Ninahitaji sekunde chache kumaliza kuosha sahani.

I need a few seconds to finish washing the dishes.

Breakdown of Ninahitaji sekunde chache kumaliza kuosha sahani.

• mimi: I
• kumaliza: to finish
• kuhitaji: to need
• kuosha: to wash
• sekunde: the second
• chache: few
• sahani: the dish

Questions & Answers about Ninahitaji sekunde chache kumaliza kuosha sahani.

What does the prefix ku- indicate in the verbs kumaliza and kuosha?

In Swahili, the prefix ku- marks the infinitive form of a verb. Both kumaliza (“to finish”) and kuosha (“to wash”) are in their infinitive forms. This means they are not conjugated for tense, person, or number and are used to express complement actions following the main verb.

Why are there two verbs in succession—kumaliza and kuosha—and how do they work together in this sentence?

Swahili commonly uses chained infinitives to convey sequential or related actions. Here, kumaliza means “to finish” and governs the following action kuosha (“to wash”). Together, they form an expression equivalent to “finish washing,” indicating that the action of washing the dishes is nearly complete. This structure clearly links the two actions, much like the construction in English.

How is the adjective chache functioning in the phrase sekunde chache?

In this phrase, sekunde means “seconds” and chache means “few.” Swahili grammar dictates that adjectives typically follow the noun they modify. Therefore, chache comes after sekunde to describe it. This ordering is a key feature of Swahili syntax that differs from English, where adjectives usually precede the noun.

Why do the verbs kumaliza and kuosha lack subject or tense markers, unlike ninahitaji in the sentence?

The main clause ninahitaji (“I need”) is conjugated to reflect the subject and tense (present tense, first person). Meanwhile, kumaliza and kuosha are in the infinitive form and do not carry additional subject or tense information. In Swahili, after the main verb establishes who is acting and when, subsequent actions expressed as infinitives remain uninflected, serving purely to indicate the purpose or nature of the necessary actions.

How does the word order in this Swahili sentence compare with typical English sentence structure?

Both languages generally follow a subject-verb-object order, but Swahili often strings together multiple infinitives after the object to express additional actions or purposes. In this sentence, ninahitaji (“I need”) is followed by sekunde chache (“a few seconds”) and then by kumaliza kuosha sahani (“to finish washing dishes”). While English uses a similar structure (“I need a few seconds to finish washing the dishes”), Swahili’s approach naturally combines the infinitives without extra connectors, reflecting the language’s syntactic style.