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This post is part of a series on Swahili noun classes. For an overview, see this post. To learn about each noun class in depth, check out these posts: The A-Wa Class, the Ki-Vi Class, the Li-Ya Class, the U-I Class, the I-I Class, the U-Zi Class, the I-Zi Class, the Ya-Ya Class, the Ku-Ku Class, the PaKuMu-PoKoMo Class.
Overview
The Ki-Vi noun class includes names of objects and things, including many body parts. Nouns in this class take ki- in singular and vi– in the plural.
- kikapu, vikapu (basket, baskets)
- kisu, visu (knife, knives)
- kiti, viti (chair, chairs)
- kitabu, vitabu (book, books)
- kitanda, vitanda (bed, beds)
- kiazi, viazi (potato, potatoes)
- kilima, vilima (hill, hills)
- kichwa, vichwa (head, heads)
- kidole, vidole (finger, fingers)
The Ki-Vi class also includes nouns with ch- and vy.
- chakula, vyakula (food, food(stuff)s)
- chumba, vyumba (room, rooms)
- cheti, vyeti (certificate, certificates)
- chuma, vyuma (piece of metal, pieces of metal)
Summary of Agreement
Here is a summary of the agreement prefixes you’ll see related to the Ki-Vi class.
| adjective | possessive | subject | object | demonstratives | relatives |
| ki-/vi- | ch-/vy- | ki-/vi- | ki-/vi- | hiki, hivi hicho, hivyo hile, vile | cho-/vyo- |
Adjective Agreement
The adjective agreement prefixes for the Ki-Vi class are ki– in the singular and vi– in the plural.
- kiatu kizee, viatu vizee (an old shoe, old shoes)
- kioo kikubwa, vioo vikubwa (a big mirror, big mirrors)
- chumba kidogo, vyumba vidogo (a small room, small rooms)
Possessives
The possessive prefixes for the Ki-Vi class are ch– in the singular and vy– in plural.
- kikombe changu, vikombe vyangu (my cup, my cups)
- viti vyangu, viti vyetu (my chairs, our chairs)
- kisima chako, visima vyako (your well, your wells)
Verbal Agreement
The verbal subject agreement prefixes for the Ki-Vi class are the same as its name, ki- in the singular and vi– in the plural.
- Kiti kimevunjika.
The chair is broken. - Vitabu vimeraruka.
The books are torn. - Kitambaa kimeng’ara.
The cloth is clean. - Vikapu vimejaa.
The baskets are full.
Locatives
The prefixes ki- and vi– are used on the locatives –ko, –po, and –mo.
- Kidonge kiko wapi? Kidoge kiko mezani.
Where is the pill? The pill is on the table. - Vidonge viko wapi? Vidonge viko mezani.
Where are the pills? The pills are on the table.
Object Infixes
The object infixes for the Ki-Vi class are –ki- in the singular, and –vi– in the plural.
- Kiti? Ninakiona.
The chair? I see it. - Vikombe? Ninaviona.
The cups? I see them. - Unakiona.
You see it. - Tunaviona.
We see them.
Demonstratives
The demonstratives for the Ki-Vi class are hiki (this), hivi (these), hicho (that), hivyo (those), kile (that over there), vile (those over there).
- kiti hiki (this chair)
- vikapu hivi (these baskets)
- kijiko hicho (that fork)
- vijiji vile (those towns over there)
Relatives
The relative agreement infixes for the Ki-Vi noun class are cho– in the singular and vyo- in the plural. They can appear as infixes in the verb of the clause (kilichovunjika) or as suffixes on amba (ambacho).
- kiti kilichovunjika… / kitu ambacho kimevunjika… (the chair that is broken…)
- kikapu kilichoraruka… / kikapu ambacho kimeraruka… (the basket that is torn…)
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