Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mwalimu anaeleza grafu hiyo ili kila mwanafunzi aone alama yake vizuri. - The teacher is explaining that graph so that each student sees his or her mark clearly.

-eleza: to explain, to make clear
- Mwalimu anaeleza grafu. = The teacher explains the graph.
-elezea: applicative form, often to explain *about something / to someone*
- Mwalimu anaelezea grafu kwa wanafunzi.
  = The teacher is explaining the graph to the students.
- Anaelezea kuhusu grafu.
  = He/she is explaining about the graph.

In your sentence, anaeleza is perfectly fine. You could also hear anaelezea grafu hiyo, which puts a bit more emphasis on the act of giving an explanation about that graph, often to someone.

Why is it grafu hiyo and not hiyo grafu?

In Swahili, demonstratives (this/that) usually come after the noun they modify:

grafu hiyo = that graph
kitabu hiki = this book
walimu wale = those teachers

Putting the demonstrative before the noun (hiyo grafu) is not the normal pattern and will usually sound incorrect or very marked/stylistic. So the natural order is:

grafu hiyo (noun + demonstrative)

Why is there no object prefix on the verb, like anaieleza grafu hiyo?

In Swahili you don’t have to use an object prefix when the object is an explicit noun that follows the verb.

Mwalimu anaeleza grafu hiyo.
= Teacher explains that graph. (natural, no object prefix)

You can use an object prefix, but then the object is usually topical/emphasized, and the structure changes slightly:

Mwalimu anaieleza grafu hiyo.
Literally: The teacher is explaining it, that graph.
This sounds more like you already know which graph is being discussed and you’re emphasizing it.

For normal, neutral sentences, with a clear object after the verb, omitting the object prefix (as in your sentence) is standard and very common.

What exactly does ili mean, and what does it do to the verb that follows?

Ili means so that / in order that / in order to. It introduces a clause that expresses purpose or intended result.

Two key points:

It links two clauses:
- Mwalimu anaeleza grafu hiyo
  = The teacher is explaining that graph
- ili kila mwanafunzi aone alama yake vizuri
  = so that each student can see his/her grade clearly.
It normally triggers the subjunctive in the following verb:
- aone (not anaona)
- afahamu (not anafahamu)
- waelewe (not wanaelewa)

So: ili + subjunctive = so that (someone) may do X / can do X / will do X.

Why is it kila mwanafunzi aone and not wanafunzi waone?

Kila means each / every and has two important effects:

The noun after kila stays singular:
- kila mwanafunzi = each student
- kila mtu = every person
- kila kitabu = each book
The verb agrees with that singular noun:
- kila mwanafunzi aone
  Subject: mwanafunzi → class 1 → verb prefix a-
- If it were a simple plural:
  - wanafunzi waone = the students (as a group) should see…

So:

kila mwanafunzi aone = each student (individually) should see…
wanafunzi waone = the students should see… (as one plural group, without the “each” idea)

Why is the verb aone and not anaona?

Aone is in the subjunctive mood; anaona is in the present (indicative).

aone (subjunctive, from kuona = to see)
- a- = he/she
- -one = subjunctive stem
  Used after ili to express purpose: so that he/she may see / can see.
anaona (present)
- a- = he/she
- -na- = present
- -ona = see
  Means: he/she sees / is seeing.

Because of ili, Swahili expects the subjunctive:

ili kila mwanafunzi aone alama yake vizuri
= so that every student can see his/her grade clearly.

If you said:

ili kila mwanafunzi anaona…
that would be ungrammatical in standard Swahili.

What does alama mean here? Is it “sign”, “mark”, or “grade”?

Alama can mean several related things depending on context:

Mark / symbol / sign
- alama ya kuuliza = question mark
- alama ya barabarani = road sign
Mark / score / grade (in school, tests, exams)
- Nimepata alama 85. = I got 85 marks.
- Alama zake ni nzuri. = His/her grades are good.

In your sentence (with a graph and students), the natural meaning is:

alama = grade/mark/score

So:

aone alama yake vizuri
= see his/her own score clearly.

Why is it alama yake and not alama yao or alama zao?

The choice of possessive depends on who the owner is.

yake = his/her/its (singular owner, classes 1/3/4/9/10 depending on context)
zao = their (plural owners, for certain noun classes)
yao = their (also “their”, but used with different noun classes)

Here the owner is kila mwanafunzi:

kila mwanafunzi (each student) is grammatically singular, class 1.
So its possessive is yake = his/her.

Thus:

alama yake = his/her grade (i.e. each student’s own grade).

If we were talking about grades belonging to all the students collectively (plural owners), you might see:

wanafunzi wanaona alama zao.
= The students see their (plural) grades.

But because the sentence focuses on each individual student, yake is correct.

How does yake agree with alama? Isn’t alama a different noun class?

Alama is a class 9 noun. The possessive for class 9 is also yake.

So in alama yake, yake is doing two jobs at once:

It agrees with alama (class 9 noun) → possessive yake.
Semantically, it refers back to kila mwanafunzi as the owner.

You can think of it as:

alama yake = his/her mark
where:
- alama gives the noun class (9), and
- yake fits noun class 9 and indicates a singular possessor “his/her”.

What is the role of vizuri at the end of the sentence?

Vizuri literally means well / nicely / properly / clearly. It often functions as an adverb.

In:

aone alama yake vizuri

vizuri is modifying aone (see):

…so that each student may see his/her grade well/clearly/properly.

Placing it at the end of the clause (after the object) is very natural:

aone vizuri
aisome vizuri (read it well)
aiandike vizuri (write it well)

Could the sentence be written with kuona instead of the subjunctive aone, like ili kila mwanafunzi kuona alama yake vizuri?

No, not in standard Swahili.

After ili, the subjunctive form is expected, not the infinitive kuona. So:

✅ ili kila mwanafunzi aone alama yake vizuri
❌ ili kila mwanafunzi kuona alama yake vizuri

You might see ili kuona… when the subject is general/unspecified:

Ili kuona vizuri, tumia miwani.
= To see well, use glasses.

But in your sentence, the subject “each student” is explicit, so Swahili uses:

ili + [subject] + subjunctive
→ ili kila mwanafunzi aone…

Can you paraphrase the sentence in Swahili to say almost the same thing, and explain any differences?

One natural paraphrase:

Mwalimu anaeleza grafu hiyo ili kila mwanafunzi aweze kuona alama yake vizuri.

Differences:

aweze kuona = may be able to see / can see
This uses:
- aweze (subjunctive of kuweza = to be able), and
- kuona (infinitive = to see).

Meaning-wise, it’s very close:

aone = may see (focus directly on the seeing)
aweze kuona = may be able to see (focus on having the ability/opportunity to see)

Both are correct; the original is just slightly more compact.

What is the overall structure of the sentence, grammatically?

You can see two main parts:

Main clause:
- Mwalimu anaeleza grafu hiyo
- Subject: Mwalimu (teacher)
- Verb: anaeleza (is explaining)
- Object: grafu hiyo (that graph)
Purpose clause introduced by ili:
- ili kila mwanafunzi aone alama yake vizuri
- Conjunction: ili (so that, in order that)
- Subject: kila mwanafunzi (each student)
- Verb (subjunctive): aone (may see)
- Object: alama yake (his/her grade)
- Adverb: vizuri (well/clearly)

So the full meaning is structurally:

The teacher is explaining that graph in order that each student may (be able to) see his/her grade clearly.