fanya
verb
to do; to make.
Fanya kazi means to work. Unafanya nini asks what someone is doing.
Origins
The word’s earlier history is still under review.
Sources3
Charles Sacleux, Grammaire des dialectes Swahilis (Paris: Procure des PP. du Saint-Esprit, 1909), PDF page 335.
Uses kufanya in tense examples translated with “do”. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903), PDF page 106.
Illustrates fanya incidentally in constructions under ganzi; this is not its headword entry. Historical evidence; not a survey of current Kenyan speech.
University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center, University of Kansas Kiswahili Glossary (University of Kansas Open Language Resource Center), fanya glossary rows.
Gives -fanya as “to do”.
Examples
Unafanya kazi gani?
What work do you do?
Utafanya nini leo?
What will you do today?
Ninafanya kazi nyumbani.
I work at home.
Tutafanya mpango kesho.
We’ll make a plan tomorrow.
Unaweza kufanya hivyo?
Can you do that?
Nimefanya kosa.
I’ve made a mistake.
Wanafanya mazoezi asubuhi.
They exercise in the morning.
Tulifanya kazi pamoja.
We worked together.
Ninapenda kufanya kazi hii.
I like doing this work.
