Questions & Answers about Huduma sokoni imezorota.
What does huduma mean, and what noun class is it? How does that affect the verb?
huduma means “service.” It is an abstract noun in class 9 (zero prefix), so it takes the class 9 subject-concord i-. That’s why the verb appears as imezorota (i- + -me- + zorota).
Why is soko written as sokoni, and what does the -ni suffix do?
The suffix -ni is the locative marker meaning “at/in/on.” Attaching -ni to soko (“market”) yields sokoni = “at the market.” No extra preposition is needed.
Could you break down imezorota into its parts?
imezorota =
• i- (class 9 subject prefix)
• -me- (perfect tense marker “has”)
• zorota (verb root “deteriorate”)
Altogether: “it has deteriorated.”
How do I change imezorota to other tenses, like present, past or future?
Keep the class prefix i-, swap out the tense marker:
• Present: inazorota (“is deteriorating”)
• Simple past: ilizorota (“deteriorated”)
• Future: itazorota (“will deteriorate”)