“To have” in Swahili: na and kuwa na
This is the verb used to say “to have”.
- E.g. I have a car = nina gari
The verb na also conjugates a little strangely. In the present tense, it’s easy, but in past and future tenses, it gets kuwa na thrown into the mix.
- E.g. I had a car = nilikuwa na gari
Here’s how it conjugates:
| Pronoun | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| mimi | nilikuwa na | nina | nitakuwa na |
| wewe | ulikuwa na | una | utakuwa na |
| yeye | alikuwa na | ana | atakuwa na |
| sisi | tulikuwa na | tuna | tutakuwa na |
| ninyi | mlikuwa na | mna | mtakuwa na |
| wao | walikuwa na | wana | watakuwa na |
And, of course, kuwa na behaves similarly strangely in the negation present tense. (Note: The present negation of kuwa na is NOT the same for all pronouns. In the past tense, the negation prefix ku is optional as it's redundant.)
| Pronoun | Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|---|
| mimi | si(ku)kuwa na | sina | sitakuwa na |
| wewe | hu(ku)kuwa na | huna | hutakuwa na |
| yeye | ha(ku)kuwa na | hana | hatakuwa na |
| sisi | hatu(ku)kuwa na | hatuna | hatutakuwa na |
| ninyi | ham(ku)kuwa na | hamna | hamtakuwa na |
| wao | hawa(ku)kuwa na | hawana | hawatakuwa na |