Adapting and Writing Language Lessons
by Earl W. Stevick
Appendix U: Manipulations Based on News Items (Swahili)
2026491Adapting and Writing Language Lessons — Appendix U: Manipulations Based on News Items (Swahili)Earl W. Stevick

APPENDIX U TO CHAPTER 8

ROUTINE MANIPULATIONS BASED ON A
SERIES OF SIMPLE NEWS ITEMS

(SWAHILI)

The set of unpublished materials from which the following examples are taken have two different purposes: 1. For students, they introduce simple examples of one type of routine news story (travel of officials), and provide drills based on the content of the stories.

2. For instructors, they show syllable-by-syllable a large number of drills based on the first two stories.

From that point on, the same drill's are repeated with each succeeding story, but in progressively more abbreviated forms, until finally the instructor is conducting the drills from a minimal list of reminders (P.430).

Both students and instructor are led to break texts down into two inventories: nouns and short sentences. The former are important in Swahili because of the role played by concordial agreement between nouns and many other words: the latter serve largely as the basis for drills involving changes of tense, and changes from affirmative to negative. Included here are most of the drills to accompany the first news item; a few, for comparison purposes, derived from the second item; one more item with its 'inventories;' and the final list of key phrases which serve as reminders of the full range of 'routine manipulations' for use with news items (or other text material) that may be selected in the future.

Certain other types of pedagogical apparatus which appear in the original have been omitted from these examples.

The 'thinking man's glossary,' however, has been retained. English translations in [] have been added for the benefit of readers who are not students of Swahili. Note that in the sense of Chapter 3, these are not fully developed lessons: they contain 'samples of language use,' and opportunities for 'structural exploration,' but they do not provide for 'lexical exploration' or (more important) for using the materials in ways that conform to the student's own non-linguistic purposes.

ORIGINAL STORY 1:

BANDA SAFARINI [BANDA ON A TRIP
Dr. Kamuzu Banda, Rais wa
Malawi, atafanya ziara ya
wiki moja katika Taiwan.
Atawasili mjini Taipei
Agosti 4.
Dr. K. B., President of
M. , will make a one-week
tour in Taiwan. He will
arrive in the city of
Taipei August 4.]


'THINKING MAN'S GLOSSARY':

safari: government? journey?
rais: president? country?
fanya: pay for? make?
ziara: official tour? official complaint?
moja: every? one?

INVENTORY OF NOUNS:

safari (N class) [trip]
rais (MA-personal class) [president]
ziara (N class) [official tour]
mji (M-MI class) [city]
wiki (N class) [week]

DRILLS BASED ON INVENTORY OF NOUNS:

1. Demonstratives (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 18).
CUES (by teacher) RESPONSES (by students)
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu hiki, vitu hivi kitu hiki, vitu hivi
[this thing, these things]

INVENTORY:

safari safari hii, safari hizi
rais rais huyu, (ma)rais[1] hawa
ziara ziara hii, ziara hizi
mji mji huu, miji hii
td|wiki hii, wiki hizi
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu hicho, vitu hivyo
[that thing, those things
(sufficiently specified)]
kitu hicho, vitu. hivyo
INVENTORY:
safari safari hiyo, safari hizo
rais rais huyo, (ma)rais hao
ziara ziara hiyo, ziara hizo
mji mji huo, mji hiyo
wiki wiki hiyo, wiki hizo
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu kile, vitu vile
[that thing, those things
(insufficiently specified)]
kitu kile, vitu vile
INVENTORY:
safari safari ile, safari zile
rais rais yule, marais wale
ziara ziara ile, ziara zile
mji mji ule, miji ile
wiki wiki ile, wiki zile

(If students have trouble doing singular and plural together, go through these drills first with singular only, then with plural only, then with singular and plural together.)

