Complex Passive and Impersonal Constructions in Swahili

In Brief

Swahili can leave the person responsible for an action unnamed by using a passive verb, as in Kazi imefanywa (“The work has been done”), or an impersonal reporting expression, as in Inasemekana kwamba... (“It is said that...” ). The passive marker comes near the end of the verb stem, while the beginning of the verb still agrees with the grammatical subject; some common impersonal expressions instead use the class 9/10 prefix i- with no stated subject.

Overview

The basic passive presents a person or thing as undergoing an action rather than performing it. In Wafanyakazi wamekamilisha kazi (“The workers have completed the work”), wafanyakazi perform the action. In Kazi imekamilishwa (“The work has been completed”), kazi is now the subject (the person or thing that the sentence is grammatically about), and the workers need not be mentioned.

At B2, the challenge is not simply adding a passive ending. You also need to combine the passive with tense and noun-class agreement, recognise passive forms containing other verb extensions (suffixes that modify a verb’s meaning), and use impersonal reports such as inasemekana and inaaminika. These patterns are especially frequent in news, formal explanations, reports, instructions, and situations where the source or agent is unknown, obvious, or deliberately backgrounded.

English often uses “it” in “it is said” or “it is believed.” Swahili has no separate dummy pronoun in these expressions. The initial i- in inasemekana or inaaminika belongs to the verb itself. Do not add an equivalent of English “it” before it.

How It Works

1. The passive inside the Swahili verb

A finite Swahili verb normally packages several pieces of information into one word. A useful simplified pattern is:

subject prefix + tense/aspect marker + verb stem (including extensions) + passive ending + final vowel

The exact surface form varies with the stem. Common passive forms include -wa, -iwa, and -ewa. It is safer to learn the passive together with each verb than to assume that every verb simply adds the same letters.

Active infinitive	Passive infinitive	Basic meaning
kufanya	kufanywa	to do → to be done
kusoma	kusomwa	to read → to be read
kuandika	kuandikwa	to write → to be written
kupenda	kupendwa	to love/like → to be loved/liked
kununua	kununuliwa	to buy → to be bought
kueneza	kuenezwa	to spread → to be spread

In a passive clause, the verb agrees with the new subject’s noun class. A noun class is one of the agreement groups into which Swahili nouns are organised.

Subject	Agreement	Passive sentence	Meaning
mtoto (class 1)	a-	Mtoto ameonekana.	The child has been seen.
watoto (class 2)	wa-	Watoto wameonekana.	The children have been seen.
kitabu (class 7)	ki-	Kitabu kimeandikwa.	The book has been written.
vitabu (class 8)	vi-	Vitabu vimeandikwa.	The books have been written.
kazi (class 9)	i-	Kazi imefanywa.	The work has been done.
mambo (class 6)	ya-	Mambo yameelezwa.	The matters have been explained.

Notice the difference between the passive suffix near the end and the agreement prefix at the beginning. In ki-me-andik-w-a, ki- agrees with kitabu, -me- marks a completed state relevant now, and -w- marks the passive.

2. Choosing tense and aspect

The passive does not have its own tense. Use the same tense or aspect markers used with active verbs.

Form	Main interpretation	Example
inafanywa	is being done / is done	Kazi inafanywa sasa.
ilifanywa	was done	Kazi ilifanywa jana.
imefanywa	has been done / is now completed	Kazi imefanywa vizuri.
itafanywa	will be done	Kazi itafanywa kesho.
haijafanywa	has not yet been done	Kazi haijafanywa bado.

The -me- form often highlights a resulting state: Mlango umefungwa can mean that the door has been closed and is now closed. Context decides whether English sounds more natural with “has been closed” or simply “is closed.”

3. Impersonal reports

Two high-frequency reporting expressions are:

• Inasemekana kwamba/kuwa... — It is said that...
• Inaaminika kwamba/kuwa... — It is believed that...

Both kwamba and kuwa can introduce the reported proposition (the statement being reported). Kwamba is an explicit “that”; kuwa is also very common as a complement linker after reporting and thinking expressions.

