Mimi napiga picha shambani.

I take pictures at the farm.

Breakdown of Mimi napiga picha shambani.

• mimi: I
• shambani: at the farm
• kupiga picha: to take pictures

Questions & Answers about Mimi napiga picha shambani.

What is the function of Mimi in Mimi napiga picha shambani? Is it necessary?

Mimi is the independent pronoun “I.” It isn’t strictly necessary—napiga already contains a subject marker for “I”—but it’s used to emphasize or clarify that I (and not someone else) am taking the pictures.

What are the parts of the verb napiga and what does each part mean?

napiga breaks down into three pieces:

• ni-: 1st person singular subject marker (“I”)
• -na-: present tense/aspect marker
• piga: verb root “to hit/shoot,” extended to “take (a photograph)”

So ni-na-piga contracts to napiga, meaning “I (am) take-ing.”

Why don’t we write ninapiga with two n’s?

Underlyingly it’s ni-na-piga, but when ni- (subject) and -na- (present) come together, the overlapping n is dropped for ease of pronunciation. The result is na-piga (written napiga), not ninapiga.

What’s the difference between napiga and hupiga?