Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kabla ya kuendesha gari, unahitaji leseni halali kutoka kwa polisi. - Before driving a car, you need a valid license from the police.

kabla means “before” and behaves like a noun in Swahili. To show what happens prior to something else, you link kabla to that event or action with ya, so kabla ya kuendesha gari literally reads “the before of driving a car,” i.e. “before driving a car.”

Why is ya necessary after kabla, and could we say kabla kuendesha gari instead?

Since kabla is a noun, it requires a genitive connector (ya) to attach to another noun or infinitive. You cannot omit ya; kabla kuendesha gari would be ungrammatical. Always use kabla ya before an infinitive or noun.

What form is kuendesha, and how does it work with gari?

kuendesha is the infinitive form (“to drive”), made up of the prefix ku- plus the verb root -endesha. In Swahili the infinitive can function like a noun, so it can take a direct object immediately: kuendesha gari means “to drive a car.”

How is unahitaji constructed?

unahitaji breaks down into three parts:
• u- = you (second person singular subject prefix)
• -na- = present tense marker
• hitaji = verb root “need”
Together they form “you need.”

Why isn’t there an object marker on unahitaji before leseni?

Object markers on the verb are optional when the object noun follows immediately. You could insert -i- for class 9/10 (leseni) and say uniihitaji leseni, but it’s more common and natural to leave the marker out and let leseni serve as the clear object.

What does leseni halali mean, and why does the adjective follow the noun?

leseni is a loanword meaning “license,” and halali (from Arabic) means “valid” or “legal.” In Swahili, adjectives normally come after the noun they modify. With native adjectives you’d add a noun-class prefix, but many borrowed adjectives like halali remain uninflected.

Why is halali uninflected and not given a noun-class prefix?

Borrowed adjectives—especially from Arabic—often stay in a fixed form without class agreement. While native adjectives change to match the noun class (e.g. gari kubwa “big car”), halali usually does not take an extra prefix.

What does kutoka kwa polisi mean, and why do we use kwa here?

kutoka means “to originate from” or “to come from.” When indicating a human source or agency, you introduce that agent with kwa. So kutoka kwa polisi means “from the police.”

Could we say kutoka polisi or kutoka na polisi instead?

No. kutoka polisi is not standard for expressing “from the police”—you need kwa. And kutoka na polisi would mean “to go out together with the police” (because na means “with”). The correct way to say “from the police” is kutoka kwa polisi.