Swahili Plural

Welcome to the fourth Swahili lesson about the plural. This time we will learn about the singular form and what it looks like in the plural, followed by grammar rules, finally a list of emergency phrases.

book   kitabu	books   vitabu	car   gari	cars   magari
tree   mti	trees   miti	flower   ua	flowers   maua

Plural Grammar Rules

The plural is the form which refers to more than one object or person. For example: I speak two languages the plural here is [languages] because it refers to more than one [language]. The examples below use plurals in different ways and places to demonstrate how they look when converted from their singular form.

Grammar + Rules	Swahili
I speak one language [singular form]	ninaongea lugha moja tu
we speak three languages [plural noun]	tunaongea lugha tatu
he visits many countries [adverb + plural noun]	yeye huzuru nchi nyingi
they are happy now [plural pronoun]	wamefurahi sasa
she has five red shoes [adjective + plural noun]	yeye ana viatu vitano vyekundu
I want a sandwich without onions [preposition + plural noun]	nataka sandwich bila vitunguu

The following is a list of examples showing both the singular and plural form. This demonstrates how the plural is used with humans, objects and animals.

woman   mwanamke	women   wanawake	man   mwanamume	men   wanaume
house   nyumba	houses   nyumba	cup   kikombe	cups   vikombe
cow   ng'ombe	cows   ng'ombe	horse   farasi	horses   farasi

Emergency Phrases

Now it's time to practice your Swahili by looking at these phrases which are related to emergencies. Be prepared when traveling abroad, just in case you need help or by offering help to someone else. I recommend writing these expressions down on a notebook before traveling.

English	Swahili
Help	msaada
Call the ambulance	wito ambulansi
I need a doctor	ninahitaji daktari
Where is the closest pharmacy?	kuna duka la dawa wapi hapa?
Are you okay?	uko sawa?
I am sick	mimi ni mgonjwa
Call the police	piga simu kwa polisi

Source: www.learn101.org