Hii ni safari yangu ya pili leo, kwa sababu trafiki ilikuwa ndefu sana.

This is my second trip today, because the traffic was very long.

Breakdown of Hii ni safari yangu ya pili leo, kwa sababu trafiki ilikuwa ndefu sana.

• ni: to be
• leo: today
• yangu: my
• sana: a lot
• hii: this
• safari: the trip
• kwa sababu: because
• pili: second
• trafiki: the traffic
• ndefu: long

Questions & Answers about Hii ni safari yangu ya pili leo, kwa sababu trafiki ilikuwa ndefu sana.

What does hii mean in the sentence, and why is it used here?

Hii means "this" in Swahili and is used as a demonstrative adjective. It agrees with safari (trip/journey) in both gender and number, indicating which particular trip is being discussed.

How is possession expressed in the phrase safari yangu?

In Swahili, possession is conveyed by adding a possessive suffix after the noun. In this case, yangu means "my". So safari yangu translates to "my trip" or "my journey", showing that the trip belongs to the speaker.

What does ya pili signify, and how does it relate to the noun safari?

Ya pili means "the second". It is an ordinal expression that modifies safari to indicate that it is the speaker’s second trip. The use of ya is a linking element that agrees with the noun, reflecting the noun’s class, while pili specifies the order.

How is the past tense of the verb expressed in the clause trafiki ilikuwa ndefu sana?

The past tense is shown by the word ilikuwa, which is the past form of kuwa (to be). It agrees with trafiki (traffic) and indicates that the state of the traffic being long occurred in the past.

What is the function of kwa sababu in the sentence?

Kwa sababu means "because" or "for the reason that". It introduces the explanation for the statement mentioned previously — in this case, it explains that the trip was the speaker’s second trip today because the traffic (trafiki) was very long.

What role does sana play in the phrase ndefu sana?

Sana is an intensifier that means "very". It follows the adjective ndefu (long) to emphasize the extent of the traffic's length, indicating that the traffic was extremely long.