Nitakuletea ujumbe kutoka kwa mwalimu kesho.

I will bring you a message from the teacher tomorrow.

Breakdown of Nitakuletea ujumbe kutoka kwa mwalimu kesho.

• mimi: I
• kesho: tomorrow
• mwalimu: the teacher
• kuleta: to bring
• kutoka: from
• kwa: by
• ujumbe: the message

Questions & Answers about Nitakuletea ujumbe kutoka kwa mwalimu kesho.

What are the pieces that make up nitakuletea, and what does each one mean?

nitakuletea breaks down as:
• ni- : Subject prefix for I (first person singular)
• -ta- : Future tense marker (will)
• -ku- : Object prefix for you (second person singular)
• letea : Verb root plus applicative (bring to)

All together it literally reads I-will-you-bring-to, i.e. I will bring you.

Why is the verb letea and not simply leta?

leta means bring, but when you want to express bring to someone, Swahili adds the applicative extension -ia. When you attach -ia to leta, you get letea, which specifically means bring to (for someone).

What does kutoka kwa mwalimu mean, and why both kutoka and kwa?

• kutoka means from.
• kwa marks a source or agent when it’s a person or animate noun.
Together kutoka kwa mwalimu = from the teacher.
If the source were a place, you’d omit kwa (e.g. kutoka Dar es Salaam = from Dar es Salaam).

Where does the time word kesho go in a Swahili sentence? Can I move it?

Time adverbs like kesho (tomorrow) are quite flexible. You can place it at the beginning or end:
• Kesho nitakuletea ujumbe…
• Nitakuletea ujumbe… kesho
Putting it in the middle (…kesho…) sounds less natural.

How would I say I am bringing you a message (present tense) or I brought you a message (past tense)?

Just swap out the tense marker -ta- for:
• Present/habitual: ni-na-ku-letea → ninakuletea (I bring you)
• Past/simple: ni-li-ku-letea → nilikuletea (I brought you)

How do I change nitakuletea if I’m addressing more than one person (you all)?

The object prefix -ku- (you sing.) becomes -wa- (they/you pl.) in class 2.
So:
• Ni-ta-wa-letea ujumbe → nitawaletea ujumbe = I will bring you all a message.

Can I say nitakuletea wewe ujumbe instead of using the -ku- prefix?

Swahili prefers incorporating the object into the verb via the prefix rather than adding a separate pronoun.
Saying nitakuletea wewe ujumbe is understandable but unnatural. Use nitakuletea ujumbe with -ku- already built in.

Why isn’t there a preposition before ujumbe after nitakuletea?

In Swahili, a verb’s direct object follows immediately without a preposition. The object prefix (-ku- for “you”) in nitakuletea already signals that ujumbe (“message”) is the thing being brought.