Demonstratives in Swahili

In Brief

Swahili distinguishes three distances: near the speaker (“this/these”), near the listener or already indicated (“that/those”), and far from both (“that/those over there”). The demonstrative must agree with the noun class: mtu huyu, kitabu hiki, and nyumba hii all mean “this …,” but their forms differ because the nouns belong to different classes.

Overview

A demonstrative is a pointing word such as this, that, these, or those. English mainly contrasts two distances: near (this) and less near (that). Swahili normally gives you three choices. You can point to something close to yourself, something close to the person listening, or something farther away from both of you.

This is an A1 topic, but it depends on one of the central features of Swahili grammar: noun classes. A noun class is a grammatical group that controls the form of words connected to a noun. For example, mtu “person” is class 1, kitabu “book” is class 7, and nyumba “house” is class 9. Their demonstratives therefore begin differently: huyu, hiki, and hii.

Swahili demonstratives usually come after the noun: mtu huyu (“this person”), not the English order “this person.” They can also stand alone when the noun is clear: Nataka hiki means “I want this one.” Learning each demonstrative as part of an agreement pattern, rather than as an isolated translation of this or that, will make the system much easier.

How It Works

The three-way distance contrast

Swahili	English	Point of reference
kitabu hiki	this book	Near the speaker
kitabu hicho	that book	Near the listener, or the one just indicated
kitabu kile	that book over there	Far from speaker and listener

The middle form does not always mean that the object is literally beside the listener. It can also identify something that the listener is attending to or that has already been mentioned. Context and gesture do much of the work.

A useful beginner shorthand is:

• near forms contain an initial h- and normally end with the class’s agreement sound: huyu, hiki, hii;
• listener-side forms begin with h- and end in -o: huyo, hicho, hiyo;
• far forms end in -le: yule, kile, ile.

These are memory patterns, not a reason to build every form letter by letter while speaking. Learn the complete forms in the table below.

Core demonstrative table

The “class” numbers are grammatical labels; they do not indicate quantity. Singular and plural classes are commonly paired, such as classes 1/2 and 7/8.

Noun class	Typical noun	Near speaker	Near listener / indicated	Far away
1 (person, singular)	mtu “person”	huyu	huyo	yule
2 (people, plural)	watu “people”	hawa	hao	wale
3	mti “tree”	huu	huo	ule
4	miti “trees”	hii	hiyo	ile
5	gari “car”	hili	hilo	lile
6	magari “cars”	haya	hayo	yale
7	kitabu “book”	hiki	hicho	kile
8	vitabu “books”	hivi	hivyo	vile
9	nyumba “house”	hii	hiyo	ile
10	nyumba “houses”	hizi	hizo	zile
11	ukuta “wall”	huu	huo	ule

Some nouns have the same visible form in singular and plural. Nyumba, for instance, can mean “house” (class 9) or “houses” (class 10). Its demonstrative removes the ambiguity: nyumba hii is “this house,” while nyumba hizi is “these houses.”

Agreement comes from the noun, not its meaning

Do not choose a demonstrative according to whether a thing is human, large, or physically nearby. First identify the noun class; then choose the distance. A kitabu is class 7, so the three choices are hiki, hicho, and kile. A gari is class 5, so they are hili, hilo, and lile.

For people in classes 1 and 2, the most useful set is:

Number	Near speaker	Near listener / indicated	Far away
Singular	mtu huyu	mtu huyo	mtu yule
Plural	watu hawa	watu hao	watu wale

Position in the noun phrase

The normal beginner pattern is:

noun + demonstrative

• mwalimu huyu — this teacher
• magari yale — those cars over there
• vitabu hivyo — those books

This is the reverse of ordinary English order. Other descriptive words can appear in the same noun phrase, and they also agree with the noun: kitabu hiki kizuri (“this good book”) and watoto wale wadogo (“those small children over there”). In natural discourse, word order can shift for emphasis; the reliable unmarked pattern for a learner is to put the demonstrative after the noun.

Using a demonstrative without a noun

A demonstrative can replace a noun when everyone knows what is being discussed. It then means “this one,” “that one,” “these,” or “those.” Agreement still identifies the understood noun:

• Nipe hiki. — Give me this one. (an understood class 7 item)
• Ninapenda yale. — I like those. (understood class 6 items)
• Yule ni mwalimu wangu. — That person over there is my teacher.

English uses the general word one in the translation, but Swahili does not add a separate equivalent here.

Examples in Context

Swahili	English	Note
Mtu huyu ni mwalimu.	This person is a teacher.	Class 1, near speaker
Mtu huyo ni rafiki yako?	Is that person your friend?	Class 1, listener-side
Mtu yule anatusubiri.	That person over there is waiting for us.	Class 1, far
Watoto hawa wanacheza.	These children are playing.	Class 2 plural
Watu wale wanaishi kijijini.	Those people over there live in the village.	Class 2, far
Mti huu ni mrefu sana.	This tree is very tall.	Class 3
Miti ile imeanguka.	Those trees over there have fallen.	Class 4 plural
Gari hilo ni la nani?	Whose is that car?	Class 5, listener-side
Magari haya ni mapya.	These cars are new.	Class 6 plural
Kitabu hiki ni kizuri.	This book is good.	Class 7
Kitabu hicho ni changu.	That book is mine.	Class 7, listener-side
Nataka viatu vile.	I want those shoes over there.	Class 8 plural
Nyumba ile ni kubwa.	That house over there is big.	Class 9, far
Nyumba hizi ni nzuri.	These houses are nice.	Class 10 plural
Nipe hiki, si kile.	Give me this one, not that one over there.	Demonstratives stand alone

Notice that the demonstrative does not change the rest of the sentence by itself. The noun class also appears in other agreement forms: *watoto hawa wanacheza*, *kitabu hiki ni kizuri*, and *magari haya ni mapya*. This repeated agreement is one of the clues that helps experienced speakers follow a sentence.

