Learn Hardcore Swahili: Juma anafikiri kuhusu afya yake kwa sababu umri wake unaongezeka. - Juma is thinking about his health because his age is increasing.

If you drop kuhusu and say anafikiri afya yake, it sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Swahili. The verb kufikiri needs that “about” idea made explicit.

What does kuhusu mean, and are there alternatives?

Kuhusu means “about, concerning, regarding”.

Common alternatives in similar contexts:

juu ya – literally “on / about”; widely used in everyday speech
- anafikiri juu ya afya yake = he is thinking about his health
habari za – “news/information about”, more like “how is…?” or “matters of”

But in a neutral, standard sentence like this, kuhusu is a very natural choice.

Note: kuhusu/ juu ya for “about” (topic), not for physical location “about / around”, where you’d use other forms (e.g. karibu na, kando ya, etc.).

What is the difference between afya yake and afya ya Juma?

Both can refer to Juma’s health, but they sound slightly different:

afya yake = his/her health (possessive pronoun; person is understood from context)
afya ya Juma = the health of Juma / “Juma’s health” (explicitly names Juma)

In your sentence, afya yake works because Juma has just been mentioned, so it’s clear whose health we’re talking about. You could also say:

Juma anafikiri kuhusu afya yake
Juma anafikiri kuhusu afya ya Juma (grammatically correct but sounds a bit repetitive/clunky)

Why is it afya yake but umri wake? Why not afya wake or umri yake?

This is about noun classes and agreement. The possessive must agree with the noun’s class.

afya belongs to the N-class (class 9/10). In this class, the possessive uses -y-:
- afya yake = his/her health
umri belongs to the m-/mi- class (class 3/4). In this class, the possessive uses -w-:
- umri wake = his/her age

So:

afya yake ✅ (correct)
afya wake ❌ (wrong)
umri wake ✅ (correct)
umri yake ❌ (wrong)

The -ake part means “his/her”, but the y/w changes to agree with the noun class.

Do yake and wake mean different things, like “his” vs “her”?

No. Swahili does not mark gender (he/she) in the third person.

yake and wake both mean “his / her / its / their (singular owner)” depending on context.
The y/w only shows agreement with the noun class of the thing possessed, not the gender of the owner.

So:

afya yake = his/her health
umri wake = his/her age

We know it means “his” here only because the sentence starts with Juma, and we know Juma is male from cultural context, not from the grammar.

What does kwa sababu mean, and is it always used for “because”?

Kwa sababu literally means “for the reason (that)”, and in normal use it means “because”.

In your sentence:

…kwa sababu umri wake unaongezeka
= “…because his age is increasing.”

Other related forms:

sababu = reason, cause
sababu gani? = what reason? / why?
kwa sababu ya X = because of X
- Ana hofu kwa sababu ya umri wake. = He is worried because of his age.

Kwa sababu (followed by a clause) is the standard way to say “because …”.

What exactly is being said by umri wake unaongezeka? Is this the usual way to say “he is getting older”?

Umri wake unaongezeka literally means:

umri wake = his age
unaongezeka = is increasing / is going up

So the literal meaning is “his age is increasing”, which corresponds to “he is getting older”.

Other common ways to express the idea more directly are:

anazeeka = he is aging / he is getting old
anakuwa mzee = he is becoming old

But umri wake unaongezeka is polite, neutral, and quite natural, especially in thoughtful or formal contexts.

How is the verb unaongezeka formed, and what does kuongezeka mean?

Unaongezeka comes from the verb kuongezeka, which means “to increase, to grow, to go up” (often in quantity, number, or level).

Breakdown of unaongezeka:

u- = subject prefix for class 3/4 nouns (like umri)
-na- = present tense marker
ongezek- = verb root ongezek- (“increase”)
-a = final vowel

So:

umri wake unaongezeka = his age is increasing
bei zinaongezeka = prices are increasing (note zi- for class 10 bei)
idadi inaongezeka = the number is increasing

The infinitive is kuongezeka.

Why is the subject prefix u- in unaongezeka, not a- like in anafikiri?

The subject prefix depends on the noun class of the subject:

Juma is a person (class 1), so we use a-:
- Juma anafikiri = Juma thinks / is thinking
umri is in the m-/mi- class (class 3, singular), so we use u-:
- umri wake unaongezeka = his age is increasing

Some common subject prefixes (singular):

Class 1 (person): a-
Class 3 (m-/mi-, e.g., mti, umri): u-
Class 9/10 (N-class, e.g., afya, safari, bei): often i- or zi- in plural contexts

So u- is correct because the subject of the second verb is umri, not Juma directly.

Could we say kwa sababu anaongezeka umri wake or change the word order?

No, that word order would be unnatural or incorrect.

In Swahili, the normal order is:

[reason conjunction] + [subject] + [verb] + [object/complements]

So:

kwa sababu umri wake unaongezeka ✅
- “because his age is increasing”

Putting the verb before the subject like “anaongezeka umri wake” generally does not work in standard Swahili (outside of some narrow special emphatic patterns). You should keep:

umri wake unaongezeka (subject umri wake, then verb unaongezeka).

How would you make this sentence negative? For example: “Juma is not thinking about his health because his age is not increasing.”

You need to negate both verbs: anafikiri and unaongezeka.

Negating anafikiri (class 1 subject, present tense)
- Affirmative: anafikiri
- Negative: hafikiri (drop -na-, add ha- before the subject prefix)
Negating unaongezeka (class 3 subject, present tense)
There are two common ways; a simple learner-friendly one is:
- hauongezeki

So a natural negative version could be:

Juma hafikiri kuhusu afya yake kwa sababu umri wake hauongezeki.
= Juma is not thinking about his health because his age is not increasing.

Is anafikiri the only verb I can use, or can I say anawaza or anatafakari?

You can use several verbs for different shades of “think”:

anafikiri – think, consider (most neutral and common)
anawaza – think, ponder, often used for mental activity, sometimes more casual
anatafakari – reflect, meditate, think deeply (more formal/serious)

So you could say:

Juma anafikiri kuhusu afya yake… (neutral)
Juma anawaza kuhusu afya yake… (also natural)
Juma anatafakari kuhusu afya yake… (emphasizes deeper reflection)

All are understood; anafikiri is a very good default.

The name Juma – does it have any special meaning in Swahili, and does it affect the grammar?

Juma is a very common male given name in Swahili-speaking areas. It is related to Ijumaa (Friday) in some traditions.

For grammar purposes, Juma is just a proper noun referring to one person, so:

It takes the class 1 subject and object agreements (like other human singular nouns).
That’s why we use a- in anafikiri (he/she thinks).

The name’s meaning does not change any of the grammar in this sentence.