2. Possessive pronouns (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 19).

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu chetu, vitu vyetu
[our thing, our things]
kitu chetu, vitu vyetu
INVENTORY:
safari safari yetu, safari zetu
rais rais wetu, (ma)rais wetu
ziara ziara yetu, ziara zetu
mji mji wetu, miji yetu
(The noun wiki has been omitted from this drill because it does not easily make sense with possessive pronouns:*wiki yetu 'our week'.)
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu changu, vitu vyangu
[my thing, my things]
kitu changu, vitu vyangu
INVENTORY:
safari safari yangu, safari zangu
ziara ziara yangu, ziara zangu
rais[2] rais wangu, marais wangu
mji[2] mji wangu, miji yangu
KEY EXAMPLES:
kitu chake, vitu vyake
[his thing, his things]
kitu chake, vitu vyake
INVENTORY:
safari safari yake, safari zake
rais rais wake[3] , marais wake 0 ziara ziara yake, ziara zake
mji mji wake, miji yake
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu chako, vitu vyako
[your thing, your things]
kitu chako, vitu vyako
CUES RESPONSES
INVENTORY:
safari safari yako, safari zako,
rais rais wako, marais wako
ziara ziara yako, ziara zako
mji mji wako, miji yako
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu chenu, vitu vyenu
INVENTORY:
safari safari yenu, safari zenu
rais rais wenu, marais wenu
ziara ziara yenu, ziara zenu
mji mji wenu, miji yenu
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu chao, vitu vyao
[their thing, their things]
kitu chao, vitu vyao
CUES RESPONSES
INVENTORY:
safari safari yao, safari zao
rais rais wao, marais wao
ziara ziara yao, ziara zao
mji mji wao, miji yao

3. Adjectives, Vowel Stem (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 21)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu kingine, vitu vingine
[another thing, other things]
kitu kingine, vitu vingine
INVENTORY:
safari safari nyingine, safari nyingine
rais rais mwingine, marais wengine
ziara ziara nyingine, ziara nyingine
mji mji mwingine, miji mingine
KEY EXAMPLE:
vitu vingi.[4]
[Many things. ]
vitu vingi
INVENTORY:
safari safari nyingi
rais marais wengi
ziara ziara nyingi
mji miji mingi
CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu cheusi, vitu vyeusi
[a black thing, black things]
kitu cheusi, vitu vyeusi
INVENTORY:
safari[5]  
rais rais mweusi, marais weusi
ziara[5]  
mji mji mweusi, miji myeusi

4. Adjectives, Consonant Stem (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 20)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu kizuri, vitu vizuri
[a good thing, good things]
kitu kizuri, vitu vizuri
INVENTORY:
safari safari nzuri, safari nzuri
rais rais mzuri, marais wazuri
ziara ziara nzuri, ziara nzuri
mji mji mzuri, miji mizuri
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu kirefu, vitu virefu
[a long thing, long things]
kitu kirefu, vitu virefu
INVENTORY:
safari safari ndefu, safari ndefu
rais rais mrefu, marais warefu
ziara ziara ndefu, ziara ndefu
mji mji mrefu, miji mirefu

More drills of this kind may be done, using the adjective stems -kubwa 'big', -kali 'fierce', —bovu 'spoilt' etc.,as long as they make sense with the nouns.

5. Numerals (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 20)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu kimoja, vitu viwili
[one thing, two things)
kitu kimoja, vitu viwili
INVENTORY:
safari safari moja, safari mbili
rais rais mmoja, marais wawili
ziara ziara moja, ziara mbili
mji mji mmoja, miji miwili

Other numbers may of course be substituted for 'one' and 'two'.

6. Subject prefixes (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 23, 28)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
Kitu kilikuwa kizuri.
[The thing was good. ]
Kitu kilikuwa kizuri.
vitu vilikuwa vizuri.
[(The) things were good.]
vitu vilikuwa vizuri.
INVENTORY:
safari Safari i1ikuwa nzuri.
Safari zilikuwa nzuri.
rais Rais alikuwa mzuri.
Marais walikuwa wazuri.
ziara Ziara ilikuwa nzuri.
Ziara zilikuwa nzuri.
mji Mji ulikuwa mzuri.
Miji ilikuwa mizuri.

