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Questions & Answers about Ni hawa ndio wanafunzi waliopakia video kwenye tableti zao jana.
What does the construction Ni … ndio … do here?
It’s a cleft/focus construction that singles out the element after ni as the specific, contrasted focus. So Ni hawa ndio wanafunzi … means “It is these (people) who are the students …,” emphasizing that these people (and not others) are the ones in question. A simpler, non-cleft version would be: Wanafunzi hawa walipakia … (“These students uploaded …”), which lacks the same contrastive focus.
Do I need the ni? Could I just say Hawa ndio wanafunzi …?
Yes. Hawa ndio wanafunzi … is fully natural and common. Ni hawa ndio … adds extra emphasis and is also heard, but many speakers prefer the shorter Hawa ndio … in everyday use.
Is ndio here the same word as “yes” (ndiyo)?
It looks the same but functions differently. Here ndio is a class-agreeing focus marker in the “ndi-” series (not the interjection “yes”). It agrees with the noun class:
- Class 1 (singular person): ndiye (e.g., Huyu ndiye mwanafunzi)
- Class 2 (plural people): ndio (as in the sentence: Hawa ndio wanafunzi) Other classes have their own forms (e.g., ndicho, ndizo), but class 2 is what you see here.
Why is it hawa and not something like hizi or haya?
Because wanafunzi is a class 1/2 (human) noun: singular mwanafunzi, plural wanafunzi. The class 2 demonstrative for “these (people)” is hawa. Demonstratives must agree with the noun class.
How is waliopakia built morphologically?
It’s a relative verb form:
- wa- = class 2 subject prefix (“they,” matching wanafunzi)
- -li- = past tense
- -o- = relative marker (“who/that”)
- pakia = verb stem “load/upload” So waliopakia = “who uploaded.”
Could I use ambao instead of the relative suffix? For example, wanafunzi ambao walipakia …?
Yes. Both are correct:
- Inflected relative: wanafunzi waliopakia …
- “Ambao” construction: wanafunzi ambao walipakia … The inflected form is tighter and very common; the “ambao” version is a bit more explicit and is often felt to be slightly more formal or careful.
Why can’t I just say wanafunzi walipakia … without the relative marker?
Without a relative marker (or ambao), wanafunzi walipakia … starts a main clause: “the students uploaded …” To modify/identify “students” as “students who uploaded,” you need the relative: waliopakia or ambao walipakia.
Does video here mean one video or several?
Alone, video (class 9/10) is ambiguous—singular and plural often look the same. To be explicit, use:
- One: video moja
- Several: video nyingi / video mbili (etc.) You may also see colloquial mavideo (class 6) in some regions, but sticking with class 9/10 plus numerals/adjectives is safest.
If the video(s) had been mentioned earlier, can I show that with an object marker?
Yes. You can include an object marker inside the relative verb:
- One known video (class 9 OM = -i-): waliyoipakia = “who uploaded it”
- Known videos (class 10 OM = -zi-): walizopakia = “who uploaded them” Example: Hawa ndio wanafunzi waliyoipakia (video) kwenye tableti zao jana. Often, when you use the object marker, you omit the noun afterward unless you want extra emphasis or clarity.
Why is it tableti zao and not tableti yao?
Because the possessive agrees with the class of the possessed noun, not with the owner. Plural tableti is class 10, whose possessive prefix is za-, so “their” is zao. If you meant a single tablet (class 9), you’d use tableti yao (“their tablet”). Here, zao shows that we’re talking about plural tablets.
Why kwenye before tableti, and could I use something else?
kwenye is a very common, flexible preposition meaning “in/on/at/onto.” With digital actions like uploading to a device, kwenye is natural: kupakia … kwenye tableti. Alternatives:
- katika = “in/within” (more formal/literary)
- juu ya = “on top of” (physical surface; less natural for software actions)
Could I reorder things as Wanafunzi hawa walipakia video kwenye tableti zao jana?
Yes. That’s a straightforward sentence without clefting. The original cleft (Ni … ndio …) adds a focus effect (“It is these who …”). Without the cleft, you’re simply stating what these students did.
Do I still need the past marker -li- if I say jana (“yesterday”)?
Yes. Time adverbs like jana don’t replace tense marking. You keep -li- for past: walipakia / waliopakia … jana.