Learn Hardcore Swahili: Usiwe na shaka, faida ya mradi huu itaonekana mapema kuliko tulivyodhani. - Have no doubt, the benefit of this project will appear sooner than we thought.

It literally means “Don’t have doubt.” It’s the negative singular imperative of kuwa na shaka (“to be/have doubt”), so in plain English: “Don’t worry” or “Don’t be doubtful.”

How is the negative singular imperative formed, as in Usiwe?

In Swahili you form a negative command for “you (singular)” with: • The prefix usi- (negative marker for 2nd-person singular)
• + the subjunctive stem of the verb.
For kuwa (“to be/have”), the subjunctive stem is -we, so usi + we → usiwe.

Why is there na in Usiwe na shaka?

Swahili uses kuwa na X to mean “to have X.” Here na links the verb kuwa (“to be”) to the noun shaka (“doubt”), so Usiwe na shaka = “Don’t have doubt.”

What does faida mean?

faida is a noun meaning “benefit,” “profit,” or “advantage.”

Why is it faida ya mradi huu and not faida wa mradi huu?

• The head noun faida belongs to noun class 9.
• In class 9, the genitive/connective is ya.
• mradi (“project”) is class 3, so its demonstrative for “this” is huu.
Putting it together: faida ya mradi huu = “the benefit of this project.”

Could we say mradi huyu instead of mradi huu?

No. mradi is class 3, whose proximal demonstrative is huu (not huyu, which is for class 1 human nouns). Always place huu after the noun: mradi huu = “this project.”

What does itaonekana mean, and how is it built?

itaonekana = “it will be seen/it will become apparent.”
Breakdown:
• i- = subject prefix for class 9 (because faida is class 9)
• ta = future-tense marker
• onekana = passive/intransitive stem of ona (“to see”)
So i-ta-onekana = “it will be seen.”

What’s the difference between kuonekana and itaonekana?

• kuonekana = “to be seen” (infinitive form)
• itaonekana = “it will be seen” (3 sg. future form with subject + tense prefixes)

What does mapema mean here?

mapema is an adverb meaning “early” or in a comparative sense “sooner.”

What does kuliko mean in mapema kuliko tulivyodhani?

kuliko functions as “than” in comparisons. So mapema kuliko X = “earlier/sooner than X.”

How is tulivyodhani formed, and why not just tulidhani?

tulivyodhani means “as we thought.” It’s a relative construction used after kuliko: • tuli- = past prefix “we”
• vi-yo- = relative markers roughly “how/as”
• dhani = verb root “think”
→ tuli-vi-yo-dhani = “how we thought.”
You can sometimes hear kuliko tulidhani colloquially, but tulivyodhani is the more standard comparative form.