Breakdown of Choo chetu kipo upande wa kulia wa nyumba, karibu na bafu.
Questions & Answers about Choo chetu kipo upande wa kulia wa nyumba, karibu na bafu.
• Kuna expresses existence: “there is/are.”
• Kipo is a locative form of kuwa (“to be”) for a specific object in a known place. It literally means “it is located.”
Since we’re pointing out where our toilet actually sits, Choo chetu kipo… (“Our toilet is located…”) is more precise than Kuna choo chetu…, which only says “there is our toilet.”
Both are third-person marks for class 7 (ki- prefix) in present locative:
- kipo (ki- + ‑po) often implies a fixed, well-defined spot.
- kiko (ki- + ‑ko) is a more general “somewhere around here.”
In everyday speech many speakers use them interchangeably, but kipo stresses that the toilet really is at that one spot.
Each wa is a genitive/linking preposition attached to a different head noun:
- upande wa kulia – “side of right” (i.e. the right side)
- upande wa kulia wa nyumba – “(the right side) of the house”
So the first wa links upande to kulia, the second links that whole phrase to nyumba.
Yes. Kwenye means “in/at/on” and can introduce a location phrase:
“Choo chetu kipo kwenye upande wa kulia wa nyumba…”
This doesn’t change the core meaning but adds an extra locative preposition. It’s slightly more formal and explicit about “at the right side.”
You can say:
• Choo chetu kipo wapi? (“Our toilet is located where?”)
• Or Kipo wapi choo chetu? (moving the verb first)
Yes. Borrowings and euphemisms exist, especially in urban or formal contexts:
• WC or W.C. (pronounced “double-you see”)
• tualeti (from English “toilet,” less common)
But choo remains the standard everyday term.