Latest / Learn Swahili with Fexingo / Swahili Simple Past Tense - Basics
Transcript
- Lucas: Welcome back to Learn Swahili with Fexingo! Episode 26, can you believe it? Luna: Twenty-six! That's... sita na ishirini? No, wait — ishirini na sita. Right? Lucas: Exactly. Ishirini na sita. Nice work, Luna. You're getting good at those numbers. Luna: Thanks. So what are we doing today? More fruits? More places? Lucas: Today we're doing something a little different. We're talking about the past. Luna: Ooh, like... what I did yesterday? That kind of thing? Lucas: Exactly. In Swahili, to say something happened in the past, we use a special marker: li. It goes right after the subject prefix. Luna: Li. Okay. So if I want to say 'I ate' — that's 'nilikula'? Lucas: Yes! Ni- is 'I', li- is past, kula is 'eat'. Nilikula. Perfect. Let's practice that. Luna: Nilikula. I ate. Lucas: Great. Now, what about 'I drank'? Kunywa, remember? Luna: Uhh... nilikunywa? Lucas: Nailed it. Nilikunywa. And 'I went' — kwenda? Luna: Nilikwenda. That one feels natural. Lucas: It should. So we have: nilikula, nilikunywa, nilikwenda. Say them with me once. Luna: Nilikula, nilikunywa, nilikwenda. Lucas: Beautiful. Now let's put them in a little story. Yesterday, I ate chapati. Luna: Chapati? Yum. Lucas: So: Jana nilikula chapati. Luna: Jana nilikula chapati. What's jana? Lucas: Jana means 'yesterday'. Good question. So you can say: Jana nilikula chapati. Or: Jana nilikunywa chai. Luna: Jana nilikunywa chai. I like that. And what about 'I went to the market'? Sokoni, right? Lucas: Yes. So: Jana nilikwenda sokoni. Luna: Jana nilikwenda sokoni. Easy. Lucas: Now let's make it a question. How do you ask 'What did you eat?' The word for 'what' is nini. And 'you' is u-. Luna: So... Ulila nini? Lucas: Almost! It's ulila — u-li-la. You missed the li. Say it with me: Ulila nini? Luna: Ulila nini. Lucas: Perfect. And 'What did you drink?' — Ulikunywa nini? Luna: Ulikunywa nini. Lucas: And 'Where did you go?' — wapi is 'where'. So: Ulikwenda wapi? Luna: Ulikwenda wapi. Lucas: Let's do a quick dialogue. I'll ask you something, and you answer in Swahili. Ready? Luna: Ready. Lucas: Ulila nini jana? Luna: Jana nilikula chapati. Lucas: Ahh, yes! And ulikunywa nini? Luna: Nilikunywa chai. Lucas: There it is. And ulikwenda wapi? Luna: Nilikwenda sokoni. Lucas: You did it. Perfect sentences. Luna: That felt really good. I can talk about yesterday now. Lucas: You can. And notice: we use the same pattern for all verbs. Ni-li-kula, u-li-kula, a-li-kula — for he/she. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Luna: Right. Focus on I and you first. Lucas: Exactly. Let's review the phrases one more time. Repeat after me: Nilikula. Luna: Nilikula. Lucas: Nilikunywa. Luna: Nilikunywa. Lucas: Nilikwenda. Luna: Nilikwenda. Lucas: And questions: Ulila nini? Luna: Ulila nini? Lucas: Ulikunywa nini? Luna: Ulikunywa nini? Lucas: Ulikwenda wapi? Luna: Ulikwenda wapi? Lucas: Wonderful. You've got it. And listeners, you can practice this anywhere. Think about what you did yesterday and say it in Swahili. Luna: I'm going to practice more. Maybe I'll say: Jana nilikula ndizi. Lucas: Aww, that's a good one. And I hope you enjoyed this episode of Learn Swahili with Fexingo. Luna: Yeah, this was fun. Past tense unlocked! Lucas: That's right. Keep practicing these phrases, and we'll see you next time. As always, thanks for learning with Fexingo. Luna: Tutaonana baadaye!