7. Relative Affixes (cf. Learner's Sznopsis, par. 25, 28, 42)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
Ndicho kitu alichotaja.
[It is the thing which he mentioned.]
Ndicho kitu alichotaja.
Ndivyo vitu alivyotaja.
[They are the things which he mentioned.]
Ndivyo vitu alivyotaja.
INVENTORY:
safari Ndiyo safari aliyetaja.
Ndizo safari alizotaja.
rais Ndiye rais aliyetaja.
Ndio marais aliotaja.
ziara Ndiyo ziara aliyotaja.
Ndizo ziara alizotaja.
mji Ndio mji aliotaja.
Ndiyo miji aliyetaja.

INVENTORY OF SHORT SENTENCES: Malawi ina raise
[M. has a president. ]

Dr. Banda ni Rais wa Malawi.
[Dr. B. is president of M. ]

Dr. Banda atafanya ziara.
[Dr. B. will make an official tour. ]

Ziara itachukua wiki moja.
[The tour will take one week. ]

Atawasili Taipei Agosti 4.
[He will arrive in T. on August 4.]

Taipei ni mji.
[T. is a city.]

Mji uko Taiwan.
[The city is on Taiwan. ]

DRILLS BASED ON INVENTORY OF SHORT SENTENCES:

8. Six major tenses (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 28, 29, 33, 36)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
Ki tu hiki ni kizuri.
[This thing is good.]
Kitu hiki ni kizuri.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa [now] Kitu hiki ni kizuri sasa.
jana [yesterday] Kitu hiki kilikuwa kizuri jana.
kesho [tomorrow] Kitu hiki kitakuwa kizuri kesho.
Wanataka nini? [What do they want?] Wanataka kitu hiki kiwe kizuri. [They want this thing to be good. ]
ingewezekana [if it were possible] Ingewezekana, kitu hiki kingekuwa kizuri. [If it were possible, this thing would be good.]
Watafanya nini? [What will they do?] Kitu hiki kikiwa kizuri watafanya nini? [If this thing is good, what will they do?]
SENTENCE FROM THE INVENTORY:
Dr. Banda ni Rais wa Malawi. Dr. Banda ni Rais wa Malawi.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa[6] Dr. Banda ni Rais wa Malawi sasa.
Jana[7] Dr. Banda alikuwa Rais wa Malawi jana.
Kesho[8] Dr. Banda atakuwa Rais wa Malawi kesho.
Wanataka nini? Wanataka Dr. Banda awe Rais wa Malawi.
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, Dr. Banda angekuwa Rais wa Malawi.
Watafanya nini? Dr. Banda akiwa Rais wa Malawi, watafanya nini?

9. 'Have' (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par.63 )

KEY EXAMPLE:
Watoto wana vitabu.
[The children have books.]
Watoto wana vitabu.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa Watoto wana vitabu.
zamani [long ago] Watoto walikuwa na vitabu zamani.
siku zijazo [in the future] Watoto watakuwa na vitabu siku zijazo.
Anataka nini? Anataka wawe na vitabu.
Atafanya nini? Atafanya nini, watoto wakiwa na vitabu?
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, watoto wangekuwa na vitabu.
SENTENCE FROM INVENTORY:
Malawi ina rais.
[Malawi has a president.]
Malawi ina rais.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa Malawi ina rais sasa.
zamani Malawi ilikuwa na rais zamani.
siku zijazo Malawi itakuwa na rais siku zijazo.
Anataka nini? Anataka Malawi iwe na raise
Atafanya nini? Atafanya nini, Malawi ikiwa na rais?
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, Malawi ingekuwa na raise

10. 'Have not'

KEY EXAMPLE:
Watoto wana vitabu?
[no the children have books?]
La, hawana.
[No, they haven't.]
TENSE MODIFIERS:
Watoto wana vitabu sasa? La, hawana vitabu sasa.
watoto wa1ikuwa na vitabu zamani? La, hawakuwa na vitabu zamani.
watoto watakuwa na vitabu siku zijazo? La, hawatakuwa na vitabu siku zijazo.
Anataka watoto wawe na vitabu? La, anataka wasiwe na vitabu.
Watoto wangekuwa na vitabu? La, wasingekuwa na vitabu.
Atafanya nini, watoto wakiwa na vitabu? Ata£anya nini, wasipokuwa na vitabu?
EXAMPLE FROM INVENTORY:
Malawi ina rais?
[Does Malawi have a president?]
La, haina.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
Malawi ina rais sasa? La, haikuwa na rais zamani.
Malawi ilikuwa na rais zamani? La, haikuwa na rais zamani.
Malawi itakuwa na rais siku zijazo? La, haitakuwa na rais siku zijazo.
Anataka Malawi iwe na rais? Anataka Malawi isiwe na raise
Malawi ingekuwa na rais? La, isingekuwa na rais
Watafanya nini, Malawi ikiwa na rais? Watafanya nini, Malawi isipokuwa na rais?

