Chapter 03

	Chapter 3 - The Infinitive

1. GENERALITIES

The main characteristic of the Swahili verb is its agglutinative aspect. In order to be functional, to be conjugated and be part of the sentence, we must attach to it a certain number of affixes : prefixes, infixes and suffixes, according to the situation. All these affixes possess a precise position and function. The general position scheme of these affixes in relation to the verb radical is as follows :

Pre-Prefix + Subject Prefix + Tense marker + Object Infix + RADICAL + Derivation + Suffix + Post-Suffix

Luckily enough, it is very rare for a verb to possess all these affixes at one and the same time !
These different affixes and their functions will all be explained along the following chapters.

2. THE INFINITIVE

In English, the infinitive is shown by the word TO placed before the verb.
In Swahili, the infinitive is marked by the prefix KU- attached to the verb radical.

KU + RADICAL

EXAMPLES :

KU-FIKA	to arrive	KU-PATA	to have, to find, to get
KU-FANYA	to do	KU-PIGA	to strike, to hit
KU-JUA	to know	KU-KAMATA	to catch
KU-SIKIA	to hear	KU-SOMA	to read, to learn
KU-ANGALIA	to look at	KU-WEKA	to put

As shown through these different examples, the radical of the Swahili verbs of Bantu origin ends in -A in the infinitive. There are however a few exceptions, especially with verbs of Arabic origin, which end in -E, -I or -U.

3. SOME VERBS OF ARABIC ORIGIN :

Ku-badili	to exchange	Ku-jaribu	to try
Ku-baki	to stay	Ku-jibu	to answer
Ku-faulu	to succeed	Ku-keti	to sit
Ku-fikiri	to think	Ku-rudi	to return, to come back
Ku-furahi	to rejoice	Ku-safiri	to travel
Ku-haribu	to destroy	Ku-samehe	to forgive

4. A LIST OF COMMON VERBS :

Ku-anguka	to fall	Ku-ona	to see
Ku-chukua	to seize, to take	Ku-penda	to love
Ku-faa	to fit	Ku-pika	to cook
Ku-fuata	to follow	Ku-safisha	to clean
Ku-funga	to close	Ku-sema	to say, to tell
Ku-fungua	to open	Ku-simama	to stop
Ku-kaa	to stay, to live	Ku-tafuta	to look for
Ku-kata	to cut, to reduce	Ku-taka	to want
Ku-leta	to bring	Ku-tupa	to throw
Ku-ngoja	to wait	Ku-uza	to sell
Ku-nunua	to buy	Ku-weza	to be able

5. MONOSYLLABIC VERBS :

Ku-fa	to die	Ku-wa	to be
Ku-ja	to come	Ku-wa na	to have
Ku-la	to eat	Kw-enda	to go
Ku-nywa	to drink	Kw-isha	to end

NOTE :

The last two verbs, Kw-isha and Kw-enda, although disyllabic, have been included in this table because they behave like monosyllabic verbs in their conjugation.
We also note that the U of KU- weakens into W before the vowel E or I of the radical.

6. THE NEGATIVE INFINITIVE :

Swahili possesses a negative infinitive. It is obtained by inserting the infix -TO- between the infinitive prefix KU- and the radical of the verb. An extra KU-, which is compulsory in the case of monosyllabic verbs, is sometimes added before the radical.

KU + TO (+ KU) + RADICAL

EXAMPLES :

Affirmative		Negative
Kusoma	to read	-> Kuto(ku)soma	not to read
Kufanya	to do	-> Kuto(ku)fanya	not to do
Kujibu	to answer	-> Kuto(ku)jibu	not to answer
Kurudi	to come back	-> Kuto(ku)rudi	not to come back
Kula	to eat	-> Kutokula	not to eat
Kufa	to die	-> Kutokufa	not to die

EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1 : Translate into swahili :

To learn, to catch, to arrive, to try, to wait, to look at, to see, to hear, to think, to answer, to strike, to have, to do, to know, to love, to go, to come, to drink, to eat, to be, to clean, to want, to sit, to come back, to succeed.
Not to find, not to catch, not to do, not to try, not to know, not to come back, not to stay, not to bring, not to wait, not to say, not to buy, not to sell, not to read, not to hear, not to stop.

EXERCISE 2 : Translate into English :

Kuweka, kubaki, kusafiri, kusamehe, kuanguka, kukaa, kusimama, kuuza, kununua, kupika, kwisha, kusema, kufunga, kufungua, kuleta, kufa, kufaa, kujibu, kujaribu, kufurahi, kubadili, kuweza, kuketi, kufuata, kutafuta.
Kutokuwa, kutokunywa, kutokula, kutokuja, kutoweka, kutofika, kutofaulu, kutofurahi, kutosafiri, kutofaa, kutokuona, kutokupika, kutotaka, kutokuweza, kutofikiri.

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