Learn Hardcore Swahili: Mwanasheria wetu anafundisha vijana kuhusu haki zao na siasa za nchi. - Our lawyer teaches the youth about their rights and the politics of the country.

Mwanasheria – lawyer
wetu – our
anafundisha – (he/she) teaches / is teaching
vijana – youths / young people
kuhusu – about / concerning
haki – rights
zao – their (agreeing with haki)
na – and
siasa – politics
za nchi – of the country (za = of (for this noun class), nchi = country)

So: Our lawyer teaches young people about their rights and the politics of the country.

Why is it mwanasheria wetu and not wetu mwanasheria? Where does wetu normally go?

Possessive words like wetu usually come after the noun they modify:

mwanasheria wetu – our lawyer
rafiki wetu – our friend
mwalimu wetu – our teacher

Putting wetu before the noun (e.g. wetu mwanasheria) is ungrammatical in standard Swahili. The pattern is:

[Noun] + [Possessive]
mwanasheria wetu – our lawyer
watoto wao – their children

What is going on inside anafundisha? How is this verb formed?

anafundisha is built from:

a- – subject prefix for he/she (3rd person singular)
-na- – present tense marker (roughly “is/does” in English)
-fundisha – verb stem “to teach”

So:

anafundisha – he/she teaches / is teaching
wanafundisha – they teach / are teaching (here wa- is “they”)

Other tenses from the same stem:

alifundisha – he/she taught
atafundisha – he/she will teach
amefundisha – he/she has taught

Why doesn’t the sentence say anawafundisha vijana with an object marker -wa-? Is anafundisha vijana still correct?

Yes, anafundisha vijana is fully correct. In Swahili you have two main options:

Without object marker (common, neutral):
- Mwanasheria wetu anafundisha vijana.
  – Our lawyer teaches the youth.
With object marker before the verb (often when the object is already known/emphasized or omitted later):
- Mwanasheria wetu anawafundisha vijana.
  – Our lawyer teaches them, the youth.
- Mwanasheria wetu anawafundisha.
  – Our lawyer teaches them. (no noun after, “them” is understood)

In your sentence, the noun vijana is explicitly there, so the object marker is optional and not required. Leaving it out is very natural.

Does vijana mean “boys”, “young men”, or just “youth”? What is the singular form?

Vijana is usually best translated as “young people” or “youth”. It can include:

young men
young women
sometimes even older teens / early adults, depending on context

The singular is kijana – “young person”, often “youth / young man / young woman” depending on context.

Examples:

kijana mmoja – one young person / one youth
vijana wengi – many young people

So anafundisha vijana is quite broad: “teaches the youth/young people.”

What exactly does kuhusu mean, and where does it go in the sentence? Could it come at the end instead?

Kuhusu means about / concerning / regarding.

Its normal position is directly before the thing you’re talking about:

anafundisha vijana kuhusu haki zao
– he teaches the youth about their rights

Putting kuhusu at the end (e.g. anafundisha vijana haki zao kuhusu) is not natural Swahili. The usual pattern is:

[Verb] [object/person] kuhusu [topic]

You can, however, expand the topic:

kuhusu haki zao na siasa za nchi
– about their rights and the politics of the country

Does haki mean “rights” or “justice”? How do I know if it’s singular or plural here?

Haki can mean both:

rights (human rights, legal rights)
justice / fairness

Grammatically, haki is in the N-class (class 9/10), which often has the same form for singular and plural. You recognize plural context here because:

It’s talking about rights of multiple people (zao = their)
It uses the plural possessive concord z- in zao

So haki zao is best understood as “their rights” (plural). In another context, haki on its own could be “justice,” e.g.:

Tunadai haki. – We demand justice.

Why is it haki zao and not haki yao? What is the difference between zao and yao?

Both zao and yao mean “their”, but they agree with different noun classes:

zao – “their” for nouns whose agreement prefix is z- (e.g. many N-class plurals)
yao – “their” for nouns whose agreement prefix is y- (e.g. some class 6 nouns etc.)

Haki is an N-class noun, and in plural it takes z- agreement, so:

haki zao – their rights

Compare:

vitabu vyao – their books (vitabu: vi-/vy- class)
magari yao – their cars (magari: ma-/ya- class)

So the choice between zao / yao / wao / wao / lao etc. depends on the noun class of the thing possessed, not on the people who own it.

Why is it siasa za nchi and not siasa ya nchi? What does za do here?

Za is a “of” linker (genitive marker) that agrees with the noun siasa.

siasa is an N-class (9/10) noun; its genitive marker is ya in singular, za in plural.
In practice, siasa is usually treated as plural (“politics”), so we use za.

Hence:

siasa za nchi – politics of the country

If you treated siasa as a singular abstract noun (less common), you could see siasa ya nchi, but siasa za nchi is the normal natural phrase for “national politics / the country’s politics.”

How does na work in haki zao na siasa za nchi? Is it “about their rights and about the politics…” or “about their rights and the politics…”?

Na simply means “and” here. It connects two things that are both objects of kuhusu:

kuhusu [haki zao] na [siasa za nchi]
– about [their rights] and [the politics of the country]

In English we can paraphrase either as:

“about their rights and about the politics of the country”
or
“about their rights and the politics of the country”

Swahili doesn’t repeat kuhusu; it’s understood to apply to both nouns on either side of na.

Could I say wakili wetu instead of mwanasheria wetu? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say wakili wetu, and it’s widely understood.

mwanasheria – lawyer (more formal / “legal professional”)
wakili – advocate, attorney; often used for a courtroom lawyer, or someone representing another

In everyday modern usage, both can translate as “lawyer.”
So:

Mwanasheria wetu anafundisha vijana…
Wakili wetu anafundisha vijana…

Both are acceptable; the nuance difference is small in everyday speech and can depend on country/region.

Is anafundisha vijana kuhusu haki zao na siasa za nchi a fixed word order, or can I move parts around?

Word order is relatively flexible, but there are strong preferences:

Very natural:

Mwanasheria wetu anafundisha vijana kuhusu haki zao na siasa za nchi.

Possible but less natural or with added emphasis:

Mwanasheria wetu anafundisha kuhusu haki zao na siasa za nchi vijana.
(emphasis shifted oddly to vijana)

You generally keep this order:

Subject (+ any modifiers): Mwanasheria wetu
Verb: anafundisha
Direct object / people being taught: vijana
“About” phrase with kuhusu: kuhusu haki zao na siasa za nchi

So the given sentence is the clean, standard order a native speaker would say.