Benchi la mbao limebaki wazi; unaweza kukaa hapo ikiwa viti vimejaa.

Swahili uses different genitive (of) markers for each noun class. Benchi is a class 5 noun (the ji-/ma-class), and the class-5 genitive marker is la. If the noun were in, say, class 6 (ma-class) or class 4 (mi-class), you would use ya instead.

Breakdown of limebaki:
• li- = class 5 subject prefix (agrees with benchi)
• me- = perfect tense marker (“has/have”)
• baki = verb root “remain”

Together, limebaki literally means “it has remained.”

• wazi is an adjective meaning “empty,” “free,” or “available.”
• In Swahili, adjectives used as complements to verbs typically follow the verb. So limebaki wazi = “it has remained empty/available.”

• unaweza = “you can” / “you are able.”
– u- = 2nd-person-singular subject prefix (“you”)
– naweza = verb “be able”
• kukaa = infinitive “to sit”
• hapo = locative adverb “there”

Put together: unaweza kukaa hapo = “you can sit there.”

Both ikiwa and kama can introduce conditional clauses (“if”).
• kama is more neutral and very common in speech.
• ikiwa is the conditional/converb form of kuwa (“to be”), literally “being that …,” and is often found in written or slightly formal contexts. It can also mean “when” in time clauses.

• kiti (chair) is class 7; its plural is viti (class 8).
• Perfect form for class 8 uses:
– vi- = class-8 subject prefix
– me- = perfect marker
– jaa = root “become full”
So vimejaa = “they have become full” (i.e. “they are full”).

• jaza is the causative form meaning “to fill something.”
• jaa is intransitive/stative meaning “to become full” or “to be filled.”
Here, chairs vimejaa (“have become full”) by being occupied, so we use jaa, not jaza.