Breakdown of Wahandisi walichora ramani ya handaki jipya chini ya barabara kuu.
mpya
new
ya
of
barabara
the road
kuchora
to draw
ramani
the map
kuu
main
chini ya
under
mhandisi
the engineer
handaki
the tunnel
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Questions & Answers about Wahandisi walichora ramani ya handaki jipya chini ya barabara kuu.
What is the breakdown of the verb walichora in this sentence?
walichora = wa- (subject prefix for class 2, matching wahandisi) + -li- (simple past tense marker) + chora (verb root “draw”).
Together they form “they drew.”
Why is wahandisi repeated at the start even though walichora already has a subject prefix?
In Swahili you can use both the noun wahandisi and its subject prefix wa- for clarity or emphasis. The prefix alone would mean “they,” but repeating wahandisi makes it explicit that “they” refers to the engineers.
What does ya do in ramani ya handaki jipya?
ya is the genitive (possessive) linker. Since ramani (“map”) is class 9, it takes the class 9/10 genitive ya to link it to its possessor, handaki jipya (“new tunnel”), yielding “map of the new tunnel.”
Why is the adjective jipya used instead of mpya in handaki jipya?
handaki is a class 5 noun, so the adjective root pya (“new”) takes the class 5 concord prefix ji-, giving jipya (“new”). If handaki were class 9/10, you would just have pya, but here it’s class 5.
Why is kuu used in barabara kuu, and why doesn’t it change form?
kuu is an invariable adjective meaning “main” or “major.” It does not take noun‐class prefixes, so it stays kuu regardless of the noun it modifies (here barabara, class 9).
How does chini ya work in chini ya barabara kuu?
chini is the noun for “bottom/under,” and ya is the genitive linker for class 9/10 (matching barabara). Together chini ya barabara kuu means “under the main road.”
How would you change the sentence to present tense?
Replace the past tense marker -li- with the present‐continuous marker -na-:
Wahandisi wanachora ramani ya handaki jipya chini ya barabara kuu.
= “Engineers are drawing a new map of the tunnel under the main road.”
How can you turn the original sentence into a yes/no question?
You can add the particle Je at the beginning, or simply use rising intonation:
Je, wahandisi walichora ramani ya handaki jipya chini ya barabara kuu?
or
Wahandisi walichora ramani ya handaki jipya chini ya barabara kuu?