anatumia

Anatumia is a Swahili verb form meaning “he uses” or “she uses,” derived from the verb tumia, which means “to use.” It is a present-tense form built with the third-person singular subject concord a- and the present-tense marker na, followed by the verb root tumia. The combination a-na-tumia contracts in ordinary writing to anatumia, a common pattern in Swahili where subject concords and tense markers fuse with the verb stem.

In usage, anatumia describes a current or habitual action of using something. It can refer to using an object, a method, or a resource, depending on the context and any objects or complements in the sentence. The form is gender-neutral and applies to both male and female subjects.

Examples include:

- Anatumia simu yake kila siku. (He/she uses his/her phone every day.)

- Yeye anatumia muda mwingi kusoma. (He/she uses a lot of time to study.)

- Kila asubuhi, anatumia gari kwenda kazini. (Every morning, he/she uses a car to go to work.)

Swahili verbs other tenses are formed by inserting different markers or prefixes before the root tumia. For example, past forms such as alitumia indicate usage that occurred previously, while future forms like atatumia or alitatumia express planned or expected usage. As with other Swahili verbs, anatumia illustrates how subject agreement and tense interact with the verb stem to convey time and actor.

See also: Swahili language, Bantu languages, tumia (to use).