“Where is the nearest ATM?” in Swahili: “ATM iliyo karibu iko wapi?”

When to use it

Use it when you need cash, say for a motorbike taxi or a market that takes no cards.

“Where is the nearest ATM?” — The sentence in English

In “Where is the nearest ATM?” the abbreviation follows ‘the nearest’ and ‘is’ never changes.

Where

adverbquestion word asking about place

is

verbbe · tense: present · person: third · number: singular · form of "to be"; here it says where something is

the

determinerdefinite article

nearest

adjectivesuperlative of "near"

ATM

nounnoun; short for automated teller machine, a cash machine

“ATM iliyo karibu iko wapi?” — The sentence in Swahili

In “ATM iliyo karibu iko wapi?” the loanword ‘ATM’ joins the N noun class, so the verbs start with ‘i-’: ‘iliyo’ (which is) and ‘iko’ (is located). Compare ‘kituo… kiko’ with ‘ki-’.

ATM

noun'ATM', English letters, N class

iliyo

verb-li · class: N · form: relative (-yo) · i- (N class) + -li + -yo 'which is'

karibu

adverbiliyo karibu = the nearest

iko

verb-ko · class: N · tense: present · i- + -ko, since ATM is N class

wapi

adverb'where', after the verb

English × Swahili: What changes from one language to the other

Swahili verbs agree with the noun's class; English verbs do not.

Example conversation