11. 'Be located' (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 62)

KEY EXAMPLE:
Kitu kiko huko.
[The thing is there.]
Kitu kiko huko.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa Kitu kiko huko sasa.
zamani Kitu ki1ikuwa huko zamani.
siku zijazo Kitu kitakuwa huko siku zijazo.
Wanataka nini? Wanataka kitu kiwe huko.
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, kitu kingekuwa huko.
Watafanya nini? watafanya nini, kitu kikiwa huko?
SENTENCE FROM INVENTORY:
Mji uko huko.
[The city is there. ]
Mji uko huko.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa Mji uko huko sasa.
zamani Mji u1ikuwa huko zamani.
siku zijazo Mji utakuwa huko siku zijazo.
Wanataka nini? Wanataka mji uwe huko.
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, mji ungekuwa huko.
Watafanya nini? Watafanya nini, mji ukiwa huko?
FURTHER SENTENCE FROM INVENTORY:
Dr. Banda yuko safarini.
[Dr. Banda is on a trip. ]
Dr. Banda yuko safarini.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa Dr. Banda yuko safarini sasa.
siku zijazo Dr. Banda atakuwa safarini siku zijazo.
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, Dr. Banda angekuwa safarini.
Watafanya nini? Watafanya nini, Dr. Banda akiwa safarini?
Wanataka nini? Wanat aka Dr. Banda awe safarini.
jana Dr. Banda alikuwa safarini jana.
FURTHER SENTENCE FROM INVENTORY:
Dr. Banda atafanya ziara.
[Dr. Banda will make an official tour. ]
Dr. Banda atafanya ziara.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
kesho Dr. Banda atafanya ziara kesho.
Wanataka nini? Wanataka Dr. Banda afanye ziara.
sasa Dr. Banda anafanya ziara sasa.
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, Dr. Banda angefanya ziara.
watafanya nini? Watafanya nini, Dr. Banda akifanya ziara?
jana Dr. Banda alifanya ziara jana.

12. Affirmative vs. negative. (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 53-61)

KEY EXAMPLE:
Watoto watasoma?
[Will the children study?]
La, hawatasoma.
[No, they won't study. ]
AFFIRMATIVE QUESTIONS:
Watoto wanasoma sasa? La, hawasomi sasa.
Watoto walisoma jana? La, hawakusoma jana.
Watoto watasoma kesho? La, hawatasoma kesho.
Wanataka watoto wasome? La, wanataka watoto wasisome.
Ingewezekana, watoto wangesoma? La, hawangesoma.
Watoto wamesoma? La, hawajasoma.
Watoto wakisoma, tutafanya nini? Au, wasiposoma, tutafanya nini?
SENTENCE FROM THE INVENTORY:
Rais atafanya ziara?
[Will the president make an official trip?]
La, hatafanya ziara.
AFFIRMATIVE QUESTIONS:
Rais anafanya ziara sasa? La, hafanyi ziara sasa.
Rais alifanya ziara jana? La, hakufanya ziara jana.
Rais atafanya ziara kesho? La, hatafanya ziara kesho.
Anataka rais afanye ziara? La, ana taka asifanye ziara.
Ingewekana, rais angefanya ziara? La, hangefanya ziara.
Rais akifanya ziara tutafanya nini? . Asipofanya ziara tutafanya nini?
Rais amefanya ziara? La, hajafanya ziara.