These forms must be learned as whole constructions. Inasemekana is related to kusema (“to say”) but contains the extended stem -semekana. Inaaminika comes from -aminika (“be believable/credible” and, in context, “be believed”). Therefore, not every English impersonal passive corresponds to a mechanically formed Swahili -w- passive.

The impersonal construction avoids naming a source:

• Watu wanasema kwamba bei zitapanda. — People say that prices will rise.
• Inasemekana kwamba bei zitapanda. — It is said that prices will rise.

If you name the entity believed or reported, normal noun-class agreement may replace impersonal i-:

• Taarifa hii inaaminika kuwa ya kweli. — This report is believed to be true.
• Mashahidi wanaaminika kuwa salama. — The witnesses are believed to be safe.

Here taarifa takes class 9 i-, while plural human mashahidi takes class 2 wa-.

4. Passives with other verb extensions

Swahili can build a longer stem before making it passive. The most important combinations involve the causative (causing someone to act) and the applicative (adding a beneficiary, recipient, purpose, or location).

Build-up	Result	Meaning
soma → somesha → someshwa	Wanafunzi wanafundishwa/someshwa...	teach/cause to study → be taught
andika → andikia → andikiwa	Aliandikiwa barua.	write to/for → be written to/for
jenga → jengea → jengewa	Walijengewa nyumba.	build for → have something built for them
eneza → enezwa	Habari imeenezwa.	spread → be spread
kamilisha → kamilishwa	Mradi umekamilishwa.	complete → be completed

The order matters: an extension that contributes meaning to the active stem normally remains inside the passive marker. For example, andik-i-w-a contains applicative -i- before passive -w-. Learn the full derived stem and check a reliable dictionary when the sound changes are not obvious.

An applicative passive can promote a recipient or beneficiary to subject. Compare Walijenga nyumba kwa familia (“They built a house for the family”) with Familia ilijengewa nyumba (“The family had a house built for it”). English may prefer “had ... built,” but the Swahili verb is grammatically passive.

5. Mentioning the agent

The agent is the person or force that performs the action in a passive sentence. When it matters, Swahili commonly introduces it with na:

• Ripoti iliandikwa na Asha. — The report was written by Asha.
• Barabara iliharibiwa na mvua. — The road was damaged by rain.

Do not include the agent merely because English includes a “by” phrase. The main purpose of many passive clauses is precisely to omit or background it.

Examples in Context

Swahili	English	Note
Inasemekana kwamba atakuja.	It is said that he or she will come.	Impersonal report with kwamba.
Inaaminika kuwa hii ni kweli.	It is believed that this is true.	Impersonal belief with kuwa.
Habari hii imeenezwa kote.	This news has been spread everywhere.	Completed passive; habari controls i-.
Kazi imefanywa kwa uangalifu.	The work has been done carefully.	-me- emphasises completion.
Maombi yatapitiwa wiki ijayo.	The applications will be reviewed next week.	Class 6 plural agreement ya-.
Kitabu hiki kimeandikwa kwa Kiswahili rahisi.	This book has been written in simple Swahili.	Class 7 agreement ki-.
Wagonjwa walitibiwa hospitalini.	The patients were treated at the hospital.	Human plural agreement wa-.
Ripoti iliandikwa na kamati huru.	The report was written by an independent committee.	The agent is named with na.
Familia hiyo ilijengewa nyumba mpya.	That family had a new house built for it.	Applicative passive: the family benefits.
Aliandikiwa ujumbe mfupi.	He or she was written a short message.	Recipient-centred applicative passive.
Mradi umekamilishwa kwa wakati.	The project has been completed on time.	Causative-derived stem plus passive.
Mlango haujafungwa bado.	The door has not been closed yet.	Negative “not yet” passive.
Mashahidi wanaaminika kuwa salama.	The witnesses are believed to be safe.	Personal subject rather than impersonal i-.
Inatarajiwa kwamba matokeo yatatangazwa kesho.	It is expected that the results will be announced tomorrow.	Formal impersonal report followed by another passive.

Common Mistakes

Treating impersonal i- as a separate word

• Wrong: Ni inasemekana kwamba atakuja.
• Right: Inasemekana kwamba atakuja.
• Why: Swahili does not need a separate dummy “it.” The construction is already complete.

