Mimi ninatumia intaneti kujifunza maneno mapya.

I use the internet to learn new words.

Breakdown of Mimi ninatumia intaneti kujifunza maneno mapya.

• mimi: I
• kujifunza: to learn
• mpya: new
• kutumia: to use
• neno: the word
• intaneti: the internet

Questions & Answers about Mimi ninatumia intaneti kujifunza maneno mapya.

What is the structure of ninatumia and what does each part mean?

ninatumia breaks down into three pieces:

• ni- : 1st-person singular subject marker (“I”)
• -na- : present-tense marker
• tumia : verb root meaning “use”
  Together they form “I am using” or simply “I use.”

Why does the sentence start with Mimi if ni- in ninatumia already means “I”?

Including Mimi (the independent pronoun “I”) is optional in Swahili. It’s used here for emphasis or clarity, but you could just say Ninatumia intaneti… and the meaning “I use the internet…” remains the same.

What is kujifunza, and why does it begin with ku-?

kujifunza is the infinitive “to learn.” It consists of:

• ku- : infinitive marker (“to…”)
• jifunza : verb meaning “learn” (formed by adding the reflexive prefix ji- to funza, “teach,” yielding a sense of “teach oneself”)
  When you combine them, kujifunza = “to learn.”

How does kujifunza express the purpose “to learn new words”?

In Swahili, you often express purpose by placing an infinitive directly after the main verb or object, without a separate conjunction. Here, tumia intaneti (“use the internet”) is followed by kujifunza maneno mapya (“to learn new words”), giving “I use the internet (in order) to learn new words.”

What is the singular of maneno (“words”), and why is maneno used here?

• Singular: neno (“word”)
• Plural: maneno (“words”)
  They follow noun class 6 (plural) patterns, which use the prefix ma-.

Why does “new” become mapya instead of just pya?

Adjectives in Swahili must agree with the noun’s class. maneno is class 6, so the adjective takes the class-6 prefix ma- plus the root -pya (“new”), resulting in mapya = “new (plural).”

Why are there no words for “a” or “the” before intaneti?

Swahili does not have definite or indefinite articles like English. Context and word order usually tell you whether something is specific or not. So intaneti can mean “(the) internet” or “an internet connection” depending on context.

What noun class does the borrowed word intaneti belong to, and how do you form its plural?

intaneti is a loanword placed by default into class 9/10, which often have the same form in singular and plural. Because it’s uncountable in usage (like “water”), you generally leave it unchanged: singular intaneti, plural intaneti.

Could you drop ku- and say jifunza instead of kujifunza to mean “to learn”?

No. jifunza on its own is a finite verb form (present tense with a reflexive sense) meaning “he/she learns.” Without ku-, you lose the infinitive meaning “to learn,” so you wouldn’t get the purpose construction that follows tumia intaneti.