Breakdown of Kabla ya kuingia ofisini, wahudumu huomba kitambulisho chako cha kazi.
kwenye
at
kazi
the work
yako
your
kabla ya
before
kuingia
to enter
cha
of
kuomba
to ask for
ofisi
the office
mhudumu
the attendant
kitambulisho
the identification card
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Questions & Answers about Kabla ya kuingia ofisini, wahudumu huomba kitambulisho chako cha kazi.
Why is kuingia used instead of ingia after Kabla ya?
In Swahili, Kabla ya (“before”) must be followed by a noun or verbal noun (infinitive), not a finite verb. The form kuingia is the infinitive (verbal noun) “entering,” so Kabla ya kuingia ofisini literally means “Before the entering of the office.” You can’t say Kabla ya ingia, because ingia is a command/finite form, not a noun.
What does the -ni suffix do in ofisini?
The suffix -ni marks location (“in/at”). You take the noun ofisi (office) and add -ni to get ofisini, “in the office.” Many Swahili nouns (even loanwords) take -ni to become locative: shuleni (at school), sokoni (at the market), etc.
Why is there no preposition like “kwa” after omba? In English we say “ask for.”
In Swahili, the verb -omba is directly transitive when you mean “ask for” or “request” something. You simply place the object after it. So huomba kitambulisho = “they ask for the ID.” You use kwa only when you mean “to ask someone (a person) something,” as in uliza + kwa.
What do the prefixes wa- and hu- in wahudumu huomba tell us?
wa- is the subject prefix for noun class 2 (human plural), so wahudumu = “attendants” (plural of mhudumu).
hu- is the present-habitual tense marker. Combined with -omba, huomba means “habitually/regularly ask” or simply “ask” in a general sense (“they ask”).
Why is the possessive chako used, rather than yako or another form?
Possessive pronouns in Swahili must agree with the noun class of the thing possessed. Kitambulisho (ID) is class 7 (ki-/vi-), so its “your” form is chako. The independent pronoun yako is for class 9/10 nouns (e.g. ndio yako), but here we attach chako directly to a class-7 noun.
What is the purpose of cha before kazi, and why not just ya kazi?
When linking two nouns in a possessive/genitive relationship (“the ID of work”), Swahili uses a connector that agrees with the first noun’s class. Since kitambulisho is class 7, the correct connector is cha. So kitambulisho cha kazi = “ID of work.” If the first noun were class 9, you’d use ya instead.
Can you break down kitambulisho chako cha kazi word by word?
• kitambulisho – “identification card/ID” (class 7 singular)
• chako – “your” (possessive for class 7)
• cha – genitive connector for class 7 (“of”)
• kazi – “work/job” (class 9)
Altogether: kitambulisho chako cha kazi = “your work ID.”