Questions & Answers about Je, una runinga mpya nyumbani?
What is the function of Je at the beginning of the sentence?
Je is an interrogative particle in Swahili that marks the sentence as a yes/no question. It doesn’t add extra meaning beyond indicating you expect a “yes” or “no” answer.
What does una mean, and why is it used here instead of kuna?
Una means “you have.” It’s formed from the verb -na (“have”) with the subject prefix u- (second-person singular). Kuna, by contrast, means “there is/are” and expresses existence, not personal possession.
How is una built grammatically?
It splits into three parts:
• u- (you, singular subject prefix)
• -na- (present-tense marker + verb root “have”)
Together they form una, “you have.”
Why does the adjective mpya come after the noun runinga?
In Swahili most adjectives follow the noun they modify. Here runinga (“television”) is followed by mpya (“new”). Because runinga is a class 9/10 noun, mpya takes no extra agreement prefix.
What is nyumbani, and why not just ?