Kitabu kitatolewa kwa wanafunzi baada ya somo.

The book will be given to the students after the lesson.

Breakdown of Kitabu kitatolewa kwa wanafunzi baada ya somo.

• mwanafunzi: the student
• kitabu: the book
• kwa: to
• baada ya: after
• somo: the lesson
• kutolewa: to be given

Questions & Answers about Kitabu kitatolewa kwa wanafunzi baada ya somo.

How is kitatolewa formed? Break it down into its parts.

kitatolewa = ki- (subject concord for class 7, matching kitabu) + -ta- (future tense marker) + tole- (verb root from tolea, “give to someone”) + -wa (passive suffix).
So it literally means “it (the book) will be given.”

What does kwa mean in kwa wanafunzi, and why is it used there?

kwa is a preposition that often means “to” or “for” when indicating the recipient or beneficiary of an action.
In kwa wanafunzi, it means “to the students.”

What noun class is wanafunzi, and what is its singular form?

wanafunzi (“students”) belongs to noun class 2 (the human plural class, with prefix wa-).
Its singular form is mwanafunzi (“student”), where m- is the class 1 prefix.

How does baada ya somo mean “after the lesson,” and why is there ya?

baada means “after.” When you link one noun to another to show time or possession, you insert a genitive connector that agrees with the class of the first noun.
Here baada is treated like a class 9 noun, so its connector is ya.
Thus baada ya somo = “after (of) lesson.”

Can I put baada ya somo at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Swahili allows you to front time or place phrases.
You can say:
Baada ya somo, kitabu kitatolewa kwa wanafunzi.

How would I say “the books will be given to the students after the lesson”?

Change kitabu (singular, class 7) to its plural vitabu (class 8) and use the vi- subject concord:
Vitabu vitatolewa kwa wanafunzi baada ya somo.

Does Swahili have articles like “the” or “a”?

No. Swahili does not use separate words for definite or indefinite articles.
A noun like kitabu can mean “book,” “a book” or “the book” depending on context.

How would I express the same idea in the active voice, for example “The teacher will give the book to the students after the lesson”?

You introduce the agent mwalimu (“teacher”) and use an active verb. For example:
Mwalimu atawapa wanafunzi kitabu baada ya somo.
Here a- is the subject concord for mwalimu (class 1), -ta- marks the future, -wa- is the object infix for class 2 (wandafunzi), and -pa is the verb root “give.”