“I didn’t go, I am not going, I won’t go”: Simple tenses (past, present and future) in negative form
The simple tenses all change slightly when using them in negative form.
The first kind of negation most people encounter is in basic greetings around jambo.
Examples of conjugating -jambo:
| Pronoun | Greeting | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|
| mimi (I) | sijambo | I’m fine |
| wewe (you) | hujambo | How are you? |
| yeye (he/she) | hajambo | How is he?/he’s fine |
| sisi (we) | hatujambo | We’re fine. |
| ninyi (you plu.) | hamjambo | How are you (pl.)? |
| wao (they) | hawajambo | How are they? They’re fine. |
Literally, these mean “I have no matters, you have no matters” and so on.
The example below uses the verb -cheza, meaning "dance" or "play".
Conjugation rules:
- In the present tense, if the last syllable is a, the final vowel becomes an i.
- For monosyllabic verbs, even though in the present tense they keep the ku, the verbs drop it in the negative tense. e.g. “I am not eating now” is sili sasa.
- No special rules for monosyllabic verbs in past and future negative; they keep their ku
- In the present tense, verbs drop the tense prefix (na).
- In the past tense, the tense prefix changes from li to ku.
Negative simple tenses with regular verbs (more than one syllable), -cheza (to dance):
| Pronoun | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| mimi | sikucheza (I didn’t play) | sichezi (I am not playing/I don’t play) | sitacheza (I won’t play) |
| wewe | hukucheza | huchezi | hutacheza |
| yeye | hakucheza | hachezi | hatacheza |
| sisi | hatukucheza | hatuchezi | hatutacheza |
| ninyi | hamkucheza | hamchezi | hamtacheza |
| wao | hawakucheza | hawachezi | hawatacheza |
Negative simple tenses with an irregular verb (monosyllabic), kula (to eat):
| Pronoun | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| mimi | sikula (I didn’t eat) | sili (I’m not eating/I don’t eat) | sitakula (I won’t eat) |
| wewe | hukula | huli | hutakula |
| yeye | hakula | hali | hatakula |
| sisi | hatukula | hatuli | hatutakula |
| ninyi | hamkula | hamli | hamtakula |
| wao | hawakula | hawali | hawatakula |