How to figure out: “What class does the noun belong to?”
The first column of the table gives example nouns in each class. For example, in the a/wa class, the example is mtu (a person) or watu (people).
Before you can modify verbs and adjectives, you need to figure out what class the noun belongs to. If you hear a new word, there are some ways of guessing with relatively good confidence.
Here’s a quick guide to guessing Swahili noun classes:
| Class | How to identify | Types of words | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| A/Wa (1/2) | Usually start with m or wa All people and animate objects | People, nationalities, professions, Animals. Use even when the word isn’t in the class, if it’s a person (e.g. “rafiki”) | mtu/watu (people) mtoto/watoto (children) simba (lion) rafiki (friend) |
| U/I (3/4) | Usually start with m/mi | Body parts Trees Household items | mguu/miguu (leg/s) mti/miti (tree/s) mkate/mikate (bread) |
| Li/Ya (5/6) | Plurals start with ma, though singular, don’t necessarily start with ji. Some words are only in plural. | Fruits, household foods, Manufactured objects | chungwa/machungwa (orange) jina/majina (name) jibu/majibu (answer) tunda/matunda (fruit) tatizo/matatizo (worry) gari/magari (car) mafuta (oil) (pl. only) maji (water) (pl. only) |
| Ki/Vi (7/8) | Words start (in singular/plural) with ki or vi, or ch or vy | No real pattern other than the letters they start with | kitu/vitu (thing/s) kitabu/vitabu (book/s) chakula/vyakula (food/s) chumba/vyumba (room/s) |
| I/Zi (9/10) | Mostly start with N (not always). Same word form in singular and plural. | Manufactured objects, Animals | ndege (bird, aircraft) ndizi (banana) ng’ombe (cow) barua (letter) chumvi (salt) asubuhi (morning) tembo (elephant) |
| U/Ya (11) | The singular usually begins with a u. Plurals are treated as n-class | Uncountable nouns with no plural e.g. umeme (electricity), Nouns based on verbs or adjectives (e.g. upendo, love), Country names (e.g. Ufaransa) (a few exceptions) | umeme (electricity) utoto (childhood) uzuri (beauty) urefu (length) upendo (love) uwezo (ability) Ufaransa (France) UChina (China) wakati/nyakati (time) wimbo/nyimbo (song) |
| Pa-Ku-Mu | Locations, places. Ku: Infinitive form of verbs, when used as nouns. (Classed separately, but it works like the Ku in Pa-Ku-Mu) | Locations: market, house, etc. Pa: a known place, or a place that can be seen. Ku - a place that is not known well (uncertainty in knowledge of the place) Mu - shows a place inside another place (mahali ndani ya kitu). Words that get a ni on the end for “at this place). Ku: All verbs, like kutoka, kuimba, kuishi or whatever else. | mahali (place) marikiti (market) (marikitini) nyumba (house/home) (nyumbani) duka (shop). Ku class: kuishi (to live) kuimba (to sing) kula (to eat) |