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Meza inayokaa katikati ya sebule ni nzuri.

Meza inayokaa katikati ya sebule ni nzuri.
The table that sits in the middle of the living room is nice.
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Questions & Answers about Meza inayokaa katikati ya sebule ni nzuri.

How is the word inayokaa built, and what does each part mean?

It’s a relative-verb form meaning “that sits/that is located.” Morphology:

  • i- = subject agreement for class 9 (matches meza, “table”)
  • -na- = present/habitual aspect (“is/does”)
  • -yo- = class-9 relative marker (“which/that”)
  • kaa = verb “sit; stay; reside; be positioned” Together: i-na-yo-kaa → “which is sitting/located.”
Why is it i- and not a- at the start of inayokaa?
Agreement. Meza is a class 9 noun, whose subject prefix is i- (singular). a- is for class 1 (people/animates like mtu), e.g., anayekaa “who sits.”
What exactly does kaa mean here? Isn’t it “to sit”?
Yes, kaa literally means “sit,” but it also means “stay/be situated/live.” With inanimate things, it often means “be positioned/located,” so a table can kaa somewhere. It’s idiomatic.
Could I say Meza iliyoko katikati ya sebule ni nzuri instead? What’s the difference?

Yes. Variants:

  • iliyoko = i-li-yo-ko → “that is (located) at,” more explicitly locative and stative.
  • inayokaa = “that is (sitting/positioned),” slightly more dynamic/habitual in flavor. Both are fine; iliyoko can sound a bit more neutral/formal for location.
What about Meza ambayo iko katikati ya sebule ni nzuri?
Also correct. ambayo is a standalone relative pronoun (“which/that”). It’s often a bit more explicit and learner-friendly, though native speech frequently prefers the in-word relative (inayokaa / iliyoko).
Why is it katikati ya sebule and not something with wa/cha/la?
The connector after katikati is ya because the head of the “of”-phrase is katikati (a class 9/10-type noun). With class 9/10 heads, the associative connector is ya: katikati ya X = “the middle of X.”
Can I use sebuleni instead of sebule here?
  • katikati ya sebule = “the middle of the living room” (sebule as a plain noun).
  • katikati ya sebuleni is generally avoided because sebuleni already has the locative -ni; you typically attach ya to a plain noun. Alternatives:
    • katikati ya sebule (most common)
    • katikati mwa sebule (also correct, a bit more literary/regional)
Could I just say Meza iko katikati ya sebule?
Yes, that’s a simple non-relative sentence: “The table is in the middle of the living room.” Your original uses a relative clause to identify/describe the table before commenting that it’s nice.
Why is it ni nzuri and not something like iko nzuri?
  • ni is the copula “is/are” for equational sentences with adjectives/nouns: meza … ni nzuri (“the table … is nice”).
  • iko/ipo is locative “is (located)”. You’d use iko for location, not for the predicate adjective.
Why nzuri and not mzuri?

Adjectives agree with noun classes. The stem is -zuri (“good/nice”). For class 1 (mtu), it’s mzuri. For class 9/10 (meza), the agreement form is nzuri. So:

  • meza nzuri (singular or plural)
  • mtu mzuri (class 1)
Does meza have a plural form? If so, what changes in the sentence?

Yes, class 9/10 often has the same form singular/plural: meza (sg/pl).

  • Plural relative: zinazokaa (zi-na-zo-kaa) instead of inayokaa.
  • Plural copula + adjective stay the same in form here: ni nzuri. Example: Meza zinazokaa katikati ya sebule ni nzuri (“Tables that are in the middle of the living room are nice”).
Is there any article (“the/a”) hidden in meza?
Swahili has no articles. Definiteness is inferred from context. The relative clause makes it specific in English (“the table that …”), but Swahili doesn’t add an article.
Why does the relative clause follow the noun?
In Swahili, modifiers (adjectives, possessives, relative clauses) typically follow the noun they modify. So: Meza [inayokaa katikati ya sebule] ni nzuri.
Could I use kati ya instead of katikati ya?
  • katikati ya = “in the middle of”
  • kati ya = “between” (usually two things), or “among” So katikati ya sebule is preferred for “in the middle of the living room.”
If I wanted to negate it (“The table … is not nice”), how would I do it?

Use the negative copula:

  • Meza inayokaa katikati ya sebule si nzuri. You can also hear sio nzuri, but si nzuri is the straightforward form in this structure.
What are some equally natural alternatives to the original sentence?
  • Meza iliyoko katikati ya sebule ni nzuri.
  • Meza ambayo iko katikati ya sebule ni nzuri.
  • More compact (no relative clause): Meza iliyo katikati ya sebule ni nzuri. / Meza iko katikati ya sebule, na ni nzuri.