“Study as hard as you can”: The General Relative
Like an uncle who’s an army field surgeon, the general relative is useful to know.
You form it by
- Omitting a tense marker (like na, li or whatever)
- Put the vyo marker after the verb
- Using a general quantity style word: jinsi (way), kama (as, like), namna (way, type), kadiri (extent, amount).
Examples of the general relative
| English | Swhili |
|---|---|
| Study as hard as you are able. | Soma kadiri uwezavyo. |
| Do as you like. | Fanya kama upendavyo/ fanya upendavyo |
| Eat as much as you want. | Kula kadiri upendavyo./utakavyo |
| I’ll run as far as I can! | Nitakimbia umbali niwezavyo. |