Daktari alichunguza mkojo.

It can be broken down like this:

• a- = he/she
• -li- = past tense marker
• -chunguz-a = examine / inspect / investigate

So alichunguza literally means he/she examined.

Swahili often packs information that English expresses with separate words into one verb form.

Because Swahili usually shows the subject inside the verb.

In alichunguza, the a- already means he/she.
So even without daktari, alichunguza mkojo could still mean he/she examined the urine.

The noun daktari is included here to make clear who did the action.

No. Daktari is generally gender-neutral in Swahili. It can mean:

• doctor
• male doctor
• female doctor

If the context does not specify gender, the sentence does not either. That is also why alichunguza can be understood as he examined or she examined.

Swahili does not have articles like English a/an and the.

So daktari can mean:

• a doctor
• the doctor

And mkojo can mean:

• urine
• the urine

Context tells you which is most natural in translation.

Mkojo means urine.

It is usually treated like a mass noun, much like English urine rather than a countable noun like a urine. In medical or everyday contexts, it refers to urine in general or a urine sample, depending on the situation.

The basic word order is:

Subject + Verb + Object

So:

• Daktari = subject
• alichunguza = verb
• mkojo = object

This is the most common and neutral word order in Swahili, much like English.

Because the object is already stated clearly after the verb: mkojo.

In Swahili, object markers inside the verb are often omitted when the full object noun is present right after the verb, especially in simple neutral sentences.

So Daktari alichunguza mkojo is perfectly normal.

You may sometimes see object markers in other contexts for emphasis, clarity, or agreement, but they are not required here.

It is in the past tense.

The marker -li- inside alichunguza shows past time.

So:

• anachunguza = he/she is examining
• alichunguza = he/she examined
• atachunguza = he/she will examine

No. -chunguza has a broader meaning than just medical examination.

It can mean:

• examine
• inspect
• investigate
• analyze

So in this sentence, because the object is mkojo, the medical sense examined the urine is the natural one.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• Daktari = dahk-TAH-ree
• alichunguza = ah-lee-choon-GOO-zah
• mkojo = m-KOH-joh

A few helpful points:

• ch sounds like ch in church
• Swahili vowels are usually pure and consistent:
  • a as in father
  • i as in machine
  • u as in rule
  • o as in go without a heavy glide
• Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable

So the natural stresses are:

• dak-TA-ri
• a-li-chun-GU-za
• m-KO-jo

Yes. That would still be a complete sentence.

Alichunguza mkojo means He/She examined the urine.

Swahili often drops the separate subject noun when it is already understood from context, because the verb already contains the subject information.

Mkojo is generally treated as a Class 3 noun in singular form.

For a beginner, the most important thing is that noun class affects agreement elsewhere in the sentence, such as:

• demonstratives
• adjectives
• object markers
• possessives

For example, if you later learn agreement patterns, noun class helps explain forms connected to mkojo.

In this sentence, though, you do not need to know the noun class to understand the basic meaning.

You can say:

Daktari hakuchunguza mkojo.

That means The doctor did not examine the urine.

Breakdown:

• ha- = negative marker for he/she
• -ku- = negative past form marker
• -chunguza = examine

So hakuchunguza = he/she did not examine.

Yes, depending on context.

Because Swahili does not use articles like a and the, and because mkojo can refer to urine generally or to a specific sample, English translations may vary slightly:

• The doctor examined the urine
• The doctor examined urine
• The doctor examined a urine sample

The exact English wording depends on the situation.