How to Say "Boy" in Swahili - How To Say Guide

mvulana

The Swahili word for boy is mvulana.

mvulana is a noun used to refer to a male child.

Meaning: male child (noun)

Which one should you use?

While mvulana refers specifically to a male child, the term Kijana is used to refer more broadly to a young person of any gender.

mvulana belongs to the m-/wa- noun class, which is the class used for living beings. The plural form of mvulana is wavulana.

In certain contexts, mvulana can also be used as an interjection to express surprise or pleasure.

In some East African coastal cultures, calling a grown man mvulana can be a playful tease or a subtle way to imply he is acting immaturely.
The plural form wavulana is not just adding an 's' at the end, but involves replacing the initial 'm-' with 'wa-', a fundamental shift in the word's structure.
In Swahili, the noun class system means that if you use mvulana in a sentence, the adjectives and verbs must also change their prefixes to match the m-/wa- class.

Mvulana anaruka.
The boy is jumping.
This sentence shows how to use mvulana to describe an action.
Tatoeba #868985 by MrMbithi, translation #868965 by CM
Mimi ni mvulana tu anayefanya makosa.
I'm just a boy who makes mistakes.
This sentence uses mvulana in a self-referential context.
Tatoeba #10807114 by ecorralest101, translation #25521 by petterha
Mvulana ambaye anatabasamu ni Marcus.
The boy who is smiling is Marcus.
This sentence demonstrates using mvulana within a relative clause to identify someone.
Tatoeba #10898622 by ecorralest101, translation #8008553 by dmaddock
Kijana huyu ni mwerevu sana.
This boy is very smart.
6 more sentences on Tatoeba

Zuwena and Omari are looking at a photo of Omari's nephew.

Sources

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