kabla
preposition · conjunction
Before; earlier than a time or event.
Use kabla ya before a noun or an infinitive: kabla ya safari, before the journey. Kabla can also introduce a clause about an event that has not yet happened.
Origins
Kabla comes from Arabic قبل (qabla, “before”). In Swahili, kabla ya places an event before another point in time. The borrowing belongs to the language’s pre-modern vocabulary.
Sources4
Thilo C. Schadeberg, World Loanword Database: Swahili donor record (2009), kabla, page 359.
Kabla comes from Arabic قَبْلَ (qabla), “before”. The borrowing belongs to Swahili’s pre-modern vocabulary. In Swahili, kabla ya places an event before another point in time.
Haspelmath and Tadmor / Lexibank, World Loanword Database CLDF (2009), wold-master/cldf/forms.csv row 36937.
Kabla comes from Arabic قَبْلَ (qabla), “before”. The borrowing belongs to Swahili’s pre-modern vocabulary. In Swahili, kabla ya places an event before another point in time.
A. C. Madan, Swahili-English Dictionary (1903), 150.
Use kabla ya before a noun or an infinitive: kabla ya safari, before the journey. Kabla can also introduce a clause about an event that has not yet happened.
Edward Steere, A Handbook of the Swahili Language as Spoken at Zanzibar (1884), 243.
Before; earlier than a time or event. Use kabla ya before a noun or an infinitive: kabla ya safari, before the journey. Kabla can also introduce a clause about an event that has not yet happened.
Examples
Tufike kabla ya saa sita.
Let’s arrive before twelve o’clock.
Ninakunywa maji kabla ya kulala.
I drink water before sleeping.
Nunua tiketi kabla ya safari.
Buy a ticket before the journey.
Nipigie simu kabla ya kuondoka.
Call me before leaving.
Tutakula kabla ya mkutano.
We will eat before the meeting.
Funga dirisha kabla ya mvua.
Close the window before the rain.
Nilifika kabla ya wageni.
I arrived before the guests.
Osha mikono kabla ya kula.
Wash your hands before eating.
Nisubiri kabla ya kuanza.
Wait for me before starting.
