Mimi ninataka kuongeza mtaji kidogo wa biashara yangu.

I want to increase the capital of my business a bit.

Breakdown of Mimi ninataka kuongeza mtaji kidogo wa biashara yangu.

• mimi: I
• kutaka: to want
• yangu: my
• wa: of
• kidogo: a bit
• biashara: the business
• kuongeza: to increase
• mtaji: the capital

Questions & Answers about Mimi ninataka kuongeza mtaji kidogo wa biashara yangu.

Why does the sentence begin with Mimi? Do I have to say it?

Beginning with Mimi (meaning “I”) is purely emphatic. In everyday Swahili you almost always drop subject pronouns, because the verb already shows who is doing the action. You can safely say: • Ninataka kuongeza mtaji kidogo wa biashara yangu. and it still means “I want to add a little capital to my business.”

What does ninataka kuongeza consist of? How does that structure work?

Swahili verbs break down into three main pieces here:

1. ni- : the subject concord for “I.”
2. na- : the present-tense/aspect marker (“now” or simple present).
3. taka : the verb root “want.”
   When you want to add an infinitive (“to …”), you tack on ku- to the front of another verb root. So:
   • ni-na-taka = “I want”
   • ku-ongeza = “to increase” / “to add”
   Altogether ninataka kuongeza = “I want to increase/add …”

Why is it mtaji and what does that word mean?

mtaji means “capital” in the business sense (money you invest or start with). It’s a Swahili noun in class 3 (singular m-, plural mi-, e.g. mitaji). It comes from the Arabic concept of capital or principal, but it now behaves like a regular Bantu noun.

Why is kidogo placed after mtaji? Can’t I say kidogo mtaji?

In Swahili descriptive words—adjectives and quantifiers—nearly always follow the noun they modify.
• mtaji kidogo = “a small amount of capital”
If you said kidogo mtaji, it would sound jumbled. Always say [noun] + [adjective/quantifier].

What’s the difference between ndogo and kidogo?

• ndogo is the regular adjective “small” and must agree with the noun class (e.g. mtaji mdogo, biashara ndogo).
• kidogo is an invariable quantifier meaning “a little” or “a small amount.” It never changes form and always follows the noun. In our sentence, we want to express “a little bit of capital,” so we use kidogo.

Why does it say wa biashara yangu rather than ya biashara yangu?

The linking word (called the genitive concord) always agrees with the head noun—in this case mtaji, which is class 3. Class 3/4 take wa as the genitive link. So
• mtaji wa biashara yangu = “capital of my business.”
If the head noun were, say, kitabu (class 7), you’d use cha: kitabu cha mwanafunzi.

Why is it biashara yangu and not yangu biashara?

In Swahili the possessed noun comes first, then the possessive pronoun.
• biashara = “business” (class 9/10)
• Class 9/10 possessive concord is y-, plus the pronoun ending: -angu = “my”
So biashara yangu = “my business.” You never flip the order.

If I wanted to say “I wanted to increase a little capital,” how would I change ninataka?

Use the past-tense marker li- instead of na-:
• nilitaka kuongeza mtaji kidogo wa biashara yangu.
That means “I wanted to add a little capital to my business.”