Baba amelipa kodi ya nyumba mapema mwezi huu.

Father paid the house rent early this month.

Breakdown of Baba amelipa kodi ya nyumba mapema mwezi huu.

• baba: the father
• mapema: early
• huu: this
• nyumba: the house
• ya: of
• mwezi: the month
• kulipa: to pay
• kodi: the rent

Questions & Answers about Baba amelipa kodi ya nyumba mapema mwezi huu.

What does the verb form amelipa consist of?

amelipa breaks down into three parts:

• a- = 3rd person singular subject prefix (“he/she”)
• -me- = perfect aspect marker (“has…done”)
• lipa = verb root “to pay”
  Put together, amelipa means “he has paid.”

Why is the marker -me- used here instead of -li-?

-me- is the perfect aspect marker, signalling a completed action with present relevance (“has paid”).
-li- is the simple past tense marker and would render the sentence “Father paid the rent early this month” (no link to now).

Could I use the simple past in this sentence?

Yes. To say “Father paid the house rent early this month,” you’d use:
Baba alilipa kodi ya nyumba mapema mwezi huu.
Here alilipa = a- (he) + ‑li- (past) + lipa (pay).

Why is there no object marker inside amelipa?

Object marking (OM) in Swahili is optional when the object is explicitly stated.

• With OM you get amelipia kodi, but omitting it (amelipa kodi) is more natural and just as clear.

What does kodi ya nyumba mean, and why use ya?

• kodi = rent
• ya nyumba = “of house” (genitive link)
  The particle ya connects two class 9/10 nouns (here kodi and nyumba) to express possession: “rent of house.”

Could a different genitive particle appear instead of ya?

No. Genitive particles agree with the noun class of the possessed noun. Class 9/10 uses ya. Other classes use different particles (e.g. class 2 uses wa, class 5 uses la/ya, etc.).

What does mapema mwezi huu mean, and why this order?

• mapema = early
• mwezi huu = this month
  The adverb mapema commonly precedes the time phrase mwezi huu: “early this month.”

Can I say mwezi huu mapema instead?

Yes. Swahili allows some flexibility with time expressions. You could say:
“Mwezi huu mapema, baba amelipa kodi ya nyumba.”
It’s correct, though placing mapema before mwezi huu is more idiomatic in everyday speech.

Why is it mwezi huu and not mwezi hii?

mwezi is a class 3 noun. Its demonstrative is huu (“this”).
Class 9 nouns like nyumba take hii (“this house” = nyumba hii).

How would I specify whose rent it is?

Add a possessive pronoun after nyumba:
Baba amelipa kodi ya nyumba yake mapema mwezi huu.
Here yake = “his,” giving “Father has paid the rent of his house early this month.”