Yeye anakunywa maziwa asubuhi.

He/She drinks milk in the morning.

Breakdown of Yeye anakunywa maziwa asubuhi.

• yeye: he/she
• kunywa: to drink
• maziwa: the milk
• katika: in
• asubuhi: the morning

Questions & Answers about Yeye anakunywa maziwa asubuhi.

Why does yeye work for both “he” and “she” in this sentence?

In Swahili, yeye is a gender-neutral third-person singular pronoun. It can mean “he,” “she,” or even “they” (singular) depending on context. Swahili doesn’t distinguish based on gender the way English does, so yeye covers any person in the third person singular.

What is the role of ana- in anakunywa?

The prefix ana- is the present tense marker for “he/she/they (singular).” It indicates that the action (drinking) is happening in the present. So anakunywa literally translates to “he/she is drinking.”

Why is the verb kunywa used instead of something else?

In Swahili, kunywa is the root form (infinitive) meaning “to drink.” When combined with the tense/person marker (ana-), it becomes anakunywa, which is “he/she drinks” or “he/she is drinking.”

Why does maziwa look like a plural word if it means “milk”?

In Swahili, maziwa is a plural form used for “milk” (among other similar nouns like “eggs” → mayai). Countable versus uncountable nouns are handled differently in Swahili than in English, and many words which refer to liquids or collective items take a plural noun class.

What does asubuhi mean exactly, and why is it at the end?

Asubuhi means “morning.” In Swahili, time expressions like asubuhi (morning), mchana (afternoon), or usiku (night) often come at the end of the sentence, but you can also put them at the beginning. The placement can be flexible.