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Kila Ijumaa, mwimbaji huyo huongoza kwaya ya vijana bila malipo.

Kila Ijumaa, mwimbaji huyo huongoza kwaya ya vijana bila malipo.
Every Friday, that singer usually leads the youth choir for free.
FromLesson 29inHardcore Swahili
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Questions & Answers about Kila Ijumaa, mwimbaji huyo huongoza kwaya ya vijana bila malipo.

What does kila mean and how is it used in this sentence?

kila means every. It’s used with singular nouns to indicate a recurring event:
• kila Ijumaa – every Friday
• kila siku – every day
It never changes form to agree with noun classes; it always stays kila before a singular noun.

Why isn’t there a word for “on” before Ijumaa (Friday)?
In Swahili you usually omit a preposition when naming days of the week. Simply saying Ijumaa is enough to mean “(on) Friday.” You don’t need an extra word for “on.”
What is mwimbaji huyo, and why not mwimbaji huyu or mwimbaji yule?
  • mwimbaji = “singer” (class 1 noun)
  • huyo = class 1 distal demonstrative “that” (for someone not very close)
    Compare:
    • huyu – this (near speaker)
    • huyo – that (a bit farther away)
    • yule – that (more remote or contrasting)
    So mwimbaji huyo = that singer (known from context).
What does huongoza mean, and what is the role of hu-?

ongoza means to lead. The prefix hu- marks the present habitual tense, indicating a regular action.
• hu-ongoza – (he/she) leads [as a habit]

How is huongoza different from anaongoza?

• anaongoza = “he/she is leading” (present continuous, right now)
• huongoza = “he/she leads” (present habitual, regularly happens)

In huongoza, where is the subject marker for “he/she”?
In the habitual tense, the hu- prefix combines both the tense-aspect marker and the third-person singular marker. Hence there is no separate a- prefix; hu- covers both functions.
What does kwaya mean?
kwaya means choir (a singing group). It’s a loanword commonly used in Swahili.
Why is it kwaya ya vijana and not kwaya wa vijana?

The linking particle (connector) agrees with the possessed noun’s class.

  • kwaya is class 9/10 (N‐class), whose genitive connector is ya.
    So kwaya ya vijana = “choir of youths.”
What does vijana mean?

vijana is the plural of kijana (class 7/8), meaning “youth” or “young person.”
• kijana – a young person
• vijana – young people

What does bila malipo mean, and why is malipo plural?
  • bila = without
  • malipo = payments, fees (plural of lipo/lipa)
    Together bila malipo means free of charge. Plural malipo refers generically to any or all payments.

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