Swahili Pronouns

Grammar Tips:

In English personal pronouns are (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they), and (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them), In Swahili, the personal pronouns are:

Mimi (I), wewe… (you), yeye… (he/she), 

sisi… (we), ninyi/nyinyi (you)          wao… (they masc/fem.)

Examples: mimi husoma(I learn), wewe husoma(you learn), yeye husoma (he/she learns), ninyi/nyinyi husoma  (you learn ), sisi husoma (we learn),), wao husoma (they learn),

  1^st person- Mimi (singular) –sisi ( plural)

2^nd Person – wewe(singular) –ninyi/nyonyi( plural)

3^rd person- yeye( singular)- wao(plural)

The above are called free pronouns.

There are bound/indirect pronouns as used in the section of negation for the same.

1^st Peson- ni/tu for example – ninaenda (I am going), tunaenda (we are going)

2^nd Person u/m for example – unaenda (you are going), mnaenda (you (plural) are going)

3^rd person a/wa for example – anaenda(she/he is going), wanaenda( they are going)

·         The above examples are in present tense. You can do the same for the past and future tense

Possessive Pronouns:

The possessive pronouns in Swahili have no feminine or masculine aspect. They depend mainly on the pronouns and the noun class.

The roots are

1^st person: -angu((mine-singular),- etu ((ours-plural) For example: yangu ni hii(this is mine), yetu ni hii(this ours) This is in the class of I-ZI

Changu ni hiki (this is mine), chetu ni hiki( this  ours). This is in the class of KI-VI

2^nd person:ako( yours)(singular),- enu(yours-prulal) For example: yako ni hii( this is yours), yenu ni hii( these are yours-prulal)

Chako ni hiki(this is yours), chenu ni hiki(this is  yours-prulal)

3^rd person: -ake( hers/his), -ao(theirs) For example: yake ni hii( this is hers/his) yao ni hii( these are theirs)

Chake ni hiki( this is hers), Chao ni hiki( this is theirs)

Note: in Swahili the possessive pronouns are used without the nouns. If you use them together with the nouns they become adjectives.

For example: Yangu ni hii(this is mine) Yangu is a possessive pronoun here

                   Nyumba yangu ni hii(this is my house) Yangu is a possessive adjective