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LESSON 24. THE IMPERSONAL AND THE RECIPROCAL FORMS OF VERBS
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PART ONE 79 LESSON 24 THE IMPERSONAL AND THE RECIPROCAL FORMS OF VERBS kuna, mna, pana, “there is, there are” kuna shows an indefinite position. mna denotes a place inside something. while pana refers to a definite place. e.g. Kuna watu shuleni, there are people in the school. Mna watu chumbani, there are people in the room. Pana mtu dirishani, there is someone at the window. The negative is formed by prefixing ha, thus: hakuna, hamna, hapana, “there is not, there are not”. In the affirmative not the common form is kuna, and in the negative, hamna, while hapana now means “ no”. Siyo “no”, is slowly falling out of use and being replaced by hapana. Note that mna is not used in exactly the same way as the English “ in”. Mna denotes definite insideness, as in a room, a hole, a bag, etc.... A Swahili speaker would not use mna to refer to being “in a country, in a river, etc...” In practice, however, the Swahili do not pay attention to such distinctions as have been pointed out above. Kuna seems to cover every case in the affirmative, and hamna in the negative, as already observed. Inafaa “ it is useful, good”(followed by subjunctive) e. g. lnafaa twende sasa, it is better we go now. 80 SWAHILI MADE EASY Haifai twende sasa (Negative), it is not good that we go now. lnawezekana, it is possible. Haiwezekani, it is not possible. lnatosha, it is enough. Haitoshi, (Negative), it is not enough. Si kitu, it is nothing, it does not matter. Haidhuru, it does not matter, it is nothing. Pasa, bidii, lazima Pasa, bidii, and lazima express the idea of necessity, compulsion, duty, etc. e.g. yanipasa/yanibidi kwenda, I must go. Unapaswa/linakubidi kwenda, you must go. Inampasa/inambidi kwenda, he/she must go, etc. ni lazima watoto waende shule, it is necessary that children go to school. EXERCISE 29 Translate into Swahili: 1. You had better learn Swabili. 2. Children must go to school now. 3. What are you doing? I am learning Swahili 4. It is enough, let us go to see friends. 5. I must Iearn Swahili everyday, I want to know it. It is possible to know it in two months. 6. Who is your teacher? Do you bave good books? 7. There are no good books in the shops. [52.205.218.160] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 06:39 GMT) PART ONE 81 8. Our teacher is writing a book for you. 9. I do not know your teacher, what is his name? 10. Do you want to see him? Come tomorrow, you will see him. He also wants to see you. 11. It does not matter; it is not necessary to see him. 12. It is possible to learn Swahili without a teacher. EXERCISE 30 Rewrite the following sentences using the correct forms of the words in brackets: 1. Sukari hai... (kupatikana) hapa siku hizi. 2. Wezi wame... (kukamata) na poIisi. 3. Kazi hii hai... (kuwezekana) leo. 4. Macho yake haya... (kuona) vizuri sasa. 5. Je, mtoto wako ali... (kuzaa) lini? 6. Je, unataka sisi tu... (kuenda) wapi kesho? 7. Haifai watoto... (kucheza) shuleni, lazima (kujifunza). 8. Je, alisema watumishi... (kufanya) nini? 9. Je, wageni ha... (kula) sasa? 10. Je, uki... (kuona) simba utafanya nini? 11. Mwambie mpishi... (kuja) hapa, nataka a... (kuonyesha mimi) chakula cha leo. 12. Mama alisema ninyi... (kula) ndizi kila siku. 13. Mzee alisema ni (kusoma) barua hii, sijui kusoma. 14. Mgonjwa anasema ha... (kuja) kula leo, mpelekee chakula. 82 SWAHILI MADE EASY Soma Useful Expressions Kuna nini? What is the matter? Hamna kitu, There is nothing. Hapakuwa na mtu, There was nobody. Pana mtu mbele, There is somebody in front. Nani yuko nyuma? Who is behind? Hamna taabu. No problem, don’t mind! Nipe kitabu nisome, Give a book to read. Nipe maji ninywe, Give me some water to drink. Mpe mtoto ndizi ale, Give the child bananas to eat. THE RECIPROCAL FORMS OF THE VERBS Mutual actions are expressed in Swabili by adding na to the end of the verb.e.g.kupenda,“to love,like”; kupendana. to like each other-. If the verb ends in e add ana,’kusamehe, “to forgive”; kusameheana “to forgive each other. “ If the verb ends in i and ana e.g. kurudi, “to return”; kurudiana “to return to one another” (i.e. to be reconciled). If a verb ends in u change the u into...