Jifunze Kiswahili

DEMONSTRATIVES: THIS AND THAT

This,that and plurals these and those are called DEMONSTRATIVES, from the latin demonstrare,to show,in Swahili,demonstrative are of three kinds:Those that point to somebody,or something near;those that indicate persons or things far away;and those that show people,or things that are nearer to the person spoken to than they are to the speaker.

Let us begin with demonstrative that refer to people.

Singular.                                              Plural

Mtu huyu,this man(person).             watu Hawa

these men(people)

mtu yule,that man.                              watu wale,these men

mtu huyo,that man(near your).         watu hao,those men there (near you)

Huyu and hao are used also to refer to persons about whom we have already spoken.

They may also be used to show contempt,e.g.mtu huyu ni mjinga,”such a man is a fool”,

When pursuing a thief, people cry mwizi huyo!”there runs the thief,watch out”

Suppose I see you walking with a child and I want to know whose child it is, what form should I use?I should say:mtoto huyu ni wa nani?”whose child is that there?”And if the child is near to both of us,I should say: mtoto huyu.