Common Mistakes

Using one form of “this” for every noun

• Wrong: kitabu huyu
• Right: kitabu hiki
• Why: Huyu agrees with a class 1 person. Kitabu belongs to class 7 and requires hiki.

Copying English word order

• Wrong: hiki kitabu ni kizuri (as the neutral beginner pattern)
• Right: kitabu hiki ni kizuri
• Why: Swahili normally places the demonstrative after the noun. A demonstrative may be moved before a noun in marked, emphatic usage, but that is not the everyday pattern to imitate first.

Treating all English “that” forms as identical

• Unclear choice: kitabu hicho when pointing to a book far across the street
• Better: kitabu kile
• Why: Hicho points toward the listener’s side or identifies the item under discussion. Kile explicitly presents the class 7 item as distant. English usually calls both “that book,” so the translation alone cannot choose for you.

Guessing number from the noun’s visible shape

• Wrong: nyumba hii for several nearby houses
• Right: nyumba hizi
• Why: Class 9 singular and class 10 plural nouns often look alike. Use hii for one nearby house and hizi for several.

Making only the demonstrative agree

• Wrong: watoto hawa anacheza
• Right: watoto hawa wanacheza
• Why: Agreement extends beyond the demonstrative. The plural subject watoto takes class 2 hawa and the plural verb subject marker wa-.

Usage Notes

The three distances are relative to the conversation, not fixed measurements. Something on the table may be hiki if it is by the speaker, hicho if it is by the listener, or kile if both people view it as farther away. Pointing, gaze, and shared attention can be as important as physical distance.

The listener-side series also has a discourse use. It can refer back to the particular person or thing that has just been mentioned, much like English “that person” or “that issue.” For example, after someone mentions a teacher, mwalimu huyo can mean “that teacher” without implying that the teacher is physically near the listener.

English speakers should resist searching for a permanent one-to-one translation. Huyo and yule may both become that person in English. Conversely, English those can correspond to hao, wale, hiyo, zile, and several other forms. Distance and noun class—not the English word alone—determine the Swahili choice.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details at A1, but they explain forms you will meet in conversation and reading.

Locative demonstratives

Swahili extends the same three-way contrast to places. The very common forms hapa, hapo, pale can be understood roughly as “here,” “there by you/there indicated,” and “over there.” They are related to locative noun-class agreement rather than to an ordinary singular/plural noun pair.

Swahili	English	Nuance
Kaa hapa.	Sit here.	Place by the speaker
Weka kitabu hapo.	Put the book there.	Place by the listener or indicated spot
Shule iko pale.	The school is over there.	More distant place

You may also meet huku, huko, kule, often used for a broader area or direction (“around here/this way,” “there/that way,” “over there”), and humu, humo, mle, associated with an interior (“in here,” “in there,” “in there over there”). Their exact interpretation depends heavily on context and the locative construction. At first, recognize the three distance columns rather than trying to force every form into a single English adverb.

Demonstratives as discourse pointers

A speaker can point to an idea, event, or previously mentioned matter, not only to a visible object. Forms such as hiyo and hivyo are frequent in this role because they agree with an understood noun or refer to a manner or situation. For example, Usifanye hivyo means “Don’t do that / Don’t do it that way.” The form hivyo is not a universal word for “that”; it reflects the relevant agreement and adverbial pattern.

Emphatic order

Although noun + demonstrative is the safest default, a demonstrative can appear before the noun when the speaker deliberately singles something out: huyu mtu can carry a sense such as “this particular person” or, depending on tone, “this person here.” Such ordering is pragmatic—it changes focus or attitude—rather than replacing the ordinary pattern. Learners should understand it when encountered but keep using mtu huyu in neutral descriptions.

Practice Tips

1. Learn in three-part rows. Pick one familiar noun from each major class and say all three distances aloud: mtu huyu—mtu huyo—mtu yule; kitabu hiki—kitabu hicho—kitabu kile. This links class and distance in one habit.
2. Use real objects and two positions. Put a book near yourself, then near a study partner or imagined listener, then point outside the immediate area. Describe it each time. Physical movement makes the three-way contrast more memorable than English translations do.
3. Check the whole agreement chain. When writing a sentence, underline the noun and circle every word that agrees with it: watoto hawa wadogo wanacheza. Correcting the complete chain prevents you from learning the demonstrative in isolation.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Noun Class 1/2: M-/Wa- (People) — introduces noun-class agreement through common words for people.
• Useful companion: Noun Class 7/8: Ki-/Vi- (Things/Tools) — helps explain contrasts such as hiki/hivi and hicho/hivyo.
• Useful companion: Noun Class 9/10: N- (Animals/Borrowed Words) — explains why nyumba can take singular hii or plural hizi.
• Next step: Adjective Agreement with Noun Classes — extends the same agreement principle to descriptions such as kitabu hiki kizuri.