will become really amazed at how simple the Swahili language actually is.

Construction 101:

No matter which language you look at, sentences generally have a verb in them. So we can generally agree that verbs are crucial in sentence construction.

In Swahili, verbs ALWAYS carry with them the subject and the tense. (Write that down and repeat it 3 times)

Example: “Ninacheza”

“Ninacheza” is actually a complete sentence which means “I am playing”.

Let’s deconstruct that sentence:

• The ‘Ni’ prefix stands for the subject “I”

• The -na- affix stands for “am” showing the tense i.e. the “present continuous” tense

• “cheza” is the root of the verb “play”

With that said, here’s a quick exercise:

Replace the verb “Cheza” with any of the following verbs to come up with your own sentence:

Example: nina____ (insert your verb here)

Congratulations! You’re now armed with the basic knowledge you need to construct a simple sentence for yourself.