If you're trying to learn Swahili Feminine you will find out that Swahili actually doesn't have a gender. So there is no masculine or feminine... But you still need to know how to deal with that fact. Below are some tips and examples. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Swahili. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
As we mentioned before, there is no Swahili gender which is good news (compared to other languages).
While in English it is known that feminine refers to female qualities attributed specifically to women and girls or things considered feminine. The complement to feminine is masculine. In Swahili, nouns are not masculine, feminine, they might be all considered "neutral".
Grammar Tips:
There are no genders in Swahili, no feminine and no masculine. This applies to adjectives as well as nouns.
Here are some examples:
| English Gender | Swahili Gender |
|---|---|
| Feminine | Uke |
| he is happy | amefurahi |
| she is happy | amefurahi |
| he is American | ni Mmarikani |
| she is American | ni Mmarikani |
| man | mwanamme |
| woman | mwanamke |
| father | baba |
| mother | mama |
| brother | ndugu |
| sister | dada |
| uncle | mjomba |
| aunt | shangazi |
| bull | ng'ombe ndume |
| cow | ng'ombe |
| boy | mvulana |
| girl | msichana |
As you can see from the example above, there is no structure of the Feminine in Swahili.
Below are examples of some vocabulary words that you can try to memorize to help you boost your vocabulary.
| English Vocabulary | Swahili Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| objects | vitu |
| bathroom | bafu |
| bed | kitanda |
| bedroom | chumba cha kulala |
| ceiling | dari |
| chair | kiti |
| clothes | nguo |
| coat | shati |
| cup | kikombe |
| desk | dawati |
| dress | mavazi |
| floor | sakafu |
| fork | uma |
| furniture | samani |
| glass | kioo |
| hat | kofia |
| house | nyumba |
| ink | wino |
| jacket | koti |
| kitchen | jikoni |
| knife | kisu |
| lamp | taa |
| letter | barua |
| map | ramani |
| newspaper | gazeti |
| notebook | daftari |
| pants | suruali |
| paper | karatasi |
| pen | kalamu |
| pencil | penseli |
| pharmacy | duka la dawa |
| picture | picha |
| plate | sahani |
| refrigerator | jokofu |
| restaurant | mkahawa |
| roof | paa |
| room | chumba |
| rug | rug |
| scissors | makasi |
| shampoo | Sabuni ya nywele |
| shirt | shati |
| shoes | viatu |
| soap | sabuni |
| socks | soksi |
| spoon | kijiko |
| table | meza |
| toilet | choo |
| toothbrush | mswagi |
| toothpaste | dawa ya meno |
| towel | kitambaa |
| umbrella | mwavuli |
| underwear | chupi |
| wall | ukuta |
| wallet | mkoba |
| window | dirisha |
| telephone | simu |
Feminine and Masculine are absent from Swahili, therefore they don't need very special attention. Once you're done with the Kiswahili gender lesson, you might want to check the rest of our Swahili lessons here: Learn Swahili. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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