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Questions & Answers about Kazi ya jana ilikuwa baya.
What does Kazi mean, and what role does it play in the sentence?
Kazi is a noun meaning “work” or “job.” In this sentence, it functions as the subject, indicating what is being discussed.
What function does the linking word ya serve in “Kazi ya jana”?
Ya is a possessive linker that connects the noun Kazi with the modifier jana. It works much like the English “’s” or “of,” so “Kazi ya jana” translates to “yesterday’s work” or “the work of yesterday.”
What does jana mean in this context?
Jana means “yesterday.” It specifies the time associated with the work, clarifying that the work being referred to took place on the previous day.
How is the past tense expressed with the verb ilikuwa in this sentence?
Ilikuwa is the past tense form of the verb kuwa (to be). The prefix ili- indicates that the action or state occurred in the past, so ilikuwa translates to “was.” Its form also agrees with the subject’s noun class.
What does baya mean, and why is it positioned after ilikuwa?
Baya means “bad.” In Swahili, when an adjective is used as a predicate (describing the subject after the copula), it typically follows the verb. Thus, ilikuwa baya directly translates as “was bad.”
How does the overall structure of “Kazi ya jana ilikuwa baya” compare to English word order when expressing possession and a past state?
In Swahili, possession is often indicated by linking nouns with ya (as in “Kazi ya jana”), which plays a similar role to the possessive form in English (“yesterday’s work”). Additionally, the past state is conveyed through the past form of kuwa in ilikuwa, followed by the adjective baya. This mirrors the English construction “Yesterday’s work was bad,” even though the markers for possession and tense differ between the two languages.