The Present Tense of “To Be” in Kikuyu

🎯 Lesson Overview

Lesson Description

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the basic present-tense forms of “to be” in Kikuyu. You will practise how to say “I am,” “you are” (to one person or to several), “he/she is,” “we are,” and “they are” in simple sentences. Unlike English, Kikuyu does not have one single word for “to be” that stays the same for every person — instead, a short piece attaches to (or stands in for) the subject, and that piece changes depending on who or what you are talking about. By the end of the lesson, you will be able to recognize each of these short “to be” markers, use them to describe yourself and other people in short Kikuyu sentences, and tell the singular forms (one person) apart from the plural forms (more than one person).

This lesson builds directly on the pronouns and question words from earlier lessons: you already know the person pronouns Niĩĩ (I), Wee (you, one person), We (he/she), Ithũĩ (we), Inyũĩ (you, more than one person), and O (they). Here you will learn the small word that pairs with each of those pronouns to say “am/are/is.” Because these “to be” markers appear in almost every kind of sentence — descriptions, greetings, questions, introductions — mastering them now will make every later lesson easier to follow.

🧩 Introduction & Theory

In English, “to be” is one verb that changes shape a little (am / is / are) depending on the subject, but it is always its own separate word. Kikuyu does not have a free-standing word that works the same way. Instead, a short subject marker is attached directly to (or placed right before) whatever is being described, and that marker itself carries the meaning “am / is / are.” The six beginner forms are:

• I am
• You are (one person)
• He/She is
• We are
• You are (more than one person)
• They are

These forms can be seen with their pronouns in the sentences below:

• Niĩĩ ndĩ … — I am …
• Wee wĩ … — You are … (one person)
• We nĩ … — He/She is …
• Ithũĩ tũrĩ … — We are …
• Inyũĩ mũrĩ … — You are … (more than one person)
• O nĩ … — They are …

Important: ndĩ, wĩ, tũrĩ, and mũrĩ each fuse a person marker with the copula base -rĩ (“to be/exist”): n- (I) + rĩ → ndĩ, ũ- (you, one person) + rĩ → wĩ, tũ- (we) + rĩ → tũrĩ, and mũ- (you, several) + rĩ → mũrĩ. Nĩ works differently: it is a fixed identification particle that does not change for person or number, which is why it is used for both “he/she is” and “they are.” When the sentence is about a role, description, or identity (“I am a teacher”), the exact form you hear can also depend on that context — this lesson focuses on the everyday pattern above, and later lessons will build on it.

One more thing to watch for: the Kikuyu pronoun We means “he” or “she” — it is spelled almost like the English word “we,” but it means something completely different. The Kikuyu word for the English “we” is Ithũĩ. Keep these two apart as you practice.

🗣️ Useful Forms & Phrases

Example Sentences

• Ndĩ mũrutani. — I am a teacher.
• Wĩ mũrutani. — You are a teacher. (one person)
• Mũrĩ arutani. — You are teachers. (more than one person)
• Nĩ mũrutani. — He/She is a teacher.
• Nĩ arutani. — They are teachers.
• Tũrĩ hamwe. — We are together.
• O nĩ arata akwa. — They are my friends.

Notice that mũrutani (teacher, one person) becomes arutani (teachers) in the plural sentences — the noun changes class the same way you saw with mũndũ/andũ in Lesson 3, even when the “to be” marker itself (Nĩ) stays exactly the same for “he/she is” and “they are.”

💬 Example Conversation

Kikuyu

This conversation moves through all three core forms in order — wĩ (you are), ndĩ (I am), and nĩ (he/she is) — so you can hear each one answer the same kind of question.

💬 Vocabulary From the Conversation

🌍 Cultural & Pronunciation Notes

• English vs. Kikuyu “to be”: English “be” is always its own separate word (am/is/are). Kikuyu has no equivalent free-standing word — ndĩ, wĩ, tũrĩ, and mũrĩ are subject markers that mean “I am / you are / we are / you all are” all by themselves, while nĩ is a fixed particle used for both “he/she is” and “they are.”
• A false friend: the pronoun We means “he/she,” not the English word “we.” Kikuyu “we” (English) is Ithũĩ. Confusing these two is one of the most common beginner mistakes.
• Pronunciation: Ndĩ starts with a soft, prenasalized “nd” sound (say the “n” and “d” almost together, like the “nd” in “sandy” said quickly), followed by the breathy ĩ. Wĩ is pronounced roughly “wee,” again with that same breathy ĩ. In Tũrĩ and Mũrĩ, the ũ sounds like the “oo” in “book,” not like an English “u.”
• Grammatical agreement: Nĩ itself never changes between singular and plural, but the noun that follows it does — compare Nĩ mũrutani (He/She is a teacher) with Nĩ arutani (They are teachers). The “to be” marker stays fixed; the noun’s class prefix carries the number.
• Singular vs. plural, side by side: Wĩ mũrutani? (Are you a teacher? — one person) vs. Mũrĩ arutani? (Are you all teachers? — more than one person); Nĩ mũrutani. (He/She is a teacher.) vs. Nĩ arutani. (They are teachers.); Ndĩ mwega. (I am well. — one person speaking) vs. Tũrĩ ega. (We are well. — more than one person speaking).

✍️ Try It Yourself