13. Relative affixes. (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 42-47)

KEY EXAMPLE:
Watoto wanasoma. Alitaja watoto wanaosoma.
[The children are reading. ] [He mentioned the children who are reading. ]
TENSES:
Watoto wanasoma sasa. Alitaja watoto wanaosoma sasa.
Watoto walisoma jana. Alitaja watoto waliosoma jana.
Watoto watasoma kesho. Alitaja watoto watakaosoma kesho.
Watoto wamesoma mara nyingi. Alitaja watoto waliosoma mara nyingi.
SENTENCE FROM INVENTORY:
Ziara itakachukua wiki moja. Alitaja ziara itakayochukua wiki moja.
[The tour will take one week.] [He mentioned a tour that will take one week.]
TENSES:
Alitaja ziara inayochukua wiki moja sasa. Ziara inachukua wiki moja sasa.
Ziara ilichukua wiki moja mwaka jana. Alitaja ziara iliyochukua wiki moja mwaka jana.
Ziara itachukua wiki moja mwaka ujao. Alitaja ziara itakayochukua wiki moja mwaka ujao.
Ziara imechukua wiki moja mara nyingi. Alitaja ziara iliyochukua wiki moja (inayochukua).
ORIGINAL STORY 2:
Bw. KAWAWA KAREJEA [Mr. KAWAWA RETURNS
Makamu wa Pili wa Rais, Bw. Rashidi Kawawa, amerejea Dar es Salaam jana kutoka ziara yake ya kirafiki ya nchi ya Scandinavia. Bw. Kawawa alikuwa safarini kwa muda wa wiki mbili. The second vice-president Mr. R. K., returned to D. yesterday from his friendly tour of Scandinavia. Mr. K. was on the trip for a period of two weeks.]

'THINKING MAN'S GLOSSARY':

rejea: return? amaze?
makamu: deputy? bodyguard?
wa pili: chief? second?
kutoka: leaving on? from?
kirafiki: friendly? expensive?
safari: home? trip?
muda: period? end?

INVENTORY OF NOUNS:

bwana (MA-personal class) [gentleman, Mr. ]
makamu wa rais (personal class) [vice-president]
ziara (N class) [official tour]
rafiki (MA-personal Class) [friend]
nchi (N class) [land]
safari (N Class) [journey]
muda (M-MI class) [period of time]
wiki (N class) [week]

MANIPULATIONS BASED ON THE INVENTORY OF NOUNS:

1. Demonstratives. (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 18)

CUES RESPONSES
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu hiki, vitu hivi
[this thing, these things]
kitu hiki, vitu hivi
INVENTORY:
bwana bwana huyu, mabwana hawa
makamu wa rais makamu huyu wa rais, makamu hawa wa rais
ziara ziara hii, ziara hizi
rafiki rafiki huyu, (ma)rafiki hawa
nchi nchi hii, nchi hizi
safari safari hii, safari hizi
muda muda huu
wiki wiki hii, wiki hizi
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu hicho, vitu hivyo kitu hicho, vitu hivyo
INVENTORY:
bwana bwana huyo, mabwana hao
makamu wa rais makamu wa rais huyo, makamu wa rais hao
ziara ziara hiyo, ziara hizo
rafiki rafiki huyo, marafiki hao
nchi nchi hiyo, nchi hizo
safari safari hiyo, safari hizo
muda muda huo
wiki wiki hiyo, wiki hizo
KEY EXAMPLE:
kitu kile, vitu vile kitu kile, vitu vile
INVENTORY:
bwana bwana yule, mabwana wale
makamu wa rais makamu wa rais yule, makamu wa rais wale
ziara ziara ile, ziara zile
rafiki rafiki yule, marafiki wale
nchi nchi ile, nchi zile
safari safari ile, safari zile
muda muda ule
wiki wiki ile, wiki zile

INVENTORY OF SHORT SENTENCES:

Bw. Kawawa ni Makamu wa pili wa Rais.
[Mr. Kawawa is Second Vice-President. ]

Bw. Kawawa amerejea Dar es Salaam jana.
[Mr. Kawawa returned to D. yesterday.]

Bw. Kawawa alitoka ziara yake.
[Mr. Kawawa came from his official tour.]

Ziara ilikuwa ya kirafiki.
[The tour was unofficial ('friendly').]

Scandinavia ni nchi.
[Scandinavia is a land.]

Bw. Kawawa alikuwa safarini.
[Mr. Kawawa was on a trip.]

