Ninanunua sabuni sokoni.

I buy soap at the market.

Breakdown of Ninanunua sabuni sokoni.

• mimi: I
• kwenye: at
• soko: the market
• kununua: to buy
• sabuni: the soap

Questions & Answers about Ninanunua sabuni sokoni.

Why does ninanunua look like one long word instead of separate words for I + am + buy?

Swahili commonly packs several pieces of meaning into a single verb word.
ninanunua breaks down like this:

• ni- = I (1st person singular subject prefix)
• -na- = present tense marker (often “present/ongoing”)
• -nunua = verb stem buy

So one Swahili “verb word” can equal an entire English verb phrase.

What exactly does -na- mean here—I buy or I am buying?

-na- is the basic present marker and can cover both:

• an action happening now (I am buying…), and/or
• a general present/habitual (I buy… / I’m buying (these days)…)

Context usually decides. If you want to force “right now,” you can add sasa (now): Ninanunua sabuni sasa.

What part means I? Why isn’t there a separate word like mimi?

The I is inside the verb as ni-. Swahili doesn’t need a separate pronoun most of the time.
You can add mimi for emphasis/contrast:

• Mimi ninanunua sabuni sokoni. = I am the one buying soap (not someone else).

What is the dictionary form of ninanunua?

The dictionary (infinitive) form is kununua = to buy.
You remove the subject/tense parts and use ku- to mark the infinitive.

Why is there no word for a or the (like “a soap” / “the soap”)?

Swahili doesn’t have articles equivalent to English a/an/the.
Whether it’s specific or general is shown by context, or by extra words (like hii = this, ile = that).

What noun class is sabuni, and does that matter?

sabuni is typically treated as N-class (Class 9/10) (many loanwords go here).
It matters mainly for agreement (adjectives, object markers, etc.). For example:

• sabuni nzuri = good soap
• sabuni hizi = these soaps (Class 10 demonstrative often used for plural)

Also, many Class 9/10 nouns have the same form in singular and plural—sabuni can be singular or plural depending on context.

If sabuni is the object, why isn’t there an object pronoun inside the verb?

Because the object is stated explicitly: sabuni. Swahili often uses either:

• an object noun after the verb: ninanunua sabuni or
• an object marker inside the verb when the object is a pronoun or already known.

For “I am buying it (the soap),” you would typically use the Class 9 object marker -i-:

• Ninainunua. = I’m buying it.
  (= ni-
  • -na-
    • -i-
      • nunua)

What does sokoni mean grammatically, and why does it end in -ni?

sokoni is soko (market) + -ni, a common locative ending. It means at/in the market.
The -ni ending often adds a location sense: “in/at/on (that place).”

You can also express location with other structures, e.g. katika soko (in the market), but sokoni is very common and natural.

Is sokoni always “in the market,” or can it mean “to the market”?

By itself, sokoni most naturally means at/in the market (location).
To clearly mean to the market, you often add a verb of motion (e.g., naenda sokoni = I’m going to the market). The direction is carried by the verb, not the word sokoni alone.

Can I change the word order, or is it fixed?

The neutral order is:

• Subject-Verb-Object-Place: Ninanunua sabuni sokoni.

But Swahili can reorder for emphasis/topic:

• Sokoni ninanunua sabuni. = At the market, I’m buying soap. (focus on location)

How do I turn this into a yes/no question?

Common options: 1) Use rising intonation (often enough in speech):

• Ninanunua sabuni sokoni? 2) Add je at the beginning (more explicitly “Is it the case that…”):
• Je, ninanunua sabuni sokoni?

How do I say the negative: “I am not buying soap at the market”?

Present negative typically uses:

• si- (negative 1st person singular)
• no -na-
• and the verb’s final -a often changes to -i

So:

• Sinunui sabuni sokoni. = I’m not buying soap at the market.

How is this sentence pronounced (stress, vowels)?

Swahili spelling is very phonetic: each vowel is pronounced clearly. Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable of a word:

• ni-na-nu-nu-a
• sa-bu-ni
• so-KO-ni (stress on KO)

Approximate syllable rhythm: ni-na-nu-NU-a sa-BU-ni so-KO-ni.