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Questions & Answers about Mkandarasi amefika.
What does mkandarasi mean, and what kind of noun is it?
Mkandarasi means contractor.
It is a singular noun referring to a person, so in Swahili it belongs to the M-WA noun class, which is the main class for human beings. That matters because other words in the sentence often agree with it.
For example:
- singular: mkandarasi = contractor
- plural: wakandarasi = contractors
Because it refers to a person, the verb uses the agreement marker a- in this sentence.
How is amefika built?
Amefika can be broken down like this:
- a- = he/she (subject marker for a singular person)
- -me- = perfect marker, often meaning has
- fika = arrive
So amefika literally works like he/she has arrived.
That is why Mkandarasi amefika means The contractor has arrived.
Why is there no separate word for he or she?