Mama anampatia mtoto chakula kitamu.

Mother gives the child delicious food.

Breakdown of Mama anampatia mtoto chakula kitamu.

• mtoto: the child
• mama: the mother
• chakula: the food
• kitamu: delicious
• kupatia: to give

Questions & Answers about Mama anampatia mtoto chakula kitamu.

What is the structure of the verb phrase anampatia in this sentence?

The word anampatia is a combination of several elements. It starts with the subject marker a- (indicating third person singular, referring to Mama), includes the present tense marker na-, and then the object marker m- (pointing to mtoto). These precede the verb root patia, meaning “give.” Altogether, anampatia translates as “gives him/her.”

Why is the object mtoto explicitly mentioned when the object is already indicated by the marker in anampatia?

In Swahili, it’s common to include both an object marker and the full noun. The object marker m- in the verb shows object agreement, while the explicit mention of mtoto (child) adds clarity and emphasis. This redundancy helps reinforce who is receiving the action.

How does the adjective kitamu agree with chakula in the phrase chakula kitamu?

In Swahili, adjectives follow the noun they modify and must agree with the noun’s class. Chakula (food) belongs to a noun class that requires an adjective to have the prefix ki-. Therefore, “delicious” becomes kitamu to properly modify chakula, following the standard noun-adjective order.

What is the overall word order of the sentence, and how does it compare to English?

The sentence follows a Subject-Verb-Object pattern, similar to English. Mama is the subject, anampatia serves as the verb (already inflected for subject and object), and the objects appear next—with mtoto as the indirect object and chakula kitamu as the direct object. The main difference is that Swahili verb forms encapsulate agreement information that English expresses separately.

Why doesn’t the noun Mama carry any explicit subject markers even though the verb does?

In Swahili, subject information is usually reflected in the verb’s prefix rather than on the noun itself. Mama stands on its own as a noun meaning “mother,” while the subject marker a- on anampatia indicates that she is the one performing the action. This means additional markings on Mama aren’t necessary.