QUESTION MARKERS

There are only a few key question markers to know in Swahili to indicate i.) that the sentence is a question and ii.) the nature of the question being asked.

nini what

nani who

wapi where

_ngapi how many

lini when

gani which

je ?

Unafanya nini? What are you doing?

Unamwandikia nani? To whom are you writing?

Unaenda wapi? Where are you going?

Una miaka mingapi? How old are you? (really, "how many years do you have?")

Utaondoka lini? When will you leave?

Utachagua darasa gani? Which class will you choose?

Je is a question-marker.

It can be used at the end of a verb:

Unafanyaje? What are you doing?

Or, it can be used at the beginning of a sentence:

Je, unafanya nini? What are you doing?