Relative Clauses in Swahili

In Brief

A Swahili relative clause describes or identifies a noun, much as English uses who, that, or which. Instead of choosing a relative word by meaning alone, Swahili chooses a relative marker that agrees with the noun class: mtu aliyekuja “the person who came,” kitabu nilichosoma “the book that I read.” The marker can appear inside the verb or after the stem amba-.

Overview

A relative clause is a group of words that adds information about a noun: in “the book that I read,” the words “that I read” describe the book. English mainly distinguishes people (who) from things (which), while conversational English often uses that for either. Swahili organizes the same idea through its noun-class agreement system. The relative marker points back to the noun being described and matches that noun's class.

This is a central B1 pattern because it lets you join short statements into more natural ones. Compare Mtu alikuja. Ni mwalimu (“A person came. The person is a teacher”) with Mtu aliyekuja ni mwalimu (“The person who came is a teacher”). You need to track two things: the noun class of the word being described and the role of that word inside the relative clause.

Relative clauses occur constantly in descriptions, directions, stories, and explanations. Swahili has two especially useful strategies: an integrated relative, whose marker is built into the verb, and an amba- construction, in which a separate agreeing word such as ambaye or ambacho introduces the clause.

How It Works

1. Find the noun being described

The noun before the relative clause is its antecedent (the noun that the relative clause refers back to). In kitabu nilichosoma, the antecedent is kitabu. Because kitabu belongs to class 7, the relative marker is -cho-.

The marker agrees with the antecedent—not with the person performing the action:

• *kitabu nilichosoma* — “the book that I read”
• *kitabu alichosoma* — “the book that he/she read”

The subject changes from ni- “I” to a- “he/she,” but -cho- stays because kitabu stays.

2. Choose the agreeing relative marker

The table below gives the main class patterns. The examples show the marker inside a verb and after amba-.

Noun class	Typical noun pattern	Relative marker	With amba-	Example
1	m-/mw- (usually one person)	-ye-	ambaye	mtu aliyekuja — the person who came
2	wa- (usually people, plural)	-o-	ambao	watu waliokuja — the people who came
3	m- (many plants and things)	-o-	ambao	mti ulioanguka — the tree that fell
4	mi-	-yo-	ambayo	miti iliyoanguka — the trees that fell
5	often ji- or no visible prefix	-lo-	ambalo	jina nililoandika — the name that I wrote
6	ma-	-yo-	ambayo	majina niliyoandika — the names that I wrote
7	ki-	-cho-	ambacho	kitabu nilichosoma — the book that I read
8	vi-	-vyo-	ambavyo	vitabu nilivyosoma — the books that I read
9	many nouns with no regular prefix	-yo-	ambayo	nyumba niliyoona — the house that I saw
10	class 9 plurals	-zo-	ambazo	nyumba nilizoona — the houses that I saw
11	usually u-	-o-	ambao	wimbo niliousikia — the song that I heard
14	usually u- (abstract nouns)	-o-	ambao	uzuri ninaouona — the beauty that I see
15	ku- infinitives used as nouns	-ko-	ambako	kuimba kunakopendeza — singing that is pleasing

Do not identify a class from an English translation. Learn a noun together with its singular and plural agreement: kitabu/vitabu, nyumba/nyumba, jina/majina. This makes the correct relative marker much easier to predict.

3. Put the marker inside the verb

In an integrated relative, the usual affirmative pattern is:

subject prefix + tense marker + relative marker + object marker (if any) + verb stem

Form	Parts	Meaning
aliyekuja	a-li-ye-kuja	who came (class 1 antecedent)
wanaosoma	wa-na-o-soma	who are studying (class 2 antecedent)
nilichosoma	ni-li-cho-soma	that I read (class 7 antecedent)
tutakayonunua	tu-ta-ka-yo-nunua	that we will buy (class 6 antecedent)
aliyenisaidia	a-li-ye-ni-saidia	who helped me

A subject prefix shows who performs the verb; an object marker shows who or what receives the action. The relative marker has a different job: it links the clause to the antecedent. In mwalimu aliyenisaidia, a- is the subject “he/she,” -ye- refers to class 1 mwalimu, and -ni- means “me.”

