Breakdown of Wanawake wa kitongoji chetu walikuwa wameandaa chai kabla wageni hawajawasili.
chai
the tea
kuwa
to be
wa
of
kuandaa
to prepare
mgeni
the guest
chetu
our
kabla
before
kuwasili
to arrive
mwanamke
the woman
kitongoji
the neighborhood
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Questions & Answers about Wanawake wa kitongoji chetu walikuwa wameandaa chai kabla wageni hawajawasili.
What is the structure and meaning of the noun phrase wanawake wa kitongoji chetu?
It’s a genitive (of) construction:
- wanawake = women (noun class 2, plural)
- Associative -a (of) agrees with the head noun, so with class 2 it surfaces as wa → wanawake wa ...
- kitongoji = neighborhood (class 7)
- chetu = our (possessive agreeing with class 7) So: wanawake wa kitongoji chetu = the women of our neighborhood.
Why do we have two verb forms in walikuwa wameandaa? What tense is this?
It’s the past perfect (pluperfect): “they had prepared.”
- walikuwa = they were/they had been (past of kuwa)
- wameandaa = they have prepared (perfect) Together, it means the preparation was completed before another past event (the guests’ arrival). In such compound tenses, both verbs carry the subject marker wa-.
Could I just say Waliandaa chai kabla ... instead of Walikuwa wameandaa chai kabla ...?
Yes. Waliandaa (simple past) is common and perfectly correct with kabla, which already signals the order. The past perfect (walikuwa wameandaa) makes the “earlier completion” extra explicit, but both are natural.
Why is the clause after kabla negative (hawajawasili) instead of a past like waliwasili?
With kabla (before), Swahili typically uses the negative perfect to express that, at that reference time, the event had not yet happened:
- kabla wageni hawajawasili ≈ “before the guests had (yet) arrived.” It’s an idiomatic pattern. Using a simple past after kabla would be ungrammatical or change the meaning.
How is hawajawasili built, exactly?
Breakdown: ha- (negative) + wa- (they) + -ja- (not yet/neg. perfect) + wasili (arrive) → hawajawasili = “they haven’t (yet) arrived.”
Can I use kabla ya with an infinitive instead of a finite negative clause?
Yes. Two common alternatives:
- Kabla ya wageni kuwasili (before the guests’ arriving)
- Kabla ya kuwasili kwa wageni (before the arrival of the guests)
These avoid the negative perfect; both are standard. Use kabla
- clause (negative perfect) or kabla ya
- verbal noun—both are fine.
- clause (negative perfect) or kabla ya
Do I need to repeat the noun wageni before hawajawasili, or can I say just kabla hawajawasili?
You can omit the noun if the subject is clear from context: kabla hawajawasili. In your sentence, wageni is first introduced there, so including it helps clarity, but it’s not strictly required.
Can I put the kabla clause first?
Yes:
- Kabla wageni hawajawasili, wanawake wa kitongoji chetu walikuwa wameandaa chai. A comma is customary when the subordinate clause comes first; it’s optional when it comes second.
Why is it kitongoji chetu and not kitongoji wetu?
Possessives agree with the noun’s class:
- Class 7 (ki-/vi-) takes -ch- → chetu (our)
- Class 1/2 (m-/wa-) takes -w- → wetu So: kitongoji chetu (our neighborhood) but wanawake wetu (our women).
There are many wa’s here. Are they all the same thing?
No—three different functions:
- Noun class 2 plural prefix in nouns: wa-nawake, wa-geni
- Subject marker “they” on verbs: wa-likuwa, wa-meandaa
- Associative “of” agreeing with the head noun: wanawake wa kitongoji
Could I say wanawake kutoka kitongoji chetu instead of wanawake wa kitongoji chetu?
Yes. kutoka = from. Nuance:
- wa kitongoji = “of the neighborhood” (belonging/association)
- kutoka kitongoji = “from the neighborhood” (origin/source) Both work; wa is the default for “the X of Y.”
What’s the difference between kuandaa chai, kupika chai, kutengeneza chai, and kutayarisha chai?
All can be used for making tea, with slight nuances:
- kuandaa chai = prepare tea (general)
- kupika chai = cook/brew tea (focus on heating/cooking)
- kutengeneza chai = make tea (very common in Kenya)
- kutayarisha chai = prepare tea (more formal/literary)
Do I need a comma before kabla in the original sentence?
Not required when the kabla-clause follows the main clause. When it comes first, a comma after it is standard punctuation practice.
How can I add the sense of “already” to the preparation?
Use -sha- / kwisha- with the perfect:
- Walikuwa wameshaandaa chai kabla wageni hawajawasili. This emphasizes the completion: “they had already prepared the tea before the guests arrived.”