Polisi wanakagua maduka sokoni.

The police inspect the shops at the market.

Breakdown of Polisi wanakagua maduka sokoni.

• kwenye: at
• soko: the market
• duka: the shop
• polisi: the police
• kukagua: to inspect

Questions & Answers about Polisi wanakagua maduka sokoni.

Can you break down the verb wanakagua into its parts (prefix, tense marker, root)?

wanakagua = wa- (3rd person plural subject prefix “they”) + -na- (present-tense marker) + kagua (verb root “inspect”). So it literally means “they are inspecting.”

How do I know polisi is plural here if the noun doesn’t change form?

Loanwords like polisi don’t have separate singular/plural forms—they look the same. You tell it’s plural because of the verb prefix wa- (3rd person plural). If you meant “a police officer is inspecting…,” you’d say askari wa polisi anakagua… (using the singular a- prefix on -na-).

What is the singular form of maduka, and which noun class does it belong to?

• Singular: duka (“shop”).
• Plural: maduka.
  duka is class 5 and its plural (class 6) takes the prefix ma-.

What does the suffix -ni in sokoni indicate?

-ni is the locative suffix meaning “at/in.” So sokoni = “at the market.” Without -ni, soko simply means “market” (the place itself).

Could I say katika soko or kwenye soko instead of sokoni? Are they interchangeable?

Yes.

• sokoni uses the built-in locative suffix -ni.
• katika soko (“in the market”) is more formal.
• kwenye soko (“at/on the market”) is very common in everyday speech.
  All three convey essentially the same meaning.

How would I express this sentence in the past or future tense?

• Past tense: replace -na- with -li- → Polisi walikagua maduka sokoni. (“The police inspected shops at the market.”)
• Future tense: replace -na- with -ta- → Polisi watakagua maduka sokoni. (“The police will inspect shops at the market.”)

How do I negate it in the present tense?

Use the negative prefix ha- + subject wa- + -na-, and change the final -a of the verb root to -i:
Polisi hawanakagui maduka sokoni.
(“The police are not inspecting shops at the market.”)

How do I form the passive version of this sentence?

Make maduka the subject (class 6 prefix ya-), use the passive root kaguliwa, then add na polisi:
Maduka sokoni yanakaguliwa na polisi.
(“Shops at the market are being inspected by the police.”)

How would I say “A police officer is inspecting a shop in the market” (singular)?

Use askari wa polisi for “police officer” + singular duka + singular subject prefix a- + -na- + kagua:
Askari wa polisi anakagua duka sokoni.

Why isn’t there an object marker attached to the verb for maduka in wanakagua maduka?

Swahili normally only uses object markers on verbs when the object is a pronoun (e.g. wananikagua “they are inspecting me”) or to topicalize a noun in class 1. With most common-noun objects like maduka, you simply place them after the verb: wanakagua maduka.