m-

In Swahili, verbs must agree with their subjects. When you are talking to two or more people ('you all'), you use the Second-Person Plural Subject m-.

How to use it:

• Before consonants: It stays m-. For example, m-na-soma (you all are reading). Note that when m- comes before a consonant, it is syllabic and pronounced as its own distinct, hummed beat (e.g., m-na-so-ma has four syllables).
• Before vowels: It changes to mw- before a, e, i, and o (e.g., mw-ende, you all should go). Before the vowel u, it becomes mu- (e.g., mu-uze, you all should sell).
• Negative form: To say 'you all are not' doing something, use the You All Do Not ham- prefix instead. For example, ham-somi (you all are not reading). This prefix is also used in past and future negative tenses, such as hamkusema (you all did not say) or hamtasoma (you all will not read).

Because Swahili uses Omitted Subject Pronouns, the independent pronoun nyinyi or ninyi ('you all') is usually dropped. The prefix m- is often all you need to show who is doing the action!

Commands: While m- is used for 'you all' in polite subjunctive requests (mwende) and negative commands (msiende), direct positive commands drop the m- prefix. For verbs ending in -a, use the Plural Imperative -eni suffix instead (e.g., chezeni, someni). For verbs of Arabic origin ending in -e, -i, or -u, simply add -ni (e.g., sameheni, fikirini, jaribuni). Also, monosyllabic verbs retain their infinitive ku- prefix (e.g., kula becomes kuleni). Note the common irregular verbs: kuja (to come) becomes njooni, and kwenda (to go) becomes nendeni or endeni.

Important Note: Do not confuse this with the Class 1 Subject a- ('he/she'). Even though the word for person (mtu) starts with m-, the subject marker for 'he/she' is a-. The Class 1 Object -m- ('him/her') looks identical but usually appears in the middle of the verb (e.g., ninampenda, I love him/her). To express 'you all' as an object, Swahili uses the 2nd-Person Plural Object Marker -wa- (often paired with -ni at the end of the verb). Finally, while m- at the beginning of a verb often means 'you all', it can also represent an interior location (e.g., mna watu, there are people inside) or a singular command with an object (e.g., mpe, give him/her).