Ukumbi umeandaliwa vizuri; viti vimepangwa kwa mistari safi.

The hall has been prepared well; the chairs have been arranged in neat rows.

Breakdown of Ukumbi umeandaliwa vizuri; viti vimepangwa kwa mistari safi.

• kiti: the chair
• vizuri: well
• kwa: in
• kuandaliwa: to be prepared
• ukumbi: the hall
• kupangwa: to be arranged
• mstari: the row
• safi: neat

Questions & Answers about Ukumbi umeandaliwa vizuri; viti vimepangwa kwa mistari safi.

Can you break down the verbs umeandaliwa and vimepangwa into their component parts and explain what each part means?

Yes. Both verbs share the same internal structure (subject-marker + tense/aspect + root + passive marker + final vowel):

• umeandaliwa

• u- : subject marker for noun class 11 (refers to ukumbi)
• -me- : perfect aspect marker (“has/have…”)
• andal(i)- : stem from andaa (“prepare”), with vowel adjustment
• -w- : passive voice marker (“been…”)
• -a : final vowel

• vimepangwa

• vi- : subject marker for noun class 8 (refers to viti)
• -me- : perfect aspect marker
• panga : stem meaning “arrange/place”
• -w- : passive marker
• -a : final vowel

How does the subject-verb agreement work here? Why is it u- for ukumbi but vi- for viti?

In Swahili the verb’s subject marker must match the noun class of the subject:

• ukumbi (“hall”) is noun class 11, so the verb takes u- → umeandaliwa.
• viti (“chairs”) is noun class 8 (plural of class 7 kiti), so the verb takes vi- → vimepangwa.

Why are the verbs in the passive voice (andaliwa, pangwa)? Could one use the active instead?

The passive (formed with -w-) emphasizes that the subject underwent the action (“has been prepared/has been arranged”) without mentioning the doer. The active stems would be andaa (“prepare”) → amepanga (“he/she has arranged”), but that shifts focus to the agent. Here we care about the state of the hall and chairs, not who did it.

What’s the difference between vizuri and safi in this sentence?

• vizuri is an adverb modifying the verb umeandaliwa (“well prepared”).
• safi is an adjective modifying the noun mistari in mistari safi (“neat lines”).

Shouldn’t safi agree with the noun class of mistari? Why doesn’t it become masafi?

Some adjectives/adverbs in Swahili are invariant and do not change form across noun classes. safi is one of these, so it remains safi after mistari (class 4).

What role does kwa play in kwa mistari safi?

kwa introduces a manner/instrument phrase: “in/with neat lines.” It shows how the chairs are arranged.

Could you replace the semicolon with na (“and”) or a period? What’s its function here?

The semicolon links two closely related independent clauses without a conjunction, much like in English. You could instead write:
• Ukumbi umeandaliwa vizuri na viti vimepangwa kwa mistari safi.
or split into two sentences with a period—both are grammatically correct.