Breakdown of Mimi ninasafisha choo kila siku.
Questions & Answers about Mimi ninasafisha choo kila siku.
Mimi is the first-person singular pronoun (“I”). Swahili verbs already carry subject information in their prefixes (in this case ni- for “I”), so you can omit Mimi unless you want to add emphasis or clarify who you’re talking about.
Example without pronoun:
• Ninasafisha choo kila siku. (“I clean the toilet every day.”)
ninasafisha breaks down into three pieces:
- ni-: subject prefix for “I” (first person singular)
- -na-: tense/aspect marker for present (habitual or continuous)
- safisha: verb root meaning “clean (something)” (this is the causative form of safi “clean/neat,” i.e. “make clean”)
Put together, ni- + na- + safisha = “I (am) clean(ing).”
• kila = “each” or “every”
• siku = “day”
Together kila siku means “every day.”
Word-order note: time expressions often go at the end, but they can also appear at the beginning for emphasis:
• Ninasafisha choo kila siku. (neutral)
• Kila siku ninasafisha choo. (stresses “every day”)
Swap the present marker -na- for the past marker -li-, and add the word for “yesterday” (jana):
• Mimi nilisafisha choo jana.
or simply
• Nilisafisha choo jana.
There are two simple ways:
- Add Je, at the front (a question particle):
• Je, ninasafisha choo kila siku? - Just raise your intonation as in English:
• Ninasafisha choo kila siku?
Use the object-prefix ki- (class 7/8) in the verb and drop the noun:
• Ninasafishaki kila siku.
Here ni-na-safisha-ki = “I clean it,” and kila siku = “every day.”