Mbwa wangu ni dogo.

My dog is small.

Breakdown of Mbwa wangu ni dogo.

• ni: to be
• mbwa: the dog
• dogo: small

Questions & Answers about Mbwa wangu ni dogo.

What does each word in Mbwa wangu ni dogo. mean in English?

In this sentence, mbwa means dog, wangu means my, ni functions as the linking verb is, and dogo means small. Altogether, the sentence translates to My dog is small.

Why does the possessive adjective come after the noun in Swahili?

In Swahili, the standard word order places the noun first followed by the possessive adjective. So instead of saying my dog as in English, you say mbwa wangu which literally means dog my. This ordering is typical for many Bantu languages.

What is the role of ni in the sentence?

Ni acts as the copula in Swahili, similar to the English verb to be in the present tense. It connects the subject (mbwa wangu) with the predicate adjective (dogo) to form the equative sentence structure.

Why is the adjective written as dogo instead of mdogo?

When adjectives follow the copula ni in Swahili, they appear in their uninflected (invariable) form. If you were to place the adjective directly before the noun (attributively), it would agree with the noun’s class and become mdogo—for example, mbwa mdogo wangu. In the structure Mbwa wangu ni dogo, the adjective remains unaltered.

How would you say “my small dog” if you wanted the adjective to directly modify the noun?

Attributively, you would say mbwa mdogo wangu. Here, mdogo is the inflected form of dogo that agrees with the noun mbwa when the adjective directly precedes it.