Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mwalimu wa jiografia ametutajia msemo maarufu kuhusu milima na akatuonyesha ramani. - The geography teacher mentioned a famous saying about mountains and showed us a map.

mwalimu is a class 1 noun (a singular person), with the prefix mwa-. To say “teacher of geography,” Swahili inserts the genitive marker wa (agreeing with classes 1/2) between the head noun and the possessor: mwalimu wa jiografia = “geography teacher.”

How do you tell the difference between mwalimu (“teacher”) and walimu (“teachers”)?

Swahili marks singular vs. plural by noun-class prefixes:

Class 1 (singular people): prefix mwa-, yielding mwalimu (“teacher”).
Class 2 (plural people): prefix wa-, yielding walimu (“teachers”).

Could you break down ametutajia into its component parts?

ametutajia =

a-: 3rd person singular subject marker (“he/she”)
-me-: perfect aspect marker (“has”)
-tu-: 1st person plural object marker (“us”)
-tajia-: verb root taja (“mention”) + applicative extension -ia (“to/for”)
-a: final vowel
Altogether: “he has mentioned to us.”

What does the applicative extension -ia add to taja in ametutajia?

The applicative -ia on taja makes tajia (“mention to”). It lets you attach the recipient tu- directly without a preposition. Without -ia, you’d say ametutaja plus kwa sisi (“he has mentioned [it] to us”).

Why is the perfect marker -me- used in ametutajia instead of the simple past -li-?

-me- marks the perfect aspect—an action completed with present relevance (“has mentioned”).
-li- marks simple past—an action completed in the past (“mentioned”).
Using ametutajia highlights that the teacher’s mention still matters now. Alitutajia would just state it as a past fact.

What role does -ka- play in akatuonyesha?

In a-ka-tu-onyesha, -ka- is the narrative-past (or sequential) marker meaning “and then…,” linking the next action: “and then he showed us.”

Why is na used before akatuonyesha, and can it be omitted?

na means “and.” In storytelling, na + -ka- (“and then…”) is very common to chain events. You could drop na and say akatutonyesha, but na akatuonyesha flows more naturally.

Why is maarufu placed after msemo in msemo maarufu?

In Swahili, adjectives (and many descriptive words) typically follow the noun they modify. So msemo (“saying”) comes first, then maarufu (“famous”).

What does kuhusu milima mean, and why use kuhusu instead of ya milima?

kuhusu means “about” or “concerning.”
kuhusu milima = “about mountains.”
You could say the genitive ya milima (“of mountains”), but kuhusu is more direct for “about [a topic].”

What does ramani mean, and is it singular or plural?

ramani means “map.” It’s a class 9 noun (singular). Its class 10 plural is also ramani when you want to say “maps,” but here it’s singular: “he showed us a map.”