Pipa ni kubwa sokoni.

The barrel is big at the market.

Breakdown of Pipa ni kubwa sokoni.

• ni: to be
• kwenye: at
• soko: the market
• kubwa: big
• pipa: the barrel

Questions & Answers about Pipa ni kubwa sokoni.

What role does ni play in this sentence?

In Swahili, ni is the copular or equative verb, equivalent to English “to be” in simple identification or description. Here it links the noun pipa (barrel) to the adjective kubwa (big).

Why doesn’t the adjective kubwa agree with pipa in noun class or number?

After the copula ni, adjectives remain in their basic form and do not take noun-class prefixes or agreements. Contrast:

• With direct modification (no ni), you might see class agreement, e.g. pipa kubwa still stays the same because class 5 adjectives mirror the stem. But with other classes:
  
  • kitabu ni kikubwa (the book is big)
  • nyumba ni ndefu (the house is long/tall)

Why is sokoni written as one word, and what does it mean?

Sokoni is soko (market) plus the locative suffix -ni, meaning “at the market” or “in the market.” Swahili drops separate prepositions by attaching locative endings directly to nouns:

• nyumba (house) → nyumbani (at home)
• shule (school) → shuleni (at school)

Why don’t we say “the barrel” or use an article?

Swahili does not have articles like “the” or “a.” Definiteness is inferred from context or by adding demonstratives:

• pipa ni kubwa sokoni = (the/a) barrel is big at the market
• To specify “that barrel,” you’d say pipa hilo ni kubwa sokoni.

How would I say “There is a big barrel at the market” (existential statement)?

Use kuna for existential “there is/are.” Place the noun after kuna:

• Kuna pipa kubwa sokoni.

How do I form the negative of this sentence?

Negation with the copula ni uses si + subject-linker, then -tagh + adjective or complement. For pipa (class 5), the negative is:

• Pipa si kubwa sokoni.
  Meaning “The barrel is not big at the market.”

How would I ask “Is the barrel big at the market?”

Turn ni into a question by intonation or adding the question particle je at the beginning:

• Je, pipa ni kubwa sokoni?
  You can also rely on rising intonation alone:
• Pipa ni kubwa sokoni?

Where would I insert an intensifier like “very” in this sentence?

Add sana immediately after the adjective:

• Pipa ni kubwa sana sokoni.
  You could also emphasize location:
• Pipa ni kubwa sokoni sana.
  (but that means “The barrel is big, especially at the market.”)

How do I make this plural: “Barrels are big at the market”?

Change pipa (class 5) to its plural mipipa (class 4) and leave ni the same:

• Mipipa ni kubwa sokoni.
  Adjectives after ni still do not receive class prefixes.