ha-

He or She Does Not Ha-

Level 1

To say that someone (he or she) or an animal is not doing something right now, or does not do it generally, Swahili uses the prefix ha-.

How It Works

The prefix ha- is the negative subject marker for Class 1 (third-person singular, human and animate subjects). It covers "does not" and "is not doing something" (present continuous) in English. Importantly, ha- completely replaces the affirmative Class 1 subject prefix a- (do not combine them into haa-). Note that for "is not" (identity or adjectives), Swahili uses si, and for location it uses hayuko / hayupo / hayumo.

Here are the main rules to remember when using ha-:

  • Drop the tense marker: Do not use -na-.
  • Change the final vowel: Verbs of Bantu origin ending in -a change to -i (e.g., kucheza → hachezi).
  • Loanwords stay the same: Verbs of Arabic origin ending in -e, -i, or -u do not change their final vowel (e.g., kujibu → hajibu).

Also, remember that short verbs drop their infinitive prefix (ku- or kw-). For example, kula (to eat) becomes hali (he/she does not eat), and kwenda (to go) becomes haendi (he/she does not go). An important exception is the verb kuwa na (to have), which becomes hana (he/she does not have), dropping kuwa entirely and keeping the final -a. Finally, while Class 1 is often called the 'human' class, Swahili uses ha- for all animate subjects, including animals (e.g., Mbwa halali = The dog is not sleeping).

Examples (5)

  1. Mwalimu hasomi vitabu vingi.

    The teacher does not read a lot of books.

    Word by Word: Teacher he-does-not-read books many.

    Notice how the final '-a' in 'soma' changes to '-i'.

  2. Mtoto hali nyama.

    The child does not eat meat.

    Word by Word: Child he-does-not-eat meat.

    For the short verb 'kula' (to eat), the 'ku-' is dropped to become 'hali'.

  3. Yeye haendi shuleni leo.

    He/she is not going to school today.

    Word by Word: He/she he/she-does-not-go school-to today.

    The prefix 'ha-' attaches directly to the verb root 'end', and the final vowel changes to '-i'.

  4. Paka halali kitandani.

    The cat is not sleeping on the bed.

    Word by Word: Cat it-does-not-sleep bed-on.

    Animals also use the Class 1 prefix 'ha-' because they are animate.

  5. Mwanafunzi hajibu swali.

    The student is not answering the question.

    Word by Word: Student he-does-not-answer question.

    'Jibu' is an Arabic loanword ending in '-u', so its final vowel does not change to '-i'.

Common Mistakes

  • Retaining the -na- tense marker.

    Yeye hanasoma.
    Yeye hasomi.

    In the present negative, the -na- tense marker must be completely dropped.

  • Forgetting to change the final vowel to -i for regular verbs.

    Mtoto hasoma.
    Mtoto hasomi.

    Verbs ending in -a must change their final vowel to -i in the present negative.

  • Keeping the 'ku-' prefix on monosyllabic (short) verbs.

    Yeye hakuli.
    Yeye hali.

    Short verbs like 'kula' (to eat) or 'kuja' (to come) drop the 'ku-' in the present negative.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ha-Level 1He or She Does Not Ha-

Learn This First

To understand 'ha-', you need to know the affirmative Class 1 subject marker 'a-' and how the present tense is generally negated in Swahili, which involves replacing the affirmative subject marker with a negative one and removing the tense marker.

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ha-