Log inSign up

Binamu yangu atakuja nyumbani kesho mchana.

Binamu yangu atakuja nyumbani kesho mchana.
My cousin will come home tomorrow afternoon.
FromLesson 33inHardcore Swahili
……
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“What's the best way to learn Swahili grammar?”
Swahili grammar becomes intuitive with practice. Focus on understanding the core patterns first — how sentences are structured, how verbs change form, and how words relate to each other. Our course breaks these concepts into small lessons so you can build understanding step by step.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Swahili

Master Swahili — from Binamu yangu atakuja nyumbani kesho mchana to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.

  • ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions
Start learning Swahili freeBrowse the full course

More from this lesson

msichanaMsichana anapenda kucheka.Msichana mdogo anasoma kitabu chini ya mti kila jioni.duka la vitabubinamuKesho, msichana huyo atatembelea duka la vitabu pamoja na binamu wake.binamuchakula cha usiku

Questions & Answers about Binamu yangu atakuja nyumbani kesho mchana.

What does binamu mean exactly?
Binamu means cousin (male or female). By default it refers to the child of your aunt or uncle. In some dialects you may also hear it used for nephew or niece, but that usage is less common in standard Swahili.
Why is it binamu yangu instead of yangu binamu?
In Swahili the possessive pronoun follows the noun as a suffix. Here binamu (cousin) + yangu (my) gives binamu yangu. The ending -angu agrees with the noun class of binamu.
How is atakuja formed, and what does each part mean?

Atakuja = a (3rd-person-singular subject marker “he/she”)
   + ta (future-tense marker “will”)
   + kuja (verb root “to come”)
So atakuja literally means “he/she will come.”

Why does kuja still have ku- after the tense marker instead of just ja?
Most Swahili verbs drop the infinitive prefix ku- when you inflect them (e.g., kula → anala “he/she is eating”). However, kuja (“to come”) and kwenda (“to go”) are irregular: their root includes ku-, so you retain it in tense forms like atakuja and watakwenda.
What does nyumbani mean, and why does it end in -ni?

Nyumba means house, and the suffix -ni is the locative marker meaning “in/at.”
Therefore nyumbani = at/in the house, idiomatically at home (or “to the house,” depending on context).

Can you give other examples of nouns with the locative suffix -ni?

Sure. Some common examples:
• shuleni – at/to school
• sokoni – at/to the market
• msikitini – at/to the mosque
• ofisini – at/to the office

How do kesho and mchana combine to mean “tomorrow afternoon”?
Kesho means tomorrow; mchana means afternoon. In Swahili you simply place time words together without a preposition. So kesho mchana literally “tomorrow afternoon.”
How would you change the sentence if you meant “my cousins” (plural) instead of “my cousin”?

You need the plural possessive zangu and plural subject marker wa. The sentence becomes:
Binamu zangu watakuja nyumbani kesho mchana.
Here binamu zangu = “my cousins” and watakuja = “they will come.”