Questions & Answers about Gari langu ni tofauti na gari lako.
What do langu and lako mean?
They are possessive forms:
- langu = my
- lako = your (singular)
So:
- gari langu = my car
- gari lako = your car
In Swahili, possessives usually come after the noun, not before it as in English.
Why do I say gari langu instead of gari yangu?
Because Swahili possessives must agree with the noun class of the noun they describe.
Gari belongs to the class 5 singular pattern, so the possessive uses la-:
- gari langu = my car
- gari lako = your car
- gari lake = his/her car
If the noun belonged to a different class, the possessive form would change. For example:
- kitabu changu = my book
- mtoto wangu = my child
So yangu is not the right agreement form for gari.
What does ni mean here?