Six major tenses. (cf. Learner's Synopsis, par. 28, 29, 33, 36)

KEY EXAMPLE:
Kitu hiki ni kizuri.
[This thing is good.
Kitu hiki ni kizuri.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa [now] Kitu hiki ni kizuri sasa.
jana [yesterday] Kitu hiki kilikuwa kizuri jana.
kesho [tomorrow] Kitu hiki kitakuwa kesho.
Wanataka hini? [What do they want?] Wanataka kitu hiki kiwe kizuri. [They want this thing to be good.]
ingewezekana [If it were possible.] Ingewezekana, kitu hiki kingekuwa kizuri. [If it were possible, this thing would be good.]
Watafanya nini? [What will they do?] Kitu hiki kikiwa kizuri watafanya nini? [If this thing is good, what will they do?]
SENTENCE FROM THE INVENTORY:
Bw. Kawawa ni Makamu wa Pili wa Rais.
[Mr.Kawawa is Second Vice-President.]
Bw. Kawawa ni Makamu wa Pili wa Rais.
TENSE MODIFIERS:
sasa Bw. Kawawa ni Makamu wa pili wa Rais sasa.
jana Bw. Kawawa alikuwa Makamu wa pili wa Rais jana.
siku zijazo Bw. Kawawa atakuwa Makamu wa pili wa Rais siku zijazo.
Wanataka nini? Wanataka Bw. Kawawa awe Makamu wa pili wa Rais.
Watafanya nini? Watafanya nini Bw. Kawawa akiwa Makamu wa pili wa Rais?
Ingewezekana Ingewezekana, Bw. Kawawa angekuwa Makamu wa pili wa Rais.

FURTHER SENTENCE FROM THE INVENTORY:

Bw. Kawawa amerejea Dar es Salaam.
[Mr. Kawawa returned to Dar.]

TENSE MODIFIERS:

sasa Bw. Kawawa anarejea D. sasa.
jana Bw. Kawawa alirejea D. jana.
kesho Bw. Kawawa atarejea D. kesho.
Watafanya nini? Watafanya nini Bw. Kawawa akirejea D?
Wanataka nini? Wanataka Bw. Kawawa arejee D.
ingewezekana Ingewezekana, Bw. Kawawa angerejea D.

ORIGINAL STORY 3:

Rais wa Liberia, Bw. William Tubman aliwasili Ujerumani ya Magharibi jana kwa matembezi. Dr. Tubman aliandamana na wanawe, John na Eli. Watatembelea sehemu kadha. [The President of Liberia, Mr. Wm. Tubman, arrived in West Germany yesterday for a visit. He was accompanied by his sons John and Eli. They will visit various parts of the country.]

INVENTORY NOUNS:

rais (MA-personal class) [president]
matembezi (MA class) [visit]
rnwana (MU-WA class) [offspring]
sehemu (N class) [part]

INVENTORY OF SHORT SENTENCES:

a.
[·]

b.
[·]

c. Rais (atafanya) matembezi.
[The President (will make) a visit.]

d .Rais ______________________ wanawe.
[The President ___________ his sons. ]

___________(wanaitwa) John na Eli.
___________(are called) John and Eli. ]

f.
[·]

[The 'inventory of short sentences' has been left incomplete, to encourage users to begin making their own. Words in ( ) are common Swahili words which the student can be expected to know, but which do not occur in the story itself. ]

  1. The prefix ma in the plural of this word may be used or not, according to the preference of the instructor.
  2. 2.0 2.1 These words may be used in this drill or not, according to whether the instructor feels that they make sense with singular possessive pronouns.
  3. This corresponds to 'its president', and not to 'his/her president'
  4. Since the singulars of these nouns do not make sense with -ingi, they are not used in this drill.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Colors, as modifiers, do not make sense with these nouns.

    More drills of this kind may be done, using the adjective stems -embamba 'narrow', -eupe, 'white', etc., as long as they make sense with the nouns.

  6. If sasa doesn't sound good, use leo, mwaka huu, or some other present tense time expression.
  7. If jana doesn't sound good, use mwaka jana, mwezi uliopita, or some other past tense time expression.
  8. If kesho doesn't sound good, use rnwaka kesho, rnwezi ujao, or some other future time expression.