The Locative Copula Is Formed by Prefixing the Verb Prefix to -Ko

Location

In English we simply use the verb ‘to be’ (in conjunction with a prepositional phrase) when talking about where someone or something is. E.g., I am at the shops; they are in Arusha, etc. However, in Swahili a separate construction is used, another which uses the verb prefix of the noun whose location is being discussed. (In technical terms, instead of needing simply a copula, we need a locative copula.)

Where is…?

A phrase asking where something is in Swahili normally requires three parts, in the following order: a noun (or noun phrase); the locative copula (using verb prefix); and the word wapi, meaning ‘where’.

The locative copula is formed by prefixing the verb prefix to -ko.

So we get: kalamu iko wapi? – where is the pen? viatu vyenu viko wapi? – where are your shoes? shati jeusi liko wapi? – where is the black shirt? pesa ziko wapi? – where is the money? (N.B. In Swahili, money is usually referred to in the plural, since it is not a mass noun, like in English.) maji yako wapi? – where is the water? (Similarly, maji is a plural noun only. Also, note the potential confusion here with the possessive. You could ask maji yako yako wapi?!) Joseph yuko wapi? – where is Joseph? wazazi wangu wako wapi? – where are my parents? mkate uko wapi? – where is the bread? miembe iko wapi? – where are the mango trees?

Note that the M/WA (and animates) singular again uses the yu- we saw for demonstratives. As usual, if context makes clear the item under discussion, the noun can be dropped from such questions.

Saying where something/someone is

There are more variables and alternatives when it comes to stating where something or someone is. However, you will not need to understand or use all of the possibilities in order to make yourself understood. The word order is equivalent to the word order of questions (unlike in English), with wapi replaced by a location: noun (or noun phrase); locative copula; location Again, context (especially if an answer to a direct question) may make inclusion of the noun phrase unnecessary.

Locative copula

The verb prefix continues to be used in the same way but, as well as -ko, you may also hear it attached to -po (and sometimes -mo). Even among native Swahili speakers the distinction between these if often hazy or nonexistent, but I shall briefly explain the difference: -ko is used to refer to indefinite (vague, unknown) location (hence its use in questions, for which location is unknown) -po is used to refer to definite (known and fairly exact) location -mo is used to refer to inside (interior) location

You can stick with -ko to begin with and do not really need to worry about using -mo at all.

If you wish to say where someone or something isn’t, just use the negative verb prefix in the same way. We’ll see some examples later.

Location

In most cases a noun alone does not qualify as a location, just like in English: we can’t say ‘Sian is the shop’, but need to say ‘Sian is in/at/near/behind the shop’. In both languages, a location normally comprises a prepositional phrase such as this. However, Swahili has a few exceptions to this rule, where the noun alone suffices:  Place names: Agatha yuko Nairobi; wako Zanzibar; nyumba yangu iko Kasigau (Note also that these examples use -ko, since most proper place names are not very specific locations.)  Certain (very few) borrowed nouns, e.g. posta, benki, pwani, sinema. Tupo posta; wapo sinema; niko pwani

The nouns above do not need to be (and should not be) altered to become locations, as per the below.

There are three basic ways to turn all other Swahili nouns into locations (as prepositional phrases):

-ni suffix

This general prepositional suffix turns plain noun the shop into in/at the shop: nipo dukani; tuko shambani; wako mjini; hayupo nyumbani kipo pembeni; haipo mfukoni

Such modified nouns are actually classified into a new noun class in which the only plain noun is mahali – place. You do not really need to understand the workings of this place class at this stage, although it will be elaborated on briefly below.

N.B. The -ni prepositional suffix is also used to mean to/from in phrases like anaenda dukani. kwenye/katika

These two words go in front of the plain noun and are broadly synonymous, although it might help to think of kwenye as meaning ‘at’, and katika as meaning ‘in’. tuko kwenye shamba; nipo katika duka They are an alternative to -ni, and should never be used in conjunction with it. Since -ni nouns cannot be qualified by adjectives, kwenye and katika are most useful when location nouns need adjectives: yupo katika nyumba ndogo NOT yupo nyumbani ndogo

Relative positions

Expressing position relative to something else also produces the necessary prepositional phrase, when followed by the plain noun: karibu na … – near to … mbali na … – far from … ndani ya … – inside … nje ya … – outside … mbele ya … – in front of … nyuma ya … – behind … juu ya … – on top of/above … chini ya … – underneath/below … kando ya … – next to … katikati ya …– in the middle of … kati ya … na … – in between … and …

Questioning intonation? Je, …

Note that it is also possible to ask questions as to whether someone or something is in a specific location: Amy yupo shuleni? Since wapi is here simply replaced with the requisite location, the words of the question are exactly the same as those stating that the person is there: Amy yupo shuleni! The necessary distinction is maintained in conversation by varying intonation, or sometimes by adding the word Je to the start of a question: Je, Amy yupo shuleni?

Place demonstratives

The verb prefixes in the place class are ku-, pa-, and mu- (corresponding with -ko, -po and -mo). They are used to form demonstratives of place in the usual way. Most commonly: hapa – this place (here) = here huku – hereabouts (remember the ku- form is less definite than pa-) pale – that place (there) = there kule – thereabouts

They are inserted prior to the location in the sentence: nipo hapa nyumbani; yuko huku mjini; ipo pale mbele ya gari; wako kule kwenye mlima mkubwa pale and kule can be used without stating location, often in conjunction with a physical gesture like pointing. hapa and huku are sometimes themselves dropped, leading to somewhat bizarre face-to-face exchanges, such as “Upo?” “Nipo”!