If you're trying to learn Swahili Prepositions which is also called Kiswahili, check our courses about time and place prepositions and and demonstrative pronouns... to help you with your Swahili grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Swahili. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Swahili Prepositions is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Swahili language. But first we need to know what the role of Prepositions is in the structure of the grammar in Swahili.
Swahili prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. Here are some examples:
| English Prepositions | Swahili Prepositions |
|---|---|
| Prepositions | Vijina |
| inside the house | ndani ya nyumba |
| outside the car | nje ya gari |
| with me | na mimi |
| without him | pasipo yeye |
| under the table | chini ya meza |
| after tomorrow | baada ya kesho |
| before sunset | kabla ya machweo |
| but I'm busy | lakini nina shughuli nyingi |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Prepositions in Swahili has a logical pattern. Locate the Prepositions above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Kiswahili.
Below is a list of the Time place and demonstrative pronouns in Swahili placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Swahili vocabulary.
| English Prepositions | Swahili Prepositions |
|---|---|
| about | kuhusu |
| above | juu |
| across | katikati |
| after | baada ya |
| against | dhidi ya |
| among | miongoni mwa |
| around | karibu |
| as | kama |
| at | saa |
| before | kabla |
| behind | nyuma |
| below | chini |
| beneath | chini |
| beside | kando ya |
| between | kati ya |
| beyond | ng'ambo |
| but | lakini |
| by | na |
| despite | licha ya |
| down | chini |
| during | wakati |
| except | ila |
| for | kwa |
| from | kutoka |
| in | katika |
| inside | ndani |
| into | katika |
| near | karibu |
| next | kando |
| of | ya |
| on | juu |
| opposite | kinyume |
| out | nje |
| outside | nje |
| over | juu |
| per | kwa |
| plus | kuongeza |
| round | pande zote |
| since | tangu |
| than | kuliko |
| through | kupitia |
| till | mpaka |
| to | kwa |
| toward | kuelekea |
| under | chini ya |
| unlike | tofauti |
| until | mpaka |
| up | juu |
| via | kupitia |
| with | na |
| within | ndani ya |
| without | bila |
| two words | maneno mawili |
| according to | kulingana na |
| because of | kwa sababu ya |
| close to | karibu |
| due to | kutokana na |
| except for | isipokuwa |
| far from | mbali na |
| inside of | ndani ya |
| instead of | badala ya |
| near to | karibu na |
| next to | karibu na |
| outside of | nje ya |
| prior to | kabla ya |
| three words | maneno matatu |
| as far as | mbali kama |
| as well as | kama vile |
| in addition to | zaidi |
| in front of | mbele ya |
| in spite of | licha ya |
| on behalf of | kwa niaba ya |
| on top of | juu ya |
| demonstrative pronouns | demonstrative Vijina |
| this | hii |
| that | hio |
| these | hii/hawa/haya/hizi |
| those | hao/hayo |
Time place and demonstrative pronouns have a very important role in Swahili, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Kiswahili Prepositions, you might want to check the rest of our Swahili lessons here: Learn Swahili. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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