Gari yangu ni kisasa.

to be

Breakdown of Gari yangu ni kisasa.

• yangu: my
• gari: the car
• kisasa: modern

Questions & Answers about Gari yangu ni kisasa.

What does each word in Gari yangu ni kisasa mean?

• Gari means car.
• Yangu means my.
• Ni is the copula functioning as is.
• Kisasa means modern.
  Together, the sentence translates as "My car is modern."

Why is the possessive pronoun yangu placed after gari instead of before it?

In Swahili, possession is usually indicated by placing the possessive pronoun after the noun. So gari yangu literally means "car my", which is the standard word order for possession in Swahili, unlike in English where it appears as "my car."

Why does the sentence use ni instead of a separate verb for “is”?

Swahili uses ni as a copula to link the subject with its predicate in the present tense. It fulfills the role of "to be" in English, so no additional verb is needed to express "is."

Why doesn’t the adjective kisasa carry a noun class prefix to agree with gari?

When adjectives function as predicate complements (coming after the copula ni), they appear in their base form without a noun class prefix. If kisasa were used attributively (directly modifying the noun within a noun phrase), it would need to show agreement by adopting a prefix that corresponds to the noun class of gari.

How would you express "My modern car" as an attributive phrase in Swahili?

For an attributive construction, you would say "Gari yangu ya kisasa." Here, the linking element ya is used to connect gari (car) with its descriptor kisasa (modern), matching the noun class of gari.