Keeping active agreement after changing the subject

• Wrong: Vitabu wameandikwa vizuri.
• Right: Vitabu vimeandikwa vizuri.
• Why: The passive verb agrees with vitabu (class 8), so use vi-, not human plural wa-.

Adding the passive marker mechanically

• Wrong: Kitabu kimeandikawa.
• Right: Kitabu kimeandikwa.
• Why: Passive formation can reshape the end of the stem. Learn kuandika → kuandikwa as a pair.

Losing the applicative meaning

• Wrong for “A letter was written to her”: Aliandikwa barua.
• Right: Aliandikiwa barua.
• Why: The recipient meaning comes from the applicative element in -andikiwa. Aliandikwa would suggest that the person herself was written or recorded.

Copying English “by” too widely

• Awkward: Kazi imefanywa na wao when the workers are irrelevant.
• Better: Kazi imefanywa.
• Why: Omit the agent when it is unknown, obvious, or not important. If the actor is the focus, an active sentence may be clearer.

Confusing -me- with a timeless present

• Wrong context: Kila siku kazi imefanywa saa mbili for “The work is done every day at eight.”
• Better: Kila siku kazi inafanywa saa mbili.
• Why: -me- presents a completed event or resulting state; -na- suits an ongoing or regular process.

Usage Notes

Passives and impersonal reports are common in news and institutional language because they foreground an event, decision, or result: Matokeo yatatangazwa kesho (“The results will be announced tomorrow”). Inasemekana can also occur in ordinary conversation when passing on unconfirmed information. It distances the speaker from the claim, much like “apparently” or “people say” in English.

That distance has a practical meaning. Inasemekana kwamba... does not guarantee that the report is true, and inaaminika kuwa... presents a belief rather than direct proof. In careful writing, name the source if readers need to evaluate it: Kwa mujibu wa polisi... (“According to the police...” ).

English sometimes favours a passive where natural Swahili favours an active clause with watu (“people”), an unspecified plural subject, or a direct instruction. Choose the construction that fits the information focus rather than translating word for word.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

A sentence can contain more than one passive idea without attaching two passive suffixes to one stem. In Inatarajiwa kwamba matokeo yatatangazwa kesho, the impersonal matrix clause (“it is expected”) contains a second clause whose verb is passive (“the results will be announced”). Each verb has its own subject agreement and tense. This layered structure is often what learners meet as a “double passive.”

Swahili also allows a person or thing to become the subject of a reporting verb:

• Waziri anasemekana kuwa amejiuzulu. — The minister is said to have resigned.
• Dawa hii inaaminika kuwa salama. — This medicine is believed to be safe.

This is more compact than Inasemekana kwamba waziri amejiuzulu. The two versions organise the message differently: the impersonal form foregrounds the report, while the personal-subject form foregrounds waziri or dawa hii. Agreement must follow that foregrounded noun.

Finally, do not analyse every form ending in something that resembles -ika or -eka as a simple passive. Swahili has a stative or neuter extension that often means “be in a state,” “be possible,” or “become affected,” as in inaaminika. Such forms may overlap with an English passive in translation, but their grammar and shades of meaning are not identical. At an advanced level, learning related families—such as the base verb, causative, applicative, stative, and passive—gives more reliable results than translating an English passive first.

Practice Tips

1. Rebuild short active sentences. Start with Kamati iliandika ripoti, make ripoti the subject, adjust agreement, and produce Ripoti iliandikwa na kamati. Then omit the agent and ask whether the sentence still says everything needed.
2. Make an agreement grid. Put one passive stem such as -andikwa after several subjects: barua imeandikwa, kitabu kimeandikwa, vitabu vimeandikwa, maelezo yameandikwa. This trains the beginning and end of the verb separately.
3. Collect reporting formulas from real texts. Look for inasemekana, inaaminika, inatarajiwa, and imetangazwa. Record the following linker, the tense, and whether the source is named.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice (-w-/-liw-/-ew-) — review basic passive formation and noun-class agreement before combining extensions and impersonal reports.