Breakdown of Dawati jipya limetengenezwa na seremala hodari.
na
by
kutengenezwa
to be made
dawati
the desk
jipya
new
seremala
the carpenter
hodari
skilled
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Questions & Answers about Dawati jipya limetengenezwa na seremala hodari.
Why is jipya not just pya?
pya is the root meaning “new,” but Swahili adjectives must agree with the noun class. dawati is a class 5 noun, so its adjective takes the class 5 prefix ji-, which assimilates into jipya.
How can I tell that dawati is in noun class 5, and why do we use li- on the verb and ji- on the adjective?
You can spot class 5 because the plural of dawati is madawati (class 6). Class 5 agreement requires:
- A subject prefix li- on the verb in the perfect tense.
- An adjective prefix ji- on any modifying adjective.
Hence li-metengenezwa and jipya.
What are the pieces of limetengenezwa, and what does each mean?
Break it down as:
- li- = class 5 subject prefix (3 rd person singular)
- me- = perfect tense marker (“has/have done”)
- tengenez- = verb root “make”
- -wa = passive voice suffix
All together, limetengenezwa = “it has been made.”
What does na mean in na seremala hodari? It often means “and” in French-like contexts.
In a passive construction, na marks the agent (“by” in English). So na seremala hodari = “by a skilled carpenter.”
How would I say this in the active voice?
Flip agent and patient, and use an active verb form:
Seremala hodari ametengeneza dawati jipya.
Literally: “A skilled carpenter has made a new desk.”
How do I express “The new desk is being made by a skilled carpenter” (present passive)?
Use the present-passive marker -na- for class 5 (i + na = ina), plus -wa:
Dawati jipya inatengenezwa na seremala hodari.
Why doesn’t hodari change to match seremala with a prefix like m- or wa-?
Hodari is one of the invariable adjectives in Swahili. It never takes a noun-class prefix, so it stays hodari whether the noun is singular, plural, class 1, class 5, etc.