Learn Hardcore Swahili: Hamasa ya kujifunza iliongezeka walipopokea kifurushi cha vitabu vipya. - The motivation to learn increased when they received a package of new books.

The particle ya is the genitive linker here. Hamasa is a class 9 noun, and when you link a noun to another noun or verbal noun in that class, you must use ya. Without ya, the connection (“motivation of learning”) wouldn’t be marked correctly.

What is kujifunza, and why is it used here?

Kujifunza is the verbal noun (infinitive) form of jifunza. It literally means “to learn” or “learning.” In this sentence it turns the action of learning into a noun so you can talk about the motivation of learning.

Break down iliongezeka. What do its parts mean?

i- is the subject concord for class 9 (agreeing with hamasa).
li- is the past tense marker.
ongezeka is the verb stem meaning “to increase.”
Together, iliongezeka means “it increased.”

Why not aliongezeka instead of iliongezeka?

Subject concords in Swahili follow noun classes. Class 9 nouns (like hamasa) take i- as their subject prefix in the past tense, not a-.

What are the components of walipopokea?

wa- = 3rd person plural subject prefix (they).
li- = past tense marker.
-po- = relative/time marker meaning “when.”
pokea = verb root “receive.”
So walipopokea = “when they received.”

Why is it kifurushi cha vitabu vipya and not kifurushi ya vitabu vipya?

Kifurushi is a class 7 noun (singular), so its genitive linker is cha. Even though vitabu is class 8, the linker always agrees with the first noun’s class.

How does the adjective vipya agree with vitabu?

Vitabu is a class 8 noun (plural), so adjectives take the class 8 concord vi-. The root -pya becomes vipya, meaning “new.”