Breakdown of Nina hisa katika kampuni ya mafuta.
mimi
I
kuwa na
to have
katika
in
ya
of
mafuta
the oil
kampuni
the company
hisa
the share
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Questions & Answers about Nina hisa katika kampuni ya mafuta.
What does Nina mean in this sentence and how is it formed?
Nina is the present‐tense form of “to have” in Swahili. It comes from the verb kuwa na (“to have”), with the subject prefix ni- (“I”) and the present‐tense marker -na-, so literally ni-na-a → Nina (“I have”).
Why isn’t Mimi (I/me) included in front of Nina?
In Swahili the subject pronoun is built into the verb via a prefix. Here ni- in Nina already means “I.” You can add Mimi for emphasis (Mimi nina hisa…), but it’s not grammatically necessary.
What exactly does hisa mean, and is it singular or plural?
Hisa means “share” or “shares” (as in company stock). It’s a loanword used as a mass/collective noun: one hisa can refer to any number of shares. There’s no separate plural form.
What is the function of katika here? Could I use another preposition?
Katika means “in” or “within.” So katika kampuni = “in/within the company.” You might also hear kwenye kampuni (more colloquial “at/in the company”) or ndani ya kampuni (“inside the company”), but katika is standard for “in.”
How does kampuni ya mafuta work grammatically?
Kampuni (“company”) is the head noun, and mafuta (“oil”) is the possessed/qualifying noun. The connector ya is the genitive marker for class 9/10 nouns like kampuni, so kampuni ya mafuta literally means “company of oil” = “oil company.”
Why is mafuta in that form—does it have a singular?
Mafuta is a class 6 mass noun (prefix ma-) meaning “oil/fuel” and doesn’t have a singular counterpart. It behaves like “water” or “sand” in English: you don’t say “oils” when referring to the commodity in general.
How would I say “I don’t have shares in an oil company”?
Replace the affirmative ni-na- with the negative si-na-, so:
Sina hisa katika kampuni ya mafuta.
Can I rephrase the sentence to “Nina hisa za kampuni ya mafuta”?
Yes, but the nuance shifts slightly.
• Nina hisa katika kampuni ya mafuta. means “I have shares in (i.e. I’m invested in) an oil company.”
• Nina hisa za kampuni ya mafuta. literally “I have the company‐of‐oil’s shares,” focusing on “the shares belonging to that oil company.” Both are correct, but the first emphasizes location/context of ownership, the second emphasizes whose shares they are.