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Questions & Answers about Gari yangu ni zamani.
What does gari mean in this sentence?
Gari translates to car, so it tells you that the sentence is talking about a car.
What does yangu mean in gari yangu?
Yangu is a possessive pronoun meaning my. When combined with gari, it forms gari yangu, which means my car.
What role does ni play in this sentence?
Ni functions as the linking verb (copula) and is equivalent to is in English. It connects the subject (gari yangu) to the adjective that follows.
What does zamani mean, and why is it positioned after ni?
Zamani means old. In Swahili, adjectives like zamani typically follow the copula, so the sentence structure becomes subject + ni + adjective, mirroring the idea that my car is old.
How is possession expressed differently in Swahili compared to English, as seen in gari yangu?
In Swahili, the possessive adjective (yangu) follows the noun (gari), whereas in English, the possessive (e.g., my) comes before the noun. Thus, instead of saying my car, Swahili uses gari yangu.