Swahili (Kiswahili) builds its verb tenses with a small set of tense/aspect markers that slot between the subject prefix and the verb stem. Where English uses separate words or auxiliary verbs, Swahili stacks everything into one word: ni-na-soma = “I am reading”. This reference lists the core markers — present -na-, past -li-, future -ta-, perfect -me-, the if/when -ki-, the narrative -ka-, and the conditionals — and conjugates any stem you enter across every subject.
How it works
The standard affirmative verb has the shape subject prefix + tense marker + stem. The subject prefixes are ni- (I), u- (you), a- (he/she), tu- (we), m- (you pl.), wa- (they). A tense marker is inserted next: -na- for the present, -li- for the simple past, -ta- for the future, -me- for the perfect. So tu-li-penda means “we loved” and wa-ta-soma means “they will read”. The marker carries the time information, so the stem itself never changes for tense in these basic forms.
Two markers behave a little differently. -me- is a perfect, not a past — nimefika means “I have arrived” (and am here now). -ka- is the narrative/consecutive marker that strings events together (“…and then…”) and usually follows a -li- clause in a story. -ki- means “if” or “while/when”, as in ukija “if/when you come”.
Tips and examples
- -na- present: ninasoma — I am reading / I read.
- -li- past: nilisoma — I read (yesterday).
- -ta- future: nitasoma — I will read.
- -me- perfect: nimesoma — I have read.
- -ki- if/when: nikisoma — if/while I read.
- -ka- narrative: nikasoma — and then I read.
- -nge- / -ngali- conditional: ningesoma — I would read; ningalisoma — I would have read.
Enter a stem and pick a subject above to see the full set built for you. Everything runs locally in your browser.