CONDITIONAL –NGE- AND –NGALI-

CONDITIONAL –NGE-

The -nge- tense is used to show a hypothesis in the present tense. It is used in verbs to express a condition that can still be realized.

-nge- expressions have two parts; the condition and the consequence.

ningekula ningeshiba	if I were to eat, I’d be full
ungekaa ungemwona	if you were to stay, you'd see him/her
angelia ningemchukua	if he/she were to cry, I'd take him/her
tungekimbia tungewafikia	if we were to run, we would reach them
mngelala mngepumzika	if you all were to sleep, you'd rest
wangepika, tungekula	if they were to cook, we would eat

 

Note: Monosyllabic verbs maintain their infinitive ‘ku-

ungekuja	if you were to come
angekula	if he were to eat
ningekunywa	if I were to drink

 

 

CONDITIONAL–NGALI-

The -ngali- tense is used to show a hypothesis in the past tense. It is used in verbs to express a condition that can no longer be realized.

  -ngali- expressions have two parts; the event or act is no longer possible, and the result is too late to come true.

Monosyllabic verbs maintain their infinitive ‘ku-‘.

ningalikaa ningalikula	if I had stayed, I would have eaten
ungalijaribu ungaliweza	if you had tried, you would have managed
ningalikujua ningalikuuliza	if I had known you, I would have asked you

 

Mixtures

It is possible to mix up the two tenses.

 1. Ungalisoma kwa bidi, ugekuwa unajua Kiswahili sasa.

If you had studied with effort, you would know Kiswahili by now.

 2. Ningekuwa mzazi, ningalikufundisha kulisha mtoto.

If I were a parent, I would have taught you how to feed the baby.

 

NEGATIONS

When negating the conditional tenses, -si- negative tense is added. Therefore;

-nge- becomes –singe-  

–ngali- becomes –singali-

ningekula	nisingekula
ungekaa	usingekaa
angelia	asingelia
ningalikaa	nisingalikaa
angalijaribu	asingalijaribu
mngalisoma	msingalisoma

 

 

Exercise 1

Translate: If I were to stay

Nitakaa

Nimekaa

Ningalikaa

Ningekaa

Translate: If they were to leave

Ningeondoka

Wangeondoka

Tungeondoka

Wangaliondoka

Translate: If I were to leave now, I'd arrive early

Ningeondoka sasa, ningefika mapema

Ningaliondoka sasa, ningalifika mapema

Ninaondoka sasa, nitafika mapema

Ningeondoka sasa, ungefika mapema

Translate: If I had stayed

Ningekaa

Ningalikaa

Nilikaa

Ungalikaa

Translate: If the tree had fallen

Mtu angalianguka

Mti ungalianguka

Mti ungeanguka

Mti ulianguka

Translate: If the car had arrived early

Gari lingalifika mapema

Gari lilifika mapema

Gari ningalifika mapema

Gari ingalifika mapema

Translate: If the house had burnt down

Nyumba ingechomeka

Nyumba ingalichomeka

Nyumba ilichomeka

Nyumba angalichomeka

Exercise 2 

a.     If I were to stay, I would cook for you.

b.    If you were to come today, we would visit my friend.

c.     If I were to study Kiswahili, I would go to East Africa.

d.    If I had tried, I would have finished the race.

e.     If you had come yesterday, we would have gone to watch a movie.

f.       If he had fallen, he would have hurt his head.

g.     If I were a doctor, I would have treated you.

h.    If I had not been happy, I would not have smiled at you.

i.       If we were not to buy a house, we would have gone on holiday.

j.       If he had not slept, I would have gone with you.