“Where are you? I’m here”: ko, po, and mo (the “locative copula”)
To talk about where something or someone is, you have to use ko, po, and mo.
| Kiwahili | Meaning/Usage |
|---|---|
| -po | Specific location ("is right here") |
| -ko | General location ("is at/is on") |
| -mo | Internal location ("is inside of") |
Rule:
- Positive: Use the pronoun prefix + -po/-ko/-mo
- Negative: Add si (first person) or ha before the locative copula.
Examples of using ko, po, and mo in Swahili:
| English | Noun class | Pronoun prefix | -po/-ko/-mo | Swahili |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I’m right here. | m/wa | Ni- | -po | Nipo hapa |
| Are you outside? | m/wa | u | -ko | Uko nje? |
| Where are you? | m/wa | u | -ko | Uko wapi? |
| Are you ready? | m/wa | u | -po | Upo tayari? |
| I’m outside. | m/wa | ni | -po | Nipo nje. |
| S/he’s not here. | m/wa | yu | -po | Hayupo. |
| She’s at work | m/wa | yu | -po | Yupo kazini. |
| They’re not inside | m/wa | wa | -mo | Hawamo ndani |
| Where is it? (n-class) | n | i | -ko | Iko wapi? |
| It’s on the table (n-class) | n | i | -ko | iko mezani |
| It’s not in here (n-class) | n | i | -mo | Haimo hapa |
| They’re inside. | m/wa | wa | -mo | Wamo ndani. |
| I’m not here. | m/wa | Si | -po | Sipo. |
| We’re around here | m/wa | Tu | -ko | Tuko. |
| Where’s the teacher? | m/wa | yu | -ko | Mwalimu yuko wapi? |
| Where is the book? | ki/vi | ki | ko | Kitabu kiko wapi? |
For past and future tense:
- Use the past or future tense of kuwa, merged with po/ko/mo
- You only need to use po/ko/mo if you haven’t specified a location. If you do (e.g. nyumbani, you can omit the po/ko/mo marker.
| Pronoun | -po/-ko/-mo | Past positive | Past negative | Future positive | Future negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mimi | -po | nilikuwapo | sikuwapo | nitakuwa(po) | sitakuwa(po) |
| wewe | -ko | ulikuwa(ko) | hukuwa(ko) | utakuwa(ko) | hutakuwa(ko) |
| yeye | -mo | alikuwa(mo) | hakuwa(mo) | atakuwa(mo) | hatakuwa(mo) |
| sisi | -po | tulikuwa(po) | hatukuwa(po) | tutakuwa(po) | hatutakuwa(po) |
| ninyi | -ko | mlikuwa(ko) | hamkuwa(ko) | mtakuwa(ko) | hamtakuwa(ko) |
| wao | -mo | walikuwa(mo) | hawakuwa(mo) | watakuwa(mo) | hawatakuwa(mo) |
Examples of the locative copula:
| English | Swahili |
|---|---|
| I am here. | Nipo hapa. |
| I was there. | Nilikuwapo. |
| We were not at home. | Hatukuwa nyumbani. |
| He is at home. | Yumo nyumbani. |
| They will be at work. | Watakuwa kazini. |
| Where’s my pen? It was on the table. | Kalamu yangu iko wapi? Ilikuwa kwenye meza. |
| Where are the eggs? They’re in the fridge. | Mayai yako wapi? Yapo ndani ya friji. |