“If I were rich…”: nge and ngali Conditionals in hope and regret
Use nge and ngali to describe something that still might happen.
Rule
- Positive expressions: Put a nge as the tense marker. Use this as a future condition and consequence.
- Things that didn’t happen (“regret”): Put a ngali as the tense marker. Use this for a past event/act no longer possible, and a result that can’t come true.
- Negating: Put a si right after the person marker.
Examples of conditionals in hope and regret
| English sentence | Verb(s) | Swahili sentence |
|---|---|---|
| If you saw them, you would like them. | -ona (to see), -penda (to like) | Ungewaona, ungewapenda. |
| If I had exercised, I would have gotten sick. | -fanya mazoezi (to exercise), -kuwa mgonjwa (to be sick) | Ningalifanya mazoezi, ningalikuwa mgonjwa. |
| If I lived there, I wouldn’t be happy. | -ishi (to live) -furahi (to be happy) | Ningaliishi huko, nisingalifurahi. |
| If I didn’t know it was too expensive, I’d have bought it. | -jua (to know), -nunoa (to buy) | Nisingejua hii ni ghali zaidi, ningeliinunua. |
| If you didn’t tell us, we wouldn’t have known. | -ambia (to tell), -jua (to know) | Usingalituambia, tusingalijua. |
| I knew that if I were not to play, I wouldn’t be tired. | -cheza (to play), -choka (to get tired) | Nilijua kwamba nisingalicheza, nisingalichoka. |