With the present tense, the marker follows -na-:

• mtoto anayesoma — the child who is studying
• watoto wanaosoma — the children who are studying
• kitabu ninachosoma — the book that I am reading

With the past -li- and future -ta-, the same principle applies:

• mtu aliyepiga simu — the person who called
• watu watakaokuja — the people who will come
• gari tulilonunua — the car that we bought

4. Subject relatives and object relatives

If the antecedent performs the action, it is the subject of the relative clause:

• Mtu aliyekuja — “The person who came”
• Watoto wanaocheza — “The children who are playing”

If the antecedent receives or is affected by the action, it is the object (the person or thing acted on):

• Kitabu nilichosoma — “The book that I read”
• Chakula alichopika — “The food that he/she cooked”

English learners often expect a separate word equivalent to who or that. In the integrated form, there is no separate word: the relative meaning is already inside aliyekuja or nilichosoma.

5. Use amba- plus agreement

The second strategy uses amba- with the same class agreement endings: ambaye, ambao, ambalo, ambayo, ambacho, ambavyo, and ambazo. It is followed by an ordinary finite verb (a verb marked normally for subject and tense):

antecedent + amba-agreement + complete clause

• mwanamke ambaye anafanya kazi hapa — the woman who works here
• vitabu ambavyo nilinunua jana — the books that I bought yesterday
• nyumba ambazo tuliziona — the houses that we saw

The amba- form can make a long sentence easier to process because the relative link is stated separately. It is also useful when the clause contains several verb markers. However, it still must agree with the antecedent: mtu ambaye, but watu ambao and kitabu ambacho.

6. Location classes

Swahili also has locative agreement for places: class 16 -po- (a specific place), class 17 -ko- (a more general area or direction), and class 18 -mo- (inside). These appear in forms such as ambapo, ambako, and ambamo.

• mahali ambapo tunakutana — the place where we meet
• eneo ambako wanaenda — the area where they are going
• chumba ambamo amelala — the room in which he/she has slept

This place system overlaps with the later topic of locative relatives. At B1, it is enough to recognize the forms and use common expressions such as mahali ambapo.

Examples in Context

Swahili	English	Note
Mtu aliyekuja ni mwalimu.	The person who came is a teacher.	Class 1 -ye-; the person performs the action.
Watoto wanaosoma ni wazuri.	The children who are studying are good.	Class 2 -o- after present -na-.
Kitabu nilichosoma ni kizuri.	The book that I read is good.	Class 7 -cho-; the book is the object of “read.”
Vitabu nilivyonunua vilikuwa ghali.	The books that I bought were expensive.	Class 8 -vyo-.
Nyumba ambayo tunaishi ni ndogo.	The house that we live in is small.	Class 9 ambayo introduces the description.
Nyumba nilizoona ziko karibu na bahari.	The houses that I saw are near the sea.	Class 10 -zo- agrees with plural nyumba.
Jina uliloandika si sahihi.	The name that you wrote is not correct.	Class 5 -lo-.
Majina tuliyochagua yana maana nzuri.	The names that we chose have good meanings.	Class 6 -yo-.
Mwalimu aliyenisaidia anaishi Arusha.	The teacher who helped me lives in Arusha.	-ni- marks “me”; -ye- links to mwalimu.
Chakula alichopika kilikuwa kitamu.	The food that he/she cooked was delicious.	Class 7 agreement with chakula.
Watu ambao tulikutana nao walikuwa wakarimu.	The people whom we met were generous.	ambao plus a full clause; nao means “with them.”
Gari ambalo tutanunua linatumia mafuta kidogo.	The car that we will buy uses little fuel.	Class 5 ambalo.
Mahali ambapo tunakutana ni karibu na kituo.	The place where we meet is near the station.	Locative ambapo.

Common Mistakes

Using one marker for every noun

• Wrong: kitabu ambaye nilisoma
• Right: kitabu ambacho nilisoma or kitabu nilichosoma
• Why: Ambaye agrees with a class 1 person. Class 7 kitabu requires -cho-.

Matching the marker to the subject instead of the antecedent

• Wrong: vitabu nilivyo... understood as though -vyo- refers to “I”
• Right principle: In vitabu nilivyosoma, ni- refers to “I,” while -vyo- agrees with class 8 vitabu.
• Why: Different parts of the verb carry different information. Do not choose the relative marker from the subject prefix.

Leaving out the relative marker

• Wrong: Mtu alikuja ni mwalimu.
• Right: Mtu aliyekuja ni mwalimu.
• Why: Two independent statements cannot simply be placed together in this pattern. -ye- marks “who” and turns alikuja into a description of mtu.

Putting the integrated marker in the wrong position

• Wrong: kitabu nilisomacho for the ordinary past meaning “the book that I read”
• Right: kitabu nilichosoma
• Why: In the common tense-bearing integrated pattern, the order is ni-li-cho-soma: subject, tense, relative marker, verb stem.

