Breakdown of Rafiki yangu alitumia ngazi fupi kupanda na kuweka gunia la viazi juu ya rafu.
rafiki
the friend
yangu
my
na
and
fupi
short
kutumia
to use
la
of
juu ya
on
kuweka
to put
kupanda
to climb
ngazi
the ladder
gunia
the sack
viazi
the potato
rafu
the shelf
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Questions & Answers about Rafiki yangu alitumia ngazi fupi kupanda na kuweka gunia la viazi juu ya rafu.
How is the past tense formed in the verb alitumia?
The word alitumia breaks down into three parts:
- a- (third-person singular subject prefix “he/she”)
- -li- (past-tense marker)
- tumia (verb root “use”)
Putting them together, a-li-tumia literally means “he/she used.”
Why is there no object marker before ngazi fupi in alitumia ngazi fupi?
In Swahili, object markers for inanimate nouns are optional and often omitted. If you force one in, you’d insert the class 9/10 marker -i- (yielding a-li-i-tumia ngazi fupi), which sounds awkward. It’s perfectly natural to leave it out: alitumia ngazi fupi = “he used a short ladder.”
Why does the adjective fupi come after ngazi, and why isn’t there an agreement prefix on fupi?
Adjectives in Swahili normally follow the noun they modify. ngazi (“ladder”) belongs to noun class 9/10, and adjectives in that class appear without any prefix. Hence ngazi fupi = “short ladder.”
What is the function of the infinitives kupanda and kuweka in this sentence?
After verbs like tumia (“use”), you use infinitives (prefix ku- + root) to express purpose:
- kupanda = “to climb”
- kuweka = “to put/place”
So alitumia ngazi fupi kupanda na kuweka… means “he used a short ladder in order to climb and to place…”
Why is na placed between kupanda and kuweka?
Here na is simply the conjunction “and,” linking two infinitive verbs: “to climb and to place.” Swahili uses na just as English uses “and.”
Why is la used in gunia la viazi instead of ya?
The genitive connector comes from the class of the possessed noun (gunia, class 5). Class 5 uses la to mean “of.” Therefore gunia la viazi = “bag of potatoes.” If gunia were plural (class 6), you’d switch to ya.
Why is viazi plural here, and what would the singular form be?
viazi is the plural of kiazi (“potato”). A bag normally holds multiple potatoes, so viazi is appropriate. The singular would be kiazi, but gunia la kiazi (“bag of one potato”) is unusual in context.
What does juu ya rafu mean, and why do we use ya there?
juu ya is a compound preposition meaning “on/top of.” The word rafu (“shelf”) is class 9/10, so its genitive connector is ya. Thus juu ya rafu = “on the shelf.”