Word
Juma anapenda baiskeli wake.
Meaning
Juma likes his bicycle.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
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Questions & Answers about Juma anapenda baiskeli wake.
What does the sentence Juma anapenda baiskeli wake mean when broken down word by word?
• Juma is a personal name.
• anapenda comes from the verb kupenda (to love) and is conjugated in the present tense for a third person singular subject (the a- prefix indicates “he” or “she”).
• baiskeli is the Swahili adaptation of the English word bicycle.
• wake is a possessive pronoun meaning his (or her), showing ownership.
So, the whole sentence translates to "Juma loves his bicycle."
What is the role of the prefix a- in the verb anapenda?
The a- is the subject marker for third person singular in Swahili. It tells us that the person doing the action (in this case, Juma) is “he” or “she.” By attaching a- to the verb stem penda (love), the language signals that the action is being performed by a single individual in the present time.
How is the present simple tense formed in Swahili, as seen in anapenda?
In Swahili, forming the present simple tense involves adding the appropriate subject prefix to the verb stem. Here, the verb kupenda (to love) has the stem penda, and for a third person singular subject like Juma, the prefix a- is added. Thus, a- + penda becomes anapenda, meaning "loves" in the present tense.
What role does wake play in the sentence, and how does it function grammatically?
wake serves as the possessive pronoun that links ownership to the noun. In this case, it means his and follows the noun baiskeli (bicycle) to indicate that the bicycle belongs to Juma. The pronoun is in agreement with the subject’s person and number, clearly showing possession.
Why is the word order in Juma anapenda baiskeli wake similar to that in English?
Swahili typically follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order. In this sentence, Juma (subject) comes first, followed by anapenda (verb), and then baiskeli wake (object with its possessive). This familiar SVO structure makes it easier for native English speakers to understand and relate the sentence’s composition to their own language.
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