Explore grammar guide articles about swahili
Comprehensive Swahili body parts and medical reference: kichwa, mkono, mguu, jicho, mdomo, plus daktari, hospitali, dawa, symptoms, pharmacy, and clinic vocabulary for travelers.
Comprehensive Swahili color and descriptive adjective reference: nyekundu, bluu, kijani, manjano, nyeusi, nyeupe, with noun-class agreement patterns, comparative forms, and Bantu color logic.
Swahili adjectives explained: inflecting Bantu stems (-zuri, -baya, -kubwa, -dogo) with class prefixes, invariable Arabic loans (safi, rahisi, ghali), colors, and comparison.
Comprehensive Swahili time reference: days of the week (Jumatatu to Jumapili), months (Januari to Desemba), and the unique six-hour-offset Swahili clock system used in East Africa.
Learn the Swahili alphabet and pronunciation: 24 letters, pure vowels, digraphs (ch, sh, ny, ng', dh, th, gh), penultimate stress, and fixes for common English-speaker mistakes.
Comprehensive Swahili family vocabulary: baba, mama, ndugu, dada, babu, bibi, extended family terms, age-respectful forms, and the cultural importance of kin language in East Africa.
Swahili's Arabic vocabulary explained: 30-40% of the lexicon, loan patterns, phonological adaptations, religion/commerce/time vocabulary, and native-loan doublets.
Comprehensive reference of Swahili proverbs (methali): Haraka haraka haina baraka, Polepole ndio mwendo, Mgeni ni baraka, with literal translations and cultural meaning for over thirty sayings.
Swahili dialect guide: Kiunguja (Zanzibar standard), Kimvita (Mombasa), Kiamu (Lamu), Kingwana (Congo), Tanzanian vs Kenyan Swahili, and Sheng urban slang explained.
Essential Swahili phrases for travel and daily life: greetings (Jambo, Habari, Hujambo, Shikamoo), shopping, directions, food, emergencies, and cultural context.
Comprehensive Swahili top 100 most common verbs reference: kuwa, kuwa na, kwenda, kuja, kula, kunywa, kusema, kuona, with infinitive ku- prefix and sample conjugations across tenses.
Master Swahili noun classes: all 18 classes explained with prefixes, agreement patterns for M-/Wa-, M-/Mi-, Ki-/Vi-, N-/N-, U-, Ku-, and locatives. Full tables and examples.
Comprehensive Swahili travel reference: airport, hotel, safari, daladala and matatu transport, directions, money, and emergency phrases for travelers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zanzibar.
Complete Swahili numbers guide: 1-1000, noun class agreement for 1-5, invariable Arabic loans from 6, ordinals, large numbers (elfu, milioni), and Swahili time.
Comprehensive Swahili weather, season, and nature reference: joto, baridi, mvua, jua, plus the four East African seasons (masika, kipupwe, kiangazi, vuli) and natural environment vocabulary.
Swahili prepositions explained: na, kwa, ya/wa/la, the locative suffix -ni, compound prepositions (juu ya, chini ya, mbele ya), and the three-way -po, -ko, -mo distinction.
Swahili pronouns explained: independent pronouns, subject prefixes, object infixes, possessive stems that agree with noun class, and three-distance demonstratives.
Complete Swahili verb conjugation guide: subject prefixes, tense markers (-na-, -li-, -ta-, -me-, -ki-), negation, object infixes, and monosyllabic verbs. Full tables.
Over 100 essential Swahili phrases for travel, shopping, emergencies, and daily conversation. Includes Tanzanian and Kenyan variations with pronunciation and cultural context.
Comprehensive reference for Swahili food vocabulary: ugali, pilau, chapati, samaki, mboga, and matoke; meals, East African cuisine terms, restaurant phrases, and cooking verbs.
