Question 1

What does marufuku mean?

Accepted Answer

Marufuku means “ban” or “prohibition.” It’s a noun used for an official or formal restriction (e.g. “marufuku ya kelele” = “noise ban”).

Question 2

What is the role of ya in marufuku ya kuvuta sigara?

Accepted Answer

Here ya is the genitive connector “of.” It links the noun marufuku (“ban”) with the infinitive phrase kuvuta sigara (“smoking cigarettes”). So marufuku ya kuvuta sigara literally is “prohibition of smoking cigarettes,” i.e. “ban on smoking.”

Question 3

Why is kuvuta used in the infinitive form here?

Accepted Answer

The infinitive kuvuta (“to pull,” contextually “to smoke”) functions like a noun (a gerund) naming the action. After marufuku ya you normally use ku- + verb to describe the forbidden act (e.g. marufuku ya kutumia simu = “ban on using phones”).

Question 4

What does sigara mean in this sentence, and is it singular or plural?

Accepted Answer

Sigara is a loanword (from Portuguese cigarro) meaning “cigarette.” In Swahili it behaves like a class 9/10 noun: it looks the same in singular and plural. Context or modifiers (e.g. sigara moja “one cigarette,” sigara nyingi “many cigarettes”) tell you if it’s singular or plural.

Question 5

What is the meaning of imebandikwa, and how is it formed?

Accepted Answer

Imebandikwa means “has been pasted” or “has been stuck up.” It breaks down as:  
 • bandika = “to stick,” “to paste”  
 • passive suffix -kwa → bandikwa = “to be pasted”  
 • perfect tense marker -me- = “has”  
 • subject prefix i- (agrees with the noun class of marufuku)  
Putting them together: i- + me- + bandikwa = imebandikwa (“it has been pasted”).

Question 6

What does kwenye mean, and could you use katika or juu ya instead?

Accepted Answer

Kwenye is a locative preposition meaning “on,” “in,” or “at.” It’s the usual choice for saying something is placed on a surface or located in a place. Alternatives:  
 • juu ya ukuta (“on top of the wall”) – slightly more literal “on top of.”  
 • katika ukuta usually means “inside the wall,” so it doesn’t fit a notice stuck on the surface.

Question 7

Why is it ukuta wa ukumbi and not ukuta ya ukumbi?

Accepted Answer

Swahili uses different genitive connectors depending on noun classes.  
 • ukuta (“wall”) belongs to class 11 (prefix u-).  
 • The correct connector for class 11 is wa, not ya.  
Hence “wall of the hall” is ukuta wa ukumbi, not ukuta ya ukumbi.

Question 8

What does ukumbi mean, and could you use jengo instead?

Accepted Answer

Ukumbi means “hall” or “large enclosed room” (e.g. an auditorium or conference hall). Jengo means “building” in general. You could say ukuta wa jengo (“wall of the building”), but if you want to specify a hall as the location, ukumbi is the right choice.

Marufuku ya kuvuta sigara imebandikwa kwenye ukuta wa ukumbi.

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Master Swahili — from Marufuku ya kuvuta sigara imebandikwa kwenye ukuta wa ukumbi to fluency