Learn Hardcore Swahili: Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe. - Since last year, our nanny has been teaching the child to bathe and dry themself.

Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe.

Since last year, our nanny has been teaching the child to bathe and dry themself.

Breakdown of Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe.

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Questions & Answers about Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe.

What does tangu mean, and why is it used with amekuwa?

Tangu means since (starting from a point in time up to now or up to another point in the past).

In Swahili, tangu + time expression normally goes with a perfect form of the verb, to show something that started then and has continued.

So:

Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha…
= Since last year, our nanny has been teaching…

Using amekuwa (perfect) fits this idea better than a simple present like anamfundisha. It tells you the action started last year and has continued up to now.

Why do we say amekuwa akimfundisha instead of just anamfundisha?

Amekuwa akimfundisha is like English has been teaching. It shows:

The teaching started in the past (last year),
It has been ongoing, and
It still matters now.

If you said anamfundisha, it would mean is teaching him/her (present progressive) without emphasizing that it has been going on since last year.

So:

Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha mtoto…
→ Since last year, our nanny has been teaching the child…

If you used:

Tangu mwaka jana, yaya wetu anamfundisha mtoto…
it sounds off in careful Swahili because tangu usually expects a perfect-like idea (“has been doing”), not a simple present.

Can you break down amekuwa akimfundisha and explain each part?

Yes.

amekuwa

a- = he/she (3rd person singular subject prefix for a person, noun class 1)
-me- = perfect aspect marker (has / have)
-kuwa = verb kuwa (to be / to become)

So amekuwa = he/she has been / has become (here functioning like “has been”).

akimfundisha

a- = he/she (same subject prefix)
-ki- = continuous / progressive marker (while doing, is doing)
-m- = object marker for a person (him/her)
-fundisha = verb root fundisha (to teach)

So akimfundisha = while teaching him/her / is teaching him/her.

Put together: amekuwa akimfundisha ≈ has been teaching (him/her).

Why is there a m- object marker in akimfundisha, and also the noun mtoto after it? Isn’t that redundant?

In Swahili it’s common and perfectly correct to have both:

an object marker (here -m- = him/her), and
the full noun (mtoto = the child).

Akimfundisha mtoto literally:

aki-m-fundisha mtoto
while-he-him-teaches child

This is often used when:

The object is already known in the conversation (we already know there is a child), and
The speaker wants to keep the object marker for grammatical flow, but still name the object again for clarity or emphasis.

You could in theory drop mtoto and just say akimfundisha if context is crystal clear, but then you lose the explicit mention of “the child.”

What exactly does yaya mean, and is it gendered?

Yaya means nanny, house help who cares for children, often a live-in helper.

It is typically used for a female nanny in everyday usage, though grammatically it’s a class 1 noun and could theoretically refer to a male.
In practice, if someone says yaya, most people imagine a woman.

So yaya wetu = our nanny.

Why is it yaya wetu and not yaya yetu?

The possessive in Swahili agrees with the noun class of the noun it modifies.

Yaya is in noun class 1 (people: he/she-type words).

Class 1 uses -wangu, -wako, -wake, -wetu, -wenu, -wao.

So:

yaya wangu = my nanny
yaya wako = your nanny
yaya wetu = our nanny

The forms with -y- (yangu, yako, yetu, yenu) are for other classes, like class 9/10 nouns:

nyumba yetu = our house

So yaya wetu, not yaya yetu, because yaya is a class 1 noun for a person.

What does kuoga mean exactly? Is it “to bathe” or “to shower”?

Kuoga means to bathe / to wash oneself (usually the whole body).

In practice:

It covers both having a bath and taking a shower.
Context will tell you whether it’s in a bathtub, a bucket bath, a shower, etc.

There is also kuogea, which can mean to bathe in/at (some place), but kuoga is the standard verb for to bathe / to shower.

What does the ku- in kuoga and kujipangusa do?

Ku- is the standard infinitive prefix in Swahili.

oga = bathe (verb root)
kuoga = to bathe / bathing
jipangusa = wipe oneself
kujipangusa = to wipe oneself / wiping oneself

So, verbs in dictionary form usually appear as ku- + verb root, e.g.:

kula = to eat
kunywa = to drink
kuimba = to sing

In this sentence, kuoga na kujipangusa are infinitives after akimfundisha (teaching him/her to bathe and to wipe himself/herself).

How does the reflexive ji- in kujipangusa work?

Ji- is a reflexive prefix: it means oneself / himself / herself / themselves, depending on context.

Breakdown:

ku- = infinitive marker
-ji- = reflexive prefix (self)
-pangusa = wipe

So:

kujipangusa = to wipe oneself (to dry yourself, usually with a towel or cloth).

Other examples with ji-:

kujioga = to bathe oneself (less common; normally just kuoga)
kujifunza = to learn (literally: to teach oneself)
kujiandaa = to prepare oneself

If ji- already means “oneself” in kujipangusa, why do we also say mwenyewe?

Good observation. The reflexive idea is indeed already in ji-.

kujipangusa = to wipe oneself
kujipangusa mwenyewe = to wipe oneself by oneself / on one’s own

Mwenyewe adds emphasis that the child is doing it independently, without help.

So the nuance is:

…akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa.
→ teaching the child to bathe and wipe himself/herself (neutral reflexive).
…akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe.
→ teaching the child to bathe and wipe himself/herself by himself/herself, without assistance.

In everyday Swahili, it’s very common to combine ji- and mwenyewe for this strong “by himself/herself” meaning.

Could we use another verb instead of kujipangusa, like kujifuta or kujikausha?

Yes, you can, with slightly different nuances:

kujipangusa
- General to wipe oneself, often with a towel/cloth, after washing or sweating.
kujifuta
- Also to wipe oneself (from futa = wipe/erase).
- Very similar to kujipangusa; in many contexts they can be interchangeable.
kujikausha
- From kausha = to dry (something).
- kujikausha = to dry oneself (focus on getting dry, not just the wiping motion).

So you could say:

…akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujifuta mwenyewe.
…akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujikausha mwenyewe.

All are understandable; kujipangusa is a natural, common choice.

Is the word order yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha mtoto kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe fixed, or can it be changed?

Some flexibility is possible, but certain orders are more natural.

The given order is very natural:

yaya wetu (subject)
amekuwa akimfundisha (verb phrase)
mtoto (object)
kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe (infinitive phrase explaining what is being taught).

You could, for emphasis, sometimes move mtoto:

Tangu mwaka jana, mtoto amekuwa akifundishwa na yaya wetu kuoga na kujipangusa mwenyewe.
→ This is a passive: Since last year, the child has been taught by our nanny to bathe and wipe himself/herself.

But within the original active sentence, moving mtoto before the verb (e.g. mtoto, yaya wetu amekuwa akimfundisha…) is only used in special emphasis contexts (like topicalization) and not as the neutral basic order.

So for a learner, the original word order is the standard one to copy.