“The pizza was cooked by me”: Passive Voice “wa” extension
Passive voice is like changing the active sentence “the child cooks pizza” to the passive sentence “the pizza is cooked by the child”.
In Swahiili, you do this by adding a suffix to the verb: -wa, -liwa, and lewa and using the word na for by. The one you use depends on the root of the verb. (Note: It’s similar to object prefixes.)
Here are the rules for passive voice:
| Root verb last syllable | Example verbs | Base of last syllable | Passive voice ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| consonant + vowel | pata (-ta) penda (-da) | (any) | -wa |
| Ending in two vowels | tumia (-ia) | i, a, u | -liwa |
| oa (-oa) | e, o | -lewa |
Examples:
| Verb | Active sentence + meaning | Passive verb | Passive sentence + meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -uza (to sell) | Watauza ticketi asubuhi. (They will sell the tickets in the morning.) | -uzwa (to be sold) | Tiketi zitauzwa asubuhi. (The tickets will be sold in the morning.) |
| pima (to test) | Mwuguzi alipima mgonjwa. (The nurse tested the patient.) | -pimwa (to be tested) | Mgonjwa alipimwa na mwuguzi. The patient was tested by the nurse. |
| nunua (to buy) | Mwanafunzi alinunua vitambaa. (The student bought the cloth) | -nunuliwa (to be bought) | Vitambaa vilinunuliwa na mwanafunzi. The cloth was bought by the student. |
| oa (to marry) | Mvulana alioa msichana. (The boy married the girl.) Note: In Swahili culture and language, to “marry” is done by a male, to a woman. | -olewa (to be married) | Msichana aliolewa na mvulana. The girl was married by the boy. |
| fungua (to open) | Muuzaji atafungua duka. (The shopkeeper will open the shop.) | -funguliwa (to be opened) | Duka litafunguliwa. The shop will open (be opened). |
| funga (to close) | Watafunga bekari karibuni. (They’re going to close the bakery soon.) | -fungwa (to be closed) | Bekari itafungwa karibuni. |
For example:
- Active: The child cooks pizza = mtoto anapika piza.
- Passive: The pizza is cooked by the child = piza unapikwa na mtoto