Question 1

Why does the sentence use kimejenga instead of amejenga or limejenga?

Accepted Answer

In Swahili the verb agrees with the noun class of its subject. Chuo kikuu (“university”) is class 7, so its subject concord is ki-. You then add the perfect tense marker -me- and the verb stem -jenga (“build”) to get kimejenga = ki- + -me- + jenga (“it has built”).

Question 2

What does kwa ajili ya mean? Could I just say kwa?

Accepted Answer

Kwa ajili ya literally means “for the purpose of” (i.e. “for,” “in order to,” or “for the sake of”). It marks the purpose of the action:  
  maabara kubwa kwa ajili ya tafiti za sayansi  
= “large laboratories for scientific research.”  
Using only kwa (e.g. kwa tafiti) sounds abrupt or informal; kwa ajili ya is the standard way to express “for …” when stating a purpose.

Question 3

Why is the genitive marker za used in tafiti za sayansi instead of ya?

Accepted Answer

Swahili uses different connectors based on noun class. Tafiti (“research”) here behaves like a class 6 (plural) noun, so it takes za as its “of” marker:  
  tafiti za sayansi = “research of science.”  
If you had a class 5 noun (e.g. jiwe, “stone”), you would use la: jiwe la baridi (“stone of cold” = “cold stone”).

Question 4

Why doesn’t the adjective kubwa agree with maabara (class 6) and become makubwa?

Accepted Answer

Strict grammar says class 6 adjectives should use ma- as the agreement prefix (maabara makubwa). However, common adjectives like kubwa (“big/large”), dogo (“small”), zuri (“good”), mbaya (“bad”) often appear in their root form without the prefix in everyday speech. Both maabara kubwa and maabara makubwa are understood; dropping the prefix is more colloquial.

Question 5

What noun classes are chuo and maabara, and how can I tell?

Accepted Answer

• Chuo is class 7 (singular), its plural is vyuo (class 8). You can spot class 7 by the ch- prefix and plural vy-.  
• Maabara is class 6 (plural of class 5), but because it’s a loanword it doesn’t use ji-/ma- in the singular; it appears only in the plural form maabara.

Question 6

Could we use a different verb instead of jenga for “build,” like tengeneza or umba?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but nuances differ:  
• jenga = physically erect or construct a building or structure.  
• tengeneza = make or prepare something (machines, food, etc.).  
• umba = shape or mold something (art, pottery).  
For constructing a lab building, jenga is the most appropriate.

Question 7

How would I turn the sentence into passive voice: “The laboratories have been built by the university”?

Accepted Answer

Use the passive suffix -wa, swap subject and object, and mark the agent with na:  
  Maabara (makubwa)  
  yamejengwa  
  na chuo kikuu  
  kwa ajili ya tafiti za sayansi.  
Breakdown:  
• yamejengwa = ya- (class 6 subject concord) + -me- (perfect) + jengwa (passive of jenga)  
• na chuo kikuu = “by the university”  
So you get:  
  Maabara makubwa yamejengwa na chuo kikuu kwa ajili ya tafiti za sayansi.

Chuo kikuu kimejenga maabara kubwa kwa ajili ya tafiti za sayansi.

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