mbaya
The Swahili word for bad is mbaya.
mbaya is an adjective used to describe something that is unfavorable or negative.
Meaning: unfavorable, negative (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective mbaya does not change its form to agree with noun classes, meaning it remains the same regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.
Did you know?
- In some East African contexts, saying mbaya can be a playful way to describe someone who is 'dangerously' cool or impressively skilled at something.
- To describe a person as 'bad' in a social or moral sense, Swahili speakers sometimes use the term mchafu, which literally translates to 'dirty'.
- The word mbaya is used in the common expression mbaya sana to mean 'very bad', but in casual street speech, it can be used as an intensifier similar to 'extremely'.
Examples in context
- Hali ya hewa ni mbaya sana.The weather is really bad.This sentence shows how to describe the weather using mbaya.Tatoeba #10853037 by ecorralest101, translation #2701400 by CM
- Si mbaya hivyoIt isn't as bad as all that.This sentence uses mbaya to express that something is not as bad as a certain degree.Tatoeba #10892118 by ecorralest101, translation #7126054 by CM
- Haijalishi hali ni mbaya kiasi gani, hatakufa kwa ugonjwa wa aina hiyo.No matter how bad it gets, she won't die of that kind of sickness.This sentence demonstrates how to use mbaya to describe the severity of a condition.Tatoeba #10827273 by ecorralest101, translation #408985 by CK
- Kiswahili changu ni kibaya sana.My Swahili is very bad.
- Napenda kula katika migahawa safi na siyo ile yenye mazingira chafu.I like to eat in clean restaurants and not the ones with dirty environments.
- Kutotii sheria ni tabia mbaya.Not obeying the law is a bad behavior.
- Hii sinema ni mbaya sana!This movie is really bad!
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Bakari and Aisha are discussing a movie they recently watched.
- BakariFilamu hiyo ilikuwa mbaya sana.That movie was very bad.
- AishaNdiyo, ilikuwa mbaya.Yes, it was bad.
- BakariHata mimi sikupenda.I didn't like it either.
- AishaNi kweli, ilikuwa mbaya.It's true, it was bad.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
