ham-

You All Do Not Ham-

Level 1

Use ham- to say 'you all do not' or 'you all are not' doing something right now or in general.

How It Works

The prefix ham- is the standard way to negate actions for 'you all' (plural 'you') in the present tense. It covers both habitual actions ('you all don't read') and continuous actions ('you all aren't reading').

Key Rules for Forming the Negative:

  • Drop the tense marker: The affirmative -na- present tense marker disappears completely.
  • Change the final vowel: For all verbs ending in -a (including assimilated loanwords), change the -a to -i (e.g., cheza → hamchezi, saidia → hamsaidii).
  • Passive verbs: Passive verbs ending in -wa also change to -wi in the negative (e.g., pendwa → hampendwi).
  • Arabic loanwords: Verbs ending in -e, -i, or -u do not change their final vowel (e.g., jibu → hamjibu).
  • Short verbs: Monosyllabic verbs drop their infinitive ku- prefix (e.g., kula → hamli). Note that when kuwa means 'to become', it behaves like a normal monosyllabic verb and becomes hamwi.
  • Vowel-initial verbs: Before a vowel, ham- usually becomes hamw- (e.g., elewa → hamwelewi). The common verb kwenda (to go) drops its kw- and follows this rule: hamwendi.
  • Object markers: If you include an object marker, it is placed directly between ham- and the verb root (e.g., hamkioni - you all don't see it).
  • Irregular verbs: For kuwa na (to have), the negative is simply hamna (you all do not have). For kuwa (to be) in a location, use hamko, hampo, or hammo. The general negative "are not" is si.

Be careful not to confuse ham- with hawa- present negative (they do not) or hatu- present negative (we do not).

Examples (5)

  1. Hamsomi vitabu.

    You all do not read books.

    Word by Word: You-all-do-not-read books.

    The affirmative 'mnasoma' drops '-na-' and changes '-a' to '-i' to become 'hamsomi'.

  2. Hamjui kuongea Kiswahili.

    You all don't know how to speak Swahili.

    Word by Word: You-all-do-not-know to-speak Swahili.

    The verb 'jua' (know) becomes 'hamjui'.

  3. Hamwelewi.

    You all do not understand.

    Word by Word: You-all-do-not-understand.

    Before the vowel-initial verb 'elewa', the prefix becomes 'hamw-'.

  4. Hamjibu maswali.

    You all are not answering the questions.

    Word by Word: You-all-do-not-answer questions.

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

  5. Hamli nyama.

    You all do not eat meat.

    Word by Word: You-all-do-not-eat meat.

    The monosyllabic verb 'kula' (to eat) drops its 'ku-' prefix to become 'hamli'.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the '-na-' tense marker and failing to change the final vowel.

    Hamnasoma.
    Hamsomi.

    In the present negative, the affirmative '-na-' marker must be dropped entirely, and the final '-a' of the verb changes to '-i'.

  • Changing the final vowel of Arabic loanwords to '-i'.

    Hamjibi.
    Hamjibu.

    Verbs of Arabic origin that end in '-e', '-i', or '-u' (like jibu, fikiri, samehe) keep their original ending in the negative.

  • Using hawa- (they) when you mean ham- (you all).

    Different MeaningHawasomi vitabu.
    Hamsomi vitabu.

    'Hawasomi vitabu' is a good sentence meaning 'they do not read books'. Learners often mix up the plural prefixes: 'ham-' means 'you all do not', while 'hawa-' means 'they do not'.

How It Connects

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

ham-Level 1You All Do Not Ham-

Learn This First

To understand 'ham-', you must first be familiar with the second-person plural subject ('you all') and how Swahili forms present tense negation by combining negative prefixes with subject markers.

Words in This Pattern

ham-