Bima ya gari ina tarehe ya ukomo wa mkataba wa bima.

Car insurance has a policy expiry date.

Breakdown of Bima ya gari ina tarehe ya ukomo wa mkataba wa bima.

• kuwa na: to have
• bima ya gari: car insurance
• tarehe ya ukomo wa mkataba wa bima: policy expiry date

Questions & Answers about Bima ya gari ina tarehe ya ukomo wa mkataba wa bima.

What does bima ya gari mean grammatically?

It is a noun phrase made of:

• bima = insurance
• ya = of / for (a linking word)
• gari = car

So bima ya gari literally means insurance of a car, or more naturally in English, car insurance.

In Swahili, this noun + ya/wa/la/etc. + noun pattern is very common for showing relationships like of, for, or possession.

Why is the sentence using ina?

Ina comes from the verb -na, which means to have.

Here, ina means it has.

It is made of:

• i- = the subject marker agreeing with bima
• -na = have

So:

• Bima ya gari ina... = Car insurance has...

This is one of the most important things to notice in Swahili: the verb changes to agree with the noun class of the subject.

Why does bima take the subject marker i-?