Adding both strategies unnecessarily

• Wrong: kitabu ambacho nilichosoma (when both markers refer to the same simple relation)
• Right: kitabu ambacho nilisoma or kitabu nilichosoma
• Why: Ambacho already introduces the relative clause. In a simple sentence, repeating the same relative relationship inside the verb is redundant.

Copying English prepositions mechanically

• Awkward: watu ambao tulikutana for “the people whom we met”
• Better: watu ambao tulikutana nao
• Why: Swahili kutana is used with na (“meet with”). The agreeing form nao keeps that relationship in the relative clause.

Usage Notes

Integrated relatives are compact and extremely common. Once noun-class agreement is familiar, forms such as anayefanya, tuliyonunua, and zitakazofika sound natural and efficient. The amba- construction is also standard. It can feel clearer when the clause is long, when a preposition-like relationship must be expressed, or when the speaker wants an unmistakable boundary before the description.

English that is optional in sentences such as “the book (that) I bought.” The Swahili relative link is not normally optional: it must appear either as an integrated marker (kitabu nilichonunua) or in an agreeing amba- form (kitabu ambacho nilinunua).

With people, English distinguishes who and formal whom, but Swahili focuses on noun-class agreement. Both “the person who came” and “the person whom I saw” use class 1 -ye- somewhere in the relative construction: mtu aliyekuja and mtu niliyemwona. Their different grammatical roles are shown by the rest of the verb, not by two different relative pronouns.

Some noun prefixes do not uniquely reveal the class. For example, singular and plural nyumba look identical, but their agreement differs: nyumba niliyoona “the house that I saw” versus nyumba nilizoona “the houses that I saw.” The wider sentence—especially adjectives, demonstratives, and verbs—usually reveals the intended number.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The short or suffixal relative form

Swahili also has a relative construction without an ordinary tense marker. The verb commonly ends in -a followed by the relative marker:

• mtoto asomaye — the child who reads
• watu wapendao muziki — people who love music
• kitabu utakacho — the book that you want

These forms often express a general, habitual, or timeless idea and are especially visible in proverbs, formal prose, headings, and elevated styles. The exact shape interacts with verb morphology, so at B1 it is more important to recognize common forms than to replace every -na- relative with one.

Negative relatives

Negative relative clauses often use forms built with -si- plus the agreeing marker:

Affirmative idea	Negative relative	Meaning
anayesoma	asiyesoma	who is not studying / who does not study
wanaokuja	wasiokuja	who are not coming / who do not come
ninachotaka	nisichotaka	that I do not want
tunazozijua	tusizozijua	that we do not know

Negative relatives do not simply insert the usual independent negative tense form. They have their own structure, and their interpretation depends on context. Treat them as a later extension after affirmative relatives are secure.

Relatives of manner, place, and time

Relative morphology also appears where English uses “how,” “where,” and “when”:

• Jinsi anavyoongea — the way he/she speaks
• Mahali ninapokaa — where I live
• Nilipofika, walikuwa wameondoka. — when I arrived, they had left

Here -vyo- can refer to manner, while -po-, -ko-, and -mo- carry locative meanings. Time relatives such as nilipofika form an important B2 topic in their own right.

Relative clauses with prepositional relationships

When English puts a preposition before a relative word (“the person with whom I spoke”), Swahili often uses an agreeing form later in the clause:

• mtu ambaye nilizungumza naye — the person I spoke with
• kiti ambacho aliweka begi juu yake — the chair on which he/she put the bag
• sababu ambayo waliondoka kwa ajili yake — the reason for which they left

These constructions require more than memorizing the relative marker: the relationship selected by the Swahili verb or expression must also be preserved.

Practice Tips

1. Build agreement pairs. Take one sentence and change the noun class: mtu aliyekuja → watu waliokuja; kitabu nilichosoma → vitabu nilivyosoma. Say which part changes and why.
2. Combine two short statements. Start with Nilinunua gari. Gari ni jipya. Then combine them as Gari nililonunua ni jipya. Practise both integrated and amba- versions.
3. Mark the three jobs in each verb. In aliyenisaidia, underline a- for the subject, -ye- for the antecedent, and -ni- for the object. This prevents agreement from becoming one long string learned by guesswork.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Past Tense (-li-) — helps you recognize the tense marker in forms such as aliyekuja and nilichosoma.
• Next step: Relative of Time (-po-/-lipo-) — extends relative morphology to meanings such as “when I arrived.”
• Advanced: Complex Relative Constructions — develops negative, nested, and more elaborate relative clauses.