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Mama anapiga pasi mashati asubuhi.

Mama anapiga pasi mashati asubuhi.
Mother irons shirts in the morning.

Breakdown of Mama anapiga pasi mashati asubuhi.

asubuhi
in the morning
mama
the mother
shati
the shirt
kupiga pasi
to iron
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Questions & Answers about Mama anapiga pasi mashati asubuhi.

What is inside the verb form anapiga?

It’s built from:

  • a- (subject marker for he/she, noun class 1)
  • -na- (present tense marker: “is/does”)
  • piga (verb root “hit/strike,” used in many idioms) So: a-na-piga = “she/he is doing/does (piga).”
Does -na- mean “is ironing right now” or “irons (generally)”?

Both are possible; -na- covers present progressive and present habitual. Context decides:

  • With a routine time word like asubuhi, it often reads as habitual: “irons in the morning.”
  • Add an adverb to force the meaning:
    • Right now: Sasa hivi mama anapiga pasi mashati.
    • Habitually: Mama hupiga pasi mashati asubuhi. (uses the habitual marker hu-)
Why does Swahili say piga pasi to mean “to iron”?

Swahili uses light-verb idioms: piga + noun forms a fixed expression.

  • piga pasi = iron (clothes) Other common ones:
  • piga picha (take a photo)
  • piga simu (make a phone call)
  • piga kelele (make noise)
  • piga mswaki (brush one’s teeth) Treat piga pasi as a single verb phrase.
Can I drop pasi and say Mama anapiga mashati?
No. Without pasi, piga mashati literally sounds like “hit the shirts.” To mean “iron,” you need the full idiom piga pasi, then the thing being ironed: piga pasi mashati/nguo.
Can I put mashati between piga and pasi?

Avoid splitting the idiom. Keep piga pasi together, then add the object:

  • Good: Mama anapiga pasi mashati.
  • Odd/wrong: Mama anapiga mashati pasi.
What noun class is mashati, and what is the singular?
  • Singular: shati (class 5)
  • Plural: mashati (class 6) So “shirt” → shati, “shirts” → mashati. This is the common ji-/ma- pairing where the singular often has a zero prefix and the plural takes ma-.
How do I say “the shirts,” “these shirts,” or “her shirts” in Swahili?

Swahili has no articles, so you use demonstratives or possessives:

  • “the/these (near me) shirts”: haya mashati
  • “those (near you) shirts”: hayo mashati
  • “those (over there) shirts”: yale mashati
  • “her/his shirts”: mashati yake (class 6 agreement) Context alone can also make mashati mean “the shirts.”
Where does the object marker go if I want to refer back to mashati?

It goes on the verb before the root. For class 6, the object marker is ya-:

  • Mama a-na-ya-piga pasi (mashati). You can keep or omit mashati after the verb; keeping it adds emphasis/clarity.
Is pasi singular or plural? Should it be mapasi?

pasi (iron) is class 9/10; its plural is also pasi (no change). In this idiom you almost always use the singular because you iron with one iron:

  • pasi moja, pasi mbili (one iron, two irons)
Can I move asubuhi to another position?

Yes. Time words are flexible:

  • Mama anapiga pasi mashati asubuhi.
  • Asubuhi mama anapiga pasi mashati. Don’t insert asubuhi inside the idiom (piga … pasi).
How do I say this in the negative?

For present, the negative drops -na- and changes final -a to -i:

  • Mama hapigi pasi mashati asubuhi. (She doesn’t iron shirts in the morning.) Add time words to clarify “not now” vs “not usually.”
How do I say it in the past or future?
  • Simple past: Mama alipiga pasi mashati (jana asubuhi).
  • Perfect/completed: Mama amepiga pasi mashati.
  • Future: Mama atapiga pasi mashati (kesho asubuhi).
  • Past progressive: Mama alikuwa anapiga pasi mashati.
What exactly does Mama mean here?

mama can mean “mother,” “Mom,” or respectfully “Ma’am/a lady.” Capitalized Mama often reads as “Mom” (as a name). To be explicit:

  • “my mom”: Mama yangu
  • “a mother/a lady”: mama mmoja / mama yule
Could I say Mama yangu anapiga pasi mashati asubuhi?
Yes. That clearly means “My mom irons shirts in the morning.” The agreement on the verb stays the same (a- for a class 1 human subject).
Can I use nguo instead of mashati?

Yes:

  • Mama anapiga pasi nguo asubuhi. = “Mom irons clothes in the morning.” Use mashati when you specifically mean shirts; nguo is general “clothes.”
How do I say “electric iron” or “charcoal iron”?

Add a genitive phrase after pasi:

  • pasi ya umeme (electric iron)
  • pasi ya makaa (charcoal iron) Example: Mama anapiga pasi ya umeme mashati.
How would I say “She is ironing the shirts for him/her”?

Use the applicative -ia on the verb (benefactive), plus an object marker for the beneficiary if needed:

  • Mama a-na-m-pig-ia pasi mashati. = She is ironing the shirts for him/her. Keep piga pasi together even with -ia.
How do I pronounce the words and where is the stress?

Swahili stress is on the second-to-last syllable of each word:

  • Mama (MA-ma), anapiga (a-na-PI-ga), pasi (PA-si), mashati (ma-SHA-ti), asubuhi (a-su-BU-hi) Consonants: g as in “go”; sh as in “ship”; vowels are pure (a, e, i, o, u).