Download Negative verbs in other tenses

Negative verbs in other tenses
Recall how the three constituent parts of Swahili verbs change for present tense negatives (with
the exception of 'be' and 'have' which are irregular in the present tense):
1) +ve (positive) verb prefix → -ve (negative) verb prefix
2) -na- disappears, i.e. there is no tense marker
3) if (and only if) the verb stem ends in -a, this changes to -i
Recall also that 1) in fact applies to any negative verb of any tense – and even of any noun class
(but other noun classes of course use different verb prefixes).
2) and 3) meanwhile are unique to the present tense negative and no other tense sees any change to
the verb stem (though some other tenses change the tense marker – see below)
(Monosyllabic verb stems do not require the ku- prefix since the negative verb prefixes are
permitted to take stress in their place as penultimate syllables.)
Future tense
For future tense negatives, there is no change to the tense marker – it remains -ta- – so, in fact, the
only difference between +ve and -ve is the change in verb prefix:
nitapata – I shall get → sitapata – I shan't get
utasoma? – will you study? → hutasoma? – will you not study?
tutakuja – we will come → hatutakuja – we won't come
Notice that, in the last example, kuja retains the ku- prefix since, as we already know, -ta- is not
permitted to take stress. (Hataja is therefore not permitted.)
Past tense
The past tense sees a change in tense marker for negatives, from -li- to -ku-:
walishinda – they succeeded → hawakushinda – they didn't succeed (failed, lost)
mlitembea (kwa miguu)? – did you (all) walk? → hamkutembea (kwa miguu)? – did you not walk?
alikula nyama – he/she ate meat → hakula nyama – he/she didn't eat meat
Notice that, in the last example, kula does drop its ku- infinitive prefix in the negative, but it has
effectively been replaced by the -ku- tense marker, which is permitted to take stress in the same
way. (Hakukula would certainly be incorrect.)
Beware of potential confusion between these ku's. You need to recognise that the ku here is
indicating past tense and is not part of a present tense form (which would be hali nyama, as we
have seen).
(Unfortunately, this is not the last of the ku's which can potentially appear in Swahili verbs!)
Questions and statements
There are some important points to make here about the differences between questions and
statements in Swahili.
As you will probably know, there is no difference in word order between the two (which is only
sometimes the case in English), so the distinction is made through intonation (the tone of voice with
which you say it) and/or by adding je to the beginning (or, sometimes, the end) of the sentence.
The upshot of this is that, in all examples of Swahili verbs, on paper, either interpretation is possible
(although I usually only give you one). Please do be aware of this.
Note, however, that, when using the 2nd person, i.e. when talking about a person/people you are
addressing directly, you are far more likely to be asking a question than making a statement (as
borne out by the examples above), as the latter might well be presumptuous and/or rude! (Think
about it....)
Finally, notice also the subtle difference in meaning between when questions are asked in +ve form
and when in -ve:
mlitembea kwa miguu? is a more open question, genuinely seeking information, whereas
hamkutembea kwa miguu? implies an initial expectation that the people being addressed would
have walked, and surprise that, in fact, perhaps they didn't (and therefore that this expectation has
been confounded).