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Lesson Transcript

Hamjamboni. Mimi ni Medina. Hi everybody! I’m Medina.
Welcome to Swahilipod101.com's “Kiswahili kwa dakika tatu,” The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Swahili.
In the last lesson, we learned how to use the verb ni to talk about nationality. In this lesson, we will be using the same verb, but for a different purpose. ni can also be used to tell where you are. For example, “I’m at school”.
So when you want to know where something or someone is, you use the verb ni.
For example, when someone asks you on the phone Uko wapi? they are asking "Where are you?"
Let's break this down.
Uko is the conjugated form of ni meaning "you are.”
Wapi means "Where".
And altogether, it’s Uko wapi?
[slowly] Uko wapi?
Answering this question is as easy as asking it. You just say niko, which means "I am" and add the place where you are.
For example, Niko dukani which is "I’m at the store."
[slowly] Niko dukani.
Now let’s see a few other possible answers with “I”-
"I’m in a restaurant" would be Niko mgahawani.
"I’m on a bus" would be Niko kwenye basi.
Again, the topic of prepositions comes up. When you are talking about your location, you can use ni at the end of the noun. Ni can be used to mean "at", "in", or "on".
For example;
Nyumbani would be translated as “in the house” or “at home.”
Darasani would mean “in class.”
Usually, ni indicates that the speaker’s location is inside, but it may also give the sense of being at a place.
Alternatively, we can also use kwenye to indicate location. Kwenye can also be used for both inside and outside. For example, When someone says, Niko kwenye nyumba, it would imply that the person is either at the house or in the house.
As you may remember, simplicity is best, so using ni for example: "Niko nyumbani" instead of "Niko kwenye nyumba" would be much shorter.
Just remember that "ni" is placed at the end of the noun and that "kwenye" is placed before the noun.
Now it’s time for Medina’s Insights.
When you’re talking about locations, you will hear the verb iko being used. It literally means “to be located”. So imagine being in Nairobi and wanting to find a street named Kimathi street. You can ask a passer-by this question - Samahani, barabara ya Kimathi iko wapi? This means “excuse me, where is Kimathi street located?”
Now we have learned how to talk about locations, and a new way to use the verb ni! But that’s not all there is to it, as it happens to be a very useful verb. Let’s say you want to know your Kenyan friend’s age but you’re struggling to ask it in Swahili. You will learn all about how to do it with the help of ni next time. See you in the next Kiswahili kwa dakika tatu lesson!
Tuonane!

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