Adjectives Continued
Learn more on how to use adjectives in Kiswahili
📚 Theory: Adjectives
Some adjectives don't take any prefix at all, for a very interesting reason. Kiswahili has some foreign influence due to historical contact between the Swahili city states and Arabic/Portugese foreigners. As a result, words that are Bantu in origin will take the various noun markers, but words that are foreign in origin (eg. Arabic words) do not take any of the noun markers. Here are some examples:
| Kiswahili | English |
|---|---|
| hodari | skilled |
| bora | good/suitable |
| safi | clean |
| nadhifu | clean |
| duni | inferior |
| ghali | expensive |
| tele | abundant |
| kamili | complete |
| haba | rare |
| shujaa | brave |
| muhimu | important |
📚 Adjectives in Example Sentences With A-WA nouns.
When forming adjectives, these adjectives don't take any noun marker. They remain exactly as they are.
| Kiswahili (Root Adjective) | English (Root Adjective) | Kiswahili (Singular Adjective) | English (Singular Adjective) | Kiswahili (Plural Adjective) | English (Plural Adjective) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hodari | skilled | Mwanafunzi hodari | A skilled student | Wanafunzi hodari | Skilled students |
Grammar note: The adjective doesn't change at all
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