Swahili Grammar Guide

“I usually wake up early”: Describing what you habitually do with “hu”

There’s a special tense for describing what you normally do. It’s actually one of the simplest tenses, because it doesn’t have a subject prefix.

Rules

  • You have to use the subject pronoun, but not the marker.
  • Put hu in front of the verb stem.
  • Monosyllabic verbs: Remove the ku. This is the opposite of what usually happens for monosyllabic verbs.
Verb/phrase Swahili
-lala (to sleep) I sleep at 10 Mimi hulala saa nne kila siku.
-nywa (note: monosyllabic) I drink coffee every morning mimi hunywa kahawa kila asubuhi