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Je, umeandika ajenda ya mkutano?

Je, umeandika ajenda ya mkutano?
Have you written the meeting agenda?
FromLesson 32inHardcore Swahili
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Breakdown of Je, umeandika ajenda ya mkutano?

wewe
you
je
do
kuandika
to write
ya
of
mkutano
the meeting
ajenda
the agenda

Questions & Answers about Je, umeandika ajenda ya mkutano?

What does Je, do in this sentence, and is the comma required?
Je is a yes-no question marker placed at the beginning of a sentence to signal you’re asking a question (similar to English “do/does/have”). The comma after Je shows a slight pause but isn’t strictly required—many writers include it for clarity, and many omit it in informal writing.
How is the verb umeandika constructed?

umeandika breaks down into three parts:
• u- = second-person singular subject prefix (“you”)
• -me- = perfect aspect marker (“have”)
• andika = verb root meaning “write”
Put together, u + me + andika = “you have written.”

What tense/aspect does umeandika express, and how is it different from uliandika or unaandika?

• umeandika uses -me- to show the perfect aspect: an action completed at the time of speaking (“you have written”).
• uliandika uses -li-, the simple past: “you wrote.”
• unaandika uses -na-, the present habitual/continuous: “you write” or “you are writing.”

Why do we say ajenda ya mkutano? How do we form this possession?
Swahili expresses “the agenda of the meeting” by linking ajenda (“agenda”) to mkutano (“meeting”) with a genitive concord based on the class of the head noun (ajenda). Because ajenda is in noun class 5, its genitive particle is ya, so you get ajenda ya mkutano = “agenda of the meeting.”
Which noun classes are involved with ajenda and mkutano, and how do their prefixes help identify them?

• ajenda takes the class 5 singular prefix a- (its plural, if used, would be ma-).
• mkutano takes the class 3 singular prefix m- (its plural is mi-, e.g. mikutano).
We look at the initial prefixes (a- vs. m-) to determine class. Possession is always marked by the concord of the HEAD noun (here, class 5 → ya).

How would I ask this exact question if I’m talking to more than one person (plural “you”)?

Change the subject prefix from u- (singular you) to m- (plural you) before -me-. You get mmeandika, so the full question is:
Je, mmeandika ajenda ya mkutano?
= “Have you all written the agenda for the meeting?”

Does Swahili use articles like “the,” and do we need one here?
Swahili does not have separate articles like the or a. Definiteness and indefiniteness are understood from context and word order. In ajenda ya mkutano, no extra word is needed to mean “the agenda” or “the meeting”—context tells you which one you’re referring to.

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