Learn Hardcore Swahili: Kombe la timu yetu litawekwa juu ya dawati la mwalimu mkuu. - Our team’s trophy will be placed on the headteacher’s desk.

Kombe: trophy/cup (noun class 5)
la: the -a “of” connector agreeing with the head noun kombe (class 5)
timu yetu: our team. timu is class 9; yetu is the class-9 singular possessive “our”
litawekwa: will be placed/put. Morphology: li- (class 5 subject marker) + -ta- (future) + wekwa (passive of weka “to put”)
juu ya: on (literally “top of”)
dawati: desk (class 5)
la: the -a “of” connector agreeing with dawati (class 5)
mwalimu mkuu: the head teacher/principal (literally “chief/main teacher”)

Why is it la (not ya/wa/cha, etc.) in both kombe la… and dawati la…?

Because the -a “of” connector agrees with the head noun’s class. Both kombe and dawati are class 5, whose connector is la. A few common -a connectors:

Class 1/2 (people): wa
Class 5/6: la (sg), ya (pl)
Class 7/8: cha (sg), vya (pl)
Class 9/10: ya (sg), za (pl) Here, you see two separate noun phrases: kombe la timu yetu and dawati la mwalimu mkuu, so la appears twice for two different heads.

Why does the verb start with li- in litawekwa?

The subject is kombe (class 5). Class 5 uses the subject marker li-. So:

li- (class 5 subject) + -ta- (future) + wekwa (passive of weka) → litawekwa.

What’s the difference between litawekwa and litaweka?

litawekwa = will be placed (passive: something places it)
litaweka = it (class‑5 subject) will place (active: it does the placing) Since a trophy can’t place things, the passive litawekwa is the natural choice.

Could I use itawekwa instead of litawekwa?

No. i- is a class 9 subject marker (e.g., for timu), but the subject here is kombe (class 5), which takes li-. Hence litawekwa.

Can I make the sentence active (name the doer)?

Yes. For example:

Active: Mwalimu mkuu ataweka kombe la timu yetu juu ya dawati lake. (The principal will put our team’s trophy on his/her desk.)
Passive with agent: Kombe la timu yetu litawekwa na mwalimu mkuu juu ya dawati lake. (…will be placed by the principal…)

What exactly does juu ya mean? Is it just “on”?

juu is “top/upper part,” and ya links it to what follows: juu ya X = “on top of X/above X.” It specifically conveys contact from above (“on top”), not just “at.”

Can I use kwenye or the locative -ni instead of juu ya?

kwenye dawati… = “at/on/in the desk” (broad, context-dependent)
dawatini = “at the desk/at the desk area” (locative -ni) If you want the specificity of “on top of,” juu ya dawati is best. kwenye/dawatini can be less specific about contact on the surface.

Why is it timu yetu and not timu zetu?

Because timu here is singular (“team”). Class 9 singular uses y- in possessives: yetu (our). If it were plural (“teams”), class 10 uses z-: timu zetu (“our teams”).

Could I say Kombe letu instead of Kombe la timu yetu?

Kombe letu = our trophy (belongs to us)
Kombe la timu yetu = our team’s trophy (belongs to our team) Both can fit many contexts, but the original explicitly ties the trophy to the team as an entity.

What’s the difference between mwalimu mkuu and mwalimu mkubwa?

mkuu means “chief/main/head” and is used in titles: mwalimu mkuu (principal/head teacher).
mkubwa means “big/large/older” and is not used for official “head of” titles in this sense.

Are there articles like “the” or “a” in Swahili? How do we know if it’s “the trophy” or “a trophy”?

Swahili has no articles. Kombe can mean “a trophy” or “the trophy” depending on context. You can add demonstratives for specificity, e.g., class 5:

kombe hili (this trophy), kombe lile (that trophy).

If I make things plural, what else changes?

kombe (cl.5) → makombe (cl.6): verb subject marker becomes ya- in the future: yatawekwa.
dawati (cl.5) → madawati (cl.6): the -a connector becomes ya: madawati ya… Example: Makombe ya timu yetu yatawekwa juu ya madawati ya walimu wakuu.

Is there any difference between dawati and meza?

Yes:

dawati: a desk (especially a school desk or a work desk)
meza: a table in general So “on the principal’s desk” is naturally juu ya dawati la mwalimu mkuu.

Where do the “of” phrases and location go in the sentence?

The -a “of” phrase stays right after its head noun: kombe la timu yetu, dawati la mwalimu mkuu. Don’t separate them.
The location phrase juu ya dawati… typically comes after the verb, though topicalization (fronting) is possible in specific discourse contexts.