Swahili Adjectives

Welcome to the second Swahili lesson about adjectives. This time we will first learn about colors, followed by grammar rules, then weather expressions, finally a conversation in Swahili to help you practice your daily phrases.

black   nyeusi	grey   kijivu	white   nyeupe	blue   bluu
green   kijani kibichi	yellow   manjano	red   nyekundu	brown   hudhurungi

Adjectives Grammar Rules

In general adjectives are words which describe or modify another person or object in a given sentence. For example: a beautiful flower the adjective is [beautiful] because it describes the noun [flower]. The following examples use adjectives in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Grammar Rules	Swahili
my house is white [noun + adjective]	nyumba yangu ni nyeupe
your country is big [noun + adjective]	nchi yako ni kubwa
new books are expensive [plural + adjective]	vitabu vipya ni ghali
we are happy here [pronoun + verb + adjective]	sisi tuna furaha hapa
she has three small dogs [adjective + plural]	yeye ana mbwa watatu wadogo
this language is very easy [adverb + adjective]	lugha hii ni rahisi sana
I have a small green house [adjective + adjective]	nina nyumba ndogo rangi ya kijani kibichi

We're not done yet! The following is a list of more adjectives for you, often used when referring to weather conditions. I think it would be wise to memorize them.

cold   baridi	hot   joto	cloudy   mawingu	rainy   kunyesha
snowy   kunyesha theluji	sunny   jua	windy   upepo	warm   joto

Conversation in Swahili

Now we finally reach the most exciting part, the practice of the daily expressions used in almost every conversation. I recommend memorizing these phrases, because you will need them for sure.

English	Swahili
hi	hi
how are you?	habari gani?
I'm good, thank you	nzuri
and you?	labda wewe?
what is your name?	jina lako ni nani?
my name is Maya	jina langu ni maya
nice to meet you	nafurahi kukutana na wewe

Source: www.learn101.org