-i

Present Negative -i

Level 1

In Swahili, to say that you are not doing something right now, or that you generally do not do something, you use the present negative tense. For native Bantu verbs, this involves dropping the tense marker and changing the final vowel from -a to -i.

How It Works

To form the present negative for standard verbs ending in -a:

1. Start with the negative subject prefix (e.g., si- for I, hu- for you, ha- for he/she, hatu- for we, ham- for you all, hawa- for they). For non-human noun classes, add ha- to the affirmative subject prefix (e.g., ki- becomes haki-, i- becomes hai-).
2. Add the verb root.
3. Change the final -a to -i.

Examples:

  • kusoma (to read) → sisomi (I do not read / I am not reading)
  • kucheza (to play) → hawachezi (they do not play / they are not playing)

Monosyllabic Verbs:
Short verbs that keep their ku- prefix in the affirmative present tense drop the ku- in the present negative.

  • kula (to eat) → hali (he/she does not eat) - Not: hakuli
  • kuja (to come) → haji (he/she is not coming)

Arabic Loanwords:
Verbs ending in -e, -i, -u, or -au do not change their final vowel.

  • kujibu (to answer) → sijibu (I do not answer) - Not: sijibi
  • kusamehe (to forgive) → hasamehe (he/she does not forgive)
  • kufikiri (to think) → hatufikiri (we do not think)
  • kusahau (to forget) → sisahau (I do not forget)

Irregular Verbs:
The highly common verbs kuwa (to be) and kuwa na (to have) are irregular in the present negative and do not follow the -a to -i rule. The present negative of kuwa is simply si (am not / is not / are not) when stating what something is (the copula). However, when stating that someone or something 'is not' in a location, use the negative subject prefix attached to a locative suffix (e.g., sipo - I am not here). Note that for Class 1 (human singular), the negative locative prefix is irregularly hayu- instead of the standard ha- (e.g., hayuko - he/she is not there, hayupo, hayumo). The present negative of kuwa na uses the negative subject prefix attached directly to -na (e.g., sina for I do not have, hana for he/she does not have).

Note that this tense translates to both the English present continuous ("I am not reading") and the present habitual ("I do not read").

Examples (4)

  1. Mimi sisomi kitabu.

    I am not reading a book. / I do not read books.

    Word by Word: I I-not-read book.

    The verb soma changes its final -a to -i, pairing with the negative prefix si-.

  2. Watoto hawachezi mpira.

    The children are not playing soccer.

    Word by Word: Children they-not-play ball.

    The verb cheza changes to chezi with the negative prefix hawa-.

  3. Yeye hali nyama.

    He/she does not eat meat.

    Word by Word: He/she he/she-not-eat meat.

    The monosyllabic verb kula drops the ku- and changes the final -a to -i, becoming hali.

  4. Mwalimu hajibu swali.

    The teacher is not answering the question.

    Word by Word: Teacher he/she-not-answer question.

    The Arabic loanword jibu ends in -u, so it does not change its final vowel in the negative.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the affirmative -na- tense marker in the negative.

    Mimi sinasomi.
    Mimi sisomi.

    The present negative tense does not use a tense marker in the middle of the verb. The tense is indicated entirely by the negative prefix and the final -i.

  • Changing the final vowel of Arabic loanwords.

    Yeye hajibi.
    Yeye hajibu.

    Verbs that end in -e, -i, or -u in their dictionary form do not change their final vowel in the present negative.

  • Keeping the ku- prefix on monosyllabic verbs.

    Sikuli nyama.
    Sili nyama.

    Monosyllabic verbs like kula (to eat) drop the ku- prefix in the present negative tense.

How It Connects

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-iLevel 1Present Negative -i

Learn This First

To form the simple present negative, learners must combine the specific negative subject prefixes with the verb root and change the final vowel from -a to -i. This requires knowledge of how the verb is structured and how the affirmative present tense is constructed.

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-i