Tembo anakunywa maji asubuhi.

to drink

Breakdown of Tembo anakunywa maji asubuhi.

• asubuhi: the morning
• maji: the water
• tembo: the elephant

Questions & Answers about Tembo anakunywa maji asubuhi.

How is the verb form anakunywa constructed, and what are its components?

The verb anakunywa is formed by combining several elements:
• The subject prefix a-, which indicates third person singular (referring to Tembo, the elephant).
• The present tense marker na, which signals that the action is ongoing or habitual.
• The verb stem kunywa, which means “to drink.”
Together, these parts convey “is drinking.”

Why does the noun maji appear in a plural form even though water is uncountable in English?

In Swahili, some nouns that represent substances or mass items naturally occur in what looks like a plural form. Maji is one of these cases—it is always used in this form even though it corresponds to the uncountable noun “water” in English. This is a regular feature of the language rather than an indication of multiple discrete items.

What role does asubuhi play in the sentence?

Asubuhi is an adverbial of time meaning “in the morning.” It tells you when the action (the elephant drinking water) takes place. In Swahili, time expressions like this are typically placed toward the end of the sentence for clarity.

Why is the subject Tembo stated explicitly even though the verb already includes the subject marker?

Swahili often includes the explicit subject even though the verb carries a subject prefix. The subject Tembo makes it clear who is performing the action and can add emphasis or clarity, even though the prefix a- on anakunywa already indicates a third person singular subject.

How would you modify this sentence to express that the elephant drank water in the morning, rather than is drinking?

To change the sentence from the present to the past tense, you replace the present tense marker na with the past tense marker li. The modified sentence becomes: Tembo alikunywa maji asubuhi. This now means “The elephant drank water in the morning.”