Je, mama yako anafundisha shule?

Does your mother teach at school?

Breakdown of Je, mama yako anafundisha shule?

• kufundisha: to teach
• je: does
• mama yako: your mother
• shule: the school

Questions & Answers about Je, mama yako anafundisha shule?

Why is Je at the beginning of the sentence? Is it mandatory?

Je is a common way to start a yes/no question in Swahili. You can either include Je or omit it, and the sentence will still be understood as a question because of context and intonation. However, including Je at the beginning is a neat way to clearly mark a yes/no question.

What does mama yako literally mean, and is it always “your mother”?

Mama means “mother,” and yako is a possessive form meaning “your” (singular). So mama yako literally translates to “your mother.” If you wanted to say “my mother,” you would use mama yangu.

How does anafundisha work here? Is that the present tense?

Yes, anafundisha is in the present tense. It’s made up of the subject prefix a- (for “she” or “he”), the tense marker na-, and the verb stem fundisha (“to teach”). Together, they mean “she/he is teaching” or “she/he teaches” depending on context.

Why do we say shule after anafundisha? Does it mean “at a school”?

In Swahili, you can sometimes omit prepositions like “at” when it is clear in context. Anafundisha shule can translate to “She teaches at a school” or “She is teaching at school” (depending on context). If you want to specify “in a school,” you might say anafundisha katika shule, but most Swahili speakers won’t find it necessary if the context is clear.

Is there a special word for “yes” or “no” in Swahili to answer this sort of question?

Yes, Ndiyo is commonly used for “yes,” and Hapana for “no.” To answer Je, mama yako anafundisha shule?, you could say Ndiyo, anafundisha or Hapana, hafundishi (“No, she doesn’t teach”).