Adjectives
Learn how to use adjectives in Kiswahili
📚 Theory: Adjectives
Adjectives in Kiswahili are interesting because they come after the noun that they describe whereas in English the adjective comes before the noun. So you would say: 'Good student' in English, but 'Student good' in Kiswahili. The other interesting thing about adjectives in Kiswahili is that they take the noun class marker as a prefix. Let's look at a few adjectives from the root so that they are easy to recognize, and then we'll look at the same adjectives when used with nouns in the 'A-WA' noun class wihch we've already covered.
| Kiswahili | English |
|---|---|
| -zuri | good/nice |
| -baya | bad |
| -dogo | small |
| -kubwa | big |
| -ngi | many |
| -chache | few |
| -refu | tall |
| -fupi | short |
| -zee | old |
| -pya | new |
| -changa | young |
📚 Adjectives in Example Sentences With A-WA nouns.
When forming adjectives, nouns in the 'A-WA' class take 'm' as the singular prefix and 'wa' as the plural prefix. For this reason, this noun class is also known as the 'M-WA' noun class. Let's look at some examples:
| Kiswahili (Adjective Root) | English (Adjective Root) | Kiswahili (Adjective Singular) | English (Adjective Singular) | Kiswahili (Adjective Plural) | English (Adjective Plural) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -zuri | good | Msichana mzuri | A good girl | Wasichana wazuri | Good girls |
| -baya | bad | Mtoto mbaya | A bad baby | Watoto wabaya | Bad babies |
| -kubwa | big | Ndovu mkubwa | A big elephant | Ndovu wakubwa | Big elephants |
| -dogo | small | Mdudu mdogo | A small insect | Wadudu wadogo | Small insects |
| -refu | tall | Kijana mrefu | A tall youth | Vijana warefu | Tall youths |
| -embamba | slim | Mchezaji mwembamba | A slim player/athlete | Wachezaji wembamba | Slim athletes |
✍️ Conjugate the Verb
Time to add some color to your nouns! Take your list from Lesson 6 and pair each noun with a unique adjective in both singular and plural forms. Challenge yourself to use a different adjective for every word—no repeats!
Example: Shangazi mchoyo /Shangazi wachoyo - Mean (unkind) aunt/ Mean aunts.
- Remember that adjectives come after the noun they describe.
Suggested length: up to 100 words.
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