wao
WAH-oh
How to say it
SwahiliwaoWAH-oh
Englishthey, them; their
Frenchils, elles, eux ; leur
Meaning
The word for several people already known, used for emphasis or contrast because the verb already shows the subject; after a noun it means their.
Good to know
As a pronoun: Wao wanakuja, they are coming. As their it follows people and m and u class nouns: watoto wao, mti wao, ugonjwa wao; other classes use yao, zao, chao and so on.
Examples
- Wao hawajui habari hii bado.They do not know this news yet.
- Tuliwatembelea wao jana jioni.We visited them yesterday evening.
- Watoto wao wanasoma shule moja na yetu.Their children go to the same school as ours.
The same word in
Not yet checked by a native speaker.