Questions & Answers about Vitabu hivyo ni vipya.
Why do hivyo and vipya both begin with vi-?
Because Swahili uses noun class agreement.
Vitabu belongs to the plural noun class that takes vi- agreement. Words connected to it must match that class:
- vitabu = books
- hivyo = those (for this noun class)
- vipya = new (for this noun class)
So the repeated vi- shows that all these words agree with vitabu.
What is the singular form of this sentence?
The singular would be:
Kitabu hicho ni kipya. = That book is new.
Here the class changes from plural to singular:
- kitabu = book
- hicho = that
- kipya = new
Notice how the agreement changes from vi- to ki-.
What does ni mean here?
Ni is the copula, the word that works like is / are in English.
So in this sentence, ni links:
- vitabu hivyo = those books
- vipya = new
So it functions like are in Those books are new.