Yeye anacheza mpira usiku.

He/She plays ball at night.

Breakdown of Yeye anacheza mpira usiku.

• yeye: he/she
• kucheza: to play
• mpira: the ball
• usiku: at night

Questions & Answers about Yeye anacheza mpira usiku.

What does Yeye mean in this sentence?

Yeye is a third-person singular pronoun that translates to he or she in English. Swahili does not differentiate gender in this pronoun, so yeye is used regardless of whether you're referring to a male or a female.

How is the verb anacheza constructed, and what does it reveal about the action?

Anacheza breaks down into a subject prefix, a tense marker, and the verb root. Specifically:
• a- is the third-person singular subject prefix (matching yeye),
• na- is a marker for the present tense, and
• cheza is the root meaning play.
This structure shows that the subject (he/she) is engaged in the action of playing in the present, whether that's a habitual action or something happening right now.

Why does the sentence include both the standalone pronoun Yeye and the subject prefix in anacheza?

In Swahili, the subject is already indicated in the verb by the prefix a-; however, including the separate pronoun yeye can add emphasis or clarity, especially in contexts where contrasting subjects or extra focus is needed. Native speakers sometimes drop the pronoun when it’s clear from the verb, but including it is perfectly acceptable for emphasis.

What is the role of mpira in this sentence?

Mpira means ball and functions as the direct object of the verb anacheza. In Swahili, nouns like mpira generally do not use articles (such as a or the), so the noun stands alone without any additional words before it.

How does usiku work as a time expression in this sentence?

Usiku means night or at night. It serves as an adverbial element specifying when the action occurs. Unlike English, Swahili often conveys time without needing prepositions like at, relying on the noun itself to provide the temporal context.

Can anacheza be interpreted as both "is playing" and "plays"? How does Swahili handle tense in this context?

Yes, anacheza can be understood to mean either "is playing" (indicating an action currently in progress) or "plays" (indicating a habitual activity). Swahili uses the na- infix to mark the present tense, but it does not strictly differentiate between the simple present and the present continuous. The exact meaning typically depends on the context in which the sentence is used.