Mwimbaji aliwashangaza hadhira alipowaonyesha ustadi wake.

The singer amazed the audience when he showed them his skill.

Breakdown of Mwimbaji aliwashangaza hadhira alipowaonyesha ustadi wake.

• kuonyesha: to show
• wake: his
• ustadi: the skill
• mwimbaji: the singer
• kushangaza: to amaze
• hadhira: the audience

Questions & Answers about Mwimbaji aliwashangaza hadhira alipowaonyesha ustadi wake.

What does Mwimbaji mean and how is this noun is formed?

Mwimbaji means “singer.” It’s an agent noun derived from the verb -imba (to sing).
• m- is the noun class 1/2 agent prefix for people.
• wimb- is the verb root “sing.”
• -aji is the agent/actor nominalizer suffix.
Put together, it literally means “one who sings.”

Can you break down the verb aliwashangaza into its component parts?

Yes. aliwashangaza = a- + li- + wa- + shangaza
• a- : subject prefix for 3rd person singular (“he”/“she”)
• li- : past-tense marker (simple past)
• wa- : object marker for 3rd person plural (“them”)
• shangaza : verb root meaning “amaze”
So aliwashangaza literally means “he amazed them.”

What tense is shown by aliwashangaza and alipowaonyesha, and how do you spot it?

Both verbs are in the simple past tense. You identify this by the li- tense prefix that follows the subject marker (a- for 3 sg.).
• ali- in aliwashangaza = he (a-) + past (li-)
• ali- in alipowaonyesha = he (a-) + past (li-)

Why is wa used in both aliwashangaza and alipowaonyesha?

The wa- in each verb is the object marker for 3rd person plural (“them”). In this sentence it refers to hadhira (“the audience”), which is treated as a plural group. So each time “them” appears as a direct object, we mark it with wa- before the verb root.

What function does the segment po have in alipowaonyesha?

The -po- morpheme is a relative/adverbial-time marker meaning “when.” It turns the verb into a temporal clause.
So alipowaonyesha breaks down as: he-PAST-when-them-show = “when he showed them.”

Why is it ustadi wake (“his skill”) and not wake ustadi or ustadi yake?

Ustadi (skill) is a noun in the U-stem class (class 11/14). Its possessive pronoun must agree with that class, which uses wake for “his/hers.”
• ustadi wake = “skill of him” = “his skill.”
You cannot say wake ustadi because the possessive always follows the noun in Swahili. Ustadi yake would also work in casual speech, but properly class-11 nouns take wake rather than yake.

Could you rephrase this sentence to use wakati for “when,” and what would change?

Yes. You could say:
“Mwimbaji aliwashangaza hadhira wakati aliwaonyesha ustadi wake.”
Here wakati (“when”) is a separate conjunction, so you drop the -po- marker in the verb:
• alipowaonyesha → aliwaonyesha
Everything else stays the same, and it still means “The singer amazed the audience when he showed them his skill.”

What is the basic word order in Mwimbaji aliwashangaza hadhira alipowaonyesha ustadi wake, and is it flexible?

The sentence follows the standard Swahili order:
Subject (S) – Verb (V) – Object (O) – Adverbial/time clause (when…).

1. Mwimbaji (S)
2. aliwashangaza (V)
3. hadhira (O)
4. alipowaonyesha ustadi wake (temporal clause)
   Swahili allows some flexibility for emphasis, but this S-V-O-time-clause order is the most natural.