Verb conjugator

Swahili verb conjugation tables

Type any Swahili verb, or pick one of 14 common ones, and see it fully conjugated in the present, past and future, for every person. The built-in verbs are the ones you meet first and use most, regular and irregular.

Quick answer

Swahili verb conjugation is how a verb changes its ending, and sometimes its stem, to match the subject and the tense. This free tool lays out full tables for 14 of the most common Swahili verbs across 4 core tenses. Pick a verb like kuwa (to be) or kuwa (to be), or type any Swahili verb of your own to conjugate it on the spot.

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Or conjugate any Swahili verb

Showing kuwa (to be) · irregular, suppletive; the -ko present's 3rd person singular is yuko, not ako

kuwa

to be irregular, suppletive; the -ko present's 3rd person singular is yuko, not ako
Present (-ko, location/state)
mimi niko
wewe uko
yeye yuko
sisi tuko
ninyi mko
wao wako
Past (-li-)
mimi nilikuwa
wewe ulikuwa
yeye alikuwa
sisi tulikuwa
ninyi mlikuwa
wao walikuwa
Future (-ta-)
mimi nitakuwa
wewe utakuwa
yeye atakuwa
sisi tutakuwa
ninyi mtakuwa
wao watakuwa
Perfect (-me-)
mimi nimekuwa
wewe umekuwa
yeye amekuwa
sisi tumekuwa
ninyi mmekuwa
wao wamekuwa

Learn Swahili verbs faster by reading them in context

Tables get you started, but verbs stick when you meet them in real sentences. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Swahili with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, so you see these forms again and again where they actually live. Tap any word to save it, then review it later. Free to start.

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How Swahili conjugation works

To conjugate a verb is to change its form to show who is doing the action (the subject) and when (the tense). In each table above, the subject runs down the left and the matching form sits beside it, across 4 core tenses: Present (-ko, location/state), Past (-li-), Future (-ta-), Perfect (-me-).

Verbs split into regular and irregular. Regular verbs follow a fixed pattern you can apply to thousands of others once you learn it; the badge on each verb names its type (irregular, suppletive; the -ko present's 3rd person singular is yuko, not ako for kuwa, for example). Irregular verbs like kuwa (to be) change in ways you memorize one by one, which is exactly why the most common verbs are so often the most irregular.

You do not learn these by staring at the grid. You learn them by meeting them, over and over, in real sentences until the pattern feels obvious. That is what reading does, and it is what reading in Lingo7 is built for: open a real book in Swahili, tap any verb form to see its meaning, and the conjugations start to stick on their own.

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Conjugate verbs in another language

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Frequently asked questions

How do you conjugate Swahili verbs?

To conjugate a Swahili verb, you change its form to match the subject and the tense. Take kuwa (to be): in the mimi form it is niko now, nilikuwa in the past, and nitakuwa in the future. Regular verbs follow a fixed pattern by ending; irregular ones you learn one at a time. This tool shows the full table for each.

What are the most common Swahili verbs?

The most common Swahili verbs include kuwa (to be), kuwa na (to have), kwenda (to go), kuja (to come), kula (to eat), kusema (to speak, to say), kutaka (to want), kufanya (to do, to make). These high-frequency verbs are also the most irregular in most languages, which is why they are worth drilling first. This tool has full present, past and future tables for all 14.

Is Swahili verb conjugation hard?

Swahili conjugation takes practice but follows clear rules. Regular verbs are predictable once you learn the endings; the real work is the handful of very common irregular verbs and knowing which tense to use. Swahili is FSI Category II, about 900 hours to professional proficiency. The fastest way to make the forms automatic is to meet them again and again in real sentences, which is what reading does.

How many tenses does Swahili have?

These three, Present (-ko, location/state), Past (-li-), Future (-ta-), Perfect (-me-), are the core of everyday Swahili and the right place to start. Real Swahili also uses other moods and aspects (and, in most languages, extra compound tenses), but they build on the same stems and personal endings you see in these tables.