|
 |
Swahili grammar | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| kman1 Groupie United States Joined 6603 days ago 57 posts - 59 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 7 13 March 2009 at 5:08am | IP Logged |
|
Hi everyone, I'm a student learning Swahili on my own. I made the sentences below to get a feel of how different English tenses are expressed in Swahili. Can someone please check what I've written for accuracy and please explain the ones I got wrong or didn't know. I'm really excited about learning Swahili. :) Thank you!
1. I speak Swahili. 2. I used to play video games. 3. I ate a cookie 5 min. ago. 4. Last year he was ill. 5. When his parents built the house, he was ill. 6. At the beginning of this year he has been ill, now he is fine again. 7. He had broken a leg, therefore he couldn't come to school. 8. I’m reading a book now. 9. I was working while she was studying. 10. I was eating there (- let's say lunch) until I got to know that there were cockroaches in the kitchen. Then I left (immediately). 11. I had been lying there for 3 hrs. before I fell asleep. 12. You will have been eating for 10 min. when I finish. 13. He wants me to go home now. 14. I would buy more food but I’m full now. 15. You are baptized now. ‘passive’ 16. You were baptized for 5 min. ‘passive’ 17. The city was destroyed by the fire ‘passive’ 18. I had been baptized 3 times by 2001. 19. I will have been baptized 6 times by 2002. 20. If he paid me more, I would stay. (2 possibilities for ‘if he paid me more’)* 21. We would have built the house, if we had had the money.* Swahili: - ninanena Kiswahili - mimi hucheza video games - kabla ya dakika tano nilila cookie - mwaka uliopita, alikuwa gonjwa ( ‘a’ – 3rd person sing. ) - wazaa wake alipoaka beti, anataapika - mwaka mwanzoni mwa anataapika, na yeye ni kikorokoro sasa - alibanjwa muundi weta kwa jili akuweza enda skulini - ninasoma kitabu sasa - nilifanya kazi ambapo alidoea - nilila huku haddi niling’amua limo jikoni kombamwiko, aidha niliachwa halan - nimetandama huku kwa masaa matatu kabla ya nilisinzia - mtala kwa dakika kumi ninapomaliza - ananitaka enda nyumbani sasa - ningenunua lukuma zaidi na nimeshiba sasa - umebaptiza sasa - umebaptiza kwa dakika tano - jiji aliharibikwa na moto - nimebaptiza mara tatu na 2001 - umebaptiza mara sita na 2002 - ikiwa angenilipa donge zaidi, ningebaki - tungena donge basi, tungeaka beti thanks again 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| SallImSayin Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5615 days ago 19 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: Swahili, Lingala, Igbo | Message 2 of 7 13 March 2009 at 10:39pm | IP Logged |
|
I'd probably change nilila to nilikula (I ate) for no.3, because it's monosyllabic (-la).
Edited by SallImSayin on 14 March 2009 at 12:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kman1 Groupie United States Joined 6603 days ago 57 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English* | Message 3 of 7 14 March 2009 at 1:01am | IP Logged |
|
Hi SallImSayin, thanks. there have to be some fluent Swahili speakers. (i hope...) :)
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Akipenda Lugha Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5587 days ago 78 posts - 82 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Swahili, Sign Language, Spanish | Message 4 of 7 14 March 2009 at 10:12pm | IP Logged |
|
Hi both,
I'm also learning. You've written some examples with structures I haven't learnt yet, so I'll have to look into some of them later. For example for #3 (he's right, nilikula, because the tense marker doesn't take stress), i'm not sure if 'kabla ya' can be used to mean 'ago'. I've only ever used it as in 'kabla ya kusoma kitabu, napenda kula kitu' - 'before reading a book, i like to eat something'. Also, probably just a typo: 1) Ninasema kiswahili (also: ninaongea would work) I'll look at the other ones later. Thanks for posting, I'd set aside my swahili to work on Spanish but I need to keep it up! Neil 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| SallImSayin Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5615 days ago 19 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto Studies: Swahili, Lingala, Igbo | Message 5 of 7 15 March 2009 at 1:17am | IP Logged |
|
There's an active Kiswahili thread in the "Specific languages" forum on here. I'd post a link to this thread, there.
Cosign "Ninasema", I'd use this over the alternatives. And it's what I see written when reading Kenya & TZ blogs/message boards. Edited by SallImSayin on 15 March 2009 at 1:18am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Topsiderunner Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6767 days ago 215 posts - 218 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Italian, Arabic (Written) | Message 6 of 7 16 March 2009 at 10:33am | IP Logged |
|
You all may be much more advanced than this, but when I did some very brief Swahili study a few months ago, I found a great website that summarized the major grammatical aspects of the language in a rather clear manner.
http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_TABLE.htm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kman1 Groupie United States Joined 6603 days ago 57 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 7 11 May 2009 at 4:46pm | IP Logged |
|
http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_TABLE.htm <- nice grammar site for swahili! thank you, topsiderunner Edited by kman1 on 11 May 2009 at 4:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
